Police brutality against a teacher in Cap-Haïtien: RENTRHED demands justice

PORT-AU-PRINCE.— The image of a teacher repeatedly slapped is circulating widely on social media. The incident occurred during a protest movement organized by teachers in the city of Cap on Flag Day.

An officer from the POLITOUR unit, aided by other police officers on site, violently assaulted teacher Williamson Saint-Fleur, after uttering demeaning insults about his profession as a teacher, according to witnesses.

In this regard, the National Grouping of Haitian Education Workers (RENTRHED) issued a statement this Monday to denounce this act of “unjustifiable brutality.”

RENTRHED maintains that the teacher was beaten “savagely” while exercising his rights. The union organization demands that the police officers involved in this act be promptly identified and sanctioned, in accordance with the law.

In its message, RENTRHED calls for the mobilization of teachers and all education professionals, asserting that police brutality cannot be tolerated in a society aspiring to justice, respect, and the rule of law.

“Teachers play a central role in nation-building and must under no circumstances be treated as public enemies,” the union recalls, reaffirming its solidarity with teacher Saint-Fleur and its commitment to defending the rights of Haitian educators. RENTRHED concludes that attacking a teacher is an attack on the future of education in Haiti.

Jean Mapou