Seven Catholic clerics, including two French, were kidnapped Sunday April 11 in Croix-des-Bouquets, near the capital, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the bearer. word of the Conference of Bishops of this poor Caribbean country, prey to great insecurity.
The group – which included a French nun and a French priest, as well as four Haitian priests and a nun – were kidnapped in the morning as they “Went to the installation of a new priest”, explained Father Loudger Mazile, specifying that the kidnappers demand a million dollars (841,000 euros) in ransom.
The five priests belong to the Society of Priests of Saint-Jacques based in Guiclan (Finistère). “We try to pray while being so active. We are negotiating. The contact is made, that is important ”, stressed the Superior General, Paul Dossous, to AFP. The missionary society has about fifteen priests in Haiti, including the five abducted, out of a total of 80 priests and about twenty seminarians also present in France, Brazil and Canada.
The Quai d’Orsay has confirmed the kidnapping of the two French people. “The ministry’s crisis and support center as well as our embassy in Haiti are fully mobilized, in close collaboration with the local authorities”, he said. “For reasons of efficiency and safety, we observe the utmost discretion. “ An investigation was opened in Paris to “Kidnapping and forcible confinement in an organized group”, the prosecution said on Monday. The investigation was entrusted to the Central Office for the Fight against Organized Crime (OCLCO), said the Paris prosecutor’s office, competent for crimes committed abroad against French citizens.
A suspected armed gang
The Haitian Conference of Religious (CHR) later clarified in a statement that three other people, relatives of another priest who was not among those kidnapped, had also been kidnapped.
“The CHR expresses its deep sorrow, but also its anger at the inhuman situation we have been going through for more than a decade.. Not a day goes by without the weeping and gnashing of teeth, and yet the so-called leaders of this country, while clinging to power, are increasingly powerless. “
The Conference of Bishops of France and the Conference of Religious Men and Women of France have, for their part, expressed “Their very deep concern” and “Urge the kidnappers to release the men and women of peace they kidnapped and not to add further hatred where there is already poverty and insecurity”.
The police suspect an armed gang active in the area, called “400 Mawozo”, to be at the origin of this kidnapping, according to a source in its ranks. Contacted by AFP, the French Embassy did not immediately comment.
Ransom kidnappings on the rise
Kidnappings for ransom have increased in recent months in Port-au-Prince and in the provinces, testifying to the growing hold of armed gangs on Haitian territory.
” This is too much. The time has come for these inhumane acts to stop, reacted on Sunday Mgr Pierre-André Dumas, Bishop of Miragoâne reached by telephone. The Church prays and stands in solidarity with all the victims of this villainous act. “
Haitian President Jovenel Moïse has promised not to ” give up “ facing “Scourge” kidnappings in Haiti. “I am aware that the State must make more efforts in the battle against this catastrophe”, admitted Mr. Moïse, swearing that he will ” everything that [lui] allows the law to find good solutions to solve these problems ”.
The archdiocese of Port-au-Prince had earlier denounced the inaction of the authorities on Monday. “For some time now, we have seen the descent into hell of Haitian society, said Mgr Max Leroy Mésidor in a press release. We denounce complacency and complicity wherever they come from. ” A “Anger” also expressed by the Haitian Conference of Religious: “Not a day goes by without the weeping and gnashing of teeth and yet the so-called leaders of this country, while clinging to power, are increasingly powerless. “
In March, the Haitian executive power declared a state of emergency for one month in certain neighborhoods of the capital and a provincial region in order to “Restore the authority of the state” in areas controlled by gangs. The measure is motivated by the actions of armed bands which “Kidnap people for ransom by declaring it openly, stealing and looting public and private property, and openly confronting public security forces”, according to the presidential decree.
Gang violence and political instability in the country have recently led to demonstrations in the streets of the capital.
