21854: (Chamberlain) Outcry against arrests in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

Supporters of ousted president detained as interim leader has talks at UN
on peacekeeping


PORT-AU-PRINCE, May 12 (Sapa-AP-AFP) -- Two prominent supporters of ousted
Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide have been arrested, prompting
criticism by a leader of Aristide's party and a human rights group.

Annette Auguste, a pro-Aristide street activist, was detained early on
Monday by international forces on suspicion of illegal activities, and US
Marines spokesman Col David Lapan claimed she threatened the troops.

Auguste was turned over to Haitian police and charged with "criminal
conspiracy", said police spokesman Max Harry-Isaac. However, the spokesman
did not elaborate.

It was not immediately clear whether troops from the US, Canada, Chile or
France were involved.

Police said a warrant had been issued for Auguste's arrest, and more
arrests were expected.

Pro-Aristide former mayor Maxson Guerrier of the Port-au-Prince suburb of
Delmas was detained last week on Haiti's border with the Dominican
Republic.

That arrest was denounced as illegal by the National Coalition for Haitian
Rights because there were no charges against Guerrier.

"The arrest and detention of citizens for reasons of investigation' is
totally unacceptable," said the coalition's director, Pierre Esperance.

Former cabinet minister Leslie Voltaire, of Aristide's Lavalas Family
party, criticised the arrests, saying: "I have never seen Annette Auguste
involved in anything.

"In the case of Maxson Guerrier, he was arrested without a warrant."

Voltaire accused the government of "acting in an arbitrary manner".

The arrests came as US-backed Haitian interim Prime Minister Gerard
Latortue met United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York
to discuss the role of UN peacekeepers to be deployed next month.

Cabinet adviser Alix Richard said Latortue was scheduled to meet French
President Jacques Chirac in Paris tomorrow, and also have talks in Brussels
with the European Commission on the resumption of aid to Haiti that had
been frozen.

Meanwhile, the US is increasing aid to Haiti by about $40m in an attempt to
bring stability to the impoverished Caribbean island state.

On Sunday, Canadian ambassador Kenneth Cooke announced the donation of an
additional $13m for emergency purposes, mostly for health programmes and
food.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, is trying to organise elections
following the armed revolt that helped oust Aristide on February 29.

Aristide, who is in Jamaica, had requested political asylum in SA, the
country's foreign affairs ministry said on Monday. Aristide's request for
asylum in SA was due to be tabled at a cabinet meeting yesterday and today
by Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

SA was one of countries that was critical of the role played by the US in
the ousting of Aristide from power.

The South African cabinet is expected to approve Aristide's request in line
with President Thabo Mbeki's pledge to the Caribbean Economic Community to
help to bring political stability to the region. The request came through
the offices of the African Union chairman, Mozambican President Joaquim
Chissano, on Aristide's behalf.

Aristide was exiled to central Africa, protesting that he had not left his
country of his own free will but had been kidnapped and shipped out of his
country by the US.

Meanwhile, Latortue's government has also come in for some criticism from
within and at cabinet level.

Cabinet minister Robert Ulysse said in a radio interview last week that he
planned to resign at the end of this week a move that would mark the first
cabinet defection.

Ulysse told Radio Vision 2000 that he disagreed with the Haitian
government's approach.

He complained about the government's handling of widespread power cuts, and
also said that Latortue had not incorporated his suggestions for urban
planning.

Ulysse could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday.