27235: Lemieux: St. Petersburg Time Editorial: Curtailing the violence in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Submitted by Lemieux

Curtailing the violence in Haiti
A Times Editorial
Published January 14, 2006

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Security in Haiti already was in free-fall before
the United Nations' top peacekeeper there
apparently took his own life last week. His death
may force the interim government to carry through
with elections - now, on the fourth try,
scheduled for Feb. 7. But what Haiti needs more
than a mirage of democracy is a police force that
can protect 8-million people and inspire
confidence in a central government. The United
Nations must step up to the job.

Police are investigating the death of Gen. Urano
Teixeira da Matta Bacellar of Brazil, the
commander of the 7,400 U.N. peacekeeping troops
who was found at his hotel Saturday with a
reportedly self-inflicted gunshot wound. The
peacekeepers justly have been criticized for
failing to take on the armed gangs that terrorize
the country with impunity. Beyond a handful of
smash-and-grab raids to generate headlines, U.N.
troops have done little to disarm the bandits who
effectively control many towns, slums and roads,
making it impossible for the government and aid
groups to function. Haiti's business leaders
fired back Monday, calling a general strike in
hopes of pressuring U.N. forces to halt a wave of
kidnappings.

Elections at the earliest date are important to
both name a permanent successor to the ousted
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and give the new
government a sense of legitimacy as it begins the
process of national reconciliation. But how can
the U.N. and inter-American states hope to
organize a credible election if violence keeps
poll workers and ballots from entire areas of the
country? U.N. forces need a more aggressive
mandate to round up and disarm the gangs. More
money needs to be spent training a national
police force. International organizations also
need to follow through with a host of domestic
reforms, from professionalizing the armed forces
and creating an independent judiciary to
instilling respect for human rights.

No government, elected or not, could hope to
reverse Haiti's poverty or crime rate with the
nation's corrupted political system. Foreign
donors will refuse to gamble much on Haiti until
security improves. That's why holding to a
February election means little unless the United
Nations is prepared to change conditions on the
ground. The United States should offer more aid
and logistical support to make the peacekeepers'
presence felt. Only by removing more guns from
the streets can Haiti hope to create
opportunities to break a stifling culture of
crime and violence.

© Copyright, St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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