Haiti Report for June 1, 2005

The Haiti Report is a compilation and summary of events as described in Haitian and international media. It does not reflect the opinions of any individual or organization. This service is intended to create a better understanding of the situation in Haiti by presenting the reader with reports that provide a variety of perspectives on the situation.

IN THIS REPORT:
– French Man Killed After Carjacking
– Increase in Kidnappings Spurs Travel Warnings and Evacuations
– UN Security Council Extends UN Mission in Haiti
– Elections
– Members of New National Dialogue Commission Named
– Operation in Cite Soleil and Fire in Marche Tet Boeuf
– New Report from International Crisis Group Focuses on Insecurity
– Canada Announces Montreal International Conference on Haiti
– Problems Between Haitian National Police and MINUSTAH
– UN Responds on Issue of Police Operations
– Former Prime Minister Neptune is Charged in St. Marc

French Man Killed After Carjacking:
The French Embassy reports Paul-Henri Mourral was shot by a group of men who pulled him from his vehicle and stole his car. The killing comes less than a week after the Canadian, French and U.S. governments issued travel warnings for Haiti, citing deteriorating security conditions and an upsurge in carjackings and kidnappings. A message on the Department of Foreign Affairs website cautions Canadians “that they should not travel to Haiti unless they have critical or compelling business or family reasons. The security situation is dangerous and unpredictable. Kidnappings and carjackings are on the rise.” Mourral, 53, represented French commercial interests in Cap-Haitien. It’s believed more than 700 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Port-au-Prince since September. A 7,400-member UN peacekeeping force has been unable to put an end to the violence since the February 2004 rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. (CBC News, 6/1)

Increase in Kidnappings Spurs Travel Warnings and Evacuations:
A day after a U.S. Embassy van was sprayed with bullets while traveling through the streets of downtown Port-au-Prince, the State Department on Thursday ordered the departure of all family members and non-emergency U.S. Embassy personnel from Haiti. The agency also urged all U.S. citizens to leave Haiti, reminding them that there is ``a potential for spontaneous demonstrations and violent confrontations between armed groups.’’ The new travel warning and order to leave the country comes as the Haitian National Police and a U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti, known by the acronym MINUSTAH, struggle to help Haiti combat its No. 1 problem: lack of security. Battling, armed gangs have turned parts of Port-au-Prince, the capital, into a war zone, and in recent months a rash of kidnappings has swept the country.

‘’The problem is localized, but it hampers the embassy’s ability to provide logistical service and a safe working environment for embassy employees,’’ said State Department spokeswoman Nancy Beck. Beck said officials ordered the departure after concluding that ``there is an increase in violent crime near certain U.S. facilities in Port-au-Prince and that is affecting embassy employees.’’ (Miami Herald, 5/27)

US TRAVEL WARNING: This Travel Warning is being issued to warn American citizens of the continued dangers of travel to Haiti. Due to the volatile security situation, the Department has ordered the departure of non-emergency personnel and all family members of U.S. Embassy personnel. The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to defer travel to Haiti and urges American citizens to depart the country if they can do so safely. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning issued March 11, 2005.

Americans are reminded of the potential for spontaneous demonstrations and violent confrontations between armed groups. Visitors and residents must remain vigilant due to the absence of an effective police force in much of Haiti; the potential for looting; the presence of intermittent roadblocks set by armed gangs or by the police; and the possibility of random violent crime, including kidnapping, car-jacking, and assault. Due to concerns for the safety of its personnel, the Department has ordered the departure from Haiti of all U.S. Embassy non-emergency employees and all family members of American embassy personnel. American citizens who remain in Haiti despite this warning are urged to consider departing.

Travel can be hazardous within Port-au-Prince. Some areas are off-limits to embassy staff, including downtown Port-au-Prince after dark. The embassy has imposed a curfew from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., which could change periodically. Staff members must remain in their homes or in U.S. government facilities during the hours covered by the curfew. The embassy has limited travel by its staff outside of Port-au-Prince and the ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens outside of Port-Au-Prince remains extremely limited. U.S. businesses continue to operate in Haiti, but take special precautions to protect their facilities and personnel. The UN stabilization force (MINUSTAH) is fully deployed and is assisting the government of Haiti in providing security. They have challenged violent gangs and have moved into some gang enclaves. (US Dept of State, 5/26)

Four new cases of kidnapping were reported last weekend in Port-au-Prince. Among the new cases is the owner of the ABC Supermarket located in the Plaine du Cul-de Sac outside the capital. The businessman, who is reportedly of Dominican origin, was abducted Sunday by armed men who demanded a large sum of money for his release. Two other people were also abducted Sunday in the same area, while an employee of the Salvation Army Hospital was kidnapped this Monday in the district of Delmas 2. In addition, two people were killed over this past weekend in the Delmas area.

