28680: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Kidnappings (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, July 22 (AP) -- A new rash of kidnappings has raised
fears that well-armed, politically aligned street gangs are seeking to
destabilize Haiti's new government, threatening U.N.-led efforts to restore
security 2 1/2 years after a crippling revolt.
   Others say the gangs are simply after cash and see kidnappings as a
lucrative source of revenue to buy more arms and fuel other criminal
enterprises in this impoverished country.
   But most agree on one thing -- the problem is getting worse.
   It reached boiling point this week when scores of people -- including
three Americans -- were snatched by gunmen in an unprecedented series of
bold, daylight attacks in the capital of Port-au-Prince.
   Almost no one has been spared -- missionaries, employees of foreign
embassies and Haitians rich and poor have fallen victim to the trend that
has given Haiti the highest kidnapping rate in the Americas.
   "We are beyond afraid," said Patrick Gadere, owner of ceramic tile
factory that has been forced to close its warehouse because of violence and
whose brother was abducted. "We've been shot at, robbed, kidnapped. We have
no other way to make a living."
   The kidnapping surge has destroyed a tense calm that prevailed since
President Rene Preval took power in May, and prompted new criticism against
the U.N. peacekeeping force sent to restore order after the 2004 revolt
that toppled ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
   At least 30 people have been kidnapped so far in July, about the same
number for all of June, said Leslie Dallemand, chief of the U.N.'s
anti-kidnapping unit in Haiti. The number is likely much higher because
many families prefer to negotiate with kidnappers rather than notify
police.
   "I haven't had this high of volume since last year," when gangs went on
a kidnapping spree before elections, Dallemand said.
   Among the victims were three Americans, including two missionaries
grabbed by gangsters on their way to church. All three were released
unharmed Thursday after negotiations involving the FBI.
   Charles Adams, a 70-year-old from Queensbury, N.Y., was working on a
water treatment program. He was stuck in traffic, driving back from a
meeting, when armed men ambushed his vehicle near the capital's
international airport.
   "All the sudden I looked up, doors were being ripped open and there were
all these people with revolvers and long guns walking around. It was quite
an awakening," said Adams, who was freed after a day without paying a
ransom.
   The abductions come amid sharply rising violence in the capital,
including this month's slum massacre of 22 people. Police blamed the
killings on warring gangs but have made no arrests.
   U.N. and Haitian officials disagree on whether the recent violence is
politically motivated.
   The U.N. mission says the coordinated nature of the recent attacks
suggest an attempt to stir chaos by the gangs, many of which are loyal to
Aristide and are demanding his return from exile in South Africa.
   "Their violence is motivated to draw attention to the government that
they are dissatisfied," U.N. spokesman David Wimhurst said. "It obviously
has a destabilizing effect."
   But Preval insists the troubles are criminal -- not political -- acts by
wanted fugitives, corrupt police and drug traffickers.
   Members of Preval's Lespwa party and the business community are calling
on the 8,800-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission to take a harder line against
gangs.
   "This is the first time in our country's history that we've had so many
armed forces and yet we're still in this mess," said Gadere, the tile
factory owner.
   U.N. and police officials say they're doing all they can and blame
Haiti's notoriously corrupt justice system for releasing suspected
kidnappers and other criminal suspects who can afford bribes.
   "We can't keep criminals off the streets if the courts keep letting them
go," police chief Mario Andresol said.
   Kidnappings were once rare in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere. The trend flourished after Aristide's departure but leveled off
shortly after elections in February.
   Foreigners have been particularly vulnerable because they fetch a higher
ransom, usually around $10,000, compared to about half that for a Haitian.
   Last year, 43 Americans were kidnapped in Haiti, including three who
were killed in attempted abductions, according to the U.S. Department of
State's Bureau of Consular Affairs.
   "We have agents down there almost constantly working kidnappings," said
Judy Orihuela, an FBI special agent in Miami. "It's surpassed Colombia."