Gran Grif’s coordinated assault on at least eight towns in the agricultural Artibonite region left as many as 70 people dead. “These are terrorists; it’s not something for a police operation,” said Pierre Espérance, executive director of the National Human Rights Defense Network, a leading human rights group. The new Gang Suppression Force, approved by the U.N. Security Council in September, will be more militarized and act more independently. “There’s a transition period now that’s also quite dangerous,” said Bill O’Neill, the U.N.’s human rights expert in Haiti. Human rights activists and experts said the massacre was particularly troubling because of reports that it involved so-called self-defense groups, armed vigilantes.

Source: International New York Times April 06, 2026 10:39 UTC