Latest news with #400Mawozo
The Independent
05-08-2025
- The Independent
Irish missionary among eight missing after gunmen storm orphanage
An Irish missionary is among eight people who are missing after gunmen stormed an orphanage in Haiti. The attack is just the latest in an area controlled by a powerful array of armed gangs. A three-year-old child is also among the missing following the incident, at the Saint-Hélène orphanage in Kenscoff. The orphanage is run by the international charity Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs and cares for more than 240 children, according to its website. Among those kidnapped early on Sunday was Gena Heraty, an Irish missionary who has worked in Haiti since 1993. According to Irish media, Ms Heraty, who oversees the orphanage's special needs programme for children and adults, was assaulted in 2013 when people broke into the orphanage and killed her colleague. Her family issued a statement saying they were 'absolutely devastated' by Sunday's kidnappings. 'The situation is evolving and deeply worrying,' they said. Sunday's incident marked the latest high-profile kidnapping involving a foreign missionary. In 2021, the 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped 17 missionaries from a US-based organisation in Ganthier, east of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The majority were held captive for 61 days. Kenscoff is a once peaceful community in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. The doors to the orphanage remained closed on Monday as Haiti's Institute of Social Welfare and Research worked with UNICEF to identify sites where children and employees could be relocated. No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, which took place in an area controlled by a gang federation known as ' Viv Ansanm'. Earlier this year, the US designated it as a foreign terrorist organisation. Simon Harris, Ireland's deputy prime minister, said in a statement that the kidnappings of Ms Heraty and the others were 'deeply worrying", and called for their immediate release. In a past interview with the Irish Independent newspaper, Ms Heraty recalled being threatened with death when suspects broke into the orphanage in 2013. 'They were quite aggressive. One had a hammer, one had a gun,' she said. Ms Heraty said her colleague was killed with a hammer after he rushed to help her and others. 'The last place you would expect a violent death to happen in Haiti would be in a house with special-needs people," she said. "Life is just not fair. We know that. We just have to accept it.' At least 175 people in Haiti were reported kidnapped from April to the end of June this year, with 37 per cent of those cases occurring in Port-au-Prince. The United Nations said a majority of those kidnappings were blamed on the Grand Ravine and Village de Dieu gangs, which form part of the Viv Ansanm federation.
Euronews
04-08-2025
- Euronews
At least eight people missing after gunmen storm orphanage in Haiti
Eight people, including an Irish missionary and a three-year-old child, are still missing on Monday after gunmen stormed an orphanage in Haiti, the latest attack in an area controlled by a powerful collection of armed gangs. Authorities scrambled to relocate dozens of children and staff from the Saint-Hélène orphanage run by Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs, an international charity with offices in Mexico and France. The orphanage cares for more than 240 children, according to its website. Among those kidnapped early on Sunday was Gena Heraty, an Irish missionary who has worked in Haiti for 30 years and oversaw the orphanage. She was assaulted in 2013 when suspects broke into the orphanage and killed her colleague, according to Irish media. Sunday's attack is the latest high-profile kidnapping involving a foreign missionary. In 2021, the 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped 17 missionaries, including five children, from a US-based organisation in Ganthier, east of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The majority were held captive for 61 days. Sunday's kidnapping occurred in Kenscoff, a community in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. The doors to the orphanage remained closed on Monday as Haiti's Institute of Social Welfare and Research worked with UNICEF to identify sites where children and employees could be relocated. No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings in an area controlled by a gang federation known as Viv Ansanm. The US this year designated it as a foreign terrorist organisation. Simon Harris, Ireland's deputy prime minister, said in a statement that the kidnappings of Heraty and the others were "deeply worrying," and called for their immediate release. In a past interview with the Irish Independent newspaper, Heraty recalled being threatened to death when suspects broke into the orphanage in 2013. "They were quite aggressive. One had a hammer, one had a gun," she said. Heraty said her colleague was killed with a hammer after he rushed to help her and others. "The last place you would expect a violent death to happen in Haiti would be in a house with special-needs people," she said. "Life is just not fair. We know that. We just have to accept it." At least 175 people in Haiti were reported kidnapped from April to the end of June of this year, with 37% of those cases occurring in Port-au-Prince. The United Nations said a majority of those kidnappings were blamed on the Grand Ravine and Village de Dieu gangs, which form part of the Viv Ansanm federation. The number of people uprooted by gang violence in Haiti has more than tripled in the last year to hit a record high of at least 1 million, the UN migration agency said in January. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the situation is particularly severe in the capital where "relentless gang violence" has fuelled a near-doubling of internal displacement and the collapse of healthcare and other services. Haiti has been plagued by worsening gang violence since the 2021 assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse. Armed gangs now control most of Port-au-Prince and the arrival of a UN-backed multinational security force last June has so far had little impact. More than 5,600 people were reported killed in Haiti last year, up 20% on 2023, according to data released by the UN Human Rights Office at the start of the year.
