14222: Sanba: Re:14214: Simidor re: Sanba re: Police killings in Carrefour (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: sanba@juno.com


Mon cher Daniel

You wrote: [While you may "have no way to investigate" the above killings, you should at least read some of the news available, in both French and English over the internet, before attempting to spread doubt
about "where the killings came from."  In this case there is
sufficient evidence that a commando from the Carrefour police
kidnapped the three young men....

Unfortunately a well-known but quite discredited Lavalas tactic is
to object that "there is no proof," even when proof is staring
everybody in the face."]


This time, Daniel, we are sure of one obvious thing. You surprisingly shift the case I was reacting on. I was not addressing the Carrefour situation, even though I still can, and will. I was talking about the inexplicable situation where a commando who killed three citizens in cold blood was in police uniform and hooded. I have to smell a rat right then and there. Indeed, why would a group of police hide their face but not their uniform to commit such an horrendous crime? That is the key to my doubt, and later my position towards the story. Yet, this simple question was never asked either by the government who should to cast away any dommageable doubt against itself, or the other shade of the political spectrum we can't ask to be fair or honest about it.
As to what I should do, be assured that I did, and I know that the situation in Carrefour which is not the same as the one I was addressing -I must stress on that- can happen, and it is the government duty to react accordingly and investigate this case. I would certainly be pleased to see the team of investigators carrying out its duty in a very impartial manner. I demand not less than that because it's high time to undo what centuries of "marronage" bestowed upon our very reflexes: we are willing to half-lie to escape judgement, or always look better than another. It is a serious matter we cannot erase with either passion that leads us to point at those we don't like or even without honesty that requires nothing less than objectivity the result of may let walk the very person we would like to squeeze in.
Today we can't hide from the fact that we do not have a perfect police, nor a very well chosen staff. And I have no doubt that you know why. In this sense, I welcome the work of every Haitian or simply human who wants to improve the police force or to clean it out. That is a much more positive direction to go than being happy about the weakness of a system, because that would allow to get away with a simple blame cast upon somebody we cannot stand.
Kanmarade, you and I know that building a nation is way more difficult than pointing fingers. It takes analysis you are certainly good at. That is why I am not going to allow you to deviate towards those who don't know better or who would never get the courage to raise to the occasion.

As to the judgement of yours about me spreading doubt about any killing, it is not as unorthodox as you think. As a matter of fact everybody -not excluding you- should practice scientific doubt. After all we are talking about a state of law to establish. That is the preliminary task of the person in business of investigating: being doubtful and verify even his or her evidence. The principle being: what you see is not sufficient. You must question it, not only in terms of physical appearance, but in deeper terms of how and why it happenned this particular way. For example we must know whose decision it was to kill, who was the engineer, the acomplices. And, as you, Daniel, used to say: who should benefit from the crime? All those questions that can't be conceived without being doubtful. Why? Because condemning cannot be a joke, if and when the conseqences are heavy, and can mean either jail time or capital punishment I oppose, by the way, with the same conviction I do towards violence and killing.
Having said so, I have to find very weird that the same people who are fighting for a State of Law and delegation of power cannot but holding only one man accountable for everything bad in the country. That is inconsistent with the notion of institution. Indeed the police force is a highly hierachical one. There is for instance a director of judiciary police on top to deal with deviance from a member of the corps. Why is it that one joyfully bypass all the grades and blame the head of state directly?
The case you are talking about need to be thoroughly investigated: What is the profile of the so-called commando? Who let them join the police force? Why? Who ordered those soldiers to kidnap? Did they act on their own? What is the profile of the commander? Who recruited him or her? When did the immediate commander's supervisor knew about the whole story? What measures of protection are granted to the family? All those questions must be answered, plus a lot more. The crime must not go unpunished.
 Allow me however to disagree with you about the well known tactics of
 Lavalas. As far I am concerned I do not know about any tactics of the
 kind. I know on the contrary that Lavalas does not pay enough attention
 to libels and slanders.

F.M. Michel