26062: (news) Chamberlain) U.N. to investigate Haiti slum lynchings (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The U.N. mission in Haiti
has launched an inquiry into the lynching of at least 20 people by
vigilantes armed with machetes and by Haitian police last weekend, U.N.
officials said on Wednesday.
     During a soccer game on Saturday funded by the U.S. Agency for
International Development and the interim Haitian government, hooded police
and individuals with machetes attacked people they called "bandits,"
according to residents of the Port-au-Prince slum of Martissant.
     "Everybody gathered to watch the game, suddenly the police surrounded
the area and ordered everyone to lie on the ground," said Roland Roy, a
community leader in Martissant.
     "Then a group of people, armed with machetes, who came with the
police, started identifying people one by one, saying here is a bandit,
here is another one. They cut them with machetes and killed a number of
them,"  said Roy. He said up to 30 people died, some shot by police.
     Another community leader, Lionel Mondestin, said at least 20 people
were killed on Saturday during the soccer game and on Sunday during another
police operation. Many other residents gave similar accounts.
     French Lt. Col. Philippe Espie, the head of international police who
are part of a U.N. force keeping the peace since former President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted by an armed revolt last year, said the
incident was being investigated and would not be tolerated.
     "In the first place, we can only condemn what happened. It is
intolerable to accept that sort of situation where people take justice into
their own hands," Espie told Reuters.
     The soccer game was part of a "tournament for peace," funded by USAID
and the interim Haitian government that took over after Aristide fled into
exile at the end of February 2004, organizers said. Once viewed as a
champion of Haiti's fledgling democracy, Aristide faced increasing
accusations of corruption and despotism.
     The head of a U.N. human rights unit, Thierry Faggart, said his office
was also investigating the incident and several other cases of human rights
abuses blamed on police.
     Haiti's new police chief, Mario Andresol, said he was ready to punish
any officers, if their involvement were confirmed.
     "We are here to protect the population, not to repress them or kill
them. Such behavior won't be tolerated while I'm there," Andresol told
Reuters.
     Both the Haitian police and U.N. forces have previously announced
investigations into alleged abuses by police officers. To date, no reports
have been published.
     Dozens of people have been hacked to death in vigilante justice that
often accompanies police operations in slums regarded as strongholds of
support for Aristide.
     The authorities blame Aristide supporters for violence that has killed
at least 700 people in the past year while Aristide's Lavalas Family party
says it is being persecuted. Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, is
scheduled to hold elections in November.