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<div align="center"><font face="Trebuchet MS" size=3><br>
</font><h5><b>AHP News - May 18, 2004 - English translation
(Unofficial)<br><br>
</b></h5></div>
<font face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
<b>Several tens of thousands of Lavalas activists demonstrate in
Port-au-Prince: at least one person is killed by the police<br><br>
</font><h5><b>------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br><br>
</b></h5><font face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><b>Port-au-Prince, May 18, 2004
(AHP)- </b>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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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.
<br><br>
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. <br><br>
Several arrests were also made. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
"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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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.
<br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
Foreign military personnel also took up positions at both Portail Léogane
and on the road to Martissant (South of the capital).<br><br>
<br>
</font><h5><b>AHP May 18, 2004 3:10 PM <br><br>
</b></h5><font face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>
</font><h5><b>Some one hundred members of the former opposition
demonstrate against the occupation in front of the French Embassy and the
National Palace<br>
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>
</b></h5><font face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><b>Port-au-Prince, May 18, 2004
(AHP)-</b> 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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
They criticized former GNB colleagues who boycotted their action, they
said, because they had obtained jobs in the civil service. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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.
<br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
The political situation has become more confused, freedoms more fragile
and the press is threatened.<br><br>
<br>
</font><h5><b>AHP May 18, 2004 4:00 PM <br>
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>
<br><br>
Condemnation of the lethal violence committed against Lavalas activists
on the occasion of the 201st anniversary of the celebration of the
flag<br>
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>
</b></h5><font face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><b>Port-au-Prince, May 18, 2004
(AHP)-</b> 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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
According to the former deputy, this attitude shows the determination of
the provisional government to silence the majority of the population.
<br><br>
"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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
<br>
</font><h5><b>AHP May 18, 2004 4:30 PM<br>
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