PORT AU PRNCE, Haiti, Nov 15, CMC – Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says it “condemns in the strongest terms,” the killing of at least two patients whom it said “were executed” after an MSF ambulance was stopped by members of a vigilante group and law enforcement officers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
MSF said that the incident occurred on Monday this week, when the MSF ambulance transporting three young people with gunshot wounds was stopped by Haitian police about 100 metres from the MSF hospital in the Drouillard area of Port-au-Prince.
“After an attempt to arrest the patients and firing shots in the air, the police escorted the ambulance to Hôpital La Paix. Once there, law enforcement officers and members of a self-defence group surrounded the ambulance, slashed the tires, and tear-gassed MSF staff inside the vehicle to force them out.
“They then took the wounded patients a short distance away, outside the hospital grounds, where at least two of them were executed,” the MSF said in its statement, adding that its staff in the ambulance “were violently attacked, insulted, tear-gassed, threatened with death, and held against their will for more than four hours before being allowed to leave”.
The MSF said the ambulance was damaged and unable to drive, resulting in the team leaving in a second vehicle.
“This act is a shocking display of violence, both for the patients and for MSF medical personnel, and it seriously calls into question MSF’s ability to continue delivering essential care to the Haitian people, which is in dire need,” says Christophe Garnier, MSF head of mission.
“Our teams and our patients need a minimum level of safety to continue providing medical care,” Garnier added.
MSF is a humanitarian organisation working in Haiti to address medical needs in basic healthcare, trauma care, and support victims and survivors of sexual violence.
“We call on the authorities and all stakeholders to uphold the right to access medical care without discrimination or hindrance, and to ensure the protection of patients, as well as respect for medical personnel and healthcare facilities in the face of increasing violence,” it added.
There has been no official response to the statement made by MSF.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Health and Population has condemned what it descrobes as the difficult situation developing in the capital where many people have been killed or injured as a result of the ongping gang violence.
It said that the University Hospital of Peace (HUP) has received nearly 36 people injured by gunshots from November 11 to 14, and HUP Medical Director, Dr. Paul Junior Fontilus, said prior to the escalation of violence, the hospital had been receivong an average of two patients daiiy.
Health Minister, Georges Fils Brignol, said he has already undertaken several actions to strengthen the hospital’s capacity and enable it to continue to receive and provide quality care to those who need it.
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