24538: Hermantin(news)Save nation from sliding into more violence (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Thu, Mar. 17, 2005




HAITI


Save nation from sliding into more violence

BY MARK L. SCHNEIDER

www.icg.org


A year has passed since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's forced
departure from Haiti in the midst of crisis -- and the crisis is getting
worse.

Aristide's second term in government had become an expression of Haiti's
historical winner-take-all polarization, with many in power bent on
corruption and either encouraging or turning a blind eye toward violence by
its supporters. The government that replaced him is starting to show some of
the same flaws, with human-rights abuses mounting. And Haiti's latest chance
to escape its chronic state failure seems to be slipping away into violence
and chaos.

On Feb. 19, a commando of a dozen heavily armed men broke into the country's
largest prison and freed drug dealers, suspected criminals and some former
Aristide officials. The jailbreak symbolizes the insecurity that Haiti's
citizens face in both the cities and the countryside.

Without security, the fall elections for a new parliament, president and
local officials that are going to cost some $50 million will not be fair or
free. And scores of former Aristide political leaders, even those who are
willing to break with his Lavalas movement to participate in the political
process, will be afraid to do so -- and with good reason.

The armed and uniformed ex-military who were key to ousting President
Aristide last year still swagger around the countryside, intimidating and at
times attacking individuals they identify as Lavalas supporters. The
7,400-U.N. peacekeeping force, MINUSTAH (led by Brazil and with mostly Latin
American make-up -- a positive expression of regional commitment), has only
lately begun confronting them and the politicized armed urban gangs.

Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue's disarmament and demobilization plan
for the ex-military was more farce than fact. Reports of summary executions
by members of the Haitian National Police also are mounting. On Feb. 28,
during a peaceful demonstration to commemorate the first anniversary of
Aristide's departure, police opened fire without reason on the
demonstrators, killing two of them.

U.N. Special Representative Juan Gabriel Valdés (a Chilean diplomat) and
MINUSTAH peacekeeping forces immediately objected and vowed to protect
peaceful protesters. The transitional government's failure to investigate
and punish police abuses sends a message of impunity that places the
transition itself at risk.

If the violence of illegal armed groups continues without serious
prosecution, Haiti's slide into chaos will become unstoppable. And
Washington's new bipartisan commitment to Haitian democratic development, in
a city long at odds over Haitian policy, may well disappear as well.

There are four critical steps to be taken by the Latortue government, backed
by the international community:

• Give the ex-military a deadline, well before the summer, to give up their
weapons and accept demobilization as a condition for receiving their pension
and other benefits, with a serious vetting of all for criminal violations.

• Urgently strengthen the national dialogue process to reach agreement on
political rules of the game, which would include former Lavalas party
members, whether or not former President Aristide approves.

• Release Yvon Neptune and others detained without charge, prosecute those
who use HNP cover for their crimes, confront the armed urban gangs and those
who finance them and insist on a nonpoliticized police force and judiciary.

• Move more quickly to translate financing pledges into visible help for
small farmers and micro-entrepreneurs, public schools, health and jobs.

If these steps are taken, then Haitians will feel safer and more confident
in participating in elections -- and Haiti may yet avoid the slippery slope
toward state failure.

Mark L. Schneider, former Peace Corps director, is the senior vice president
of the International Crisis Group and its special advisor for Latin America.