19619: (Hermantin)PalmBeachPost-Both sides exact revenge as killing mobs roam in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Both sides exact revenge as killing mobs roam in Haiti

By John Lantigua, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 2, 2004



ST. MARC, Haiti -- While crowds celebrated 60 miles away in the capital, a
mob marched down the main street of this seaside city Monday wielding clubs
and machetes as revenge killing continued a day after the abdication of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The headquarters compound of Aristide's Lavalas Party had been looted. A
bonfire at the front gate contained the gruesome remains of pro-Aristide
gang members, at least five of whom had been hunted down and killed between
Sunday and Monday.

The mob was searching for other young fugitives, chanting in Creole, "Let's
go get them! Let's go get them!"

The town's mayor, Jean Rony Eugene, tried desperately to block their way.

"Please, don't do this! We want peace!" he yelled. But it did no good. The
mob of about 100 young men eventually swept past him.

This market town, along with Gonaives, 30 miles to the north, are the native
cities of many Haitian-Americans who now live in Palm Beach County and other
parts of South Florida.

Most residents here have been unable to contact their families in recent
days to let them know that they have escaped harm during the upheaval.

"We've been very frightened here and I'm sure our families there have
watched the events on television and are worried," said Marise Augustin, 50,
who finally reached her family in West Boca Raton on Monday.

She reported that all their relatives were fine.

But in this city of more than 100,000, many families could not say the same.
Not only were pro-Aristide gang members dead, but opposition sympathizers
said some of their colleagues were missing.

"There are rumors that the Lavalas people arrested certain opposition
members in the hours before Aristide left and that possibly they were
killed," said businessman Stephen Dussuau, 58. "But it could also be that
they went into hiding and have not come out. We don't know."

The doubts have led to rumors of a mass killing, and those rumors have
incensed the mobs seeking revenge.

St. Marc had been hotly contested before the resignation of Aristide. On
Feb. 6, local opposition members captured the local police barracks. On Feb.
11, pro-Aristide forces, augmented by gang members apparently from the
capital, recaptured it.

In the aftermath, the opposition headquarters was burned down and at least
five opponents of the government were hunted down and killed. Locals say
more people died and their bodies later were burned.

Fear reigned in the town as pro-Aristide gunmen, sometimes wearing ski
masks, controlled checkpoints on the main road.

"They knew that most of the people here had turned against them," said
parish priest Max Mesidor, 40.

"If you looked them in the eyes, they made you stop and lie on the ground,"
said Fadael Franckson, owner of a local restaurant. "Over the past couple
weeks they came into my restaurant, asked for food and refused to pay me."

He said he received orders from the Lavalas Party headquarters to feed them
for free.

"People were staying in their houses more and more, afraid to be in the
street," said Marise Augustin. "They were keeping their children in as
well."

On Sunday, the news of Aristide's departure was greeted with jubilation. A
band set up near the central square and played.

But by late afternoon, happiness and relief had turned to revenge.

At least three of the young gang members captured were brought to the
burned-out opposition headquarters and executed there with machetes, locals
said, in explicit vengeance for the Feb. 11 killings.

The revenge killings concern many residents.

"I very much hope that the American Marines who are arriving in Haiti come
here to keep order," said Mesidor. "Because if they don't I'm afraid this
killing may continue."

Franckson agreed.

"This violence is very bad for the city," he said. "What we need is not what
we had. What we need is change."

john_lantigua@pbpost.com

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