9797: BBC: Haiti: Police prohibit anti-Lavalas demonstration in Saint-Marc (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Robert Benodin <r.benodin@worldnet.att.net>

 Haiti: Police prohibit anti-Lavalas demonstration in Saint-Marc
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Nov 29, 2001


The police have prohibited an anti-Lavalas demonstration that the Union of
Saint-Marc Militants [Ramicos] was going to hold in Saint-Marc today.
According to the coordinator of this pro-Convergence organization, the
Haitian National Police [PNH] have proved their inability to guarantee the
demonstrators' security. Jean Hugues Narcisse condemns the decision.
Narcisse spoke as follows:
[Narcisse - recording, in Creole] We just received a letter from the police
inspector and superintendent saying that there aren't enough policemen
available to ensure our security against the Lavalas scoundrels who will
also come out. We therefore feel it is a shame that the Lavalas people are
preventing the people from making progress in every way. The police and the
judiciary have lost face because the letter is signed by a public
prosecutor.
The way things are going, if we just stay and do nothing than those people
will exert full control over us. Therefore, we ask the international
community, human rights organizations to look at what is now taking place in
Haiti, where Lavalas is preventing people from expressing their opinions.
We in the Ramicos and MRJ [expansion untraced; possibly the youth movement
of Ramicos], we shall remain on our premises and demonstrate there. We had
intended to burn a symbolic coffin of Aristide with all his scoundrels and
we shall still do so where we are. The demonstration will take place all the
same tomorrow [29 November], although the police do not want us to hold it.
We know that the police can join with the scoundrels to block us but we are
determined and will not associate with them.
Source: Radio Metropole, Port-au-Prince, in French 1145 gmt 29 Nov 01
/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC.