13215: Karshan posts Compensation Paid to Dec. 17 Victims (PRNewswire) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: MKarshan@aol.com

Compensation Paid to December 17 Victims in Haiti

Ministry of Justice Reports on Initiatives to Sustain Justice

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- This week the Government of
Haiti paid reparations to several victims of December 17, 2001 violence,
including members of the opposition, after the Ministry of Justice and Public
Security released a preliminary report on the events that occurred that day
in Haiti.

On July 9, 2002, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide endorsed the Organization
of American States (OAS) initial draft accord and pledged additional
confidence-building measures, such as the publication by the Government of a
60-day report regarding measures taken on the December 17 events.  The
President also pledged the Government of Haiti's commitment to compensate the
victims of December 17 violence after an investigation of their claims.
These payments are an effort by the Government to promote reconciliation and
restore a climate of confidence in an effort to reduce political tension.
The OAS embraced these commitments in its unanimous September 4, 2002
resolution, 822.

The Justice Ministry report offers details about the December 17, 2001 attack
on the National Palace and compares the event to similar attacks carried out
against the Haitian National Police earlier that year.  The report also
details the judicial actions taken to date by the Government of Haiti,
including the urgent formation of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the
events and the damage caused that day, and the creation of an Inter-
Ministerial Commission to study the complaints and demands for reparations of
presumed victims.  According to the report, authorities in Port-au-Prince
have thus far interrogated about a dozen witnesses, detained eight suspects
and identified nearly 20 others for questioning in connection with the
violent events of December 17.  To date, a Consultative Council, composed of
a representative from the OAS, a representative from the Haitian Government
and a representative from civil society, has reviewed more than 70 requests
for reparations, and in the days since the report was released the Government
of Haiti has already paid several victims.

In addition to action taken to address the December 17 events, judicial
authorities have continued their investigations of several other high-profile
cases.  Ten people have been indicted in the case of Brignol Lindor, a
journalist killed in Petit-Goave last December, the investigation of the Jean
Dominique case continues, as well as that of the attacks on three police
stations and the police academy in July 2001.  The Haitian Government has
made substantial progress in reforming the Haitian National Police and
modernizing the judicial system.  Presently, some 800 new police academy
recruits are being trained, and 29 Haitian attorneys who underwent 13 months
of training to become judges at the Magistrate School graduated last week and
are now assigned to posts throughout the country.

The swift payments of reparations and judicial initiatives described in the
preliminary report demonstrate the Haitian Government's continued commitment
to end the crippling political impasse in Haiti, which has held up more than
$500 million in humanitarian development assistance loans.

Global Market Solutions is a marketing communications firm that provides
services to government and corporate clients worldwide.  GMS is also a
registered foreign agent for the Government of Haiti.

MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT -  Click Here

http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X48247126

SOURCE  Global Market Solutions

CO:  Global Market Solutions

ST:  Haiti, District of Columbia

SU:

http://www.prnewswire.com

09/18/2002 13:46 EDT