Haiti’s president, Jovenel Moise, on Tuesday asked United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres for the organization’s cooperation in the fight that the security forces are waging against the crime and violence the country is suffering.
The president announced this on his official Twitter account, where he reported that he had an interview today “with the UN SG @antonioguterres.”
“I asked the UN for technical and logistical support for the PNH (Haitian National Police) to combat banditry in Haiti and strengthen the poverty reduction program,” the text read.
This call for help comes a day after the same request was made to Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, announcing a series of measures to combat the phenomenon of violence.
Among the provisions is a decree revising the State of Emergency Act, which provides the Supreme Council of the National Police (CSPN) with the means to fight banditry and crime and empowers the competent authorities to mobilize any necessary external support for the fulfillment of its mission.
These requests for assistance to the UN and the OAS come just days after the death of four members of the National Police in the Village-de-Dieu district, in which eight officers were also injured.
Moise expressed outrage at the police officers’ deaths last Friday in a speech via social networks describing the officers as heroes and offering condolences to the more than 14,000 police officers who make up the facility.
The southern part of the capital has been one of the most dangerous places in Port-au-Prince for years, where gangs operate to terrorize the population.
Last year, the government even threatened to take that area by force, but the operation was cut short after human rights organizations warned of the danger the intervention would pose to the civilian population.