The 12 members of the group of 17 North American missionaries and their relatives still captive of the gang which had kidnapped them in mid-October in Haiti have been released, announced Thursday, December 16, the spokesman of the national police. “We confirm the release of the 12 people who remained” hostages, Gary Desrosiers said by phone, powerless “Give more details for the moment”. Five members of the group, made up of U.S. citizens and one Canadian citizen, had previously been released by the gang, two in November and three in early December.
“We glorify God for the answered prayer: the 12 remaining hostages are free! “, responded Christian Aid Ministries, the religious organization to which they belong. “Thank you for your fervent prayers over the past two months. We hope to provide more information as soon as we can ”, announced on its website, the organization based in the US state of Ohio.
Threats of execution
On October 16, the group was kidnapped after visiting an orphanage, east of the capital, Port-au-Prince, in the heart of an area under the control of one of Haiti’s main gangs. . Following their kidnapping, Christian Aid Ministries said the group consisted of 12 adults, whose ages were between 18 and 48 years old, and 5 children aged 8 months, 3, 6, 13 and 15 years old.
Members of the “400 Mawozo” gang claimed one million dollars per person held captive. In a video posted at the end of October on social networks, the leader of this armed gang threatened to execute the hostages. A few days later, the Haitian police announced “To have received proof of life from all the hostages”.
Haiti is classified as a country in the red zone by the United States, which advises its nationals not to go there, in particular because of the numerous kidnappings of which “The victims regularly include American citizens”. In April, ten people including two French religious had been kidnapped for twenty days by this gang in the same region.