UN outraged after gang massacres Haitian villagers

Haiti’s Gran Grif gang stormed the western town of Pont Sondé on Thursday and murdered at least 70 villagers, including three infants, the United Nations Human Rights office said. The attack came months after the arrival of Kenyan forces to lead an international security support mission backed by the United States and authorized by the United Nations Security Council.

Gangsters armed with automatic weapons burned at least 45 homes and nearly 35 cars, causing more than 6,000 residents to flee Pont Sondé, UN spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said on Friday. The UN police stationed in Haiti need more international funding and logistical support, he added. It’s also essential that authorities thoroughly investigate the attack to hold the gang accountable and guarantee reparations to victims and their families, Al-Kheetan said. The American embassy in Port-au-Prince also condemned the violence and reaffirmed support for Haitian law enforcement and UN security support forces.

What prompted the attack? A leader of the Gran Grif gang claimed the attack was in retaliation to civilians who had sided against the gang, Reuters news agency reported. Despite Haiti’s long-term struggle to combat gang violence, leaders recognize the Pont Sondé massacre as a particularly egregious attack.

Gangs seized the capital city of Port-au-Prince in late February and early March when they overran police stations and freed over 4,000 inmates from Haiti’s two largest prisons. Gang violence has killed more than 2,500 people within the first three months of 2024 alone, according to the UN.

A July report from the UN estimated that ongoing violence displaced at least 300,000 children, and left about 3 million children in need of humanitarian assistance, like school and medical attention. Some Haitian children have joined gangs to survive in a system where they are threatened with abuse and sexual violence, the UNICEF report added.

Dig deeper: Read Travis K. Kircher’s report on the experience of an American missionary evangelizing amid Haiti’s descent into chaos.