23107: Blanchet: Fw: Haiti: Sun Sentinel article (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: <Tttnhm@aol.com>


Haiti's fragile peace
By Alva James-Johnson, Sun Sentinel - September 5, 2004

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti · The conversation started routinely at United Nations
headquarters, where workers scurried about as part of the stabilization
mission in Haiti.

Toussaint Kongo-Doudou, chief of communications and public information,
eloquently explained how well things were going six months after the crisis
that
led to the departure of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

"There's no civil war," he said. "The overall security has improved compared
to the situation back in February. You don't see armed groups in the streets
shooting each other."

Suddenly news broke that armed ex-military officers were surrounding the
Hotel Montana, one of Haiti's most luxurious hotels. A hush fell over the
room as
U.N. workers received a solemn warning to be careful on their way home.

In the end, the situation was resolved without incident. The self-proclaimed
commander of the former military group said later that he had been at the
hotel to meet a U.N. official, and had taken his security detail with him.
But it
was enough to make Kongo-Doudou and other U.N. officials, some of whom live
at
the Montana, nervous.

"This is becoming too much," Kongo-Doudou said. "Last Sunday, they
(demonstrated) not far from the National Palace."

Haiti remains a tinderbox, with the potential to explode at any moment. U.N.
officials overseeing the stabilization mission have identified security as
the
country's top priority. Yet, efforts to disarm the population have made
little progress, leaving the impoverished nation in a fragile state of
uncertainty.

Ex-military soldiers roam the streets as vigilantes, decked in camouflage
green and armed with weapons. Just as dangerous are angry Aristide
loyalists,
called chimeres who last week set fire to tires in their slum neighborhoods
and
shot at unwelcome vehicles to protest a soccer match between Haiti and
Brazil.

The Haitian National Police, meanwhile, remains tangled in a power struggle
with both armed groups, while still under-resourced and overworked.

"At any moment there could be a very big and dangerous conflict which could
have grave consequences," said Joseph Maxime Rony, coordinator general of
the
Platform of Haitian Organization for Human Rights.

Interim Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue of Boca Raton said security
is
a problem in Haiti, as it is all over the world.

He said the government established a disarmament commission last week and is
working with the U.N. to address the issue by negotiating with the armed
groups and giving them jobs -- an approach that has proven successful in
Guatemala,
Nicaragua and El Salvador.

"It's only if those two steps fail (that) we will look into a more serious
approach to disarmament," he said. "But we hope to succeed through
negotiation
and through facilitating their insertion into the economic life of the
country."

Latortue, whose government is laying the groundwork for the country's 2005
elections, said jobs would be created by road and other construction
projects,
paid for with the $1.8 billion that the international community is pouring
into
the country. He said if the U.S. Congress passes a bill called the Haitian
Economic Recovery and Opportunity Act, another 20,000 to 30,000 jobs would
be
created in the textile industry during the next two years. And many jobs
will go
to people now living in slums.

"That means we bring them electricity. We bring them schools. We bring them
hospitals and make them believe they are Haitians like any other Haitians,"
he
said. "And the day they reach that conviction, you will see security will no
longer be an issue."

The United Nations launched its multi-national stabilization mission June 1,
replacing the U.S.-led interim force that had been in the country since
Aristide's February departure. The Brazilian-led mission calls for 6,700
troops and
1,622 civilian police.

Last month, 2,700 troops and 365 civilian police were in the country, mostly
from Brazil and other Latin American countries.

Custodio Adilio, the officer in charge of the U.N. civilian police, said the
numbers would increase as more countries deploy their troops to the country.
"We're hoping by the end of December we will be up to full capacity," he
said.
"But if things happen in the countries providing help, that could change."

Kongo-Doudou said the civilian police have been helping the Haitian National
Police with training and recruitment.

"We're not occupying forces," he said. "We came here to give support to the
national police."

Latortue said the country's police force has about 3,000 officers, serving a
population of 8.5 million people.



Dangerous work

At a police station in Downtown Port-au-Prince, Commander Jacques Ader said
he's been using S.W.A.T. tactics to go after armed gangs. Two of his
informants
had been killed during the past two weeks. He said the department is
under-funded and morale is low but things are improving.

"We are making progress," he said. "The degree of criminality has gone down
since I've been here."

But many said they still feel unsafe.

Dr. Francois Recourt Dennery, an ophthalmologist who marched in opposition
of
the Aristide regime, said the country still has a lot of shootings,
kidnappings, thefts and rapes.

On Monday, gunmen opened fire on a hospital in Cite Soleil with Renaud
Muselier, the No. 2 official in the French Foreign Ministry, inside.
Muselier was on
a visit to boost cooperation between Haiti and its former colonial ruler.
The
shooting erupted as about 100 men from the neighborhood surrounded the
hospital. One gunman was killed and two people wounded.

"We need more security, that's the biggest thing," Dennery said. "I'm
frustrated because things are going so slowly, but I just have to wait."

