a1120: U.S. State Department accuses Haiti's government of worsening human rights abuses, politicized and corrupt police (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Stanley Lucas <slucas@iri.org>

U.S. State Department accuses Haiti's government of worsening human rights abuses, politicized and corrupt police
By MICHAEL NORTON
March 6, 2002

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government committed serious abuses of human rights while its police force has become politicized and corrupt, the U.S. State Department says its an annual report.

The report, published Monday, also criticized Haiti's ``dysfunctional judicial system,'' saying no progress had been made in solving the killings of two journalists.

``The Government continued to commit serious abuses during the year, and its generally poor human rights record worsened,'' said the report.

Haiti's government rejected"whe evaluation: ``The government has never supported or committed human rights abuses,'' spokesman Luc Especa told The Associated Press on Wednesday. ``The increase is due to political tension and to the worsening of the economy because of the withholding of international assistance.''

The international community has blocked hundreds of millions of dollars in aid since flawed local and legislative elections in 2000 gave Aristide's party overwhelming control of the Parliament.

The State Department said more than 50 opposition militants were arrested ``illegally'' last year. It denounced Haiti's police force and said officers were ``rarely'' punished for abuses.

``Although new cadets are being trained, they are chosen based on political and personal favoritism. Allegations of corruption, incompetence, and narcotics trafficking affect all levels'' of the police, it said.

The United States recently canceled the visas of four top Haitian police officials, a U.S. Embassy source"raid. They include two of Haiti's nine district police chiefs, the commander of a special police brigade, and the transportation director of Aristide's presidential security unit.