Anti-gang protest shuts down Port-au-Prince; police fire tear gas

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Thousands marched through the streets of Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, demanding action from the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) against escalating gang violence. Chanting slogans and holding signs, protesters accused the CPT of failing to protect residents after repeated attacks across the capital’s neighborhoods.

Fueled by frustration over unchecked violence and threats of gang expansion, demonstrators from Canapé-Vert, Pétion-Ville and Kenscoff converged near the CPT offices at the Villa d’Accueil.

Protesters walked several kilometers to reach the Villa D’accueil, criticizing the CPT members for what protesters described as negligence, abandonment, and ineffective intervention. They argued that the Council’s presence has done little to stop the gang’s tightening grip and to stem the lawlessness ravaging the capital.

“Kenscoff has taken to the streets to ask the authorities whether they deliberately allowed the gangs to come and kill us up there, where we cultivate our land,” said one protester. 

Some carried branches, machetes, stones and other makeshift weapons, the demonstrators accused the CPT members, the government, and the Haitian National Police (PNH) of complicity with the gangs due to their failure to restore security. Protesters claimed that this inaction has led to the massacre of the civilian population and the taking over of most of the capital neighborhoods by armed groups.

“They killed our loved ones, destroyed our homes. Now, I am no longer afraid to die. We are asking under what conditions the state plans to take our property,” he added.

Police dispersed the protest using tear gas and automatic gunfire. Protesters retaliated by throwing rocks as they fled from the thick clouds of gas.

The protest brought life in the capital to a near standstill. Schools closed their doors, especially in Delmas and the lower downtown area of Port-au-Prince. Banks suspended operations, street vendors disappeared, and public transportation was nowhere to be seen.

Barricades of burning tires blocked several streets, while gunshots echoed through certain neighborhoods. Residents of Delmas 32 reported a gang attack that unfolded as people concentrated on the protest.

.

This is the second protest organized by residents in the capital following one by residents in the neighborhood of Canapé-Vert that ended with the death of at least one protester and injuries to at least three others from police gunfire. These demonstrations against insecurity are taking place as Port-au-Prince sees a sharp increase in gang attacks in multiple neighborhoods.

“Now the police are playing the role of the bourgeoisie’s subordinates, while I need them to help me against the gangs,” said a resident of Canapé-Vert, standing under the sun near the the Prime Minister’s office. 

“I can’t take it anymore. How long until I am freed in this country? Look at my suffering! I can no longer visit my family, who had fled Liancourt for Mirebalais but who are now under attack.”

While awaiting an official report, the Je Klere Foundation (FJKL) has recorded approximately 150 deaths in the last attack in the neighborhood of Kenscoff and around 20 in Delmas 30 by armed gangs, while the assailants continue their offensive against other neighborhoods. The number of victims, both among the population and security forces, keeps rising, notably with the death of Benedict Kabiru, a Kenyan police officer from the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), on Thursday, March 25, in Artibonite.

Here are some images from the demonstration calling on Haiti’s authorities accusing them of failing to protect the population against armed gangs. Photo by Dieugo André for The Haitian Times 

The post Anti-gang protest shuts down Port-au-Prince; police fire tear gas appeared first on The Haitian Times.