Los Angeles Times
04-08-2025
- Los Angeles Times
8 including Irish missionary missing in Haiti after gunmen storm orphanage
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Eight people including an Irish missionary and a 3-year-old child remained missing Monday after gunmen stormed an orphanage in Haiti, the latest attack in an area controlled by a powerful collection of armed gangs. Authorities had scrambled to relocate dozens of children and staff from the Saint-Hélène orphanage run by Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs, an international charity with offices in Mexico and France. The orphanage cares for more than 240 children, according to its website. Among those kidnapped early Sunday was Gena Heraty, an Irish missionary who has worked in Haiti for 30 years and oversaw the orphanage. She was assaulted in 2013 when suspects broke into the orphanage and killed her colleague, according to Irish media. Sunday marked the latest high-profile kidnapping involving a foreign missionary. In 2021, the 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped 17 missionaries, including five children, from a U.S. -based organization in Ganthier, east of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The majority were held captive for 61 days. Sunday's kidnapping occurred in Kenscoff, a once peaceful community in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. The doors to the orphanage remained closed on Monday as Haiti's Institute of Social Welfare and Research worked with UNICEF to identify sites where children and employees could be relocated. No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings in an area controlled by a gang federation known as ' Viv Ansanm.' The U.S. this year designated it as a foreign terrorist organization. Simon Harris, Ireland's deputy prime minister, said in a statement that the kidnappings of Heraty and the others were 'deeply worrying,' and called for their immediate release. In a past interview with the Irish Independent newspaper, Heraty recalled being threatened to death when suspects broke into the orphanage in 2013. 'They were quite aggressive. One had a hammer, one had a gun,' she said. Heraty said her colleague was killed with a hammer after he rushed to help her and others. 'The last place you would expect a violent death to happen in Haiti would be in a house with special-needs people,' she said. 'Life is just not fair. We know that. We just have to accept it.' At least 175 people in Haiti were reported kidnapped from April to the end of June of this year, with 37% of those cases occurring in Port-au-Prince. The United Nations said a majority of those kidnappings were blamed on the Grand Ravine and Village de Dieu gangs, which form part of the Viv Ansanm federation. Luxama and Coto write for the Associated Press.
