SUMMARY

Gangs in Haiti were known for perpetrating violence against civilians in territories under the rule of a rival gang, but also against civilians that lived in the territories they themselves control. This type of violence, in the form of executions and sexual violence, for example, were intended to intimidate the population into submission. The gangs 5 Segond and Taliban, both strong allies of the G-Pep coalition, coordinated simultaneous violent attacks against the population of Source Matelas to create panic and divert police anti-gang operations underway in other neighborhoods.

On Wednesday 19 April 2023, residents were preparing to inaugurate a sub-police station in Source Matelas in the municipality of Cabaret, Haiti for a permanent police presence. Knowing this, the gang members sent a message to postpone the takeover, signaling their refusal to accept such action in the territory they sought to control.

More than a hundred heavily armed men from Canaan arrived at Source Matelas in minibuses and aided by the 5 Segond gang, they broke into nine neighborhoods, killing, looting, raping, and destroying everything in their path.

Initially, the attack targeted residents who had formed an anti-gang brigade. However, no one was spared. After targeting the brigade members, the assailants indiscriminately attacked the rest of the population, massacring elderly people, men, women, young people and babies. The gangs fired in several directions, imprisoning many victims in houses set on fire, while others were shot in their homes or in the streets as they tried to escape the violence.