Death on the streets as citizens rise against crime gangs

As Vélina Élysée Charlier ventured on to the streets of her conflict-stricken city last week, she encountered scenes that will haunt her for years

- Tom Phillips and Harold Isaac

Armed civilians dragging bodies through the streets. Smouldering corpses. Young men with machetes chasing suspected gangsters they planned to kill.

"I've seen enough dead people for many lifetimes," said the Haitian human rights activist. "It's kill, burn, kill, burn... It's nothing I would want anyone else to witness."

The nightmarish events unfolding in Haiti's coastal capital, Portau-Prince, began before dawn last Monday when members of one of its notorious gangs reportedly tried to seize control of the Turgeau district.

"What they didn't count on was the population striking back," said Charlier, who works in the neighbourhood.

Civilians brandishing knives, rocks and handguns rose up against the heavily armed criminals who control more than 80% of the capital and whose activities have led the UN to compare the situation to a war.

As the sun rose, the bloodshed spread. In the Canapé-Vert neighbourhood, 13 suspected gangsters were beaten, stoned to death and burned after their minibus was stopped by police. In Turgeau, another six men were reportedly set on fire.