Haitian Gangs Killed Police Officers, Prompting Rebel Cops to Protest and Block Streets in Haiti

Angry protests reportedly started in several neighborhoods of Port-Au-Prince in Haiti on Thursday following the recent killings of police officers by Haitian gangs.

Citing local media reports, Al Jazeera reported that several barricades of burning tires were installed around the city's capital, disrupting public transportation and forcing several schools to close. Some protesters were even shooting guns into the air.

In November, the United Nations noted that armed gangs in Haiti controlled around 60% of the country's capital, where murder, kidnappings, and sexual violence became rampant in their campaign to expand influence and terrorize residents.

The Haitian National Police noted that Haitian gangs killed more than 10 police officers in the past week, while one is still missing and another suffered from severe bullet wounds.

A video, which was obtained by The Associated Press and likely recorded by Haitian gangs, showed the naked and bloodied bodies of six officers lying on the dirt, with their guns on their chests.

Police said the gang who killed the officers were members of Gan Griff, who still has the officers' bodies.

An armed group of current and former police officers, Fantom 509, demanded better conditions for officers.

Dozens of Fantom 509 members wearing hoods with police uniforms, flak jackets, rifles, and automatic weapons reportedly joined the protests in Port-au-Prince on Thursday.

Police Officers Protest in Haiti

More than 100 demonstrators, including the rebel police officers, blocked streets, burned tires, broke security cameras, and damaged vehicles in Port-au-Prince on Thursday in protest of several colleagues' killings by Haitian gangs.

According to BBC News, several officers were also reported to have broken through the gates of the prime minister's residence and tried to enter Haiti's international airport.

The National Union of Haitian Police Officers said more than a dozen officers had been killed since the year started in different gang attacks at police stations.

Haiti's National Police said seven officers were killed in a shootout on Wednesday alone. According to local media outlet Vant Bef Info, some of the demonstrators went to the official residence of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

When protesters found it empty, they headed to Haiti's National Airport, where Henry had just landed after his summit in Argentina.

The demonstrators broke the airport's window in an attempt to gain access to the airport. Henry managed to slip away.

Haitian Gangs

Between January and October 2022, there were 1,107 reported cases of kidnappings in Haiti, according to the United Nations.

Some gangs resort to kidnappings as their primary income stream, with ransoms worth up to $1 million. Most of the victims come back alive if the ransom is paid. However, they are made to suffer.

Gedeon Jean of Haiti's Centre for Analysis and Research in Human Rights said men are beaten and burned with materials like melted plastic. Women, on the other hand, are subjected to gang rape.

Jean added that sometimes kidnappers would call the relatives so they could hear the rape being carried out on the phone.

Ulrika Richardson, the U.N. humanitarian chief, noted that Haitian gangs use "very terrifying levels of sexual violence as a weapon" to control and instill fear among people.

Richardson added that around 1,000 of the 2,000 Haitian are also facing starvation in the capital.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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