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A notorious Haitian gang known for unbridled kidnapping and killings was accused by the police of kidnapping 17 Christian missionaries, including 5 children, from an American organization.
Haitian Police Inspector Franz Champagne told the Associated Press (AP) on Sunday that 400 Mawozo gang abducted the group in Gantier, east of Port-au-Prince.
According to the authorities, the group’s name roughly translates to 400 “inexperienced people” and controls the Croix-des-Bouquets area, including Gantier, where they kidnap and hijack vehicles and blackmail business owners.
The Ohio-based Christian Aid Department stated that the kidnapped group consisted of 16 American citizens and a Canadian national, including 7 women and 5 men, as well as children. It added that when they were kidnapped, they were on a bus heading to the orphanage.
The organization said in a statement: “We are seeking God’s instructions to solve the problem, and the authorities are seeking ways to help.”
After the killing of President Jovenel Moise in July, kidnappings in Haiti surged as armed groups took advantage of the spread of insecurity and the political crisis exacerbated by the assassination of Moise.
The people affected are usually from the middle class in Haiti—teachers, pastors, civil servants, small business owners—and they can collect the ransom. According to the authorities, gangs demand ransoms ranging from a few hundred dollars to more than one million dollars.
This group of 17 people are members of American Christian Aid Missionaries, including 5 children [Aaron Josefczyk/Reuters]
After the missionaries were kidnapped on Sunday, the children stood in the courtyard of the orphanage of Maison La Providence de Dieu in Croix-des-Bouquet. [Joseph Odelyn/AP Photo]Civil society groups called for the immediate release of the missionaries on Sunday. The youngest child is only two years old.
“We call for the release of the kidnapped people, whether they are American citizens or people of other nationalities,” Gedeon Jean, director of the Human Rights Analysis and Research Center in the capital, Port-au-Prince, told AFP. He said the current situation “is detrimental to human dignity. “.
The US State Department said it was aware of these reports. Due to privacy regulations, the U.S. Embassy usually does not release information about citizens. A senior U.S. official who asked not to be named told AFP that the U.S. is keeping in touch with the Haitian authorities in an attempt to resolve the case.
The Canadian government said it is working with local authorities and groups to gather more information.
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Although attacks against foreigners are relatively rare, 400 Mawozo are suspected of being involved in the abduction of a group of priests and nuns, including French citizens, in the same area in April.
Among the activities in Haiti, the Christian Aid Department runs a clinic, helps orphans and organizes Bible reading activities.
Its annual report last year stated that U.S. staff returned to their base in Haiti after nine months of absence “due to political unrest,” noting that this instability had brought “uncertainty and difficulty.”
After the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July, Haiti was caught in a growing political and economic conflict [Joseph Odelyn/AP Photo]On Sunday, a team from the Associated Press visited the organization’s orphanage in Gantier and saw several children walking in the yard. A security guard confirmed that this was the place the kidnapped missionary had visited before being abducted. The guard called the pastor of the orphanage at the request of the Associated Press, but he declined to comment, saying only: “Let us keep the status quo.”
About a year ago, the Haitian police released a poster of 400 Mawozo’s accused leader Wilson Joseph for crimes including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, car theft, and hijacking a truck carrying goods. His nickname is “Lan Mo San Tiao”, which means “I don’t know when death will come.”
According to a report issued by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti last month, the Haitian National Police received at least 328 reports of kidnappings in the first eight months of 2021, and there were a total of 234 kidnappings in 2020.
Analyst Jean said that no powerful country has left a void, and criminal gangs have begun to fill in, extending their control from some of the poorest areas of the capital to surrounding areas.
A few days after a senior US official visited Haiti and promised to provide more resources to the Haitian National Police (including $15 million to help reduce gang violence), the missionary was kidnapped.
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