An NGO that specializes in abductions says 12 North American missionaries were released on Thursday, two months after they were abducted by a group of 17 armed men in Haiti on October 16.
“Yes, I have confirmed the information. They were released this morning, “said Gdéon Jean Efe, director of the Haitian Center for Human Rights Research (CARDH).
Neither the Haitian National Police nor their affiliated religious council nor the Ministry of Christian Aid have confirmed this information so far.
On November 21, two members of the group were released, and on December 5, three more, their identities were not released for security reasons.
The abducted group included missionaries and 5 children, 17 including their relatives, 16 Americans and a Canadian.
On their way home by bus from an orphanage in the Gandhian area near the Haitian capital, missionaries were abducted by 400 Maoist mobs in a slum in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince. .
The kidnappers demanded a ransom of $ 17 million each and, according to the CARDH, demanded the release of one of their leaders, who was serving a prison sentence.
Blind kidnappings have become commonplace in Haiti, but it is not uncommon for hostages to be held for two months, as happened in the North American group.
Kidnappings have been on the rise, especially in recent months, following the July 7 assassination of President Jovnell Moyes and the subsequent instability in the country.
CARDH has counted 949 abductions so far this year, including 55 foreigners from five countries.