[News] Haiti: Police violently attack tens of thousands of Lavelas demonstrators

Wed May 19 15:32:56 EDT 2004

AHP News - May 18, 2004 - English translation (Unofficial)

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  Several tens of thousands of Lavalas activists demonstrate in 
Port-au-Prince: at least one person is killed by the police

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Port-au-Prince, May 18, 2004 (AHP)- Several tens of thousands of Lavalas 
activists demonstrated peacefully this Tuesday in Port-au-Prince calling 
for an end to the arbitrary arrests and political persecution of supporters 
of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and calling for his return to power.

At least one Lavalas activist, Simpson Saintus, known as Titus, age 23, 
died from bullet wounds inflicted by police officers as the demonstrators 
approached the area of the Champ-de-mars where the National Palace is located.

Personnel from the CIMO police unit along with members of a new police unit 
that is reported to have been formed recently that includes former members 
of the dissolved Haitian armed forces, opened fire on the demonstrators, 
killing the young Simpson and injuring several others.

The demonstrators sang and denounced the breathtaking increases in prices 
for essential goods, as well as the unhealthful levels of garbage in the 
streets, the electricity black-outs and the occupation of the country on 
the occasion of the 201st anniversary of the Haitian flag this May 18.

  According to the demonstrators, several other people were killed, but 
their bodies were carried off in bags by police officers who benefited, the 
demonstrators said, from the sup[port of soldiers of the multinational force.

Several arrests were also made.

The demonstration kicked off in Bel-air and had to fall back after this 
lethal attack by the police. It divided itself into groups of several 
thousand people who marched through the streets of different populist 
neighborhoods of the capital, chanting slogans against the abuses of all 
types of which the interim government and supporters of the ex-opposition 
are guilty, in the eyes of the demonstrators and whom they accuse of having 
provoked the occupation of the country.

"The important thing for us is to show them that we refuse to accept the 
unacceptable, that we refuse the kidnapping of a constitutionally elected 
president for the benefit of people who have not been elected, shouted the 
demonstrators, who called for the return of the constitutional government.

President Aristide suddenly left the country on February 29 as the rebels 
who had taken up arms to support the anti-Aristide movement launched by the 
groups that formed the opposition at that time hesitated to enter the capital.

The Lavalas activists said that despite the fact that their blood has been 
shed once again this Tuesday, their demonstration was a success. They 
denounced the cynicism of one sector within the police which tried, they 
said, to make people believe that the organizers of the demonstration had 
not informed the police of their May 18 demonstration.

Indeed, one of the inspectors general of the Haitian National Police (PNH), 
Jean Yonel Trécil, had indicated Monday over the airwaves of several 
Port-au-Prince radio stations that the police had not been notified of the 
demonstration.

The organizers of the demonstration then displayed the proof of receipt of 
a letter sent on May 12 to the director general of the PNH, Léon Charles, a 
copy of which, they said, was sent to representatives of several sectors of 
the international community.

They said that despite all evidence of bad faith, they are determined to 
continue their campaign in a peaceful manner until their demands are 
satisfied.

Soldiers from the multinational force, trucks from the fire department and 
ambulances from the Red Cross were seen very early Tuesday morning near the 
National Palace.

Foreign military personnel also took up positions at both Portail Léogane 
and on the road to Martissant (South of the capital).

AHP May 18, 2004  3:10 PM

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Some one hundred members of the former opposition demonstrate against the 
occupation in front of the French Embassy and the National Palace
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Port-au-Prince, May 18, 2004 (AHP)- Approximately 100 students and other 
members of the anti-Aristide GNB movement took part in a mini-demonstration 
against the occupation to mark the 201st anniversary of the celebration of 
the Haitian flag.

These demonstrators displayed a large blue and red flag that they were able 
to unfurl in front of the National palace after having held a sit-in 
outside the French Embassy.

They criticized former GNB colleagues who boycotted their action, they 
said, because they had obtained jobs in the civil service.

Their goals were to obtain a job and not to help change living conditions 
for the population, said Eliphète Saint-Pierre and Guy Numa, two members of 
the human rights sector.

The Haitian flag was created in the city of Arcahaie on May 18, 1803,  six 
months before the Battle of Vertières on November 18, 1803, which 
constituted the final victory of the indigenous army over the powerful 
French army of Napoléon.

As the anti-occupation GNB demonstrators passed by, several onlookers 
gathered near the Hotel Le Plaza accused them of having themselves also 
sought and brought on the occupation they say they are condemning today.

The ex-opposition Platform, which included  the Group of 184 and the 
Democratic Convergence, had refused to sign a plan for ending the crisis 
that had been proposed by the international community to avoid any further 
violence in Haiti.

The leaders of the Platform had flatly rejected the proposal by the 
representatives of the international community, while President Aristide 
had agreed to sign at the bottom of the document.

They asserted that the crisis could only be resolved through the departure 
of President Aristide and that all of the country's problems would be 
solved once he had left.

More and more sectors are now suggesting that nearly three months after the 
departure of President Aristide, life has become more difficult, and the 
problems of insecurity, the high cost of living and filth in the streets 
are ruling as lord and master.

The political situation has become more confused, freedoms more fragile and 
the press is threatened.

AHP May 18, 2004  4:00 PM
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Condemnation of the lethal violence committed against Lavalas activists on 
the occasion of the 201st anniversary of the celebration of the flag
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Port-au-Prince, May 18, 2004 (AHP)- One of the spokespersons for Fanmi 
Lavalas, Rudy Hérivaux, declared Tuesday that freedom of expression and 
freedom to demonstrate have been suspended by the interim authorities, 
contrary to the requirements of the Haitian Constitution.

Rudy Hérivaux denounced by way of example the repression this may 18 of the 
demonstration by tens of thousands of  Fanmi Lavalas supporters by the 
police, assisted by the multinational force.

According to the former deputy, this attitude shows the determination of 
the provisional government to silence the majority of the population.

"I believed that those days were over", said Mr. Hérivaux.He  condemned the 
killing of Lavalas activist Simson Saintus, known as Titus, while he was 
demonstrating peacefully against the high cost of living, insecurity, the 
black-outs and the political persecution.

The Fanmi Lavalas spokesperson denounced the attitude of the police 
authorities, who can not put forward any justification for their abuses, in 
light of the fact that the police had been given several days advance 
notice that the demonstration would be held.

  Ronald  St-Jean, the leader of the CDPH (Committee for the Defense of the 
Haitian People) also condemned the violence committed by the police during 
the demonstration by Lavalas activists.

Mr. St Jean attributed responsibility for these deadly incidents to the 
"occupation force" that was present and to the interim prime minister, 
Gérard Latortue, who, he said, promotes "thugocracy" in Haiti.

For his part, the coordinator of  Fanmi Lavalas in New York, Pierre 
Florestal, hailed the courage of the Haitian people who braved the danger 
to face, he said, Haiti's longstanding enemies, in their effort to get 
across their demands.

Pierre Florestal said he energetically condemns the behavior of the interim 
authorities who continue to cause  the bloodshed of their compatriots who 
are determined to fight for a change in their living conditions.

AHP May 18, 2004  4:30 PM
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