MaximsNewsNetwork: HAITI: STABLE BUT POTENTIALLY VOLATILE, ARMED GANGS (U.N. MINUSTAH)

MaximsNewsNetwork: 03 February 2010 - U.N. MINUSTAH: Port-au-Prince, Haiti - The United Nations (UN) said the security situation in Haiti remains, "stable but potentially volatile" following last month's earthquake.

Reports of armed gang members who broke out of prison following the earthquake and are now reclaiming their turf have Haitians in the one of the most vulnerable poor neighborhoods -- Cite Soleil -- on edge.




SOUNDBITE (Creole) Guy Wilson, Resident:
The people who escaped from prison some of them are now here we see them on the streets walking around and doing their business. But the authorities did not make any effort to catch the outlaws and bring them to the justice.

Prison Civile de Port-au-Prince, Haitis main prison was destroyed in the earthquake. Thousands of prisoners were reported to have escaped after burning prison records.

Fear of gang violence and incidents of looting and other forms of lawlessness around city has led many locals to believe that the police are not doing enough to protect them.

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Johanne Roseline, Trader:
"The police are around us but they are doing nothing, we are on our own to defend ourselves from the criminals. They are doing nothing."

Nearly three quarters of the 14,000-strong Haitian National Police (HNP) are back on the street. But even the police are not safe in this neighborhood.




SOUNDBITE (Creole) Aristilde Rosemond, Inspector of Cite Soleil Police Division:
When the criminals returned they tried to invade and take control of the police station, but with the vigilance of the policemen we were able to fend them off and now they are on the run.

UN Acting Special Representative in Haiti Edmond Mulet visited the police commissioner and his team in Cite Soleil on Tuesday to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the area.

SOUNDBITE (English) Edmond Mulet, UN Special Representative to the Secretary General:
Facing these new threats regarding security, some of the gang leaders escaped from the national penitentiary, they are here so we going to work together and also to go and chase them, to go after them and to go and arrest them before they can go create more problems.

Security through out Port-au-Prince remains a challenge. Haitian and MINUSTAH police were attacked by 20 armed men over the weekend while escorting a convoy transporting food. Warning shots were fired -- no one was injured.

Following the attack, 14 suspects were arrested by the Haitian police and MINUSTAH police stationed in the Carrefour Carton area in Port au Prince where the attack took place. ................................................................................­............................. ( STABILIZATION MISSION IN HAITI: MINUSTAH ) ................................................................................­................................ MaximsNewsNetwork:
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• earthquake
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