AMERICA/HAITI – At least 20 people killed by criminal gangs in the municipality of Gressier

Port-au-Prince – At least 20 people were killed last weekend in the municipality of Gressier, on the outskirts of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.
The deadliest attack took place on July 31, when 18 people travelling by motorcycle were killed by members of ‘Viv Ansanm,’ a coalition of several criminal gangs. Local residents managed to recover only eight bodies, seven of which were badly decomposed after being burned by the attackers. Other victims, some of them travelling through the area from Haiti’s Grand Sud region, remain missing, while their relatives are unable to recover their bodies.
The violence also spread to the town of Échalot, where houses and vehicles were set on fire.
The authorities have come under criticism for their silence and inaction, particularly for failing to assist in the recovery of the victims’ bodies, further reinforcing a sense of abandonment. Gressier has been under intense pressure from criminal gangs for several years.
Viv Ansanm was formed in September 2023 through the merger of the Haitian gangs G-9 and G-Pèp, led by Jimmy Chérizier, a former officer of the Haitian National Police’s elite unit. Since February 2024, VA has coordinated large-scale offensives against state institutions, consolidating its control over more than 90 percent of Port-au-Prince while expanding into the departments of Artibonite, Centre and Ouest, three of Haiti’s ten departments .

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