(2024-12) United Nations Investigation Report on Wharf Jeremie

www.ohchr.org Page 1 of 9 HAITI FLASH REPORT 23 December 2024 Killings, 5358, 71% Injuries, 2155, 29% People killed and injured in 2024 Men, 134, 65% Women, 73, 35% Victims of Wharf Jérémie broken down by sex Between 6 and 11 December, at least 207 people (134 men and 73 women) were executed by members of the Wharf Jérémie criminal gang, under the control of Micanor Altès 1 . The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) established that the majority of the victims were elderly individuals accused of practicing Vodou and allegedly causing the illness of the gang leader’s child. The other victims were family members of the elderly individuals who had attempted to flee the area or individuals suspected of leaking information about these crimes to local media. The victims were first tracked down at their homes and in a place of worship, then taken to the gang’s stronghold, where they were shot or killed with machetes. After the killings, the gang attempted to erase all evidence by burning the bodies or dismembering them, and then dumping them into the sea. These crimes occur in an alarming context of violence, human rights violations and abuses, involving both criminal gangs, self-defense groups, and members of the population. Credible sources also indicate the involvement of specialized units of the Haitian National Police (HNP). Among these violations and abuses are murders, sexual violence, including gang rapes, kidnappings, and the recruitment and trafficking of children. Destruction of public buildings and private properties has also been documented. According to BINUH and OHCHR, since January 2024, more than 5,358 people have been killed and 2,155 injured. This brings the total number of people killed or injured in Haiti to at least 17,248 since the beginning of 2022 2 . 1 The United Nations Panel of Experts identified Monel Felix, alias Micanor Altès, as the leader of the Wharf Jérémie gang. (Final report of the Panel of Experts on Haiti submitted pursuant to resolution 2700 (2023), 30 September 2024, S/2024/704), https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/243/73/pdf/n2424373.pdf 2 The information contained in this report is based on human rights monitoring carried out by OHCHR, in accordance with its methodology. See: “Annex: Information collection and verification Process”. 207 PEOPLE EXECUTED BY THE WHARF JÉRÉMIE GANG (PORT-AU-PRINCE) 7,513 207 Killings, 12013, 70% Injuries, 5235, 30% People killed and injured since January 2022 17,248 www.ohchr.org Page 2 of 9 HAITI FLASH REPORT 23 December 2024 Map 1: Wharf Jérémie, site of the incidents Timeline of executions in Wharf Jérémie What happened at Wharf Jérémie between 6 and 11 December? www.ohchr.org Page 3 of 9 HAITI FLASH REPORT 23 December 2024 Phase 1: In early December 2024, after his young son fell seriously ill, the leader of the Wharf Jérémie gang accused the Vodou priests and elderly people living in Wharf Jérémie of being responsible. On the evening of 6 December, he ordered the members of his gang (around 300) to carry out a brutal “manhunt”. They stormed into about ten alleys of the neighborhood and forcibly dragged the victims out of their homes. At least 127 elderly people (90 men and 37 women) were taken to the gang’s stronghold – the so-called “training center” of Wharf Jérémie, located along the coastline and used to train its members. BINUH and OHCHR were able to establish that the 127 victims lived in five areas located in different parts of the neighborhood (see map 1). Those who lived near the “training center” were forced to walk, while others, living in more distant alleys, were transported in a pickup truck. From this center, the victims were taken to an execution site nearby, known as “Nan Mangue”. Some of them were shot, while others were killed with machetes. The bodies were then burned with gasoline, or dismembered and dumped into the sea. The elderly were specifically targeted due to a widespread perception in certain sectors of the Haitian population that they are associated with practitioners of Vodou and witchcraft. According to credible sources, as a devout Vodou practitioner, the leader of the Wharf Jérémie gang personally knew those who regularly participated in ceremonies in the neighborhood. Phase 2: The following day, on the evening of 7 December, 57 people (33 men and 24 women) 3 gathered at Wharf Jérémie to participate in a Vodou mystical ceremony before taking a makeshift boat to flee the country. Gang members then stormed the premises of the Vodou “temple” and kidnapped them. The victims were then taken to the gang’s “training center”, where they were detained and subjected to interrogations by the gang leader and his men throughout the night. 3 Among the participants in this Vodou ceremony were 50 followers, a Vodou priest, and 6 members of his family. The leader of the Wharf Jérémie gang was involved in murders as a form of punishment or for religious reasons. • In May 2008, he would have executed at least seven Vodou priestesses during a ceremony, justifying these murders as his desire to “strengthen his mystical powers”. • In 2012, 12 Vodou priestesses were also reportedly executed following accusations of witchcraft. Training center in Wharf Jérémie Credit: www.youtube.com/@DanielleDreis www.ohchr.org Page 4 of 9 HAITI FLASH REPORT 23 December 2024 Phase 3: At dawn on 8 December, these 57 people were executed by the sea, at “Nan Mangue”, and their bodies were also burned with gasoline or mutilated. When the news of the massacre began to spread in the media on 8 December, the gang leader ordered the confiscation of all residents’ phones to identify those responsible for spreading the information beyond Wharf Jérémie. Gang members also imposed movement restrictions, closely monitoring the only access road to the neighborhood and forbidding residents from leaving their homes. In addition, they detained about sixty people in the “training center”, accusing them of having reported the murders of their relatives to the media and human rights organizations. Phase 4: On 9 December, five relatives of the elderly people killed on December 6 (three men and two women) tried to flee the Wharf Jérémie neighborhood, fearing they would be targeted. They were captured and taken to the “Nan Mangue” area, where they were executed by the gang leader's deputy. Phase 5: According to information gathered by BINUH and OHCHR, as news of these crimes spread through the media, the gang leader tightened his grip on Wharf Jérémie. On 10 December, he went to the homes of several relatives of the victims, accusing them of having reported the disappearance of their loved ones to journalists. Thirteen people (eight men and five women) were taken to the gang’s stronghold. They were interrogated and mistreated one by one by the gang leader himself, before being taken to the execution site and killed. To eliminate the evidence, their bodies were burned with gasoline. Phase 6: On 11 December, another serious incident was reported. Five women were captured by gang members while they were recording a TikTok video in which they denounced the murder of their parents. Taken to the “training center”, they suffered the same fate as the previous victims. In an attempt to deflect Verbatim of an audio attributed to the leader of the Wharf Jérémie gang, on certain social media platforms, on 11 December 2024 “Hello, colleagues of Viv Ansanm, Greetings, I am King Micanor, and I will tell you the events related to the incident in my area. Many people are claiming that I carried out a massacre and that there were fatalities. The victims are sorcerers (loup- garous), and the Viv Ansanm coalition does not work with such individuals. Can you imagine that my son, born healthy, was plotted against by the elders in the area who tried to kill him by casting mystical spells? In such a case, I cannot remain inactive; I must take my revenge. In all Viv Ansanm bases, we will exterminate the sorcerers and cleanse the areas. I’ve heard many messages in the press and from human rights organizations. You know my hideout, you know me. Come and get me. You are cowards. I’m waiting for you, come and get me. What I did, I fully own it. The elders killed my son, do you think I wasn’t going to react? A son that I love so much. You are not the parents of the child, and that’s why you are insensitive to the pain. I, King Micanor, did not commit any abuse. The people who were killed are dead. If others must be killed, they will die. All the gangs of Viv Ansanm will hunt down the sorceres (loup-garous)”. www.ohchr.org Page 5 of 9 HAITI FLASH REPORT 23 December 2024 the accusations of his involvement in these executions, the leader of the Wharf Jérémie gang released the 60 people he had been holding. He also distributed food to dozens of residents and urged them to organize a march in the neighborhood to publicly support him and deny that he had committed the murders. Meanwhile, about 70 residents of Wharf Jérémie, including relatives of the victims, fled their homes out of fear of reprisals and found “refuge” in the La Saline neighborhood, controlled by a rival gang. Wharf harf Jérémie, a coastal neighborhood in the La Saline area of Port-au-Prince (see map 2), has been under the control of a gang led by Micanor Altès for over 15 years. According to BINUH and OHCHR, during this period, the gang has established its own criminal governance. As such, it engages in various illegal activities, including theft, hijacking trucks transporting goods, and extorting businesses. Moreover, it controls the socioeconomic fabric of Wharf Jérémie, extorting residents and restricting their freedom of movement. Since June 2022, the Wharf Jérémie gang has been engaged in a violent confrontation with the gangs of Village de Dieu and Grand Ravine for control of the La Saline port area in Port-au-Prince. This rivalry focuses on control of the roads leading to the National Port Authority (APN), the main port of the capital, which houses the container warehouse of the Caribbean Port Services (CPS) company. The Wharf Jérémie gang would also provide security services to protect the port of Port- au-Prince and its container terminal. Its leader is said to impose “taxes” on the port management consortium, particularly for the departure of containers, as well as on road transport companies transporting goods from the port. In any case, this individual has positioned himself as a key intermediary with national and international actors, seeking to gain access to the local populations living in Wharf Jérémie. Gang dynamics in Wharf Jérémie and La Saline: criminal governance and access control to the port of Port-au-Prince www.ohchr.org Page 6 of 9 HAITI FLASH REPORT 23 December 2024 Map 2: Gangs operating in the port area and the industrial zone While the gangs of Wharf Jérémie, Village de Dieu, and Grand Ravine initially were part of the Viv Ansanm coalition, revived in early March 2024 with the aim of attacking state institutions and destabilizing the Haitian government, the Wharf Jérémie gang withdrew from this alliance in May 2024, refusing to relinquish control of access to the port. Subsequently, violent clashes between the three gangs have been regularly documented, resulting in at least 331 deaths and 227 injuries. www.ohchr.org Page 7 of 9 HAITI FLASH REPORT 23 December 2024 Recent Incidents of mass killings documented by OHCHR In recent years, the influence and domination of the gang leader of Wharf Jérémie over the residents of this neighborhood have intensified, coinciding with endemic impunity for human rights violations and abuses. Haitian authorities have gradually withdrawn from this area. Credible sources report that representatives of the police and the judiciary no longer have access to the Wharf Jérémie area. As of the publication date of this report, the executions carried out between 6 and 11 December have not elicited any response from the Port-au-Prince prosecutor’s office. This is also the case for other crimes documented by BINUH and OHCHR since 2022 (see table below). On 12 December, however, the new Prime Minister instructed the Minister of Justice and Public Security and the Director of the Judicial Police to mobilize all necessary resources to apprehend those responsible for these crimes. Date Place Perpetrators Killed Injured/Raped Jul-Aug 2022 Cité Soleil Belekou, Brooklyn and Pierre VI 253 282 + 51 raped Jan 2023 Cité Soleil Belekou, Boston, Pierre VI and Terre Noire 542 18 Mar 2023 Cité Soleil Belekou, Boston, Pierre VI and Terre Noire 158 93 + 6 raped Apr 2023 Cité Soleil Belekou, Boston, Pierre VI and Terre Noire 171 84 + 11 raped Apr 2023 Cabaret Canaan and Village de Dieu 39 16 Sep 2023 Croix-des-Bouquets Mawozo and Krazè Baryè 747 45 Nov 2023 Cité Soleil Belekou, Boston, Brooklyn, Canaan, Chen Mechan Pierre VI and Terre Noire 163 127 + 5 raped Oct 2024 Saint Marc Gran Grif 100 16 Widespread impunity www.ohchr.org Page 8 of 9 HAITI FLASH REPORT 23 December 2024 Recommendations to Haitian authorities to urgently ensure access to justice for the residents of Wharf Jérémie: The Public Prosecutor: - Establish 24/7 telephone lines to handle emergency calls and reports from victims who are unable to come to the office. - Deploy Deputy Prosecutors to the main police stations to collect complaints from victims of gang violence. - Instruct the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ) to initiate preliminary investigations into the Wharf Jérémie massacre. - Initiate legal action against individuals suspected of committing a crime. The Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) and the Government: - Establish a specialized judicial unit to combat crimes involving a high number of victims. The General Directorate of the Haitian National Police: - Develop a comprehensive plan to regain territorial control of areas affected by gang violence and to protect the population. Recommendations to the international community: - Continue the deployment, as authorized by the Security Council in its resolutions 2699 (2023) and 2751 (2024), of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti, to assist the Haitian National Police in restoring security in the country, while fully respecting international law, including human rights. - Provide support to the Haitian authorities in the development and implementation of effective public policies to combat impunity. - In the framework of Security Council resolutions 2653 (2022), 2700 (2023), and 2752 (2024), take urgent and stricter measures to prevent the provision, sale, or direct or indirect transfer of arms and related materials of all types to Haiti, from their territory or through their territory, or by their nationals, or by means of vessels flying their flag or aircraft registered in their country. - Continue updating the list of individuals and entities subject to the Security Council sanctions regime in Haiti, particularly for preparing, ordering, or committing acts in Haiti that violate international human rights law. www.ohchr.org Page 9 of 9 HAITI FLASH REPORT 23 December 2024 Appendix: Information collection and verification process A. Data collection and verification process for the report “207 people executed by the Wharf Jérémie gang (Port-au-Prince)” 1. The data collection process for this report followed a rigorous documentation and verification procedure in three stages. The information was initially collected from primary sources, which are not disclosed in this methodology for reasons of confidentiality and security. This information was then cross-checked with that of independent third parties, including service providers not directly linked to the sources of OHCHR, but with access to people affected by the events. Finally, a third level of verification involved comparing and corroborating the collected data with reports from partner organizations to ensure the consistency and accuracy of the information. 2. The following provides a detailed overview of the standards of evidence used, as well as a detailed description of the data collection and verification process. B. Standards of Evidence 3. In line with the methodology of OHCHR, the team applied the standard of reasonable grounds to establish the facts concerning individuals, cases, incidents, and behaviors. These factual observations formed the basis for the legal qualification of the incidents and behaviors, characterizing them as violations or breaches of international human rights law. 4. The team determined that this standard was met when it was confident that a reliable and consistent set of information had been gathered, corroborated by other sources, on the basis of which a reasonable and ordinarily prudent person would have reason to believe that such an incident or behavior had actually occurred. 5. When this report references a witness’s account, the team considered the statement to be truthful and relevant, in accordance with its assessment, unless stated otherwise. Direct references to specific witness statements in this report should not be interpreted as indicating that these statements were the sole basis for the assessment of the issues addressed in the analysis. These references and direct quotes are included as examples or illustrations. C. Data collection and verification 6. Due to difficulties accessing Warf Jérémie, the team conducted the majority of interviews by phone, taking measures to ensure their reliability while maintaining confidentiality. 7. The team paid particular attention to the principle of “do no harm” ensuring that all interaction with sources were carefully evaluated to avoid any risk of negative impact on individuals and organizations. 8. The team also used open-source information to conduct its investigations, including social media (such as Facebook and WhatsApp). All this information was verified and cross-checked with secondary sources deemed credible and reliable.