Violence resumes in Bidonville ahead of presidential vote
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At least 15 people were killed in unrest over last weekend in Port-au-Prince, as tension mounts ahead of next Sunday's presidential election, as only confirmed yesterday by local officials to Alterpresse.
According to the news agency, the victims were killed in the same episode last Friday night in the large slum of Cité Soleil, in the north of the Haitian capital, when units of the special national police Operative Brigade of Departmental Intervention (BOID) intervened to disperse the protesters. The circumstances remain unclear.
Based on another version of events, reported in the local media, the victims were killed in rival gang violence.
According to the national coordinator of observation of the Episcopal Justice and Peace Commission (JILAP), Rovelson Apollon, the new unrest was however connected to the upcoming presidential vote: various parties have interest in controlling the slum, which is a vast voter pool, that necessitates backing from the gangs that preside the bidonville.
Since mid September, three policemen have been killed in unrest in Cité Soleil and the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince.
[FB/BO]