#1855: Re: #1829: Sunday Observer article on Haiti : Laleau replies to Durran

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:NLaleau@aol.com

<<  I believe such crowd killings have little
 to do with the functioning or non-functioning of the judicial system.  >>

Dear Mary,

You are a serious lover of Haiti, I know that, but you are gravely mistaken 
about the crowd killings.  They have EVERYTHING to do with the 
non-functioning of the judicial system.

If there was a system of justice in place, people would not be resorting to 
vigilante justice on a large scale.  Or if it occurred, the justice system 
would quickly put an end to it.  But the opposite is true -- almost the only 
justice people can obtain today is what they get for themselves.  And that is 
a horrible breeding ground for all kinds of crime.  Anyone can form a gang 
and go after an innocent person, claiming that he/she has committed some sort 
of atrocity.  I saw apparent vigilante justice working, with apparent 
accuracy and even integrity, on a number of occasions in 1994-95.  But this 
type of action is very easily faked and backfires on the very people who need 
justice the most.

If I took anything away with me from Haiti in 1996, it was a profound respect 
for the rule of law and due process.  Crowd killings are a desperate measure, 
taken by people who deserve far better, and usually do it only as a last, 
desperate measure of self-defense.  

Sincerely,
Nancy Laleau