American Military News
23-05-2025
- American Military News
Haiti gang leader ‘Yonyon' found guilty of kidnapping 16 U.S. missionaries
Germine Joly, once one of the most powerful gang leaders in Haiti — even when he was behind prison bars — has been found guilty of kidnapping 16 U.S. citizens who worked in Haiti as missionaries. The missionaries were abducted in 2021, and 12 members of the group from Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, including a Canadian national, were held for two months. They won their freedom only after a $350,000 ransom was paid and Joly's co-gang leader, Lanmo Sanjou, set up their release to look like an escape to avoid his fellow gang member's wrath. Joly, known as 'Yonyon,' took the stand in his defense and refuted any involvement with the 400 Mawozo gang. On Friday he was found guilty by a federal jury in the District of Columbia for his role in orchestrating the hostage taking. The verdict was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ryan James of the Miami Field Office. 'This office will fight aggressively to protect Americans who are taken hostage and abused, and to uphold the religious freedoms of our people, including Christians,' the Justice Department the Miami Field Office of the FBI said in a statement. 'As the evidence demonstrated, Joly Germine orchestrated a plot that leveraged American Christian missionaries as bargaining chips to try to secure his own release from a Haitian prison,' Pirro said. 'When you commit crimes against Americans in other countries, it makes no difference where you are — we are coming for you. Justice may not always be swift but it is certain.' James said Joly's conviction 'demonstrates the FBI's determination to follow the evidence wherever it leads and to work our way up to the leaders of criminal plots wherever they are.' Joly, 32, 'found out he was not beyond the reach of the FBI,' James said. 'Neither time nor distance will weaken our resolve. We will use all tools available and go to farthest reaches of the globe to bring to justice those who kidnap Americans.' Joly was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit hostage taking and 16 counts of hostage taking of a U.S. national for ransom. The self-described 'king' of the notoriously violent Haitian gang known as 400 Mawozo, Joly previously pleaded guilty to his role in a gun trafficking conspiracy that smuggled firearms to Haiti in violation of U.S. export laws and the laundering of the gang's funds derived from ransoms paid for other U.S. hostage victims. He was sentenced in June to 35 years in federal prison. The 400 Mawozo is part of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition and controls areas in the Croix-des-Bouquets commune to the east of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. Joly directed the gang's operations from inside a Haitian prison using unmonitored cell phones and was constantly in touch with other 400 Mawozo leaders, most of whom were his relatives. He controlled the gang's finances, supplied its weapons and otherwise directed operations. On Oct. 16, 2021, the 17 Mennonite missionaries from Christian Aid Ministries were returning from visiting an orphanage when they were stopped by 400 Mawozo's armed, masked soldiers. Many of the gang's soldiers were brandishing firearms supplied by Joly, prosecutors argued in the trial. The kidnapped group comprised 12 adults and five children, including a 6-year-old, a 3-year-old, and an 8-month-old. The gang drove the missionaries to a field and robbed them, while consulting by phone with Joly, prosecutors said. The gang took the missionaries to a building in a rural area, held them at gunpoint, and demanded ransom of $1 million each for their return, the Justice Department said. 'In postings on social media, the gang threatened to kill all the hostages if the ransom was not paid.' The FBI Miami Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other federal agencies. ©2025 Miami Herald. Visit Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Hamilton Spectator
19-05-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
US jury convicts once powerful Haitian gang leader in kidnapping of US missionaries
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A U.S. jury has found a once powerful Haitian gang leader guilty of organizing the kidnapping of 16 U.S. citizens in 2021 and holding them hostage for more than two months. Germine Joly, whom authorities said led the 400 Mawozo gang in Haiti, will be sentenced later this year following Friday's conviction at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. Joly, who has denied involvement with the gang, was sentenced to 35 years in prison last year after pleading guilty to weapons smuggling and the laundering of ransom related to the mass kidnapping. Haitian police arrested Joly in 2014, and he was sentenced to life in prison in 2018. Authorities said he still directed gang operations from prison, including the October 2021 kidnapping of 16 Americans, including five children, and a Canadian who worked with the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries . The children were ages 6 and 3 and 8 months old. The gang initially demanded $1 million each for the hostages or, alternatively, the release of Joly from prison. The first hostages were released in November 2021, with a $350,000 ransom eventually paid for the release of the remaining captives. The Haitian government extradited Joly in 2022. Joly, known as 'Yonyon,' was co-leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, which translates roughly to '400 simpletons.' It controls part of Croix-des-Bouquets, a neighborhood in the eastern region of the Port-au-Prince capital and surrounding areas. The gang also operates along a route that connects the capital with the border city of Jimaní in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. The gang is still led by Joseph Wilson, best known as 'Lanmò San Jou,' which means 'death has no date,' and it is an ally of G-Pep, a gang federation that is now part of a powerful gang coalition known as 'Viv Ansanm.'
