13390: Haiti/disarmament (Agence Haitienne Presse)

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From: MKarshan@aol.com

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Haiti/disarmament: various sectors of the population provide their support,
except for the ISC and the Convergence
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Port-au-Prince,  October 14, 2002 -(AHP)- Various sectors of the Haitian
population, with the exception of the Democratic Convergence and the Civil
Society Initiative (ISC), have supported the government's campaign of
disarmament that has been underway for the past three months.

The ISC,  a group presenting a viewpoint from some corners of civil society,
said it doubts the capacity of the Haitian National Police (PNH) to carry
out this campaign effectively.

One of the group's spokespersons, Rosny Desroches, invited the government to
seek international support and training for the PNH in order, he said,  for
the campaign to be a success.

The ISC spokesperson suggests that a plan be developed and a "neutral
commission" be set up to carry out the disarmament campaign.

"Without setting up this mechanism, disarmament will be no more than a pious
wish", declared Rosny Desroches.

ISC's position is shared by the leader of the Democratic Unity Convention
Party (KID), Evans Paul (KPlim).

Mr. Paul considers that the Police should not carry out searches of
vehicles, but should instead conduct  operations in the populous districts
where, according to him, the illegal weapons are to be found.

For its part, the Fanmi Lavalas political organization encouraged the
National Police Monday to continue the disarmament campaign.

In an interview with AHP, the Senator from the Grande-Anse, Lans Clonès,
accused former members of the Haitian armed forces (FAd'H) of having
distributed weapons in the country to prevent the return of constitutional
government in 1994.

Lans Clonès used this opportunity to invite all citizens to participate in
this campaign that he considers to be important for their security and for
the stability of the country.

The parlementarian urged the Haitian National Police to conduct searches in
all places deemed likely to yield illegal weapons.

As for the grassroots organizations in the metropolitan area of
Port-au-Prince, declarations of support for the ongoing process of
disarmament were issued.

These organizations, including the Movement for the Awakening of Activists
of Bel-Air (Mouvement pour le Réveil des Militants du Bel-Air, MOREMIB)
declared they were disposed to contribute to the advancement of this process
in order to pacify the country, especially in light of the approaching
legislative elections scheduled to be held prematurely, during the first
semester of 2003.

A spokesperson for MOREMIB, Pierre-Paul Théobal, invited all sectors of the
country to contribute to carrying out this campaign in the national
interest.

Pierre-Paul Théobal also appealed to the international community to work
alongside the Haitian authorities in accomplishing this task.

He asked activists from Lavalas, the Convergence, as well as members of
civil society to hand in any illegal weapons that may have come into their
possession.

The spokesperson for the National Drivers Association (l'Association
Nationale des Chauffeurs), labor activist Duclos Bénissoit, said he supports
the disarmament campaign without reservations.

Duclos Bénissoit expressed surprise at the criticism made against the
practice of searching vehicles and questioned the attitude of leaders of the
Convergence who on the one hand call for the disarmamnet campaign and on the
other disapprove of it.

Secretary of State for Communication Mario Dupuy indicated Monday that
measures have been adopted by the authorities designed to regularize the
situation of individuals whose licenses to carry a weapon have expired.

Mr. Dupuy said that all sectors of the Haitian population are affected by
the disarmament campaign.

In addition, many people believe that if today a large quantity of weapons
continues to circulate throughout the country, a good portion of the
responsibility for that situation can be attributed to the multinational
force that, after the return of the constitutionally-elected government,
carried out little more, it is said, than a parody of disarmament.

The leaders of the multinational force have attempted to explain their
failure to do more disarmament by the fact that any disarmament operation is
a complexe process.

AHP October 14, 2002 2:50 PM

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