25361: (news) Chamberlain: Kidnapping plague adds to misery in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, June 10 (Reuters) - A surge of kidnappings for
ransom blamed on slum gangs, police officers and bank tellers is
terrorizing Haitians and adding to the woes of a nation grappling with
political upheaval and desperate poverty.
     Police have seen at least six kidnappings a day recently and the
figures could be much higher because many Haitians prefer not to contact
authorities, fearing their abducted relatives could be killed. At least 350
people were kidnapped from Feb. 25 to May 31, authorities said.
     In the latest case, a mother, father and their three children were
snatched from their car by gunmen on Friday in a busy section of
Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.
     Haiti has been roiled by political and gang violence since a bloody
rebellion ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004. The
spate of kidnappings comes as thousands of U.N. peacekeepers work with a
poorly trained and ill-equipped national police force to contain the
violence.
     The Caribbean nation of 8 million people is the poorest in the
Americas, with most Haitians scraping by on income of a dollar a day.
     The kidnappers have set up efficient intelligence networks targeting
largely middle-class families and members of the business sector. In some
cases, victims say their abductors knew exactly how much money the families
would be able to pay.
     "A number of bank tellers are part of those criminal networks," said a
victim's husband, Mario, who did not want to reveal his last name for
security reasons. He said the kidnappers called on the phone and demanded
$40,000.
     "When I said we did not have that kind of money, the caller said that
I had $50,000 in the bank and he was right," Mario told Reuters.
     Relatives usually choose to negotiate and pay a ransom to kidnappers
in exchange for the victims' release.
     Gangs from Aristide's slum strongholds, as well as police officers and
others considered "respectable" in Haitian society, are behind the
abductions, said Jessie Coicou, a spokeswoman for the Haitian National
Police.
     "There are people of good family and high social level that
unfortunately are involved in kidnappings," Coicou said.
     Police Chief Leon Charles has pledged a stepped-up effort to combat
what he called a "new plague."
     The leader of Haiti's U.S.-backed interim government, Prime Minister
Gerard Latortue, blamed the surge in kidnappings on criminals deported to
Haiti by the United States.
     "Many of them were not even born in Haiti, but have Haitian parents,"
said Latortue, who demanded the United States halt the deportations.
     The U.S. Embassy's press attache in Port-au-Prince, Caroline Courlay,
told Reuters the embassy had no comment.
     Some Haitian and U.S. officials have attributed some of the recent
violence, including kidnappings, to armed gangs that remain loyal to
Aristide and are trying to disrupt national elections scheduled for later
this year.
     The kidnappings have forced high-profile Haitians to change their
routines.
     Government officials have reinforced their security, while a growing
number of business executives and politicians who never felt the need for
special security will not take a step without their bodyguards and are
providing security for their wives and children.
     Fearing holdups, people hide their money in bras, panties, shoes,
socks and hidden pockets. Some once-crowded commercial areas of the
capital's downtown are now empty in early afternoon.