Gang violence in Haitian capital leaves 89 dead in past week: Rights group

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - At least 89 people have been killed over the past week in clashes between rival gangs in an extremely impoverished and densely populated district of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, a local human rights organization said Wednesday.

In its report, the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) said 89 people had been murdered, including 21 who were burned to death, and 16 others have been reported missing. Another 74 people were injured by gunfire or stab wounds and 127 homes were destroyed.

Since June last year, more than 36,000 people have fled Port-au-Prince, which has been paralyzed by clashes between gangs that are blocking roads and seizing control of food delivery trucks.

Since Friday, violence between rival gangs has left more than 50 people dead in the impoverished​​​​​​​ Cité Soleil neighborhood, its deputy mayor, Jean Hislain Frederick, said Monday.

Local authorities said the fighting involved rival gangs known as G9 and G-Pep. The G9 gang coalition led by former police officer Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier is battling the G-Pep alliance.

In a video circulating on social media, Chérizier said the coalition is fighting "against thieves and kidnappers.”

“We just want to say to the Haitian people, in the struggle to liberate this country, we have just begun -- we in the revolutionary forces of the G9 family and allies," he said.

“We have launched the battle against kidnappers and thieves. The battle has just begun.”

The group Doctors Without Borders said Tuesday that thousands of people are trapped without drinking water, food or medical care in Cité Soleil as armed groups battle for control of the area. The organization urged the gangs “to spare civilians.”

“Along the only road into Brooklyn (an area of Cité Soleil), we have encountered corpses that are decomposing or being burned,” Mumuza Muhindo, Doctors Without Borders’ head of mission in Haiti, said in the statement.

Political turmoil, high food costs and rising inflation is also aggravating the humanitarian crisis in Haiti, which has been grappling with a continuing escalation of violence since the killing of former President Jovenel Moise on July 7 last year in a night-time raid.