22809: Ayiti Libere: Letters: Haiti's guns (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Ayiti Libere <ayitilibere@yahoo.com>

Letters : Haiti's guns

Source: International Herald Tribune
Link: http://www.iht.com/articles/531780.html

Friday July 30, 2004

The Haitian government, assisted by the United Nations
mission in Haiti, urgently needs to devise and
implement a disarmament demobilization and
reintegration program to rein in the country's
militias and diminish the possibility of another armed
uprising in the future ("Haiti needs real help,"
Editorial, July 24).

A disarmament demobilization and reintegration program
for the heavily armed population must be in place as
soon as possible during this delicate transitional
period. Security is a precondition for fostering
confidence in the economy, for encouraging local and
international investment, and for political goods to
be properly provided to the population.

Former soldiers should be continually encouraged to
lay down their weapons or integrated into a security
force that is sanctioned by Haiti's government and
laws, if they have no criminal records.

But a disarmament program should not be a substitute
for justice. For those who have committed crimes,
whatever faction they may have been part of in the
past, there should be no escape from justice. The rule
of law must be firmly re-established in Haiti and must
be fair and impartial to all its citizens.

Gerald Oriol Jr., Port-au-Prince, Haiti

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