21185: Esser: Haiti: Armed groups still active (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Amnesty International
http://news.amnesty.org

08/04/2004

Press Release

Haiti: Armed groups still active
Findings of Amnesty International Delegation

At the end of a 15-day mission to Haiti, Amnesty International is
deeply concerned for the security of the civilian population. Despite
the presence of the Multinational Interim Force (MIF), a large number
of armed groups continue to be active throughout the country. These
include both rebel forces and militias loyal to former President
Aristide.

Amnesty International is particularly concerned for the safety of
judges, prosecutors, criminal investigators, victims, witnesses and
human rights defenders involved in prosecutions relating to past
human rights abuses. Judge Napela Saintil, the chief judge in the
trial of those responsible for the 1994 Raboteau massacre, was
severely beaten on 30 March by an armed man. The judge told Amnesty
International delegates that his attacker had threatened him for the
part he played in the conviction, in absentia, of Louis Jodel
Chamblain, one of the participants in the massacre.

The delegation interviewed Haitians from across the political and
social spectrum. All expressed a profound sense of insecurity and
fear for their own safety from one or the other of the armed groups
currently at large.

These include those who participated in the 1991 coup d'état; the
Chimères who remain loyal to former President Aristide; unofficial
armed pro-Aristide gangs; non-political armed gangs; as well as
former military authorities and former rural police chiefs, or chef
de section,known to have been responsible for serious abuses in the
past. Members of the abolished Haitian Armed Forces and former
paramilitary leaders convicted of past human rights violations are
emerging as new actors in Haiti's political scene and have taken
control, especially in areas where state authority is weak or absent.

The interim government has yet to establish control over the
country's legal institutions. When visiting the national penitentiary
in Port au Prince, the Amnesty International delegates found that
part of the prison was controlled by US marines. US officials have
since acknowledged they are guarding some of the just under 40
detainees that Amnesty International was informed are being held in
the prison. Among them is Jocelerme Privert, the former Minister of
the Interior who has just been arrested.

US officials were unable to provide Amnesty International with
details about the prisoners or the legal context of their detention.
The Haitian prisoners reportedly include persons allegedly involved
in drug trafficking and, in one case, terrorism. Amnesty
International called on the US authorities to immediately clarify the
legal basis justifying their effective detention in US custody and
the steps that have been taken to ensure that they have access to
full legal safeguards.

Amnesty International welcomes the assurances that it received from
Léon Charles, the new Director General of Police, during its mission,
that Haiti's new police force will adopt a neutral approach and will
show impartiality in its actions. The organization believes that such
an approach would be key to restoring confidence in the security
forces' respect for the rule of law in Haiti.

Since coming to power, however, the interim government has swiftly
moved to arrest members of former President Aristide's Lavalas Family
Party suspected of acts of political violence or corruption, while
failing to act against a number of known perpetrators of grave human
rights violations. Louis Jodel Chamblain and Jean Pierre Baptiste
("Jean Tatoune"), for instance, remain free. As do others who were
named in Amnesty International's most recent report, Haiti:
perpetrators of past abuses threaten human rights and the
re-establishment of the rule of law.

"By only arresting Lavalas supporters the government is sending the
wrong message. Known perpetrators of serious human rights violations
among the rebel forces must also be taken into custody," Amnesty
International said. "The Haitian government must make the defence of
human rights a central part of its political agenda. No one should be
able to get away with committing human rights violations, including
murder, without fear of arrest, prosecution or punishment."

Haiti's recurring political crises are rooted in long-term patterns
of human rights violations committed with impunity. Amnesty
International strongly believes that the Haitian Government must
commit itself publicly and firmly to ending the cycle of impunity by
ensuring that perpetrators of serious human rights violations from
all factions are brought to justice.

Amnesty International has also received recent reports of killings
and kidnappings of persons belonging to pro-Aristide grassroots
organizations in poor neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince. Among those
allegedly responsible were several escaped prisoners who had been
jailed for rapes and other common crimes. These men have reportedly
been working together with the Haitian police and MIF forces to
identify people associated with the Lavalas regime.

