16053: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Police Chief 4 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MICHAEL NORTON

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, June 28 (AP) -- A week after her predecessor resigned
and fled to the United States, a judge took on the job Saturday of running
Haiti's much-criticized police force.
   President Jean-Bertrand Aristide appointed Jocelyne Pierre, head of
Port-au-Prince's civil court, to be Haiti's interim police chief. She took
the oath of office Saturday at the police headquarters in the capital.
   Pierre is the third acting police chief in the past month, and the first
woman to hold the post since the police force replaced the demobilized army
in June 1995.
   Her predecessor, Jean-Robert Faveur, resigned after two weeks in office
and fled with his family to Miami, saying he feared for his life.
   In an open letter to Aristide on June 22, Faveur said the government had
been undermining his position. He said at a news conference in Washington
Friday that Aristide was filling police ranks with people loyal to him
regardless of their qualifications.
   The government denied the charges, saying Faveur had "abandoned his
post" and should be extradited and arrested.
   Aristide has been under intense pressure to reform the police force,
which has been accused of criminal activity, human rights abuses and
repression of political dissent.
   The president's foes accuse the 4,000-member force of helping armed
bands of Aristide supporters break up opposition protests, allegations
supported by the U.S. State Department.
   "I will put all my knowledge and experience to work, like all the other
women who have served the nation," Pierre said at the swearing-in ceremony.
   Haiti's opposition parties said Faveur's flight indicated secure
elections would be impossible under Aristide and questioned Pierre's
competence for police work.
   Pierre's "appointment is not conducive to establishing a secure
environment for the electoral process," opposition politician Mischa
Gaillard said. The entire force must be reformed, he said.
   Before Faveur, the force was headed by Aristide supporter Jean-Claude
Baptiste, who resigned under international pressure after less than three
months.
   Baptiste had been accused in the killing of politician Sylvio Claude on
the eve of a 1991 army coup that ousted Aristide and sent him into exile.
Baptiste has denied involvement in the killing.
   The opposition and Aristide have been at loggerheads since May 2000
legislative elections, which the opposition says were rigged and
international observers deemed flawed.