Gang violence wracked Haiti over the weekend, leading to the deaths of reportedly nearly 200, including more than 100 elderly people, after a gang leader accused them of causing his child’s sickness through witchcraft. According to the National Human Rights Defense Network, gang members rounded people up who they suspected of practicing voodoo and executed them with machetes and knives in an impoverished western area of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.
The killings took place on Friday, Dec. 6, and continued on Saturday, Dec. 7, after the gang leader’s son reportedly died from his illness.
The United Nations says in total at least 184 people died in gang-related violence in Port-au-Prince over the weekend and the latest numbers bring the death toll to 5,000 people this year.
This is the largest mass killing in the country since October, when at least 115 people were reportedly murdered in a farming community by gang members. Authorities say the victims were targeted for forming a vigilante group to fight off gangs in the region.
Officials estimate gangs now control 85% of the Haitian capital. A U.N.-backed security force has been working to quell gang violence since 2022 but is vastly undermanned and underfunded.
The U.N. is attempting to turn the mission into a peacekeeping effort. However, its efforts reportedly face opposition from China and Russia.