The driver of a former Lavalas deputy was attacked on 3 April in
Martissant and died the next day as a result. On 4 April, another man
with Lavalas connections was shot dead outside the market in
Martissant. After his killing the assailants went to his house to
look for his wife, who is now in hiding, threatened to kill her and
burned the house. In addition, two members of KOMIREP, a grassroots
organization that included victims of the 1991 coup d'état, were
kidnapped, one in Martissant and the other in Cité l'Eternel, in the
street on Monday 4 April. Their whereabouts are unknown.

One young woman told Amnesty International delegates that she is
receiving threats from a police officer who has recently escaped from
prison. He and at least four other men were accused of gang-raping
the girl in November 2003. Two of the men were subsequently arrested,
including the officer. Both escaped from prison during a mass
jailbreak on 29 February. The women's organization and the human
rights organization that have been supporting her have also received
threats.

The crucial first step towards restoring the rule of law and ending
impunity must be a nationwide disarmament that applies to all armed
groups. Amnesty International calls on the new government to set up a
national disarmament plan to ensure the security of all Haitians.

Amnesty International is dismayed that the Multinational Interim
Force has not made a serious attempt to work with the Haitian
National Police to establish such a disarmament programme. US
Secretary of State Colin Powell and the French authorities, part of
the US-led multinational forces, have talked about the need to
disarm, but that has not been followed by the determined action that
is required.

"The international community must take disarmament seriously now and
work closely with the Haitian National Police to that end", Amnesty
International said. Security Council resolution 1529 gives them ample
scope to do so.

Amnesty International believes that the US-led multinational forces
are in a unique and powerful position to contribute to the national
disarmament effort before their scheduled departure at the end of May
when a United Nations peacekeeping force is scheduled to take over.

Upholding the rule of law and human rights requires not only an
effective police force but also a fully functioning judiciary.
Rebuilding the judiciary at all levels was one of the key
recommendations of the Haiti National Commission for Truth and
Justice in 1996.

"Amnesty International calls on the Haitian authorities to draw up a
national plan of action to strengthen its rule of law institutions in
close consultation with civil society and while building on the
pertinent recommendations made in the past by Haitian bodies such as
the National Commission."

"Reforming the justice system must be part of a larger plan to reduce
poverty, repair Haiti's environment, and build-up its health,
sanitation and education systems," the organization said.

Background
As a result of a joint military and paramilitary operation that began
on April 1994 in Raboteau, a heavily-populated shanty town along the
coast at Gonaïves, an estimated 20 people lost their lives.

Efforts to bring those responsible for the massacre to justice
continued for several years. The trial opened in October 2000 and 16
people were convicted of taking part in the massacre. Twelve of these
were condemned to life in prison with hard labour; the four others
received shorter sentences of between four and ten years.

Thirty-seven defendants, including General Raoul Cédras, head of the
military government; Emmanuel Constant, founding leader of the
paramilitary organization FRAPH; police chief Michel François; and
Cédras' deputy Philippe Biamby were tried in absentia. They were all
sentenced to life in prison with hard labour, and were fined one
billion gourdes, roughly US$43million. However, they remained at
large.

In February 2004, armed government opponents attacked police
stations, court houses in Gonaïves, the country's fourth largest
town, forcing the police and local authorities to flee. As rebellion
spread throughout the centre and north of Haiti, former police and
army officers who had left Haiti returned. The rebel forces are led
by men like Louis Jodel Chamblain and Jean Pierre Baptiste ('Jean
Tatoune'), convicted of carrying out egregious violations under the
facto military dictatorship of the early 1990s.

On 29 February, as rebels threatened to advance on Port-au-Prince and
forcibly remove Aristide, he left Haiti in disputed circumstances. A
Multinational Interim Force composed by mainly US, Canadian and
French troops arrived, and was mandated by the UN Security Council to
help ensure law and order and protect human rights.
.