Child Kidnappings on the Rise in Haiti

It saddens me to report that, once again, the children of Haiti are at the brunt of human rights atrocities that go beyond my comprehension. According to United Nations News Center reports, "Haitian children remain the target of kidnappings, killings, sexual violence, and child trafficking." Since January, a record number of 69 children have been kidnapped by armed gangs, and viciously abused, raped, or murdered, compared to a total of 80 for all of 2007. Many of these children were on their way to school...over half of them are young girls.

In the small town of MINUSTAH, one in three victims are children, particularly young girls. The towns of Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien are the most notorious for these vicious attacks. On August 19, 2008, the body of a twelve year old boy was found when his parents were unable to pay the ransom. Over the past week, three more young girls were abducted, the ages of these children are eight, seven, and three. The three year old has since been found, and is recovering in a hospital with injuries from a razor blade. In a few instances, children were still murdered even though their ransoms were paid. These depraved gangs show no prejudice, as they kidnap children from the very rich, to the poorest of families.

In an ironic twist, the kidnapping and killing of children began after a crack down on adult kidnappings. What a trade off. Hopefully, when these freaks who area committing these crimes are tried and convicted, they are imprisoned for the rest of their lives. Giving them the death penalty would be letting them off easy. For the rest of their natural lives, they should be left with the imprint of their victims faces as they were committing these heinous acts of violence.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, and their families. I cannot even imagine the pain that they are now experiencing. I only hope that the healing process leaves little or no scars on these young victims.