20173: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Marines explain driver's shooting (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Wed, Mar. 10, 2004


VIOLENCE IN STREETS


Marines explain driver's shooting

U.S. Marines defend the fatal shooting of a taxi driver, while supporters of
exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide continue to call for his return to
Haiti.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

jcharles@herald.com


PORT-AU-PRINCE -- U.S. Marines answered questions Tuesday about the shooting
death of a taxi driver as he sped toward a military checkpoint late Monday,
marking the second reported fatal shooting by peacekeepers.

Officials said the shooting occurred while Marines were helping to secure an
industrial complex that was being looted.

''A taxi driver coming at them started accelerating and going right into our
line,'' said Col. Dave Berger, commander of the 3rd Battalion. ``He would
have mowed them right over. Two Marines shooters shot them, killing the
driver. The passenger suffered abrasions on his neck.''

Also on Tuesday, outgoing Prime Minister Yvon Neptune performed one of his
last acts in office: He voided all gun permits, giving peacekeepers the
ability to disarm anyone with a weapon and turn the individual over to
police.

''Any weapons that we see on the street, we are going to detain that
individual,'' Berger said.

GANGS AND LOOTING

Armed gangs continue to be a problem, and so does looting, forcing some
business owners to beef up security around their property.

''Everyone who carries an illegal weapon should be disarmed,'' Neptune said.
``The government has a responsibility to provide security for everyone.''

On Tuesday, protesters calling for exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's
return blocked a main road in the capital by hurling rocks and setting
barricades on fire.

The demands for Aristide's return came as he and others continued to
denounce what they called his forced departure from office.

In Miami, Aristide's American lawyer, Ira Kurzban, again demanded an
investigation and prosecution of U.S. officials involved in the alleged
''kidnapping'' and ''forced resignation'' of the former Haitian leader.

Kurzban said that if U.S. authorities do not respond to the request, the
matter would be taken to an international court.

Kurzban also called on the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to
launch an investigation into alleged killings and other abuses against
Aristide supporters in Haiti. Similar action was taken on Aristide behalf's
by lawyers in France, Kurzban said.

U.S. officials have strongly denied the kidnapping allegations.

Elsewhere, the 53-member African Union called Aristide's departure
''unconstitutional'' in a statement obtained by Agence France-Presse, and
St. Vincent and the Grenadines said it ``holds the United States responsible
for the removal of the Haitian president.''

Aristide, who is in exile in the Central African Republic, fled Haiti on
Feb. 29 after a monthlong rebel uprising.

`THE LONG HAUL'

In Canada, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Tuesday that he hopes the
international community will have the patience and stamina necessary to
commit to Haiti ``for the long haul.''

''It's going to take time, it's going to take lots of hard work,'' he told
the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. ``And we should not expect to do a Band-Aid
job for two years or so, and then turn around and leave, only to have to
return.''

Herald staff writer Nancy San Martin contributed to this report.

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