20687: Esser: Haiti 'still not under control' (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

BBC NEWS
http://news.bbc.co.uk

2004/03/22

Haiti 'still not under control'

An international human rights group has called on multinational
forces in Haiti to retake control of the north of the country.

The US-based group Human Rights Watch says rebel forces are still
active in Cap-Haitien, and irregular armed groups control the
surrounding areas.

"There rebels are clearly there, and clearly armed," it said.

More than 2,600 UN peacekeepers were sent to Haiti after the
departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

On Sunday, the commander of the US-led multinational force in Haiti
said his troops would not disarm rebels, despite earlier claims that
this was an important move.

"This is a country with a lot of weapons and disarmament is not our
mission," US General Ronald Coleman told Reuters.

"Our mission is to stabilise the country," he said.

Earlier this month, US marine Colonel Charles Gurganus told reporters
in the capital, Port-au-Prince, that his men and the Haitian national
police would "disarm men who are illegally armed" in public.

"We will take as many weapons as we find on the street," he added.

Rule of law

Human Rights Watch's Joanne Mariner said rebel forces in Cap-Haitien
were illegally detaining 16 journalists and former government
officials sympathetic to Mr Aristide.

There was an increasing sense of insecurity in the area, she said.

"It has been three weeks since the peacekeepers arrived in Haiti, but
the rule of law has yet to be re-established and there is no visible
police presence," she said.

"The Haitian police and international forces need to assert control
in these areas."

She said the newly appointed police commissioner for the north of the
country had fewer than 50 police officers.

Many towns, including Saint Rafael and Port-de-Paix, remain no-go areas.

"The feeling is that the international force isn't enough to keep a
lid on things, and local people don't feel secure, they don't feel it
is safe to go out," said Oxfam's Ilana Benady in Cap-Haitien.

"It is a situation of uncertainty, people with allegiances to the
former government are still nervous."


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