Haiti to replace national police chief in effort to counter gang violence
Al Jazeera
Newly installed Prime Minister Garry Conille has pledged to bring security to crisis-wracked nation and strengthen police.
The newly installed government in Haiti has announced the replacement of the head of the beleaguered national police force, in the latest effort to respond to gang violence in the crisis-wracked country.
Police chief Frantz Elbe will be replaced with former chief Rameau Normil, the prime minister’s office has confirmed.
The move comes as Haiti’s new prime minister, Garry Conille, has faced increased pressure to strengthen the Haitian National Police. The force has remained woefully underfunded and ill-equipped despite being at the forefront of the battle against powerful armed gangs in the Caribbean country.
Conille himself was installed by a transitional council in May after gangs earlier this year seized large swaths of the capital, Port au Prince, and deposed former Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Speaking to the Reuters news agency after the change was announced on Friday, Pierre Esperance, the National Network for Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH), described Elbe’s time as head of the police as “catastrophic”.
