On Thursday, United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) condemned the deliberate gang attacks against police officers.
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“We offer our condolences to the victims' families and call on the judicial authorities to identify the crimes’ perpetrators and punish them according to the law,” the BINUH tweeted.
On Thursday, the Haitian Police National Union coordinator Lionel Lazarre denounced that gangs in his country have so far this year killed 15 police officers, 10 of whom died last week.
The Police recently obtained a video showing the bodies of six officers lying on the ground naked, with blood and weapons on their chests. “The gang that killed them, known as Gan Grif, still has the bodies,” the Police lamented.
Members of the national Fantom 509 group, which consists of Policemen on duty and other retirees, subsequently took to the streets of Port-au-Prince and other cities to demand to increase the fight against gangs and the end of Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s government, which they consider illegitimate.
The demonstrations, however, turned up to be violent. Wearing police uniforms and bulletproof vests, protesters took buses to block roads and burned tires throughout the Haitian capital, leaving the streets full of smoke. A group of protesters even knocked down a door of Henry’s residence.
"If cops are being killed, what should I do as a citizen?," shouted a masked protester in front of a camera from the Associated Press. "The Police are outnumbered only by God. In a situation like this, we need to support them," he added.