P-au-P, August 22, 2024 [AlterPresse] — No significant measures have been implemented, several months after the installation of the transitional authorities, notes the Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organizations (Pohdh), in a note seen by the online agency AlterPresse.
Four months after the Establishment of the Presidential Transitional Council (PTC) et more than two months after the inauguration of the governmentthe expectations expressed around the structures responsible for the transition are far from being met, she criticises.
Apart from changes in the High Command of the Haitian National Police (PNH) and the declaration of a Yet another state of security emergencyno significant measures have been taken to stem crime in the country, particularly in the metropolitan area of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The publication of the decree on the state of security emergency, signed by the 9 members of the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT), comes in a context marked by an increase in attacks by armed gangs in the metropolitan area of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Despite the state of security emergency, declared by the government since Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in 14 gang-controlled communes in Haiti, areas such as Solino, Ganthier, Cabaret, Arcahaie, Gressier and Carrefour have suffered repeated assaults by armed gangs, causing several deaths and immense damage.
The Pohdh reports armed gangs, which continue to extort money from the population with ease and arrogance, to occupy major roads, linking the main geographical departments of the country, and the existence of gang hotbeds.
“No refugee family in the camps has yet returned home at the request of the authorities. Macroeconomic indicators, such as unemployment, inflation and the exchange rate, do not indicate any improvement in the socio-economic situation.”
The Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organizations demands support measures for victims of terror and crime in Haiti, particularly displaced persons.
She underlines how the security situation in certain areas – such as Gressier, Cabaret and Ganthier – prevented candidates from taking the official exams for the 2023-2024 academic year, taking place from Monday, August 5 to Thursday, August 8, 2024, across the ten geographical departments of Haitiin a difficult socio-political context.
Having been disrupted on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 6, 2024, in the commune of Cabaret, the official exams for students of New Secondary 4 (Ns4) were postponed to Thursday, August 8, 2024, due to threats of attacks by armed gangs.
Arrangements must be made to facilitate the resumption of official exams for students who missed them due to unrest in certain areas, such as Gressier, Ganthier and Cabaret, demands the Pohdh.
It calls for concrete and immediate action to restore security, combat corruption and impunity, and achieve institutional recovery.
There is also a need to strengthen strategies to combat and take action against the climate of terror in Haiti, recommends Pohdh. [mff emb rc apr 23/08/2024 11:00]