29920: Potemaksonje (News) US Embassy in Haiti acknowledges excessive force by UN (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

> From potemaksonje@yahoo.com



http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/01/25/18351558.php
    US Embassy in Haiti acknowledges excessive force by UN


HIP - Port au Prince, Haiti - In the early morning hours of July 6, 2005 more 
than 350 UN troops stormed the seaside shantytown of Cite Soleil in a military 
operation with the stated purpose of halting violence in Haiti. When the 
shooting stopped seven hours later, more than 26 people, the majority of them 
unarmed civilians lie dead with scores more wounded. Officially, the UN 
responded that they only opened fire after being fired upon and discounted 
non-combatant casualities. Further, the UN claimed that only six people, who 
they described as "bandits," had been killed during the military operation.

 According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by 
the Haiti Information Project (HIP), the U.S. Embassy and various intelligence 
agencies attached to the Pentagon's Southern Command, were aware of the 
excessive use of force by UN forces in Haiti on July 6, 2005. Despite being 
heavily censored by U.S. officials under Executive Order 12598 in the "interest 
of national defense or foreign relations," what emerges is clear evidence of 
the disproportionate use of force by UN troops in Cite Soleil.

 An "After Action Report" submitted to the US Embassy by the UN states that the 
UN attack on the crumbling civilian neighborhood was intense, prolonged, and 
carried out with heavy artillery and weaponry that UN officials knew could 
cause extensive collateral damage and the death of innocent victims.

 These disturbing revelations are made all the more important in light of 
accusations that the UN committed a second massacre in Cite Soleil on December 
22, 2006. In that raid, video and photographic documentation as well as 
eyewitness testimony obtained by HIP, paints a picture all too similar to the 
events of July 6, 2005.

 According to the After action report,"...the firefight lasted over seven hours 
during which time [UN] forces expended over 22,000 rounds of ammunition... [An 
official] with MINUSTAH acknowledged that, given the flimsy construction of 
homes in Cite Soleil and the large quantity of ammunition expended, it is 
likely that rounds penetrated many buildings, striking unintended targets."

 According to the documents obtained by HIP, UN and US officials knew of, and 
ignored victim's claims of the MINUSTAH massacre. A U.S. Embassy cable to the 
Secretary of State and US Southern Command on July 19, 2005 and titled "Human 
Rights Groups Dispute Civilian Causalities", states, "Human rights 
organizations continue to dispute the number of civilian causalities from the 
MINUSTAH operation in Cite Soleil on July 6. Some local human rights groups 
estimate the number of deaths attributed to MINUSTAH soldiers [to be] 
between... 50 to 70 people... Pro-Aristide affiliated human rights 
organizations are calling it a massacre by the UN. MINUSTAH have allowed 
charges of a massacre to fester, but they released a statement on July 25 
stating that their forces did not intentionally target civilians."

 While the cable may reflect the official version put forward by the UN of 
unintended targets, testimony from the survivors and photographic evidence from 
July 6, 2005, of what are clearly headshots targeting civilians, contradicts 
this. Although many were likely killed behind thin walls, the video evidence of 
the disproportionate number of victims felled by single shots to the head from 
high-powered rifles lends creedence to the testimony of survivors following the 
deadly raid.

 In the same document, a personal commentary apparently added by former US 
Ambassador James B. Foley states, "It remains unclear how aggressive MINUSTAH 
was, though 22,000 rounds is a large amount of ammunition to have killed only 
six people."

 These FOIA documents are the first clear acknowledgement of the excessive use 
of force by UN troops in the military operation of July 6, 2005. Unfortunately, 
it will probably take as long to learn the truth about the UN military 
operation of December 22, 2006 where residents claim the UN has committed a 
second massacre in Cite Soleil.

 updated 1925 PST

 NEXT: The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents reveal a concerted 
propaganda campaign conducted between the US Embassy and the UN to spin events 
concerning July 6, 2005. It also points to an unusual level of domestic 
surveillance against Haiti solidarity activists in the United States.

 http://www.haitiaction.net


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