16626: (Craig) Article: U.S., OAS Criticize Haiti's Police Force (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <hoosier@att.net>

U.S., OAS Criticize Haiti's Police Force
September 3, 2003
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:17 p.m. ET

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- The U.S. Embassy and the
Organization of American States on Wednesday criticized
Haiti's police force, alleging it used excessive force to
break up an opposition rally.

Thousands of opposition and civil society members gathered
Saturday in the city of Cap-Haitien, on the country's
northern coast, when police fired tear gas to disperse the
crowd. Dozens received minor injuries.

Some were hurt after falling to escape the tear gas. Others
were hit with rocks, said Frandley Denis Julien, head of
the Citizen's Initiative civil society group that organized
the rally.

One man was hospitalized after being shot, although it was
unclear who shot him. Five police officers were also
injured by rocks.

"The nature of the intervention, including the level of
force employed by the Haitian National Police, didn't
correspond to ... the situation," the Washington-based OAS
said on Wednesday.

Police told rally organizers because of a staff shortage
they could not guarantee public safety, so they asked
organizers to cancel the rally. But organizers went ahead
with the demonstration.

"Judging it was a dangerous situation, they exercised all
necessary force," said Daphne Orlando, a police
spokeswoman, denying allegations that officers had also
used live ammunition.

But the U.S. Embassy said ``it deplores the decision of the
Haitian government to repress a peaceful political
demonstration in Cap-Haitien.''

"The U.S. government expresses its concern that this act
undermines the efforts of the OAS to help Haiti resolve its
current political crisis," the embassy said.

President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government and the
opposition have been deadlocked since Aristide's party
swept flawed May 2000 elections.

Since then, Haiti has plunged deeper into poverty and
unrest, as international lenders suspended millions of aid
dollars pending democratic reforms and greater stability.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Haiti-US-OAS.html?ex=1063675198&ei=1&en=85eaa4fe8d60709d
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company