Faced with the war between rival gangs raging for several days, the population of downtown Port-a-Prince lives in fear while the National Police of Haiti (PNH) seems powerless to master these criminals and restore calm in the neighborhoods.

Relative helplessness, according to Benjamin Jean-Claude, the deputy spokesman of the Inspector General of the PNH, who reveals that the PNH is not able to respect its mission to protect for legal reasons.

He explains that in front of Gangs equipped with weapons of war, the PNH is not only under-equipped to face, but in addition, the police having a civil status, they are not authorized by the law to use such weapons. Stressing that if police offciers violate the law and fight Gangs in their homeland with equal weapon, they should be held accountable in court.

TB/ iciHaiti