At least 184 killed in Haiti in brutal gang attack over witchcraft allegations

At least 184 people were killed over the weekend in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, according to the United Nations. Human rights groups have attributed the massacre to a personal vendetta by a local gang leader, Jean Monel Felix, after he believed witchcraft was responsible for his child’s death.

The killings took place in the Cite Soleil area, a densely populated and violent slum on the edge of the capital. Nearly 130 of those killed were over the age of 60, the UN reported on Monday. Gang members reportedly burned the bodies of victims and discarded them at sea.

Gang leader's personal vendetta sparks massacre

The massacre was reportedly orchestrated by Felix, the leader of the Wharf Jeremie gang. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, “These latest killings bring the death toll just this year in Haiti to a staggering 5,000 people.” Felix, also known as "King Micanor," allegedly ordered the killings after his child fell ill and died on Saturday.

Felix had reportedly sought the counsel of a voodoo priest, who accused elderly people in the area of using witchcraft to harm the child. Following the child's death, Felix’s gang began executing people, with at least 60 killed on Friday and another 50 on Saturday using machetes and knives.

Victims targeted by gang members in their homes

Local human rights organisations, including the National Human Rights Defence Network (RNDDH) and the Committee for Peace and Development (CPD), stated that the gang’s members were responsible for identifying victims in their homes and taking them to Felix’s stronghold to be executed.

Cite Soleil, one of the poorest and most violent areas in Haiti, has been under tight gang control for years. The gang's hold over the area has made it difficult for residents to report the killings or share information, as they also restrict mobile phone usage.

The growing power of Haiti’s gangs

Felix’s gang, which the UN estimates to have around 300 members, operates in a gang stronghold between Port-au-Prince's main port and the international airport. Felix is part of the Viv Ansanm (Living Together) gang coalition, led by former policeman Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier. This coalition has taken control of large parts of the capital and several rural areas in a coordinated offensive that began in February.

William O’Neill, the UN’s human rights expert for Haiti, described the massacre as “demonstrating both the cruelty of the Viv Ansanm gang coalition and the deadly impact of impunity.”

Haiti struggles with gang violence amid political crisis

Haiti’s government, weakened by political infighting, has struggled to regain control from the gangs, whose growing power is destabilising the country. In 2022, Haitian authorities requested international security assistance for local police, but the mission, approved by the UN in 2023, has faced delays and is severely underresourced. Calls for the mission to be upgraded to a full UN peacekeeping force have stalled due to opposition from China and Russia in the Security Council.

Mass displacement and humanitarian crisis

The escalating violence has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that an estimated 41,000 people have been displaced in the past two weeks alone, and over 700,000 people have been displaced across Haiti due to the ongoing conflict.