16630: (Hermantin)-Miami-Herald-Rally Police Accused of Excessive Force (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Thu, Sep. 04, 2003

Caribbean Briefs
>From Herald Wire Services

HAITI

RALLY POLICE ACCUSED

OF EXCESSIVE FORCE

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- The Organization of American States on Wednesday
criticized Haiti's police for using excessive force to break up an
opposition rally.

Thousands of opposition and civil society members gathered Saturday in the
northcoast city of Cap Haitien when police fired tear gas to disperse the
crowd.

Dozens suffered 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.

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