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Human Rights Alert in Haiti!!!Anonyme, Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 15:57
HIP
However, it is certain that insecurity and deteriorating day-to-day living conditions are on the increase in these poor neighborhoods. There is as yet no sign that there is a will amongst the authorities that the situation is going to improve for the better for residents of those areas." [PHOTO: sf.indymedia.org] CURRENT HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN PORT-AU-PRINCE In the days following the acts of repression against demonstrators commemorating the 1991-1994 dictatorship last week (resulting in many killings, disappearances and arbitrary arrests), various other repressive actions have been carried out by the police force in poor neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. There have been reports that former soldiers in uniform or in civil are also involved in these operations. Civilian armed groups are also contributing to the current situation of internal strife. Acting in broad daylight and at night during the last few days, various teams comprising the Haitian Police Force, many of them masked, have been conducting operations into areas such as La Saline, Martissant, Cité Soleil and Bel Air. Residents claim officers have aimed their guns directly at them and in several cases, have forcibly entered their shacks and searching through their possessions on the basis that they were looking for weapons. There are similarly many reports of acts of physical violence against innocent residents. Many have been beaten up by the officers using the butt of their guns or kicking them with their boots. Gunfire exchanges have been taken place between these various groups and it is feared that both political activists and innocent bystanders have been victimized in the outcome. At night, shootings are continuously heard further increasing the terror felt by residents and the possibility of an increase in the number of those killed. Dead bodies have been seen lying in the streets and there are even reports of many disappearances. Searches in relevant places such as hospitals or morgues have not revealed the whereabouts of those disappeared. Those who have been wounded in the shootings cannot obtain vital medical treatment for fear of being further targeted. In one known case, the police have intervened to remove someone who has been shot in the stomach from a hospital in Cité Soleil while he was there seeking treatment. Relatives were unable to find out where he was and it was only after the intervention of an international humanitarian organization that it was acknowledged that he was being detained in a police station in the capital city. At this time it is impossible to assess the full extent of violations committed in these areas as the indiscriminate shootings taking place make it dangerous to continue going there to investigate. However it is certain that insecurity and deteriorating day to day living conditions are on the increase in these poor neighborhoods. There is as yet no sign that there is a will amongst the authorities that the situation is going to improve for the better for residents of those areas. Instead of intervening to protect the residents of these poor neighborhoods, it would seem that the police are acting to terrorize them and further increase the climate of insecurity. Those acts carried out by the police force show classic signs of the machine of dictatorship operating to repress dissent and to terrorize those who have been claiming for better living conditions and democratic values. It should also be noted that the already desperate living conditions of poor Haitians have been affected by the continuing violence in the following ways: URGENT ACTION APPEAL PLEASE CALL OR SEND FAXES TO THE PERSONS AND ORGANIZATIONS [listed below] TELLING THEM OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE SITUATION AND DEMAND THAT ACTION BE TAKEN TO STOP THE REPRESSION NOW TAKING PLACE IN TARGETED POOR AREAS OF PORT-AU-PRINCE. THERE IS A REAL RISK THAT MANY MORE PERSONS WILL BE KILLED OR DISAPPEARED AND WHAT IS CURRENTLY AN INTERNAL STRIFE WILL DEVELOP INTO A CIVIL CONFLICT CAUSING MORE SUFFERING FOR THE COUNTRY. FOR MORE EFFECTIVENESS, CALL AND/OR WRITE INDIVIDUAL PIECES SO AS TO INCREASE THE PRESSURE ON AUTHORITIES, INTER-GOVERNMENTAL AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL BODIES. THE MORE PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS WHO CALL OR WRITE TO EXPRESS CONCERN (AND OUTRAGE!), THE MORE WE CAN EXPECT SOME RESULTS. PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING IN YOUR INTERVENTION: The Haitian police force must The UN peacekeeping force must The Haitian interim government must: PLEASE FORWARD THIS URGENT ACTION APPEAL TO AS MANY PERSONS AND ORGANIZATIONS AS POSSIBLE. A SIMPLE CALL OR SENDING A FAX TO THE RELEVANT AUTHORITIES CAN SAVE MANY LIVES AND RESTORE SOME NORMAL LIVING CONDITIONS FOR THOSE WHO DESPERATELY NEED IT. Judy Dacruz, Government of Haiti : [I’m afraid I do not have the contact details of the prime minister (Latortue), the president (Boniface), director of police (Leon Charles), minister of justice (Gousse) , etc. Is there someone who can send to the addressees of this email those details please? Please add others who should be contacted as well. Thank you.] UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) UN Human Rights Advisor in Haiti: Mahamane Cisse –Gouro OAS Special Mission in Haiti OAS office in Haïti Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat
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