26009: Craig (news) U.N. condemns 'lynching' in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <sak-pase@bimini.ws>


U.N. condemns 'lynching' in Haiti 18 Aug 2005 22:41:00 GMT Source: Reuters 
By Joseph Guyler Delva

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - A spokesman for the U.N. mission in Haiti 
condemned on Thursday what he called the lynching of several alleged bandits by 
machete-wielding residents, whom witnesses said were accompanied by Haitian 
police.

Spokesman Damian Onses Cardona said the U.N. mission to stabilize Haiti, known 
as MINUSTAH, was very concerned and that the attacks were "absolutely 
unacceptable."

"We can never tolerate a popular justice like that. We cannot tolerate people 
lynching people like that," Cardona told journalists during a news conference 
on Thursday at the U.N. compound in Port-au-Prince.

According to witnesses and radio reports, at least 15 people were hacked to 
death with machetes in the slums of Bel-Air and Solino within the past two 
weeks.

Police acknowledged last week that seven people had died in such attacks. They 
declined to comment on witness reports that several of the killings had 
occurred in the presence of police officers.

A Reuters cameraman filmed youngsters with machetes as they chopped the face 
and body of an unarmed man who had just been shot by police. Police did not 
deter the attack and described the victim as a bandit.

Last week, several slum residents congratulated themselves on local radio after 
killing a presumed bandit called Chabba, and thanked the police for their 
support.

A spokeswoman for the Haitian police, Jessie Coicou, declined to comment. The 
director for the Haitian administrative police, Renan Etienne, said he was 
absent and had not yet received any report on the matter.

Residents of the slums of Bel-Air, Cite Soleil and Solino have reported 
killings, kidnappings and other crimes carried out by armed bandits, and some 
viewed the attacks on alleged bandits as acts of frustration or vengeance.

"Those presumed bandits should be handed over to the legal forces that will 
transfer them to the judicial authorities who solely have the authority to 
decide their fate," Cardona said.

With the police and U.N. troops cracking down on criminal gangs over the last 
few weeks, several gang leaders have expressed interest in negotiating with the 
U.N. mission within the framework of a Demobilization, Disarmament and 
Reinsertion program.

U.N. officials said on Thursday they were ready to talk with illegal armed 
groups that want to disarm.

"We are going to seize all real opportunities to peacefully disarm groups," 
Cardona said. "The very concept of DDR programs, not only in Haiti but around 
the world, is based on the will to cooperate to give a chance to pacification."

U.N. peacekeepers were sent to Haiti after its elected president, Jean-Bertrand 
Aristide, was driven out during an armed rebellion in February 2004. Ongoing 
political and gang violence has hindered efforts to register voters for 
legislative and presidential elections set for November.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N8I345154.htm