Latest news with #Mawozo
Indian Express
05-08-2025
- Indian Express
At least 8 missing, including an Irish missionary, after gunmen storm a Haiti orphanage
Eight people, including an Irish missionary and a 3-year-old child, remained 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. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack early on Sunday. The area is controlled by a gang federation known as ' Viv Ansanm,' which the United States this year designated a foreign terrorist organization. Among those abducted was Gena Heraty, an Irish missionary who has worked in Haiti since 1993 and oversaw the orphanage's special needs program for children and adults. She was assaulted in 2013 when suspects broke into the orphanage and killed her colleague, according to Irish media. Her family issued a statement saying they were 'absolutely devastated' by Sunday's kidnappings: 'The situation is evolving and deeply worrying.' 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 took place 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. The lush green and incredibly steep mountains where the orphanage is located has been under attack by heavily armed gangs since January. The latest attack over the weekend forced farmers in the area to flee. 'We can't work,' said 41-year-old farmer Sala Désire, who fled his home and carried a small oven up a mountain as he gathered his belongings and prepared for a 30-minute trek uphill. Joceline Souffrant, 52, said she would follow him shortly. 'Everyone is running,' she said. 'We can't say in the area because of the shooting.' 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 with 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.
Perth Now
05-08-2025
- Perth Now
Gunmen storm Haiti orphanage, eight abducted
Eight people, including an Irish missionary and a three-year-old child, are missing after gunmen stormed an orphanage in Haiti. The latest attack early on Sunday was 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. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. The area is controlled by a gang federation known as "Viv Ansanm", which the United States this year designated a foreign terrorist organisation. Among those abducted was Gena Heraty, an Irish missionary who has worked in Haiti since 1993 and oversaw the orphanage's special needs program for children and adults. She was assaulted in 2013 when suspects broke into the orphanage and killed her colleague, according to Irish media. Her family issued a statement saying they were "absolutely devastated" by Sunday's kidnappings: "The situation is evolving and deeply worrying." 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. The lush green and incredibly steep mountains where the orphanage is located has been under attack by heavily armed gangs since January. The latest attack over the weekend forced farmers in the area to flee. 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. 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.
Toronto Star
19-05-2025
- Toronto Star
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.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
Haiti gang leader denies ties to 400 Mawozo group, or role in kidnapping U.S. missionaries
Germine Joly, the Haitian gang leader who ran a gunrunning conspiracy and kidnapping racket from the inside of a Haitian jail, denied any gang affiliation or role in the kidnapping of 16 U.S. missionaries as he took the stand in his own defense on Wednesday inside a Washington federal courtroom. Joly, wearing a black suit, tie and eye glasses, said he was neither a member of the 400 Mawozo gang nor created the criminal armed group, which in 2021 took responsibility for the abduction of 16 U.S. citizens and a Canadian national with Ohio-based Christian Aid Missionaries. The missionaries were grabbed at gunpoint on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince after returning from visiting an orphanage. While some of the hostages were released after a few days in captivity, the majority of them were held for two months and freed after an undisclosed ransom was paid. Their release was made to look like an escape by the gang, which is being accused of abducting the missionaries, including five children, as a bargaining chip to help secure Joly's release from a Haitian prison. Known as 'Yonyon,' Joly pleaded guilty last year to a 48-count indictment related to weapons smuggling and money laundering where the proceeds from kidnapping ransoms were used to purchase automatic rifles. The guns were bought in Florida from several of the gang's associates and were later smuggled to Haiti, where they were used by 400 Mawozo in various criminal enterprises including extortion, killings and kidnappings. As a result of his guilty plea, Joly was sentenced to 35 years in a U.S. prison by the same U.S. District Judge John D. Bates who is now presiding over his current federal trial where he's charged with 16 counts of kidnapping. During his testimony Wednesday, he insisted he had no business with 400 Mawozo other than gun sales and that he neither was a member nor creator of the criminal group, now part of a powerful gang coalition in Haiti. Joly said cousins of his, including Lanmò Sanjou, were members. The current head of the gang, Lanmò Sanjou, aka Joseph Wilson, is among several gang leaders wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for his role in the kidnappings of U.S. citizens in Haiti. Joly's repeated denial of his gang affiliation, and text messages the federal government presented as evidence to show his ties to illicit weapons smuggling from Florida and his relations with 400 Mawozo, led prosecutors to delay closing arguments and present a rebuttal witness on Thursday. Closing arguments in the trial are now expected Thursday.
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Miami Herald
15-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Haiti gang leader denies ties to 400 Mawozo group, or role in kidnapping U.S. missionaries
Germine Joly, the Haitian gang leader who ran a gunrunning conspiracy and kidnapping racket from the inside of a Haitian jail, denied any gang affiliation or role in the kidnapping of 16 U.S. missionaries as he took the stand in his own defense on Wednesday inside a Washington federal courtroom. Joly, wearing a black suit, tie and eye glasses, said he was neither a member of the 400 Mawozo gang nor created the criminal armed group, which in 2021 took responsibility for the abduction of 16 U.S. citizens and a Canadian national with Ohio-based Christian Aid Missionaries. The missionaries were grabbed at gunpoint on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince after returning from visiting an orphanage. While some of the hostages were released after a few days in captivity, the majority of them were held for two months and freed after an undisclosed ransom was paid. Their release was made to look like an escape by the gang, which is being accused of abducting the missionaries, including five children, as a bargaining chip to help secure Joly's release from a Haitian prison. Known as 'Yonyon,' Joly pleaded guilty last year to a 48-count indictment related to weapons smuggling and money laundering where the proceeds from kidnapping ransoms were used to purchase automatic rifles. The guns were bought in Florida from several of the gang's associates and were later smuggled to Haiti, where they were used by 400 Mawozo in various criminal enterprises including extortion, killings and kidnappings. As a result of his guilty plea, Joly was sentenced to 35 years in a U.S. prison by the same U.S. District Judge John D. Bates who is now presiding over his current federal trial where he's charged with 16 counts of kidnapping. During his testimony Wednesday, he insisted he had no business with 400 Mawozo other than gun sales and that he neither was a member nor creator of the criminal group, now part of a powerful gang coalition in Haiti. Joly said cousins of his, including Lanmò Sanjou, were members. The current head of the gang, Lanmò Sanjou, aka Joseph Wilson, is among several gang leaders wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for his role in the kidnappings of U.S. citizens in Haiti. Joly's repeated denial of his gang affiliation, and text messages the federal government presented as evidence to show his ties to illicit weapons smuggling from Florida and his relations with 400 Mawozo, led prosecutors to delay closing arguments and present a rebuttal witness on Thursday. Closing arguments in the trial are now expected Thursday.
