Haiti gang massacres 110 after accusing them of using voodoo

At least 110 people were massacred in a slum in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, after a gang leader appeared to have targeted people he suspected of causing his child's illness through witchcraft, a human rights group said Monday. 

The National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH), based in the capital, said a local gang leader, Monel "Mikano" Felix, ordered the killings after a voodoo priest told him that elderly people in Wharf Jeremie, a district of the capital's notorious Cite Soleil slum, had cursed his son.

Gang members then reportedly butchered at least 60 people on Friday and another 50 on Saturday with knives and machetes. Most of the victims were reportedly voodoo followers over the age of 60.

The New York Times said that a local resident had confirmed the reports by the RNDDH and the Combine for Peace and Development (CPD) charity.

Where is Cite Soleil and what is voodoo?

Cite Soleil is a densely populated slum in the port area of Port-au-Prince and ranks as one of the poorest and most violent areas of the Caribbean country.

The slum is tightly controlled by gangs, with the use of mobile phones also restricted. That also severely limits communication among residents there.

Haiti has been wracked by brutal gang violence in recent years and efforts to restore order — such as the deployment of Kenyan police as part of a multinational protection force — have so far had little effect.

In November, at least three US passenger airplanes  over Port-au-Prince were hit by gunfire.

Voodoo, which has West African roots and has existed among Afro-Haitian communities since the late 18th century, is officially recognized as a religion on par with others worshipped in the country. Locally, followers call it the vaudou haitien.

mf/rm (Reuters, dpa)