The seven police officers murdered in the surprise attack on the Liancourt police station were victims of a plot planned from the capital, according to a report from the Departmental Intelligence Service.
Three senior PNH officers, including two inspectors general and a divisional commissioner, three gangs operating in Artibonite and one in Port-au-Prince, as well as a political organization were involved, the report reveals.
Sowing chaos to assassinate the DDA
The plot was aimed at assassinating the departmental director of Artibonite, Jean Bruce Myrtil, and the commander of the district of Saint-Marc, according to the report, which cited Divisional Commissioner Jacques Ader by name.
The plot planned to “attack a remote but accessible police station to blame it on the time of the reinforcements; to assassinate police officers to provoke the effect of Pétion-Ville against the local command; to free all the prisoners under the cover of escape; to raise the police officers against all the commanders of the Artibonite jurisdiction and to physically attack the DDA.
What are the reasons for this alleged plot?
According to the report, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) produced a favorable report on the performance of the DDA during the second half of 2022, which was sent to the Prime Minister. It would have reported the slowness in the transmission of operational files and the decrease in the performance of the PNH in operations in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area since the transfer of Divisional Commissioner Jean Bruce Myrtil from the Central Directorate of the Administrative Police to the Departmental Directorate of the North West. BINUH perceived this transfer as a waste of resources”.
In light of this, the Superior Council of the National Police (CSPN) proposed the return of Jean Bruce MYRTIL to the Central Directorate of the Administrative Police. The General Direction of the PNH refused this proposal and suggested that Myrtil take the head of the police in the department of Artibonite and Karl-Henry BOUCHER, a native of Liancourt, to the DCPA.
The report from the Departmental Intelligence Service states that at first, the CSPN refused the two proposals from the PNH. However, the high command finally convinced him that only the divisional commissioner could manage the entire month of December 2022 and prepare the ground for his speech on January 1, 2023
According to the document in circulation, one of the two Inspectors General involved in the plot would have contacted, on December 4, 2022, someone very influential in Liancourt who has supposed links with the Gran Grif base in Savien to challenge the newly installed DDA, according to the report.
The assassination of the DDA was planned in Port-au-Prince and should be carried out in Gonaïves by police officers during a demonstration planned for Tuesday, January 31, 2023 in the city of independence. The CD Jacques Ader has already contacted the heads of the Gonaives bridge for the realization of this demonstration, the report indicates.
Since the murder of seven police officers on January 25 in Liancourt and four others four days earlier in the neighborhood of Métivier in Pétion-Ville (east of the capital), the PNH is facing a new police revolt. Protest movements have been organized by law enforcement officers supported by members of the population in several regions of the country including the capital Port-au-Prince, Gonaives, Saint-Marc, Cap-Haitian and the city of Cayes.
Call for calm and serenity Chief Commander of the police
Faced with this rebellion within the PNH, the General Directorate of the National Police has launched an appeal for serenity to the officers of order, inviting them to avoid any form of slip that could jeopardize the existence of the institution, recognizing that the claims of its troops are legitimate.
The Director General a.i. of the PNH, Frantz Elbé, announced this Friday the launch of an operation called “Tornado 1” in order to provide an appropriate response to armed gangs. He invited the police to concentrate and direct their forces and energy in the fight against the bandits.
Frantz Elbé also promised that measures will be taken to reinforce the police stations and the various specialized units with logistics and weapons, and to protect the police officers.
On Sunday, the Director General a.i. was at the head of a delegation from the PNH high staff, who visited the Pétion-Ville police station to try to boost the morale of his troops after the murder of three police officers and another missing in the Métivier neighborhood. Frantz Elbé spoke with the police officers about the demands expressed by them following the murder of their brothers in arms. On the sidelines of the visit, he handed over to the Pétion-Ville police station a batch of materials including weapons, ammunition and bulletproof vests.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry promises measures also
In an address to the nation on Friday evening, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry asked the PNH high command to meet with the protesting police officers in order to quickly submit a report on the latest events that shook the police institution and the country, with proposals. He condemned the serial killings of police officers and promised that the State will assume its responsibilities to protect police officers and accompany the families of officers killed in the line of duty. The Head of Government announced the holding of a meeting of the Superior Council of the National Police (CSPN) and a government council over the weekend in order to adopt appropriate measures to prevent the repetition of these acts and restore public order on the national territory.
Text by Ronel Paul