Canadian authorities responded to the security situation by asking Canadians to be extremely cautious in Haiti. The Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister asked Canadian Embassy staff in Haiti to observe the curfew and be off the streets by eight o’clock at night at the latest. The Foreign Minister indicated that the numbers of cases of individuals being held for ransom and vehicle thefts have substantially increased in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. A Canadian citizen was kidnapped and later released last week after his family paid a ransom. This was the third kidnapping for ransom of a foreigner in Haiti this month. (AHP, 5/30)

Haiti’s Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has bitterly objected after the US State Department instructed its non-emergency personnel to leave his strife-torn Caribbean nation amid security concerns. “I object to this double standard policy. It’s a hard blow that the Americans have dealt us,” Latortue said late Friday during a visit to the southern city of Jacmel. “I don’t understand the game they are playing. It’s a regrettable decision. Maybe the future will permit us to understand it,” he said. “It’s at this moment that we need friends,” he added, as the impoverished nation struggled to prepare for elections later this year. (AFP, 5/28)

UN Security Council Extends UN Mission in Haiti:
Determining that the situation in Haiti continues to threaten international peace and security, the United Nations Security Council this afternoon extended the mandate of the UN mission to that country until 24 June, stating its intention to extend it further at that time. The action came after the Council’s 20 May consideration of a report on Haiti in which Secretary-General Kofi Annan commended the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for carrying out crucial tasks in difficult circumstances, saying it created a security environment in which the political transition could take place. In addition to recommending the mandate extension, the report also called for an expansion of the mission to 7,500 troops from the 6,700 authorized, with 6,211 on the ground as of 9 May. The new police ceiling should be raised to 1,897 from 1,622 authorized and 1,413 on the ground, he said. (UN Daily News, 5/31)

Elections:
May 30, 2005 (AHP)- The Provisional Electoral Conference expressed satisfaction Friday with the state of progress of the electoral process, particularly the registration of voters. Provisional CEP President Max Mathurin said that 54,000 voters have been registered to date, more than a month after the start of the registration process. Mr. Mathurin expressed confidence that the goal of registering four million voters will be met, with less than three months to go before voter registration is scheduled to end. Mr. Mathurin also announced the establishment of an additional 80 registration offices in other parts of the country. With regard to the populist districts, the CEP will not set up any registration offices so long as the situation remains unchanged, said CEP President Max Mathurin, who reiterated the commitment of the electoral institution to hold elections on schedule. (AHP, 5/30)

The Haitian Observatory of Electoral Rights (OHDE) expressed profound concern Monday at the slow pace of voter registration, one month after the symbolic launch of the electoral process on April 25 in Gonaïves. According to election officials, 54,077 voters have been registered to date at a total of 14 voting centers that have opened out of the 424 that were planned. The OHDE observed that these figures represent only 1.2% of the Haitian electorate. The current pace of the registration process is far from reassuring, and even risks compromising the electoral process, the organization declared. It expressed doubts as to the capacity of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) to adhere to the electoral calendar for finalizing the voter lists as announced through the electoral decree of February 11, 2005. OHDE officials also said they have found, based on numerous eyewitnesses, that the process of voter registration has been taking place in the absence of electoral supervisors. This constitutes, they said, a flagrant violation of Article 12 of the electoral decree.

The OHDE also deplored that voter registration in the various geographic departments and outlying communities has been going on without the supervision of the CEP through the BEC and BED offices in these areas. Such supervision is a pre-requisite, they said, for free and fair elections. (AHP, 5/30)

Léopold Berlanger, President of the National Council of Election Observation (CNO), expressed concern as to the capacity of the Provisional Electoral Council to register the four million potential voters by July 31, 2005, the date scheduled for the closing of registration, given the way the operation has been conducted thus far. Léopold Berlanger also denounced the fact that the CEP, the OAS and the UN Office of Project Services (UNOPS) have not managed, for reasons that have not been disclosed to the public, to open the 424 registration centers planned for the entire country despite the availability, he said, of the necessary equipment to do so.

