Gang kills more than 200 in massacre in Haiti's Cité Soleil suburb

At least 207 residents of Haiti's Cité Soleil suburb have been killed this month by gunmen from the Wharf Jeremie gang, a United Nations report said Monday, raising the death toll from an initial estimate of 187.

In a new report on the massacre, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said at least 134 men and 73 women, mostly elderly people accused of witchcraft, were killed in mass executions, kidnappings and raids by some 300 members of the Warf Jeremie gang on Cité Soleil in less than a week.

This came after gang leader Moniel “Mecano” Felix ordered attacks on the suburb after his child fell ill, accusing its residents of causing it through the practice of voodoo, a belief linked to magic and spirits.

The United Nations said many of those killed were abducted from voodoo temples and during ceremonies associated with the faith.

According to the United Nations, the gang led by Mecano for about 15 years controls a small but strategic area, located between major ports and warehouses in its vicinity and highways outside the capital.

(Reuters)