27339: Hermantin(News)Pay attention to security for elections (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

lhermantin@hotmail.com


Posted on Mon, Jan. 23, 2006

Miami Herald

HAITI
Pay attention to security for elections

BY RAYMOND A. JOSEPH
rayjoseph@haiti.org

Lest we forget, the ''free, fair and democratic elections'' of December 1990 
that catapulted a fiery Catholic priest to Haiti's presidency and ushered him 
unto the international scene were organized and secured by Haitians. The 
international community was present mainly as advisors and observers. How is 
it, then, that in less than two decades Haiti has become such an intractable 
problem that some well-meaning experts are now calling for a complete 
international takeover of the electoral process, if not of the country itself?

In 1990 Haiti depended on its own 7,000-strong armed forces augmented by some 
5,000 rural policemen and auxiliaries to provide security. A young colonel 
named Raoul Cedras did such a good job as overall security chief for the 
elections that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, elevated him to 
commander-in-chief of the armed forces. This same Cedras headed the coup that 
toppled a dictatorial and constitution-bashing Aristide only seven months after 
his swearing-in.

After three years of exile, mostly in Washington where one would have expected 
Aristide to enroll in ''Democracy 101,'' he returned to power in Port-au-Prince 
under the wings of more than 20,000 American soldiers. A few months after his 
arrival, Aristide unconstitutionally disbanded the hated army and its rural 
arm.

He could have instead cleaned it up. Instead, he corrupted the newly formed 
Haitian National Police that the international community had helped him 
organize. He relied on a motley crew dubbed ''armies'' -- ''the Saddam,'' ''the 
Red,'' ''the Cannibal,'' ''the Clean Sweep,'' ''the Sleep in the Woods,'' and 
more -- to perpetuate himself in power, not unlike in the days of the 
''Tontons-Macoute,'' Gestapo-like police of the Duvaliers.

Moreover, foreign bodyguards, including American and South African, were the 
immediate security cordon of Aristide, who became enamored of helicopters for 
the shortest of trips.

On February 29, 2004 when Aristide chose exile instead of an ignoble 
assassination at the hands of rebels from the old armed forces and his own 
''armies,'' he left behind heavily armed loyalists who were not disarmed by the 
international community -- neither by the American-led original force nor by 
the U.N. peacekeepers led by Brazilian officers.

In September, 2004 when the heavily armed thugs linked to Aristide launched 
their ''Operation Baghdad,'' Haiti became a mini Iraq. But major events 
elsewhere -- precisely in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East in general -- 
captured the attention of the United States and the rest of the international 
community.

When Mario Andresol, the new chief of the Haitian National Police, took over in 
July, 2005, a clear amelioration of the security situation was discernible and 
voter registration picked up speed. The violent thugs were isolated in Cité 
Soleil, the vast shantytown north of the Haitian capital. But Andresol has 
publicly complained of lack of resources to do his job well. Moreover, he said 
that as we approach the elections, we should expect the bandits to renew their 
assaults, because they have to prove that Haiti is a replica of Iraq. In other 
words, the Bush administration has failed at regime change in Iraq as well as 
in Haiti.

Now that the U.N. peacekeepers are being brazenly attacked, perhaps attention 
will focus on tight security for the elections. As reported, two Jordanian 
peacekeepers were gunned to death last week at a checkpoint in Cité Soleil 
while a third one was wounded. Some gunmen in that vast shantytown, reputedly a 
bastion of Aristide, have publicly pledged their allegiance to a presidential 
candidate, who has failed to refute them. What can be expected if the armed 
bandits continue to be coddled by those intent on emulating the dictators and 
would-be dictators of the past?

It's a shame that in just a decade the international community has had to come 
twice to Haiti to help steer it in the right path. By ''internationalizing'' 
the process of democratization instead of ''nationalizing'' it at all levels, 
there is a danger of long term dependence without much positive result to show 
for it. At this late hour, a concerted effort must be made to work with a 
renovated National Police toward long term security. Only then will Haiti 
attract the investment needed for durable development and the flowering of true 
democracy.

Raymond A. Joseph is Haiti's ambassador to the United States.