21557: Slavin: Leth reports on Latortue in Soleil & Chamblain's surrender (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JPS390@aol.com

Politiken (Copenhagen), April 23, 2004
By Jorgen Leth
[Translated from the original Danish]

In recent days, a few things happened in Port-au-Prince which have important
symbolic significance and could help defuse the still tense situation. The
day after Prime Minister Gérard Latortue visited the slum of Cité Soleil,
long regarded as Aristide's last bastion, dominated by the armed chimères, a
rebel leader with a very bad reputation, Louis-Jodel Chamblain, surrendered
himself at the Pétionville police station. He was immediately put under
arrest.

Latortue was accompanied by the leader of the multinational force, the
American general Coleman and met with representatives of the different zones
of Cité Soleil. The slum has a population of 200,000 and many live in
inhuman conditions. Some of the zones are dangerous and off limits, under
the control of radical gang-leaders. In spite of attempts at starting
negotiations the multinational force has not yet succeeded in disarming the
gangs.

The prime minister's visit was an outstretched hand for reconciliation, and
he promised to work for improving the living conditions, hopefully in
collaboration with international partners. It is still to be seen if this
declared interest for doing something positive will lead to harmonize this
violence-ridden slum which has been a stage for so many bloody battles and
so many killings.

Louis-Jodel Chamblain's voluntary surrender to the authorities is a dramatic
turn in a story that has become a heavy liability for the government and for
the international security force. He was accompanied by two prominent
comrades-in-arms, ex-commander Guy Philippe and former leader of the
Gonaïves rebellion Winter Etienne. This escort was meaningful, because it
made clear that it was a well-planned act.

>From the beginning Chamblain has been seen as a very controversial element
in the insurgency against Aristide. When Colin Powell refused to legitimize
the rebellion because of its leadership of "thugs and criminals", he was
talking about Chamblain. In the weeks after February 29, the demand for
disarming the rebels has been repeated from many sides, and human rights
organizations have insisted on authorities arresting Chamblain because of
the crimes he allegedly committed and for which he was sentenced, in
absentia, to forced labor for life.

Considering the accusations it might seem surprising that Chamblain would
submit himself for examination.

However, a conversation that Politiken's correspondent had with him a couple
of weeks ago at a hotel in the capital, gives some background for his
decision.

I had already met Chamblain a couple of times in connection with making a
film about Haiti during the military regime 1991-94. That was the period in
which he, with Emmanuel "Toto" Constant,  was the co-leader of the
right-wing organization FRAPH which was behind hundreds of executions of
Aristide supporters, carried out in night-time raids in the poor quarters of
the capital, among them Cité Soleil.

For visitors to FRAPH's headquarters in a big villa in Port-au-Prince it
became evident  that there was an internal  conflict between the two
leaders. I witnessed - and filmed - a voodoo ceremony where Constant used a
medium, his girl-friend, possessed by a voodoo spirit, or loa, to exorcise
Chamblain and force him to flee with his bodyguards.

Constant was extroverted, often cocaine-speedy, and loved to talk about his
political ambitions. He talked about his excellent relations to the feared
police chief Michel Francois, and was bursting with self-importance when,
during an interview,  he received a call from his friend, neoconservative
CNN commentator Bob Novak.

Chamblain rarely talked to strangers and seemed more introverted and dark,
but also less interested in visible power symbols. He seemed "burned".

Constant often mentioned his partner's traumatic background. Aristide's
gangs had murdered Chamblain's wife who was then seven months pregnant. He
talked about this horrible crime in macabre details.

At the first press meeting the rebels held February 30 at the Hotel El
Rancho, I had an opportunity to observe Chamblain's comeback close up. It
was definitely a more relaxed Chamblain than the one I met in the early
1990s. He was almost jovial and clearly cherished the celebration he had
received in the streets of Port-au-Prince the day of Aristide's departure.
After he had been greeted in the provincial towns as the liberator.

Precisely the kind of reception that seems to be in stark contrast to his
dark past. Many have pointed to the irony in the fact that the population
now are greeting their former torturer as a liberator. As late as yesterday,
after Chamblain surrendered to the authorities, the respected human rights
activist Jean Claude Bajeux (former cultural minister in a Aristide
government) said: "We Haitians don't get to choose our heroes... The
international community... doesn't understand why the people were so happy
to see the rebels come, even if they include criminals."

The rebel leaders have so far said that they were willing to put down their
arms, but not to surrender them, as long as there was no guarantee that the
chimères were disarmed, and not until there would be an effective police
force. The last condition could mean eternal delay.

