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The United Nations has updated the number of people killed in the massacre that took place in the port city of Cité Soleil, Haiti, in early December, to 207, for religious reasons.
Dozens of elderly people and voodoo religious leaders were killed in the violence by members of the gang known as Wharf Jeremie, who took the victims from their homes and a place of worship, interrogated them and finally executed them.
According to a new report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 73 women and 134 men were murdered between December 6 and 11, all accused of witchcraft, according to the Reuters news agency.
At least 300 members of the Wharf Jeremie gang are believed to have been involved in the raids, kidnappings and executions; human rights groups have attributed the massacre to the death of the son of the gang's leader, Monel Felix, who accused villagers of "causing" his son's illness through voodoo.
The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti issued a statement calling for steps to be taken to strengthen police work: “Neither the police nor the judicial authorities intervene at Wharf Jérémie. Abuses committed there by gang members generally go unpunished.”
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