207: this is the exact number of people murdered by the Micanor gang in Wharf Jérémie, a neighborhood of Cité Soleil, north of Port-au-Prince.
The massacre occurred between December 6 and 11, 2024.
The victims included 134 men and 73 women, mostly elderly people accused of practicing vodou and causing the illness of the child of the gang leader, known as King Micanor.
These figures were made public by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in a report published on December 23, 2024.
In its report on the Micanor gang massacre in Wharf Jérémie, BINUH revealed that other victims were killed while attempting to flee the area or because they were suspected of having leaked information about these crimes to local media.
The victims lived in five separate areas of the Wharf Jérémie neighborhood. They were tracked to their homes and a place of worship before being taken to the gang’s stronghold, where they were detained in a “training center” and then moved to an execution site, according to the BINUH and OHCHR report.
The victims were shot and hacked with machetes, then their bodies were burned, dismembered, or thrown into the sea to erase any evidence, the report revealed. These acts suggest meticulous planning by the gang, which has turned the area into a theater of terror, deplored the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Haiti.
The report also noted that more than 5,350 people have been shot dead by armed bandits since the beginning of this year. Another 2,155 have been injured as a result of violence perpetrated by gangs, vigilante groups, and unorganized individuals.
Since 2022, this violence has resulted in more than 17,000 deaths and injuries, BINUH reported, noting that the Wharf Jérémie gang, active since 2022, is attempting to control the roads leading to the capital’s main port and its container terminal.
María Isabel Salvador called on the government to take all necessary steps to ensure that this crime, one too many, does not go unpunished.
“We can’t pretend nothing has happened. I call on the Haitian justice system to thoroughly investigate these horrific crimes, arrest the perpetrators, and punish those who support them. I also urge the authorities to establish a specialized judicial unit as soon as possible to deal with this type of crime.”
Wharf Jérémie has long been beyond the control of the police and judicial authorities, allowing gangs to act with impunity. On December 12, however, the Haitian Prime Minister ordered the Minister of Justice and the Chief of the Judicial Police to mobilize all necessary resources to apprehend those responsible for these atrocities, BINUH recalled. But very little concrete action has been taken by the government to curb the violence engulfing the country.
The leader of this gang also imposes taxes on businesses operating in the area and acts as an intermediary for national and international actors seeking to intervene in the region, revealed the UN High Commissioner in his report on the security situation in Haiti.
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, emphasized the urgent need to strengthen the Haitian police and state institutions, which are paralyzed by corruption and impunity. He also called for the implementation of international measures, including targeted arms embargoes and asset freezes, to reduce the influence of gangs.
The High Commissioner also called for a rapid and coordinated response from Haitian authorities and the international community to protect local populations and re-establish the rule of law.