Suspected gang members set fire to a court in Haiti

Suspected gang members set fire to a courthouse near the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Tuesday morning in a new attack on the country’s battered judicial system.

Roosevelt Zamor, prosecutor for the Croix-des-Bouquets region, told the agency AP that important documents were set on fire and that the authorities closed the building, northeast of the city.

The fire occurred in a region controlled by the 400 Mawozo gang, to which the authorities attribute the murder of a police inspector on Sunday in a church in Croix-des-Bouquets and the burning of the temple.

A video shared on social media shows suspected gang members surrounding the police officer as he shows their IDs to the camera and cutting off the officer’s hands and shooting him. The suspected gang leader says the attack was in response to the officer’s killing of motorcyclists associated with the group and threatened to kill another police officer.

Last month, another gang attacked the court of first instance in the center of the capital, looting the place and burning case documents and evidence. The gang continues to retain control of part of that court.

Gangs in the Haitian capital and other parts of the country have grown more powerful since the July 7, 2021, assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Kidnappings have skyrocketed and increasingly violent turf disputes have shut down major highways to the north and south of the country.

Gang victims number in the hundreds

On Monday, the United Nations reported that at least 471 people have been killed, injured or are missing in Port-au-Prince this month as a result of clashes between rival gangs.

The report highlighted that cases of sexual violence against women and girls, and recruitment of children by gangs, were also reported. All this in a period from July 8 to 17 in the Cite Soleil neighborhood.

“The humanitarian needs of Cite Soleil are immense and are increasing due to poverty, lack of basic services, including security, and a recent increase in violence,” said the UN coordinator in Haiti, Ulrika Richardson, in the release.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has not yet commented on these acts of violence.

^{* With information from AP and AFP.}

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and turn on notifications, or follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.