Churchgoers kidnapped in Haiti

Three worshippers were kidnapped by gang members in Haiti as they left a church in the capital, Port-au-Prince, after attending Sunday Mass.
According to local media, the kidnappers are asking for large sums of money as ransom.
In recent years, kidnappings for ransom have drastically risen in Haiti, with clergy and places of worship increasingly being targeted.
The “living nightmare” described by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is a vivid illustration of the current state of affairs.
On Sunday morning local time, witnesses reported that three individuals – a couple and one other person who regularly attends services at the First Baptist Church in the centre of Port-au-Prince – had been kidnapped by gang members.
Five days prior to their kidnapping, a priest was abducted while traveling to his missionary community, which was situated 27km (17 miles) north of the capital.
Before he was snatched, Father Antoine Macaire Christian Noah, who is from Cameroon, had been working as a parish priest in the mountainous village of Casale, north of the capital, for a year.
The gang had contacted the religious congregation to which he belongs, the Claretian Missionaries, with a ransom demand, they said.
In 2022, Haiti reported more than double the number of kidnappings (1,200) compared to the previous year.
In Haiti, not only has kidnapping been on the rise, but other crimes as well.
Last week, a UN report was released which highlighted the significant increase in gang violence in Brooklyn, a neighbourhood located on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.
It describes how one gang uses snipers to kill anyone entering its territory and how women are gang raped in front of their families to spread terror in gang-controlled areas.
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, characterized the findings as “horrifying”.
Mr Türk said that the situation paints a picture of how criminal gangs have been harassing and terrorising people for months without the state being able to put an end to it.
Following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, Haiti was plunged into lawlessness.
Since then, Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been leading the country, yet he has been unable to restrain the gangs which now hold dominion over approximately 60% of the capital.
An international force to help police in their fight against the criminal gangs has been repeatedly called for by Mr Henry.
Despite no country having offered to lead such a force, Mr Henry has stated that it is essential to ensure security in order to hold the much-delayed elections.