22726: Fenton: Ex-Col Rebu criticizes lack of strategy for solving Haiti's insecurity problems (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Anthony Fenton <apfenton@ualberta.ca>

17 July 2004
BBC Monitoring Americas
English
(c) 2004 The British Broadcasting Corporation [date of publication]. All
Rights Reserved. No material may be reproduced except with the express
permission of The British Broadcasting Corporation.

Text of live telephone interview with former Col Himler Rebu by radio
journalist Rotchild Francois, Jr, from the "Morning News Programme"
broadcast by Haitian Metropole radio on 16 July

[Unidentified announcer] We now have on the phone former Col Himler
Rebu, the leader of the Group of Reflection on Haiti [Greh], who will help
us analyse the situation [of insecurity in the country].

[Rotchild Francois Jr] Good morning, Mr Rebu.

[Rebu] Good morning, Rotchild.

[Francois] Mr Rebu, how can we interpret the attack on these policemen
on John Brown Avenue yesterday [in which two policemen were killed and
one badly wounded]? Do you believe or think that this is in fact a
deliberate attack on the police?

[Rebu] Yes, very likely, especially since this is not the only attack on the
PNH [Haitian National Police] that has occurred. The symbolism is an
indictment of the country's security structure.

There is also the fire that broke out at Cascades Restaurant in
Petion-Ville yesterday, which is part of the strategy used by those who
have reasons to be in opposition to this government. It is certain that this
falls within the framework of a comprehensive strategy that is now
underling the lack of organization and capacity of the current security
structures to fulfil their duty.

[Francois] Can we actually question the structures and the capacity of the
police? Because, according to what one of the victims said, the bandits
took them by surprise and there were about 15 of them in that vehicle?

[Rebu] Because there are, perhaps, some fixed points, there may be a
visible security structure but the city itself is not within a safety net.
Putting
people [policemen] on the streets is one thing but putting them within a
tactical structure is quite another. Because in a structure of police
surveillance, a real security surveillance, it is impossible for people to
commit such acts without being intercepted two minutes later.

[Francois] So, you are saying that it is the police institution that was
targeted. According to you, who would have an interest in committing such
an act?

[Rebu] No, the act is political. People may not have realized that but all
this
took place on the same day. First of all, there was that political
[pro-Aristide] demonstration that took place yesterday. There was also this
attack on the PNH. Then those violent attacks that took place in
Cap-Haitien, a problem that people have begun to see occurring between
the former demobilized servicemen and Lavalas partisans. And there is
also that fire that broke out in Petion-Ville.

All this took place exactly on the occasion of the celebration of Aristide's
birthday. So, immediately before the departure of former President
[Jean-Bertrand] Aristide, I have the impression that the people who
wanted to stand for government, given their inability and their
powerlessness, suddenly made decisions together with certain foreign
embassies without responding to all the questions.

Our problems have not really started yet. Because the current political
structure has put its oar into the electoral apparatus, for example, and as
a result we are going to be faced with enormous insecurity problems. And
the entities that are currently here do not have any organization, any
capacity to deal with the problems that are to come.

[Francois] Can you tell us briefly what should be done today in the face of
such a situation, particularly in the PNH?

[Rebu] The police - [pauses; changes thought] The big mistake there is at
the level of those who are playing politics with the embassies in that they
believed that the foreign forces would be able to deal with the insecurity
issue. This is false, impossible and absolutely false. The foreign forces
can certainly take care of the political stabilization problems. But these
entities cannot resolve legitimate insecurity problems.

They will have to bring people back quickly who have the capacity to think
strategically. Because the major problem with the PNH is that there is
absolutely nobody who has the necessary capacity to approach the issue
from a strategic angle. They can approach the issue from a tactical angle.
But there is nobody now at the level of the state security forces who is able
to approach the problem from a strategic angle and work out the tactics
that should be set up to solve the insecurity problems.

I would like to take this opportunity to stress that there are generally three
aspects of banditry. There is the primary banditry that is found everywhere.
There is social banditry and there is political banditry. We are within a
structure made up of social banditry and political banditry that have come
to reinforce the current primary banditry. Solutions should be found for the
social banditry to create economic activities capable of diverting people's
interests from banditry to employment. It is necessary to dismantle the
network of political banditry while understanding that the people who were
in the Lavalas regime are alive, that they need to live and that they have
the right to live and function in society. It is also necessary to find a
political solution within a strategic approach.

If they do not tackle the issue from this angle then we can say that the
problems have not yet started.

[Francois] Thank you, Mr Rebu, for these specifications and clarification
on matters regarding the insecurity problem. Have a nice day.

[Rebu] Thank you, Rotchild.

Source: Radio Metropole, Port-au-Prince, in French 1145 gmt 16 Jul 04