PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A gang chief accused of killing greater than 100 folks in Haiti’s capital to avenge his son’s loss of life was nonetheless persecuting residents on Tuesday, in accordance with a uncommon witness account.
Mackenson Cangé, whose father was among the many victims, advised Magik9 radio station that residents within the gang-controlled space mentioned gunmen have been nonetheless looking down older folks and killing youthful ones as effectively.
“I consider within the justice of my nation. But I’m uninterested in the federal government (solely) condemning these massacres. We must take motion,” he mentioned.
Few particulars in regards to the two-day killing spree in the neighborhood of Cité Soleil on Friday and Saturday have been made public. Residents haven’t been allowed to go away, and no photos of the killings have been shared on social media like they typically have been in earlier incidents.
A spokesman for Haiti’s National Police didn’t return messages for touch upon Tuesday. Neither did the chief of a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that deployed earlier this yr to assist quell gang violence in Haiti.
For years, police have been unable to penetrate the gang-controlled space, and even human rights teams haven’t been in a position to entry it this time, counting on witnesses who stay there and sometimes refuse to speak for concern of being killed.
Two native human rights teams say greater than 100 folks have been killed on Friday and Saturday, whereas Volker Türk, U.N. excessive commissioner for human rights, mentioned at the very least 184 folks have been killed.
It isn’t clear how they decided the variety of victims. Numbers fluctuate wildly following massacres in Haiti since they happen in areas with restricted or no entry.
The killings blamed on gang chief Micanor Altès, also referred to as Monel Felix and Wa Mikanò, have been triggered by his son’s sickness and eventual loss of life, in accordance with the National Human Rights Defense Network and the Cooperative for Peace and Development.
The two rights teams mentioned Altès blamed Vodou non secular leaders and older folks in the neighborhood of practising witchcraft and harming his son.
On Tuesday, Haiti’s Office of Citizen Protection decried the killings, noting the victims have been between 60 and 80 years outdated.
The ombudsman company mentioned “sorcery accusations by no means justify violence or abstract executions. Older folks, who’ve contributed a lot to society, deserve respect and safety.”
It referred to as on police and judicial officers to react shortly and establish all these accountable.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance, a U.S.-based nonprofit, additionally referred to as for a radical investigation on Tuesday because it demanded that the federal government enhance safety.
“This bloodbath is a profound tragedy that underscores the escalating disaster of gang violence and lawlessness in Haiti,” mentioned Guerline Jozef, the alliance’s government director.
Altès controls the coastal communities of Wharf Jérémie, La Saline and Fort Dimanche and is thought for theft, extortion and hijacking of products and vans, in accordance with a U.N. report. Experts say he was not recognized for being as brutal as different Haitian gang leaders.
Cangé mentioned residents in Wharf Jérémie advised him that gunmen are nonetheless looking down older folks and killing younger ones as effectively.
He mentioned his father, Marcel Cangé, was killed after three males confirmed up at his dwelling on Friday night time and demanded he go together with them. The older Cangé was already making ready for mattress as a result of he was going to church early Saturday and favored to be punctual. When he requested that the boys enable him to placed on a shirt and pants, they advised him it wasn’t obligatory, in accordance with his son.
“I by no means believed one thing like that might occur to my father,” Mackenson Cangé mentioned, noting he had lived in that neighborhood for 29 years. “My father was assassinated. Stabbed after which burnt.”
Cangé mentioned he personally is aware of some 30 different individuals who have been killed. His mom and sister, who lived along with his father, survived.
“I misplaced a greatest good friend, somebody who supported me my entire life,” Cangé mentioned.
The gang-controlled space, like many others, stays inaccessible to police and different authorities. While the federal government has pledged to carry these accountable to justice, it wasn’t clear the way it deliberate to take action.
“A purple line has been crossed, and the state will mobilize all its forces to trace down and destroy these criminals,” the federal government mentioned in a press release Monday.
More than 4,500 folks have been reported killed to this point this yr in Haiti.
