The 2024 Cité Soleil massacre took place on 6 and 7 December 2024, in the commune of

Cité Soleil Cité Soleil (; ; English: ) is an extremely impoverished and densely populated commune located in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area in Haiti. Cité Soleil originally developed as a shanty town and grew to an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 resi ...

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. This

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

was perpetrated by the Wharf Jeremie gang, leaving at least 207 people dead according to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. Elderly

Haitian Vodou Haitian Vodou () is an African diasporic religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West Africa, West and ...

practitioners were the primary targets. The death toll of 207 fatalities makes this massacre the most deadly gang incident in Haiti in 2024.

Attack

According to the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH), Monel "Mikano" Felix, leader of the Wharf Jeremie gang, ordered the attack on elderly practitioners of

after a Vodou priest blamed the terminal illness of Felix's son on witchcraft conducted in the slum of

. On Friday, 6 December 2024, gang members affiliated with Felix killed at least 60 people, and more than 50 individuals were killed the following day when Felix's child died. The killings were carried out with

machete A machete (; ) is a broad blade used either as an agricultural implement similar to an axe, or in combat like a long-bladed knife. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the Spanish language, the word is possibly a dimin ...

s, other knives, and

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s. At least 127 of the victims were elderly (over 60 years of age), and local witnesses attested that some younger people who attempted to intervene were also killed. International news of the massacre did not emerge until 8 December 2024, which RNDDH blamed on heavily restricted internet access in gang-controlled areas of

Responses

The Haitian government called the massacre an act of "unbearable cruelty". The

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

's office promised to "mobilize all forces to track down and annihilate" the responsible parties.

UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Antonio Guterres called on the government to "conduct a thorough investigation and ensure that perpetrators of these and all other human rights abuses and violations are brought to justice".

References

{{coord, 18.578, -72.335, type:event_globe:earth_region:HT, display=title Cité Soleil massacre 2024 murders in North America 21st century in Port-au-Prince 21st-century mass murder in North America Deaths by firearm in Haiti Deaths by stabbing in Haiti December 2024 crimes in North America Haitian crisis (2018–present) Massacres in 2024 Massacres in Haiti Mass stabbings in North America Religiously motivated violence Stabbing attacks in 2024 Knife attacks in North America

Attack

Responses

See also

References