5,000 murders in Haiti this year: Bishops decry ‘dehumanizing violence’

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 12, 2024 / 08:00 am

The bishops of Haiti denounced the “dehumanizing violence” that has plagued the country since the beginning of 2024 and are asking all citizens to “go on with life without becoming discouraged” and to be witnesses of hope.

The bishops posted their Christmas message at the end of their 142nd Ordinary Assembly in which they referred to the uncontrollable spiral of violence that is ravaging Haiti, the result of the actions of organized criminal gangs, which control a large part of Port-au-Prince, the capital of the Caribbean country.

“Many families live in extreme poverty. Added to this is dehumanizing violence. Many people are homeless and without hope. Older people are left to their own devices, worried and saddened by their inability to cope with such a reality. Young people and children are filled with worries about their future and tempted to discouragement. These distressing situations are caused by violence, corruption, cynicism, and poor governance,” the bishops wrote in their Dec. 6 message.

The prelates said they were deeply saddened by the situation and that “in the face of all these misfortunes that threaten our country, all actors in society must overcome their divisions and conflicts” to save it.

They directly asked criminal gangs to “stop these heinous acts” that do not bring about anything good for anyone. They asked those who “secretly supply them with weapons and ammunition” to stop “feeding this blind violence that bloodies our society on a daily basis.”

The bishops also called on civil authorities to work in the interests of the country and not in their own interests or those of their parties, to control their borders to stop illegal arms trafficking and to put an end to the problem of insecurity with effective means. “Justice must be done for the many victims” and “order and peace must be restored,” they urged.

They also called on the international community to remember its “promises and commitments” to help Haiti emerge from violence and isolation. “The population abandoned to its fate must be able to count on the effective solidarity of other nations,” the bishops said.

Finally, they addressed the men and women of the country, asking them to go on with life without becoming discouraged and to be “witnesses of hope” in the midst of their difficult reality. “Every Haitian man, every Haitian woman, whatever their condition, has a role to play in the transformation of our country,” they said.

More than 180 elderly people murdered last weekend

At least 184 people were murdered last weekend by members of organized criminal gangs, just one day after the country’s bishops published their Christmas message.

According to Reuters, the massacre took place in the Cité Soleil neighborhood, one of the poorest and most dangerous in Haiti. Monel “Mikano” Felix, a gang leader, ordered the massacre of people over 60 years old in accordance with the recommendation of a voodoo priest, who accused elderly people in the area of using witchcraft to make Felix’s son ill, which took the child’s life.

Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, said that with this latest massacre the number of people killed this year in Haiti by criminal violence has reached “a staggering 5,000 people.”

The criminals are believed to have used machetes and knives to carry out the massacre between Friday and Saturday of last week. The gangs’ tight control, which includes restrictions on the use of cellphones, “has limited residents’ ability to share information about the massacre,” Reuters said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.