20075: Blanchet: Fw: [nchrhaiti-press] Massacre in Syrie (Saint-Marc): Three (3)suspects behind bars (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <MaxBlanchet@worldnet.att.net>

<<< www.nchrhaiti.org >>>
Press Release
2 March 2004


During the morning of Tuesday, 2 March 2004, a delegation from the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR) made a visit to the Delmas 33 police precinct to meet with three (3) suspects implicated in the mournful events of 11 February 2004 in Syrie (municipality of Saint-Marc). Dauphin Roland (alias Black Ronald), Harmony Ronald and Mathieu Raphaël - all members of the pro-Lavalas organization « Bale Wouze » - are being detained for their alleged implication in the Syrie massacre.



NCHR recalls that on 11 February 2004, officers from specialized units of the Haitian National Police, such as the Corps Anti-Terroriste (Cat Team) and the Corps d'Intervention pour le Maintien de l'Ordre (CIMO) and heavily armed civilians from Bale Wouze besieged the district of Syrie in Saint-Marc, the headquarters of Rassemblement des Militants Conséquents de la Commune de Saint-Marc (RAMICCOSM), an organization affiliated with the Opposition.  The loss of that day, while still only partially recorded, includes more than fifty (50) people killed or reported missing and several dozen houses burned.  The bodies of those killed have incinerated inside burning homes or have been left to animals.  Not one has received a proper burial. Bale Wouze reigned in terror over the city of Nissage Saget.



Since the massacre, the city of Saint-Marc has been characterized by an overwhelming and systematic practice of summary executions, kidnappings, torture and/or inhumane acts inspired by political motives and overtly carried out as the execution of a plan organized against a civilian group in opposition to the Lavalas government.



A delegation composed of members of the national and international press, the Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organisations (POHDH) and the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR) visited the area on 13 February 2004, two (2) days after the massacre, observed and denounced the situation. The crimes committed in Saint-Marc during this period of time are distinguished by their cruel, horrific, savage and barbaric nature, and constitute the worst of the worst committed by the Lavalas regime.  The killers had at their disposition powerful resources from the State and now are benefiting from official impunity.  NCHR considers these acts as genocide, or better yet, as a crime against humanity.



The genocide committed at Syrie was carried out less than forty-eight (48) hours after a visit from Prime Minister Yvon Neptune to Saint-Marc, during which he reiterated his government's desire to re-establish "order" in the city and then [subsequently] gave instructions for a brutal intervention against the forces of the Opposition.



NCHR anticipates that the suspects being detained in this case at Delmas 33 will swiftly be brought before the courts of Saint-Marc for the purposes of an official inquiry in order that the authors, accomplices and masterminds of this massacre (wherever they may be) can respond to the charges against them.



Furthermore, it is NCHR's hope that Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, former Deputy Amanus Mayette, Byron Odigé, Ernest and Somoza (as known as) - all denounced publicly as well as by suspect Roland Dauphin (alias Black Ronald) for their involvement - will be rendered to the mercy of the judiciary for the purpose of shedding light on this massacre.



NCHR calls upon the new Provisional President, Justice Boniface Alexandre, a Magistrate by profession, to take advantage of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3074 (XXVlll) of 3 December 1973 that solemnly reaffirms the principles of international cooperation concerning the detection, arrest, extradition and punishment of persons guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.



NCHR is committed to following the evolution of this case until its logical conclusion, namely a fair and just trial that respects of the rights of all concerned.



NCHR takes this opportunity to applaud the members of the Front de Résistance pour la Libération Nationale for their symbolic gesture in halting their advance, yet at the same time does not hesitate to remind them that several of their members, one of whom is Louis Jodel Chamblain, are responsible for committing serious human rights violations and must be brought before a judge to respond to the crimes they are accused of. Under no circumstances can amnesia and impunity serve as the foundation of democracy and the rule of law for which the Haitian people are so vocally demanding.







Port-au-Prince, 2 March 2004




National Coalition for Haitian Rights  (NCHR)
Coalition National pour les Droits des Haïtiens
9, Rue Rivière
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Tel:  509.245.3486 / 245.5821
Fax:  509.244.4146
Email:  nchr@nchrhaiti.org
           nchr@haiti.maf.net
www.nchrhaiti.org


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