947 People Murdered In Haiti Massacres Between 2018 And 2022

947 people died in at least 19 massacres and armed attacks between 2018 and 2022 in the West Department of Haiti, where Port-au-Prince is located, according to a report released this month by the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH), said reports.

"They (the irregular armed groups) have caused enormous human and material losses," affirmed the non-governmental organization for the promotion and defense of human rights in its report.

The RNDDH reported at least 947 fatalities in 16 of these bloody events, 59 missing person cases, and 677 houses burned or demolished.

"Public measures have never been taken against these armed bandits, whose leaders are known and denounced by the victims," the NGO said.

From July 7 to July 13, gang fights in the capital's Cité-Soleil neighborhood resulted in more than 300 fatalities in just six days, according to the RNDDH.

During that period, at least 101 instances of repeated gang rapes on women and girls were documented, 53 of which took place in Cité-Soleil, the largest slum in Port-au-Prince.

At least 172 prisoners have died so far this year in 14 civil prisons across the nation as well as the Petit-Goâve police station that was turned into a prison.

Jimmy Cherisier, alias "Barbecue," the head of the G9 alliance of armed gangs, declared earlier this month that the main oil port in the city had been released after being held hostage by his men for more than two months. This action triggered an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Haiti.

Armed gangs that kill, kidnap, loot, and rape with impunity are holding more than 60% of the Port-au-Prince region hostage, and state authorities are helpless to stop them.

In this context, cholera has already caused 97 deaths in Haiti, with a total of 4,194 suspected cases, 502 confirmed and 3,698 hospitalized, according to the latest report provided by the Ministry of Public Health and Population.

The Haitian government has requested military intervention from the international community, but the United Nations Security Council has discussed and left the decision on the matter on the table and has imposed sanctions and an arms embargo on the gangs.