He also noted the persistence of certain irregularities affecting the quality of the electoral process, notably the publication of the detailed calendar electoral of electoral activities, the list of locations of voter registration centers, the appointment and training of members of BED and BEC electoral offices and electoral supervisors, as well as the hiring of senior administrators and technicians. (AHP, 5/30)

Members of New National Dialogue Commission Named:
Yvon Feuillé, Lavalas Family party Senator; Goodwork Noël, member of Guy Philippe’s Front de Reconstruction Nationale party and a former departmental police chief; Max Beauvoir, one of country’s best-known houngans (Vodou priests); Joseph Gayot, former archbishop of Cap-Haïtien; Edouard Paultre, leader of the Haitian Protestant Federation, member of the Group of 184; Mme Dominique Bazin, executive director of the Franco-Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, member of the Group of 184; Gérard Blot, leader of the Tèt Ansanm party, and former minister of public administration in the Aristide/Werleigh government, Narcisse Fièvre, lecturer at the private Quiskeya University; Yves Cadet, former minister of the environment in the Préval/Alexis
government, and linked at that time to the Espace de Concertation coalition of centre-right parties; Mme Marie Mause Jeune, Kolektif Fanm Pou Developman; Volvick Rémy Joseph, leader of the neo-Duvalierist party, the National
Cooperative Action Movement (MKN), a former health minister under President
Jean-Claude Duvalier, and a former member of the electoral council under President Aristide (2002-3); Jean Robert Vaval, a member of the Konakom party and former minister of culture in the Préval/Alexis government. (Information forwarded by the Haiti Support Group)

Operation in Cite Soleil and Fire in Marche Tet Boeuf:
The U.N. and the Police Nationale d’Haiti (PNH) launched a major offensive today aimed at the pro-Aristide seaside slum of Cite Soleil. At least 3 people were killed and scores injured after U.N. and PNH security forces reportedly entered the area with “guns shooting everywhere” according to residents. St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bois Verna, home to a project of the French organization Medicin Sans Frontier, reported their staff was having difficulty treating the increasing number of gunshot victims resulting from today’s action. In what appeared to be a response to the armed incursion, unknown assailants set fire to a large market in the old quarter of Haiti’s capital known as Marche Tet Boeuf. There was general panic in the area as the flames spread and engulfed a nearby school. Gunfire reportedly rang out as people in the area were forced to run for cover prior to the outset of the fire. Radio stations in the capital reported soon after that Haiti’s National Palace was also shot at. The joint offensive by the U.N. and the PNH comes on the heels of tough talk and threats by the Haitian business community. Dr. Reginald Boulos, the President of the Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recently demanded the U.S.-installed government allow the business community to form their own private security firms and arm them with automatic weapons. Boulos also suggested the Latortue regime allow businesses to withhold taxes for one month and use the money to buy more powerful weapons on the international market for the police force. “If they don’t allow us to do this then we’ll take on own initiative and do it anyway” Boulos stated. (Haiti Information Project, 5/31)

New Report from International Crisis Group Focuses on Insecurity:
Spoiling Security in Haiti, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines the country’s deep political, social and economic crisis one year after the UN Security Council sent a stabilisation mission (MINUSTAH) to Haiti to help the transitional government. Despite 7,400 UN military and police peacekeepers on the ground and the resumption of multilateral aid, Haiti’s transition remains fragile. “By finally deploying country-wide, MINUSTAH has prevented even greater levels of bloodshed, but Haiti is still highly volatile and subject to explosive violence”, says Ettore Di Benedetto, Crisis Group Senior Analyst in Haiti. “Many powerful spoilers have much to gain from fomenting violence, insecurity and political instability”.

A deeply polarised society and the collapse of state institutions and state authority over the past decade opened the way for the emergence of violent groups with roots both in social conflict and political feuds, and lately with apolitical but deadly drug traffickers. Seeking to maintain or maximise power, income or position, these spoilers are actively engaged in opposing the transition, and thousands of weapons remain in their hands. “Prime Minister Gerard Latortue’s transitional government lacks a thorough security strategy to deal with the spoilers”, says Mark L. Schneider, Crisis Group’s Senior Vice President. “Under mounting allegations of severe human rights abuses, the Haitian National Police (HNP) is dysfunctional and in need of urgent and thorough reform”.

The government should start a purge of criminals from the police, and MINUSTAH’s mandate must be extended to provide executive authority over the HNP, including vetting of personnel, training and oversight of operations. In cooperation with MINUSTAH, the government must also begin at once a systematic program of demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) of former rebels and members of the Haitian Armed Forces. Guaranteeing adequate public security will also involve the neutralisation of urban gangs and their incorporation into appropriate DDR programs, as well as curbs on crime, especially in Port-au-Prince.

