23617: LScottPHt: Re: 23612: Esser: Repression in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: LScottPht@aol.com


Not true. I have been with them on the sweeps and all the people, men and
women alike were asked to show what was in their bags as well as the men had to
lift their shirts to prove they had no weapons. None of these people were
arrested. If they, indeed, arrested any young male as Kevin Pina would have us
believe, then there would have been many more than 25 people arrested. I have
witnessed some of the men with guns that have been firing upon innocent people in
these areas. I was also shot at and almost killed by these "innocent" men.
This is in no way anything against the Lavalas people. Quite the contrary. The
truely innocent Lavalas people who don't want anything to do with this new wave
of violence saved my life. They talked these men out of killing my friend and
I. Now, I do understand that innocent people have been shot by both the
police, most likely, and the chimere. I think the citizens of these communities have
been victims of both. But, I don't think the majority of the people that live
in these areas agree with the violence being brought on them by the chimeres.
They do not want trouble and the reason the UN and the police are sweeping
the areas are because of the chimeres who are reaking havoc all over PAP right
now. Yes, I do think that it was originally started because of a peaceful
demonstration in which the police shot and killed 2 or 3 people. But, after the
chimere got their revenge by killing the cops, they have continued daily since
then, not only killing policemen, but innocent people, and not just killing
them, decapitating them. I have seen the decapitated bodies everyday while I was
there. I photographed between 1 and 3 decapitated people daily, and these were
not policemen. One was a father and son. I interviewed a lady that was an
innocent bystander that was hit by a bullet in Bel Air. No, it was not a UN or
police bullet, but a bullet from a chimere. What's worse is that this woman was
in the general hospital and she had no money, so they refused to remove the
bullet. I gave her the money that I had, but it was only enough for antibiotics.
Now, that's a sad situation, people having to go home with bullets in them and
no hope for the bullets to ever be removed.

<<  The police have begun these
 massive sweeps again through the poor, pro-Aristide slums. They will
 create a dragnet if you will on any young male, even if you’re just
 walking down the street – it does not matter; any young male is
 thrown into the back of the truck and taken away to jail. They are
 just massive sweeps - indiscriminate and arbitrary arrests that
 they’re carrying out throughout all the poor neighborhoods – that’s
 Martissant, Grande Ravine, Cite Soleil, and of course, Bel Air.  >>