#4289: [Fwd: Press Review 19 06 00] (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Yacine Khelladi <yacine@aacr.net>

Remy Perrier wrote:
> 
> Dominican troops fire on truckload of Haitians at border, seven dead
> 
> Web posted at: 5:57 PM EDT (2157 GMT)
> http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/06/18/dominican.haiti.accident.ap/index.html
> 
> SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) -- Six Haitians and one Dominican
> 
> were killed Sunday when Dominican army officers reportedly fired on a
> truckload of Haitians trying to cross the border illegally, according to
> 
> police and news reports.
> 
> At least eight Haitians were injured, seven by gunshots and one with a
> knife wound, according to a surgeon treating them at a hospital in
> Santiago town.
> 
> Initial reports said police opened fire when the truck driver refused to
> 
> stop at a border crossing, and that the truck overturned. It was not
> clear whether the victims died in the shooting or the accident.
> 
> Police were investigating the incident that occurred about 3 a.m. near
> Monte Cristi, 9 miles from the Dominican border with Haiti and 160 miles
> 
> from Santo Domingo, police Sgt. Rafael Felix said.
> 
> Army officials refused to say much. "It seems there was an accident, a
> truck turned over, there were deaths," said Aurelio Renoso Almontes,
> officer of the day at the army base in Monte Cristi. "I can't say if
> there was any shooting."
> 
> Renoso confirmed reports that the driver of the truck refused to stop.
> 
> Felix, speaking from Monte Cristi police station, said, "According to
> information we have so far, yes there are some deaths, seven we think.
> The truck overturned, according to our information, after army officials
> 
> shot at it."
> 
> Eight injured Haitians were taken to the Jose Maria Cabral y Baez
> Hospital in Santiago, 75 miles south of Monte Cristi. Dr. Jose Joaquin
> Ramos, chief of surgery there, said seven were suffering gunshot wounds
> and one a knife wound. One woman had a head trauma, possibly from the
> accident, he said. All eight were in stable condition.
> 
> The local Channel 37 television identified the dead Dominican as Ruben
> Espinal of Santiago, who is presumed to have been the driver, and said
> the six Haitians who died were illegal immigrants. The bodies initially
> were reported to have been taken to the hospital in Monte Cristi, but
> officials there said they had no bodies.
> 
> The Dominican economy depends on cheap labor from Haitians who work in
> construction and on sugar and coffee plantations. Illegal migration has
> long been an issue, with some 1 million to 1.5 million Haitians living
> among the 8 million Dominicans - half or more illegally. Human rights
> groups have criticized the Dominican government for refusing to give
> birth certificates to an estimated 280,000 children of Haitian descent
> born in the Dominican Republic.
> 
> The two countries share the island of Hispaniola.
> 
> ----------
> Dominican Troops Fire on Haitians
> The Associated Press, Sun 18 Jun 2000
> http://www.caribbeandaily.com/?action=display&article=2392109&template=caribbean/stories.txt&index=recent
> 
> SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Dominican army officers fired
> on a truckload of Haitians trying to cross the border illegally, killing
> 
> seven people, according to police and news reports.
> 
> At least eight others were injured, according to a surgeon treating the
> victims at a hospital in Santiago town.
> 
> Initial reports said police opened fire when the truck driver refused to
> 
> stop at a border crossing, and that the truck overturned. It was not
> clear whether the victims died in the shooting or the accident.
> 
> Police were investigating the incident that occurred near Monte Cristi,
> 9 miles from the Dominican border with Haiti and 160 miles from Santo
> Domingo, police Sgt. Rafael Felix said.
> 
> Army officials provided few details. ``It seems there was an accident, a
> 
> truck turned over, there were deaths,'' said Aurelio Renoso Almontes, an
> 
> officer at the army base in Monte Cristi. ``I can't say if there was any
> 
> shooting.''
> 
> Renoso confirmed reports that the driver of the truck refused to stop.
> 
> Felix, speaking from Monte Cristi police station, said, ``According to
> information we have so far, yes there are some deaths. Seven, we think.
> The truck overturned, according to our information, after army officials
> 
> shot at it.''
> 
> The Dominican economy depends on cheap labor from Haitians who work in
> construction and on sugar and coffee plantations. Illegal migration has
> long been an issue, with some 1 million to 1.5 million Haitians living
> among the 8 million Dominicans — half or more illegally. Human rights
> groups have criticized the Dominican government for refusing to give
> birth certificates to an estimated 280,000 children of Haitian descent
> born in the Dominican Republic.
> 
> The two countries share the island of Hispaniola.
> 
> ---------------------------
> 
> Six Haitians shot dead
> http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/06/18/haiti.elections.ap/index.html
> 
> An army border patrol in the Dominican Republic has shot dead six
> would-be illegal immigrants from Haiti and one Dominican.
> 
> The army said the soldiers opened fire when a truck loaded with Haitians
> 
> refused to stop at a check-point at Guayabin close to the border between
> 
> the two countries.
> 
> More than twenty others were injured in the incident.
> 
> Some of the survivors said they had paid around one-hundred dollars to
> be smuggled into the Dominican Republic.
> 
> They said they had not tried to escape or resist the army patrol when
> they were spotted.
> 
> The Dominican authorities said they would investigate the incident.
> 
> -------------------