#3097: HAITI -- POLITICAL VIOLENCE (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:nozier@tradewind.net

News Service: 061/00 AI INDEX: AMR 36/04/00 30 March 2000
NEWS FLASH Source: Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1
Easton Street, WC1X 8DJ, London,United Kingdom 

HAITI -- POLITICAL VIOLENCE

Amnesty International is concerned about reports of olitically-motivated
violent street demonstrations by individuals said to be calling for,
among other demands, the resignation of the Provisional Electoral
Council in Haiti. At least six people are reported to have been killed,
and more injured. Members of an opposition party reported that they were
attacked by a group of armed men as they handed out pamphlets in
Port-au-Prince on 29 March. On 28 March, outside the capital, a
candidate from another opposition party and his wife were reportedly
shot dead by unidentified assailants in what their party leaders claimed
were political killings. On 27 March demonstrators, some of whom claimed
ties to the Fanmi Lavalas party, set fire to tyres at barricades around
Port-au- Prince. The central market was burnt and four people were
reportedly killed. Amnesty International reminds the Haitian government
of its obligations under domestic and international law to
ensure safety for its citizens. The organization is concerned about
reports of insufficient response by police during the disturbances. It
calls on the Haitian National Police to carry out its duty to safeguard
public security in a professional and impartial manner. The organization
urges leaders of political parties to ensure that they and their
partisans refrain from using violence in pursuing their political
objectives, so that the electoral process currently underway can proceed
in an open, transparent and peaceful manner.