![]() Gang members engage in near daily confrontations with Haitian police and tax local businesses. Much of the rise in kidnappings in Haiti is due to the 400 Mawozo, according to the Center for Analysis and Research for Human Rights (CARDH), a Port-au-Prince-based nonprofit. The family had arrived in Haiti earlier this month and were expected to stay for a few more months, Marks told CNN. “This group of workers has been committed to minister throughout poverty-stricken Haiti,” it said.Īmong the kidnapped are members of a family from the congregation of Dunkard Brethren Church in Hart, Michigan, according to the church’s minister, Ron Marks. The group had in recent weeks been involved in a rebuilding project for those who lost their homes in August earthquake, according to the Christian Aid Ministries statement.īefore the kidnapping, their work across the country included supporting thousands of school children, distributing Bibles and Christian literature, as well as supplying medicine to clinics, teaching Haitian pastors and providing food for the elderly and vulnerable, the statement said. And one of them was able to drop a pin, and that’s the last thing (the organization) heard until the kidnappers contacted them later in the day,” Hooley said. “A couple of fellows right away messaged the director and told him what was going on. The driver of the vehicle was an American who was a part of the group, the person said.ĭan Hooley, a former field director for Christian Aid Ministries in Haiti, told CNN Sunday that all of the kidnapped people are believed to have been in one vehicle, and that some were able to contact the organization’s local director before they were taken. The missionaries were traveling in a sprinter-type van when they left the orphanage on Saturday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The ransom demands for the missionaries were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The source added the gang members in contact with authorities appear calm and not nervous. But they are not swayed by those warnings,” said Quitel, adding that the kidnappers are sticking to their demands.Ī source in Haiti’s security forces said that for the moment all hostages are safe. “The kidnappers have been warned about harming the hostages and what may be the consequences for them. They feel comfortable keeping them there,” Quitel told CNN. “The gang has locations where they usually keep their hostages so that they can feel the hostages are safe. The hostages are being held somewhere outside of Croix-des-Bouquets, the Port-au-Prince suburb controlled by the gang, Quitel said. The missonaries had visited Maison La Providence de Dieu orphanage in Croix-des-Bouquets before being kidnapped. Due to operational considerations, no further information is available at this time,” an FBI spokesperson told CNN. “The FBI is part of a coordinated US government effort to get the Americans involved to safety. FBI agents are on the ground in Haiti assisting with the investigation but are not leading the negotiations, nor have they spoken directly with the kidnappers, he said. ![]() ![]() ![]() Quitel said that both Haitian police negotiators and the FBI are advising the missionary group on how to proceed and that negotiations are ongoing. The ages of the adults range from 18 to 48, they said. The five children abducted include an 8-month-old baby and children ages 3, 6, 13 and 15 years old, Christian Aid Ministries said in a Tuesday statement. The missionaries are affiliated with the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, which says the abducted group is made up of five men, seven women and five children. Haitian Justice Minister Liszt Quitel told CNN the kidnappers have demanded a total of $17 million for the group’s release and that they were being held in a location outside the suburb. Their abduction is part of a wave of indiscriminate kidnappings that has become more brazen as the country suffers from political instability, civil unrest, lack of quality healthcare and severe poverty. The 16 American citizens and one Canadian were kidnapped by the powerful “400 Mawozo” gang on Saturday after visiting an orphanage in Croix-des-Bouquets, a northeast suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince, over the weekend. The gang that kidnapped a group of 17 American and Canadian missionaries in Haiti has asked for $1 million each for their release, a top Haitian official told CNN Tuesday. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |