UN Publishes New Death Toll from Gang Massacre in Haiti
The United Nations has revised the death toll from a recent massacre in Haiti, reporting that over 207 people, including elderly individuals and Vodou practitioners, were killed by the Wharf Jeremie gang. The attacks occurred between December 6 and 11, with victims being dragged from their homes and a place of worship, interrogated, and then executed using bullets and machetes.
The U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti released a detailed report on Monday, which doubles earlier estimates by human rights organizations, who initially reported more than 100 deaths. “We cannot pretend that nothing happened,” said María Isabel Salvador, the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative in Haiti, urging the Haitian justice system to thoroughly investigate the atrocities and hold the perpetrators accountable.
According to local human rights groups, the massacre was triggered by the death of Micanor Altès’ son. Altès, the leader of the Wharf Jeremie gang, allegedly accused elderly community members and Vodou practitioners of casting a spell that caused his son’s illness. In response, Altès unleashed a brutal campaign of violence, targeting those he believed responsible.
The Cooperative for Peace and Development, a Haitian human rights organization, reported that Altès’ gang interrogated victims before executing them and attempted to destroy evidence by burning bodies or dismembering them and discarding remains into the sea.
This massacre is the latest in a series of humanitarian crises in Haiti, where gang violence has escalated since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. The Caribbean nation remains mired in political instability, with a transitional council governing amidst a power vacuum and widespread gang control. Ports, highways, and neighborhoods in the capital are battlegrounds for armed groups vying for dominance.
The U.N. has reported over 5,350 deaths in Haiti’s gang conflicts this year alone. The Haitian government acknowledged the massacre in a statement earlier this month, vowing to prosecute those behind the “unspeakable carnage.”
As the international community watches, calls for justice and stability in Haiti grow louder, emphasizing the urgent need for an effective response to gang violence and a path toward democratic governance.
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