16118: (Hermantin) Miami Herald-Aristide partisans protest conference (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sun, Jul. 13, 2003

Aristide partisans protest conference

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- (AP) -- More than 1,000 supporters of President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide threw rocks Saturday, disrupting a meeting of 184
civil society groups that were gathered to discuss social problems in Haiti.

Hundreds of the groups' members, including business, human-rights, peasant,
labor and student associations, started a motorcade from the airport near
the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.

The motorcade drove to the Aristide stronghold of Cite Soleil, where the
groups planned to call for the government to disarm criminal gangs, arrest
perpetrators of political violence and take more steps to guarantee security
and press freedom.

Aristide supporters threw rocks at the passing vehicles, then stoned a Roman
Catholic meeting center where the groups had been scheduled to congregate.

Four Haitian journalists were injured when Aristide supporters attacked
their vehicles. One of the journalists was hospitalized with head injuries,
and another had two broken ribs.

Several other people reported being slightly injured, including businessman
Andy Apaid Jr., chief spokesman for the groups.

''What happened today is a catastrophe,'' Apaid said from his car after
being struck in the chest with a large rock and losing his breath for
several minutes. ``The blame is squarely on the shoulders of Aristide.''

Aristide supporters waved photographs of their leader, chanting ``Long live
Aristide!''

After about two hours, 100 people held an informal meeting in the Catholic
center's auditorium. Meanwhile, the government issued a statement defending
the civil groups' right to free speech and assembly.

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