Thousands mourn those killed in Haiti protests to oust Moïse

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Thousands of people across Haiti attended funerals yesterday for protesters who have died in ongoing demonstrations aimed at ousting President Jovenel Moïse.

The funerals for 11 of at least 20 people killed were held in six cities, including the capital of Port-au-prince, where sweat mingled with tears as mourners packed a church in the neighbourhood of Delmas.

Some women shouted, rocked back and forth and fell to the floor as people yelled, “Down with Jovenel!” and “Jovenel has to go!” Tyres burned in the street outside the church.

Among the mourners was 42year-old Jean-mary Daniel, who said the deaths won’t halt the demonstrations that have shuttered many schools and businesses for nearly five weeks.

“A soldier died, but that doesn’t mean you can destroy the army,” he said.

Moïse held a press conference on Tuesday and said it would be irresponsible for him to step down and he repeated calls for dialogue. However, Opposition leaders have rejected those calls and said they will keep organising demonstrations until Moïse resigns.

The protests are fuelled by anger over corruption, inflation that has reached 20 per cent and dwindling of basic supplies, including gasoline. Sixty per cent of the people in a country of nearly 11 million make less than US$2 a day, and 25 per cent less than US$1 a day.

The funerals were held a day after the UN’S Mission for Justice Support in Haiti ended its operations, marking the first time since 2004 that there is no peacekeeping operation in the country. UN peacekeeping chief Jean-pierre Lacroix told the Security Council that progress since 2004 has been “considerable, but the achievements of stability are still fragile and must be deeper rooted in democracy and development.”

He also said “the current context is not ideal for the end of 15 years of peacekeeping in the country”, but he said the UN is not completely leaving Haiti.

UN military peacekeepers left Haiti on October 15, 2017, after 13 years. But the stabilisation mission stayed behind to train national police, help the Government strengthen judicial and legal institutions, and monitor human rights.

Yesterday, a UN political mission known as the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti officially replaced the stabilisation mission.

A family member of one of the victims of the ongoing violence is supported during clashes between the Presidential Guard and demonstrators carrying the coffins in Port-au-prince, Haiti, yesterday.

Presidential Guards take a position next to their unit’s burning truck during clashes with mourners and demonstrators near the Presidential Palace in Port-au-prince, Haiti, yesterday.

(Photos: AP) Mourners and demonstrators who were carrying the coffins with the remains of two victims of the ongoing violence take shelter around the coffins after clashes erupted between demonstrators and the Presidential Guard, near the Presidential Palace in Port-auprince, Haiti, yesterday.

Presidential Guards detain a man during clashes with mourners and demonstrators who were carrying the coffins with the remains of two victims of the ongoing violence, near the Presidential Palace in Port-au-prince, Haiti, yesterday.

Relatives of murdered community leader Josemano “Badou” Victorieux mourn during Victorieux’s funeral in Port-au-prince, Haiti, yesterday.