Vigilante groups in Haiti targeting suspected gang members
![A police officer in Port-au-Prince.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cK3GNNbd9rUfRsPWX7jZxQ-415-80.jpg)
In and around Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, vigilante killings are on the rise as residents take up arms against the gangs that control up to 80 percent of the city.
At least 18 suspected gang members have been killed in the past week by crowds in the Port-au-Prince area, The Associated Press reports, and on Tuesday, five men were killed and their bodies later set on fire. Human rights activist Vélina Élysée Charlier told The Guardian she has walked by smoldering corpses on sidewalks and witnessed men with machetes chasing suspected gang members down the street. "I've seen enough dead people for many lifetimes," she said.
In March, Haiti saw its highest number of reported murders, rapes, kidnappings, and lynchings since 2005, The Guardian reports, and the violence ramped up on April 24 when a gang tried to take control of the Turgeau area of Port-au-Prince. "What they didn't count on was the population striking back," Charlier said. Civilians armed with handguns and knives took to the streets, forming self-defense brigades. At least 13 suspected gang members in the Canapé-Vert neighborhood were beaten, stoned to death, and then burned. One vigilante told AP that residents "are planning to fight and keep our neighborhood clean of these savages."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
After years of government corruption and gang violence, the current situation is not surprising, Daniel Foote, former U.S. special envoy to Haiti, told The Guardian. "At some point I thought they were going to start to take matters into their own hands because they've got no choice," he said. "The Haitians, like anybody, can only take so much. The gangs have stolen their lives from them."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Today's political cartoons - September 7, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - football widows, meddling kids, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Smoking ban: the return of the nanny state?
Talking Point Starmer's plan to revive Sunak-era war on tobacco has struck an unsettling chord even with some non-smokers
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: September 7, 2024
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published