A chilling massacre unfolded in Haiti’s Cité Soleil slum over the weekend, leaving at least 110 elderly people dead. The killings were allegedly ordered by gang leader Monel “Mikano” Felix, who accused the victims of using witchcraft to harm his child, the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH) reported on Sunday.
The victims, all over the age of 60, were brutally murdered on Friday and Saturday, with gang members wielding machetes and knives, RNDDH stated. The gang members killed at least 60 people on Friday and 50 on Saturday.
The violence began after Felix sought advice from a Voodoo priest regarding his child’s illness. Acting on the priest’s claims that the elderly residents of the slum were responsible for his child’s condition, Felix ordered the killings. Tragically, the child died on Saturday afternoon, according to RNDDH.
Cité Soleil, located near the port in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, is one of Haiti’s most impoverished and violence-stricken neighborhoods. Gang control in the area has made communication difficult for residents, with restricted mobile phone use hampering the spread of information about the massacre.
Felix, who leads the Wharf Jeremie gang, has a violent history. In 2022, he was banned from entering the Dominican Republic. His gang, reportedly comprising around 300 members, operates in Cité Soleil as well as in nearby areas such as Fort Dimanche and La Saline.
This latest tragedy echoes past violence in La Saline, where at least 71 civilians were massacred in November 2018, and hundreds of homes were set ablaze. The incident was linked to Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, a former police officer turned gang leader who has been sanctioned by the United Nations for orchestrating the attack and other crimes.
In another recent instance of gang violence, at least 115 people were killed in October in Pont-Sondé, a town in Haiti’s Artibonite region. The Gran Grif gang carried out the massacre in retaliation for residents collaborating with self-defence groups.
The Haitian government has been unable to curb the escalating power of armed gangs. Political infighting and limited resources have hindered efforts to address the crisis. Although Haitian authorities requested international security assistance in 2022, the United Nations mission approved in 2023 remains underfunded and only partially deployed. Efforts to convert the mission into a fully equipped UN peacekeeping force have stalled due to opposition from China and Russia within the Security Council.
The massacre in Cité Soleil highlights the growing instability in Haiti, where unchecked gang violence continues to terrorise communities. International support, coupled with robust domestic governance, is urgently needed to restore peace and protect the nation’s vulnerable populations.
Melissa Enoch
Follow us on:
