Crime Wave Plagues Haiti
by Marie Laurette Numa

Violent crimes around Haiti have raised tensions and created an atmosphere of fear.

In the Delmas region of the capital, thugs shot dead four people last week: Fredly Desrosiers, Manuel Lamy, a man known only as Jude, and Mary Georgia Guirand.

The latter was a 30-year-old engineer who worked at the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation, and Communication (MTPTC). On Fri., Nov, 7 last, she left the Unibank branch at Delmas 32, and bandits followed her up Delmas 33. They shot her several times, and she died at the scene. The bandits stole her bag containing 40,000 gourdes (US$873), which she had just withdrawn at the bank.

A few days later, the police arrested two of the bandits: Handy Janvier and Jean Michelet Fleury. The leader of their gang, known as Okay, and another member, known as Cherlin, are still being sought by the police. According to some observers, the crime could have been committed without the help of an employee in the bank.

In Pétion-Ville and the city center, including the Croix-des-Bossales market, several people have been killed by heavily armed bandits, whom the police seem powerless to stop. According to some on the street, the bandits are in league with the interim Port-Au-Prince mayor and are trying to create an atmosphere of fear.

For example, on Oct. 8, two members of the Fanmi Lavalas Political Organization – Paul “Ti Koton” Ambroise, 42, and Benoit “Pouchon” Michel, 29 – were shot dead by a gang linked to Martelly-appointed mayor Joseph Pierre-Richard Duplan aka Pierrot outside the Sylvio Cator stadium. Regime-linked thugs also fired at close range at demonstrators marching for the release of political prisoners in Carrefour last week.

Meanwhile, on Mon., Nov. 10, in the middle of the day, bandits calmly robbed a man in Port-au-Prince’s downtown commercial district. They took his backpack, wallet, mobile phone, and other valuables before walking away through the crowd, guns in hand, undisturbed, according to the online agency HPN.

The victim, whose identity was not revealed, was grateful to escape unharmed. He called on the police deploy more fixed and mobile patrols, especially downtown where crime tends to increase during the holiday season.

"If I'm still alive, I must thank God,” the man said. “He saved my life. The thugs who attacked me were ready to shoot me. What a country! Alas!"

Meanwhile, in Petit Goâve, bandits murdered a traditional “leaf doctor” known as Jean was on Rue Geffrard on Mon., Nov. 10 around 7:00 p.m..