23463: Esser: Haiti Violence (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser <torx@joimail.com>

ZNet Haiti News
http://www.zmag.org/lam/haitiwatch.cfm

Haiti Violence 	 
by Haiti Information Project - HIP
	 	 
October 17, 2004	 

Port au Prince, Haiti (HIP)- Armed units of the Haitian National
Police (PNH) entered the pro-Ariside slum of Bel Air as thousands of
residents took to streets to demand the return of President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Marchers defied a shutdown of the capital by
the business community and threats issued by the former military.
Heavy gunfire erupted as the police reportedly fired shots to
disperse the crowd. The police were then forced to withdraw as
unidentified gunmen returned fire from surrounding buildings in a
thunderous volley. Haiti has been rocked by violence since September
30th after police opened fire on unarmed demonstrators demanding the
return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and condemning political
persecution of his Lavalas political party. Aristide was ousted last
February 29th amid charges he was kidnapped by U.S. Marines and is
living as guest in the Republic of South Africa.

Two demonstrators were killed on Sept. 30th and the U.S.-backed
government claimed that the headless bodies of three policemen were
later discovered. The identities of the headless policemen were
released at a funeral held for them earlier this week. The bodies of
the headless men were reportedly cremated before journalists and
human rights groups were given an opportunity to perform an
independent examination of the corpses to confirm the government's
claims.

In a statement portraying Aristide's Family Lavalas party as
terrorists, the Haitian Chamber of Commerce called for a National Day
of Reflection today asking for all schools and businesses to stay
closed and for all residents of Port au Prince to stay in their
homes. The U.S. Embassy closed its doors as well in a gesture meant
to symbolize their approval of the business community's initiative.
Several U.S. citizens expressed their anger at the closure stating
that it "left them defenseless" in the event they were required to
evacuate Haiti in the face of mounting violence.

Tensions heightened in the capital as several pro-Aristide slums
announced their intention to defy the shutdown and protest on the
10th anniversary of the ousted president‚s return to Haiti in 1994.
Aristide was overthrown by Haiti's military in a brutal coup in
September 1991and returned to Haiti on October 15, 1994 after Clinton
committed 20,000 U.S. troops to “Operation Restore Democracy."

Aristide supporters had braced themselves for today's attacks after
the U.S.-backed government and United Nation‚s forces allowed armed
units of the former military to enter the capital unchallenged over
the past two days. This has led to charges by Lavalas representatives
of a “second coup" and UN complicity in allowing the former military
to return to power in Haiti. Two trucks of former military opened
fire on residents at Delmas 2 in the slum of La Saline this morning
and could be seen setting up roadblocks on Route Frere.

Today's violence comes two days after the arrest of a Catholic
priest, Father Gerard Jean-Juste, the government accused of
trafficking in weapons and harboring gunmen in his parish. Human
rights organizations and legal experts have condemned the arrest as
"arbitrary" and an effort by the authorities to repress political
dissent. Earlier this week, UN soldiers and Haitian police conducted
numerous joint raids in several poor neighborhoods in the capital
known for their support of Aristide. Hundreds have been arrested yet
few weapons have been confiscated as the violence continues for a
second straight week.

The morgue at the General Hospital issued an emergency call this
afternoon stating that there was no longer space for new corpses and
it had reached full capacity.
.