Wednesday Prime Minister Lafontant on his Facebook account, after a visit to the premises of the Intervention Brigade Against Land Insecurity (BRICIF) said "This structure under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security will work together with the Haitian justice in the fight against theft and dispossession to eradicate the phenomenon of land insecurity in the country."

A surprising statement that gives the impression that the BRICIF has just been created, which is not the case and which specifies that the brigade "will work", while we were convinced that for 6 months it was already at work ! https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21445-haiti-flash-creation-of-a-task-force-to-combat-spoilers.html

Recall that this brigade, was created by Order made by the Council of Ministers on July 12, 2017 and according to the statements of the time, it would be composed of about twenty police officers who have a local for more than 6 months already... https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21516-haiti-justice-the-anti-spoliation-brigade-soon-into-operation.html

The Order published on July 18 states : "[...] For decades, organized gangs have burst onto properties in Haiti. This has caused unrest in several parts of the territory of the Republic, particularly in the jurisdictions of the Courts of First Instance of Port-au-Prince and Croix-des-Bouquets. This situation of land insecurity hampers any intention to invest in the country.

To remedy this, the Head of State and the government create this structure: the BRICIF. Under the direct authority of the Minister of Justice and Public Safety, its mandate is to :

1.- Collect complaints from victims of dispossession or spoliation;

2.- Intervene on the scene of property crimes;

3.- To apprehend all offenders and to refer them, if need be, within the legal period, before the competent jurisdiction;

4.- Facilitate all executions of decisions passed in force of thing sovereignly judged."

A statement by Prime Minister Lafontant that follows up on President Moïse's statement on Monday, January 8 in his State of the Nation address. "The government will strengthen the measures advocated to secure the right to private property. This policy appeals to all Haitians, especially those who have a duty to protect the lives and property of citizens. The only obstacle to the guarantee of private property is the weakness of the State, at all levels, calling for the responsibility of the Government, legislators, lawyers, notaries, surveyors, police and other actors of the judicial system." Download the speech of moïse : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/jovenel-moise-08-01-2018.pdf 2)

Leaving aside the question of whether or not this Brigade is actually in operation, and if so, what is the record of its interventions during its first six months of operation ?

SL/ HaitiLibre