Kidnappings are on the rise in Haiti, with gangs increasingly targeting high-profile people and launching mass abductions as the country pushes to hold long-awaited presidential elections.
At least 81 people were reported kidnapped between April and June alone, a 42% increase compared with the first quarter of the year, according to U.N. statistics. Those abducted include James Boyard, police inspector general and cabinet director of Haiti’s Defense Ministry. He was kidnapped during broad daylight in June from Bourdon, a Port-au-Prince neighborhood considered relatively safe. He has not been released.
