27290: Wharram (commentary) Escalating violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti inflicts heavy civilian toll (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Bruce Wharram <bruce.wharram@sev.org>

Escalating violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti inflicts heavy civilian toll
19 Jan 2006 12:01:00 GMT
Source: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) - International


MSF calls on all armed groups in the capital to respect safety of civilians
and allow immediate access to emergency medical care.

"Today's unbearable situation resembles what Haitians faced this past summer
and we're worried it is only going to get worse," said Ali Besnaci, the head
of mission for the MSF trauma center at St. Joseph's Hospital in the city
center. "People are living in constant fear, and we know that many injured
are either afraid or prevented from getting the treatment they need. This is
simply unacceptable."


MSF: Port-au-Prince, Haiti - With violent attacks intensifying and spreading
to many parts of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, the international medical
humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today called on all
armed groups in the city to respect the safety of civilians and allow those
wounded during clashes immediate access to emergency medical care. The
organization also called for the safety of national and international aid
workers to be respected.

In the last several weeks, MSF medical and surgical teams have seen an
alarming increase of people needing treatment for violence-related injuries,
including a growing number of gunshot and knifing victims.

In December 2005, MSF treated more than 220 gunshot victims at two
facilities - St. Joseph's trauma center in the Turgeau neighborhood and
Choscal hospital in Cité Soleil. This included 26 gunshot victims treated at
Choscal hospital from December 26 to 27, and was a dramatic increase from
the 147 gunshot victims treated at both facilities in November 2005. Nearly
50 percent of all MSF's patients treated for violence-related injuries have
been women, children, or elderly.

"It is unacceptable that so many civilians are victims of this latest wave
of violence," said Ali Besnaci, the head of mission for the MSF trauma
center at St. Joseph's Hospital in the city center. "We are receiving
patients from St. Martin, Centre Ville, Martissant, Carrefour and other
areas of Port-au-Prince. Recently, we treated a 15-month old infant and a
77-year old man for gunshot wounds."

Since December 2004, medical and surgical teams at St. Joseph's have treated
nearly 2,500 people for violence-related injuries, including more than 1,500
gunshot victims and 500 knifing victims. MSF re-opened Choscal Hospital and
the Chapi Health Center in the heart of Cité Soleil in August 2005, and
staff performed nearly 12,000 medical consultations and 800 emergency
interventions in the first three months. Since the January 1, 2006, MSF has
treated 47 gunshot victims in Cité Soleil.

According to patients, people have been both deliberately and
unintentionally shot by all of the armed groups in the city.

"Various groups, including Minustah, refer to civilian casualties as
'collateral damage,'" said Loris De Filippi, the head of mission for MSF's
programs in Cité Soleil. "But it is inexcusable for so many lives to be torn
apart every day in the crossfire."

The situation in Cité Soleil, an epicenter of the widespread politically
motivated and criminal violence, is especially grave for those in need of
emergency medical care.

"Our ability to work in Cité Soleil is precarious - we never know how much
access we will have from one week to the next," said De Filippi. "The safety
of humanitarian aid workers must also be respected. If we cannot do our
work, a quarter of a million people - or the population of a small American
or European city - would have few health care options.".

Appalled by a peak of violence in June and July 2005, MSF made a similar
call on the city's armed groups to respect the safety of civilians and
guarantee unhindered access to emergency care.

"Today's unbearable situation resembles what Haitians faced this past summer
and we're worried it is only going to get worse," said Besnaci. "People are
living in constant fear, and we know that many injured are either afraid or
prevented from getting the treatment they need. This is simply
unacceptable."

MSF has been working in Haiti since 1991. In addition to emergency trauma
care in Port-au-Prince, Choscal hospital and Chapi Health Centre in Citè
Soleil MSF provides primary health care service to people in the capital's
Decayette neighborhood.

Only selected MSF documents are posted on Alertnet. For a complete selection
of MSF news, please visit the MSF International website

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of
Reuters. ]