26227: Arthur (press release) Haitians murdered in the Dominican Republic (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Haiti Support Group press release: Haitians murdered in the Dominican
Republic - 1 September 2005

The British solidarity organisation, the Haiti Support Group (HSG),
is extremely concerned about the violent attacks on Haitians and
Haitian-Dominicans in the Dominican Republic. Amidst a rise in
xenophobic hostility against Haitians, scores of people have been
attacked, and according to recent reports, more than 13 people have
been killed in just the last few weeks:

- On 16 August four young Haitian men were attacked in the outskirts
of Santo Domingo. Three of them were tied up, doused with flammable
liquid and then set ablaze, while one managed to escape. The three
suffering from burns later died in a hospital in the capital.

- On 24 August four Haitians, who were part of a group of six trying
to re-enter the Dominican Republic after having been deported to
Haiti, their country of origin, were murdered. They had temporarily
taken refuge in banana fields in the Barahona region, and were
chased, captured and killed by guards in the small hours of the
morning.

- A series of murders were reported by the Haitian AlterPresse news
agency on 30 August: a foreigner presumed to be a Haitian was found
murdered in Santiago, two others were found dead following a dispute
in Bavaro, and a 29 year-old Haitian, Bolivar François, was found
murdered, with his hands tied, in Jarabacoa.

- Also on 30 August, the Haitian NGO, Groupe d'Appui aux Réfugiés et
Rapatriés, reported that Delany Fleury, a 31 year-old businessman of
Haitian origin, had been shot three times and died following an
arguement with a Dominican in Elias Pinas.

The Haiti Support Group calls on the Dominican government to
immediately enact measures to ensure the security of Haitian migrants
and of Dominicans of Haitian origin, and to prevent public officials
and the media from making statements or using language that may
incite racial hatred.

Furthermore, the HSG urges the British government and the European
Union to raise the issue with the Dominican authorities as a matter
of the utmost urgency.



__________

Forwarded as a service of the Haiti Support Group - solidarity with
the Haitian people's struggle for human rights, participatory
democracy and equitable development - since 1992.

Web site: www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org