Report Blames Haitian Police for 164-Death Massacre
Report Blames Haitian Police for 164-Death Massacre
The News
Haiti's National Human Rights Defense Network says police passivity and institutional failure allowed gangs to massacre at least 164 people in Kenscoff, according to a report the group released Wednesday.
The group found that security personnel in the Kenscoff area had been cut by 60% before the attack, and that requests for two additional armored vehicles went ignored.
More than 70 people were kidnapped in the violence, and dozens remain missing.
The Numbers
At least 164 people were killed. The dead included 36 women, seven children, and nearly two dozen people between the ages of 65 and 90.
The report is built on interviews with more than 100 victims and relatives, along with judges, police officials, and a former chief of the Kenscoff police station.
Timeline
Gangs attack Kenscoff, killing at least 139 people. The report says security in the area was never restored afterward, and it remains unexplained why soldiers and special police units were withdrawn following that attack.
Security personnel in the Kenscoff area are reduced by 60%. Requests for two additional armored vehicles are ignored.
A 66% drop in violence is recorded in Kenscoff, before gangs strike again.
Kenscoff's mayor warns that drones are still flying over the community.
The National Human Rights Defense Network publishes its report, blaming police passivity and institutional failures for the deaths.
Reactions
The National Human Rights Defense Network places responsibility on Haitian authorities, arguing that the killings followed a deliberate drawdown of security in an area that had already been attacked once and left exposed.
Haiti's National Police did not respond to a request for comment on the report's findings.
Kenscoff's mayor said Tuesday that drones continue to fly over the community.
What's Next
The report leaves open questions that Haitian authorities have not answered: why soldiers and specialized police units were pulled out of Kenscoff after the January 2025 attack, and why the requests for armored vehicles were never filled.
Also unresolved is what the U.N.-backed gang suppression force has actually done on the ground; the report says its impact has been difficult to identify.
Dozens of the people kidnapped during the massacre are still missing.
More
The massacre is one of the largest in Haiti in recent years, and it landed in a community that had, by the report's own numbers, been getting safer — a 66% drop in violence from January to August — until gangs returned to an area whose defenders had been cut back.
Poll
Who bears the most responsibility for the Kenscoff massacre?
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