After the abduction of priests, the church denounces a “ descent into hell ” in Haiti

Haiti has descended “into hell” and the government is doing nothing, denounced Monday the Catholic Church of the troubled island after the kidnapping of 10 people, including members of the clergy and the French, whose kidnappers demand a ransom of one million dollars.

“For some time now, we have been witnessing the descent into hell of Haitian society,” said the archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, the capital, in a statement, declaring that “The violence of armed gangs” is taking on “unprecedented” proportions.

“The public authorities, which are doing nothing to resolve this crisis, they are not immune to suspicion. We denounce the complacency and the complicity where it comes from, ”adds the press release published the day after the kidnapping, which took place in Croix-des-Bouquets, a town northeast of the capital.

Among the kidnapped, there are seven Catholic clergymen – five Haitians, as well as a French nun and a priest – and three parents of a priest who is not among the kidnapped.

The plagiarism took place when the religious went to “the installation of a new priest”, Father Loudger Mazile, said the spokesperson for the Episcopal Conference of Haiti, a former French colony and the poorest country in the Americas.

The Paris prosecutor’s office, responsible for crimes committed abroad against French nationals, opened an investigation into the case on Monday.

“We are negotiating”
The kidnappers demand a a million dollar ransom for the group.

The five Haitian religious belong to the Sacerdotal Society of Santiago, based in France, his superior general, Paul Dossous, confirmed to AFP on Monday

“We try to pray while we are also active. We are negotiating. Contact is made, this is important,” he said.

The French Foreign Ministry announced that it had activated its crisis unit after the kidnapping, without however giving more details “for reasons of efficiency and security”.

Kidnappings for extortion have increased in recent months in Port-au-Prince and in the interior of Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.

Authorities suspect that an armed gang active in the region, nicknamed “400 Mawozo”, is behind the kidnapping, according to a police source.

“Cry and fear”
The The Conference of Religious of Haiti (CHR) criticized the inaction of the government and expressed its “deep regret” and “anger at the inhumane situation the country has been going through for more than a decade”, alluding to gang violence and the political crisis.

“Not a day goes by without crying and without fear, and yet the so-called rulers of this country, while clinging to power, are increasingly powerless “he added in a statement.

“It’s too much. The time has come for these inhumane acts to cease “, Monsignor Pierre-André Dumas, Bishop of Miragoâne, declared Sunday by telephone. “The Church prays and stands in solidarity with all the victims of this despicable act,” he added.

Emergency state
In March, the Haitian government declared a state of emergency for a month in certain districts of the capital and a region of the interior in order to “restore state authority” in areas controlled by gangs.

The measure was motivated by the actions of armed gangs who “kidnap people for ransom, steal and loot public and private property, and openly confront the public security forces “, according to the presidential decree.

Gang violence and political instability have recently sparked protests in the streets of the capital.

On April 3, several hundred women marched in Port-au-Prince to denounce the growing power of gangs in the territory.

Kidnappings for ransom affect the richest inhabitants, but also people living below the poverty line, who constitute the majority of the population.
Along with criminal violence, Haiti is going through a deep institutional crisis.

The president, Jovenel Moise, estimates that his term will end on February 7, 2022, while for the opposition and part of civil society, it ended on February 7.