Promoting peace

Last month, the Haitian interim government, with the help of the U.N., tried
to promote peace via the Haiti-Brazil soccer match. Initial plans for
thousands of rebels to hand over guns in exchange for tickets were abandoned
when it
became apparent that it was too risky a venture.

"We realized it was impractical," Latortue said. "You cannot have people
coming with guns or you will have a lot of former thugs at the game. We
preferred
to have children and to have peace."

Still, the game went on with a visit from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio
Lula da Silva and Soccer Superstar Ronaldo and his teammates. Tens of
thousands
of people swarmed the stadium to witness the event, with the ubiquitous U.N.
troops, dressed in camouflage green and sky blue headgear, controlling the
crowd.

The soccer players rode to the stadium in armored vehicles, as a U.N.
helicopter roared overhead. The match was played in the newly renovated
national
soccer stadium in Port-au-Prince. Lorrol Maurival was one of many who stood
outside of the National Palace to witness the arrival of the Brazilian
President.

"Its good for peace and good for soccer," he said. "It gives a good image of
our country, and people overseas are watching."

Herve Charlotin, 38, said he would like to see Haitians unite.

"It's time for all the disorder to stop," he said. "Haiti is perishing. Now
is not the time for people to be Lavalas or convergence. These parties need
to
come together and develop a plan for Haiti."

But in slum areas like Bel Air, where residents still remain loyal to
Aristide, the game only fueled anger. As billows of smoke from burning tires
ascended, members of a nearby Wesleyan congregation fasted and prayed for
deliverance.
Strains of "Jesus Save Me" floated in Creole through an open window, as a
crowd of angry members of Aristide's Lavalas Family party demanded the
return of
their leader.

"We don't need Brazil here. We want Aristide," said Fritz Pierre, a
42-year-old Bel Air resident. "Aristide is the only one capable of leading
the country.
We're ready to be on our feet until the President returns."

Members of the ex-military, who led the armed rebellion against Aristide,
are
just as determined. On the day that some appeared at the Hotel Montana, U.N.
armored vehicles were immediately dispatched, but when they arrived the
group
of 15 armed men were already departing to an affluent residential
neighborhood
in Petionville.

Adilio said the civilian police division of the U.N. had invited the group's
commander, Remissainthe Ravix, to the hotel to build a bridge for peace
negotiations. During the meeting, the civilian police were unaware that
Ravix had
brought his armed contingent, he said.

U.N. security guards who protect dignitaries at the hotel became alarmed and
called other U.N. security forces to the scene. By the time they arrived the
meeting was over.

"The problem is that Sgt. Ravix feels threatened and that's why he brings
his
men and has them armed all the time," Adilio said.

Later, at an apartment complex where women and children peered over the
balcony, Ravix's men stood guard. In a dimly lit room, the commander
described the
group as members of the Haitian military that Aristide dismantled 10 years
ago. He said they have troops in every region of the country, and are
demanding
10 years back pay from the government. They also want to work in cooperation
with UN multi-national forces.

"We've been the ones protecting the country for the past five months," Ravix
said. "The U.N. is here to help the country and I have a force that's
willing
to collaborate with the U.N. to make sure the country stays on the right
track
for democracy."

"We have the right to bear weapons," he said. "The constitution gives us
that
right."

Rony, whose human rights organization has been monitoring the situation,
said
tensions between the police and former military are common.

He said the Haitian National Police has elements of both Aristide loyalists
and the armed rebels who forced him out of office, and they're in a power
struggle.

Not to mention the ex-military which conducts its own version of law
enforcement, and the angry chimeres outside of the police force.

"Today with all these groups, you cannot say for sure who committed a
crime,"
he said. "This is a very complex situation."

life continues

Through it all, the resilient residents of Port-au-Prince continue with
their
daily lives. Vendors sell their wares. Brightly colored taxis, called
tap-taps, transport people to and fro.

Children beg on the crowded streets. And men and women, most of them
unemployed, wander through the city hustling to make money every way
possible.

"Apparently things are calm...but you can't trust what you're seeing," said
Jacques Jean-Vernet, an administrator and sociology professor at the
University
of Haiti.

"What you're seeing now is that the Lavalas have pulled back and the former
military have pulled back, but they're waiting for elections then they're
going
to throw their weight on the balance."

Some of Jean-Vernet's students, meanwhile, fear for their lives. They were
among those who demonstrated against Aristide in the days leading to his
departure, and they had to flee their neighborhoods to escape the wrath of
his
supporters.

Jean-Baptiste, a 23-year-old freshman sociology major, said chimeres came to
his house and threatened his two sisters. He decided to move to another
neighborhood to keep his family safe.

"Some people who persecuted me when Aristide was here still have their
weapons," he said.

"They can just stop and shoot me, and what bothers me is nothing is being
done about it."

______________________________________________


This email is forwarded as a service of the Haiti Support Group.

See the Haiti Support Group web site:
www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org

Solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for justice, participatory
democracy and equitable development, since 1992.
____________________________________________