Another demand from the rebels has been that the army must be reconstituted.
Many members of the rebel force are disgruntled ex-members of the army that
was dissolved by Aristide after his return in 1994.

That demand is supported by the interim government's interior minister
Hérard Abraham, a widely respected ex-general who did not participate in the
officers' coup in 1991. He has publicly credited Guy Philippe with his
contribution to the overturn of the Aristide regime.

However, the US general who leads the multinational force has said that, "
Haiti doesn't need an army."

A couple of weeks ago I noticed the presence of a number of ex-colonels at
the Hotel Villa Creole. They had been summoned to stay there for some days
for a series of meetings with Abraham. It was known that the rebel leaders
at that time had made the Hotel Ibo Lele their temporary headquarters. They
were also in town to discuss the country's security with the ex-general.

That Sunday morning I went up to the hilltop Ibo Lele. I wanted to talk with
Guy Philippe, but he was not there.  Chamblain was. He was sitting outside
the hotel entrance in shorts, smoking cigarettes and talking with some of
his men, all of them seemingly unarmed.

Other men were sitting at tables on the terrace overlooking Port-au-Prince,
playing dominoes and drinking whisky.

Chamblain was willing to talk and suggested that we sit at a table on the
terrace. He went to his room and changed to long trousers and shirt.

- Monsieur Chamblain, many have demanded that you be arrested to answer for
your actions.

"I am not afraid of what I have not done. The accusations are false, and I
was condemned in absentia by politicised tribunals. I just look forward to
presenting myself and to getting a chance to clear myself."

- Aren't you worried that your presence might damage the image of the
rebels?

"For political reasons there are many people who want to tarnish my image.
They will not succeed."

- Could you give us the reason for the bitter hatred between you and
Aristide which gave your participation in the insurgence a taste of personal
revenge?

"He was a fake priest who manipulated the population with a mixture of
superstition and power greed. I knew he wanted to kill me after Roger
Lafontant's attempted coup [January 7,1991], because I was a friend of
Lafontant. Aristide sent his people to my house, but I wasn't there, so
instead they took my wife and killed her. She was seven months pregnant.
They cut out the unborn baby from her stomach. They were looking for me the
next days, and I know that Aristide had asked them to bring him my severed
head. I had no other choice than to flee the country. I stayed in the
Dominican Republic for seven months, and came back one and a half months
after the coup against Aristide. I didn't participate in the coup."

- But you were the co-leader of FRAPH.

"It was me who started FRAPH, Front d'Avancement et Progrès d'Haïti, the
idea was an organization which recruited people from different social layers
to promote reconciliation in Haiti. I wanted to fight for that - and against
the return of Aristide."

- FRAPH was guilty of many acts of terror and countless murders.

"I have been accused of all kind of crimes. The politicians who worked for
Aristide's return fabricated the accusations. Corpses were taken out of the
morgue at night and distributed in the streets. The truth is that FRAPH was
split. My organization was purely political and had certain ideals. Emmanuel
Constant went in another direction. A wrong direction. He declared he had
250,000 armed men who were at the disposal of general Biamby (a member of
the junta). That wasn't true. He had become untrustworthy. For him the media
was show business. His wing was militant and committed  unforgivable things
in the darkness of night. He gave the name FRAPH another meaning: Front Armé
de Revolution du Peuple d'Haïti, I declared loudly and clearly that FRAPH
was not - or should not be - a military organization.

- More specifically you were sentenced in absentia for having been directly
implicated in the assassination of Aristide's financier Antoine Izmery, and
also for having been implicated in the Raboteau massacre. Those are serious
crimes.

"I have asked my lawyer to prepare my case. I am innocent of those
accusations and can only remind you that - as everybody knows - there was no
law and order under the Lavalas regime. The courts were totally politicised.
Aristide wanted to get rid of me. And he is a specialist in lies."

One senses that Chamblain needs to talk. We are facing the man who has the
worst reputation of all in Haiti.

"When I risked my life in a fight, that was not to obtain a position or a
job. I am a son of the people, and I am proud of being one of the liberators
of my country and my people. In the ten years I spent in exile there was not
one day when I didn't think about coming back to Haiti. I have no fortune. I
have
my friends and my family. My pockets are empty. If I had been a criminal, as
Aristide has said and some human rights organizations keep repeating, then
do you think the population would be in the streets to receive Louis-Jodel
Chamblain leading his men as a liberator?"