Haiti Police block streets in the capital Port-au-Prince, storm into the airport to protest killings of their officers

According to reports, on Thursday, Haitian police officers blocked the streets and stormed into the main airport as a mark of the protest against the recent killing of officers by the armed gangs.

Earlier, the Protesters, who were in civilian clothes, identified themselves as police and attacked the official residence of Prime Minister Dr Ariel Henry. The sound of Gunshots was heard and many vehicles got damaged with windows broken near Henry’s home in the Delmas 60 sector in the capital Port-au-Prince.

Later, the protestors flooded the airport as Henry was arriving from a trip to Argentina after his participation in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit. Henry was unable to leave and was temporarily stuck in the airport. Later, he returned to his residence in Port-au-Prince on Thursday, followed by police protesters.

The protesters blocked the roads around Port-au-Prince and in many cities in the north. According to reports of Haiti’s National Police (PNH) and local media reports, four police officers were killed by the Vitelhomme gang, near the capital last week. Another seven officers got killed during the shootouts on Wednesday with the Savien gang in the town of Liancourt.

RNDDH, a Haitian human rights group said in a statement that, 78 police officers were killed since Henry came to power in July 2021, on an average of five each month. The prime minister and Frantz Elbe, the head of the national police were “responsible for each of the 78 lives lost during their reign.”

RNDDH added, “History will remember they did nothing to protect and preserve the lives of these agents who chose to serve their country”. Despite their “frustrations”, RNDDH urged police to remember their duty to protect to Haitian people.