By Jean Junior Celestin, Le Nouvelliste, May 16, 2023
Pierre Espérance reacted to the Bwa Kale movement that is fighting armed gangs. The executive director of the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) applauded the police-population marriage in the fight against insecurity.
Speaking on Magik 9 Tuesday 16 May, Espérance said "The population must continue to work alongside the police to break the cycle of gang violence in Port-au-Prince and in provincial towns."
Espérance advises the population not to execute or lynch the alleged criminals identified. He suggests delivering them to the police authorities who, according to Espérance , must ensure that the judicial authorities do not turn away from their missions and their commitments to society.
The RNDDH estimates that a hundred gang members have been killed since the start of the movement called “Bwa Kale” on Monday April 24, 2023.
“The gangs have no alternative. The wisest decision is for them to lay down their arms and go to the nearest police station. Otherwise it is death. Fear is in your camps"
Espérance believes the gangsterization of Haiti is a response to the demand for accountability on the use of PetroCaribe funds.
Pierre Espérance responded to the proposition that human rights organizations tend to denounce attempts by Police to dismantle gangs. "To my knowledge there is not a single human rights organization who's reports have been critical of the police that prevents the them from fighting gangs" he said.
“We are always on the side of the police. Moreover, we encourage them to continue to track down the gangs” he added.
In a video broadcast on social networks on May 13, 2023, Frantz Elbé, director general of the PNH, called for the consolidation of the union of police and population to put a definitive end to insecurity.
Elbé pleaded "Let us consolidate the police-population marriage. The marriage of all sectors of national life in compliance with the law and the Constitution of the country. To put a definitive end to the insecurity which is rife in the country".
Translated by CHIP editors
Posted May 26, 2023