21327: (Chamberlain) Haiti bars more Aristide supporters from leaving (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, April 14 (Reuters) - Haiti's interim government
on Wednesday added 22 people, including five former government ministers,
to a list of ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's allies who are barred
from leaving the country.
     Aristide's Lavalas Family party has denounced the list as a witch hunt
by the new government against Aristide supporters, many of whom went into
hiding after the one-time hero of Haitian democracy fled the poor Caribbean
nation on Feb. 29.
     "It is a political decision aimed at persecuting and discrediting
those who collaborated with President Aristide," Lavalas spokesman Gilvert
Angervil said.
     Justice Minister Bernard Gousse has repeatedly denied the allegations,
saying he issued the list to prevent people suspected of wrongdoing from
leaving Haiti.
     Gousse unveiled the list more than two weeks ago. The first version
contained more than three dozen names, including that of ex-Prime Minister
Yvon Neptune.
     Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest who in the 1980s helped Haiti
throw off decades of dictatorship and military rule, fled the poor
Caribbean nation in the face of an armed rebellion in which more than 200
people were killed. He is now in Jamaica.
     Harry Clinton and Paul Duret, two former ministers on the list, said
they had not committed any wrongdoing and demanded the government rapidly
clear their names from the list.
     "Since the government said it wants to establish a rule of law, we
expect it to act accordingly," Clinton, a former public works minister,
told Reuters on Wednesday. He said he had been forced into hiding since
Aristide's departure.
     Aristide's allies accuse the ex-soldiers and street gangs behind the
rebellion of carrying out reprisal raids against Lavalas Family supporters
in the slums of Port-au-Prince and other towns and cities.
     Angervil said Prime Minister Gerard Latortue's government was
conducting a witch hunt and ignoring Haiti's constitution and laws.
     "It is an outlaw government backed by international sectors which turn
a blind eye to human rights abuses in Haiti," Angervil said. He named more
than a dozen Aristide supporters who had been killed over the past few
weeks.
     Angervil said Lavalas would soon publish a report in which it would
document more than 100 killings of party members, most of which occurred
after Aristide's departure.
     Thugs and corrupt police officers supporting Aristide also have been
accused of crimes and human rights abuses against opponents of the deposed
government. About 150 police officers, including some high-ranking police
officials, were dismissed on Tuesday on corruption and other charges.