The head of MINUSTAH (U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti) promises to stress the importance of the investigation into a horrible and unacceptable criminal act?the incident in Martissant in which at least nine people were killed by bandits. He also promises to discuss this issue with the national police authorities to prevent a repetition of similar incidents. MINUSTAH Chief Valdes speaks as follows:
As for MINUSTAH, this incident is extremely worrying. We share the opinion of the government and the director general of the police, who think that this issue must be dealt with with firmness and clarity to avoid the repetition of similar events. MINUSTAH has already opened an investigation, and I have just received the results. I am going to discuss them with the director general of the police and the government authorities. Our information points out that at least nine people, possibly more, were killed in this incident either by bullets or machetes.
We are also informed that these acts were perpetrated outside and inside the soccer field, that they were planned, and that the victims were targeted. The assassinations were committed by a group of individuals dressed in PNH (Haitian National Police) uniforms, as well as civilian clothes. The operation was apparently carried out by policemen who were not assigned to the Martissant police substation.
MINUSTAH and the government remain committed to putting an end to all the lynching and criminal acts perpetrated by policemen, by people dressed in police uniforms, and by common criminals that are trying to take the law into their own hands by fighting their opponents. With regard to this, I hail the press communique issued by the director general of the National Police, who underscored that the practice of vigilantism constitutes a violation of the penal code and should lead to judicial actions against all the people concerned. The communique also encourages the people to hand over all alleged bandits to the forces of order. I also want to hail this effort by the director general of the police. We are going to work closely with the police to shed light on this serious incident, which appears to be a signal for the future evolution of the Haitian National Police.