The government cannot afford to be ambiguous toward the international presence any longer. The UN and its Haitian counterparts need to redefine their way of operating together in order to reverse the impending collapse. Economic, political and social deterioration are all intertwined and mutually reinforcing. “Extreme poverty, unemployment, and underprivileged living conditions are the root causes of Haiti’s insecurity”, says Alain Deletroz, Crisis Group’s Latin America Program Director. “But while the country’s interrelated needs should be addressed urgently, clearly nothing can improve here without security on the ground first”. (ICG, 5/31, full report available at: www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=3485)

Canada Announces Montreal International Conference on Haiti:
Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew and International Cooperation Minister Aileen Carroll today announced that the Montreal International Conference on Haiti will take place on June 16 and 17, 2005. “I am pleased to welcome Haiti’s international partners to Montreal for this conference,” said Minister Pettigrew. “As Haiti prepares to hold elections, maintaining the dialogue between Haitians and the international community is essential. The Montreal International Conference on Haiti is the result of the invitation extended by Canada at the Cayenne Meeting, in French Guiana, to continue implementing the joint effort of the Government of Haiti and the international community in response to Haiti’s needs.”

The Montreal International Conference on Haiti, organized by the Government of Canada in conjunction with the Government of Haiti, will bring together senior officials from Haiti’s international partners. During the meeting, participants will discuss the situation in Haiti; the procedural requirements for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) under the new Security Council resolution, which will be voted on by May 31; the progress of the electoral process; the eventual establishment of an international elections observation mission; and the implementation of the Interim Cooperation Framework (ICF).

The Government of Canada has agreed to contribute more than $180 million over two years toward reconstruction and development efforts, including $154 million in support of the transitional government’s ICF and 100 civilian police officers for MINUSTAH. Canada has also committed $17 million to facilitate the smooth running of Haiti’s electoral process. (Foreign Affairs Canada, 5/30)

Problems Between Haitian National Police and MINUSTAH:
Interim Prime Minister Gérard Latortue declared Friday that he is aware of a fundamental misunderstanding between the national police and the MINUSTAH.

“Several issues need to be clarified in the relations between the two institutions, Gérard Lartortue considered. According to the Head of government, the greatest handicap comes from the fact that for the MINUSTAH, all PNH operations need to be planned in advance with it otherwise, it will not give any help to police officers in difficulty. It is absurd that the MINUSTAH wants to make hierarchy become more important than the lives of policemen in danger, Latortue declared, using the words of PNH spokesperson Gessy Cameau Coicou. Gérard Latortue also deplored the fact that we think we can solve differences by using the radio, while a framework was defined to solve difficulties between the MINUSTHA and the PNH.

Most of all, he blamed PNH officials, including its chief, Léon Charles, for criticizing the MINUSTHA in the press. “Problems that could be easily solved become more complicated the minute we take them on the air”, Mr. Latortue declared. He reaffirmed his government’s will to find solutions to all problems. (AHP, 5/27)

The U.N. mission to stabilize Haiti has failed to provide necessary support to help police curtail rampant violence and insecurity, a spokesman for Haiti’s president said on Wednesday. Interim President Boniface Alexandre’s chief of staff, Michel Brunache, and several other Haitian officials have criticized the U.N. mission known as MINUSTAH for what they said was reluctance to act. “Nowadays, U.N. troops are very reluctant to support Haitian police during operations against bandits, particularly in the capital. We deplore this situation,” Brunache told Reuters. “We believe that if we have the insecurity we have today, the problem is that somehow MINUSTAH has failed.” U.N. officials contacted by Reuters on Wednesday declined to comment on the characterization of the mission as a failure, but read a statement saying MINUSTAH had “never refused to support or to assist Haitian police operations, even under difficult conditions, and reaffirms its commitment to this task.” Brunache said the problems could still be corrected but U.N. authorities must act immediately as Haiti prepares to hold crucial elections by the end of the year. “It is not too late to fix the problem, but the MINUSTAH would irreversibly fail if a secure environment was not created for the upcoming elections,” Brunache told Reuters. Police Chief Leon Charles has also criticized U.N. troops for what he said was a lack of support during a weekend raid on the pro-Aristide slum of Bel-Air in Port-au-Prince, in which two policemen were killed. “Our men were in harm’s way. We called U.N. troops for help and they had not responded,” said Charles. (Reuters, 5/25)

UN Responds on Issue of Police Operations:
The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) offers the following clarifications regarding the incident that took place on May 22 in Bel-Air during which two officers of the Haitian National police (PNH) lost their lives. MINUSTAH deeply regrets the deaths of these two police officers and presents its sincere condolences to their families as well as to the PNH. The PNH and MINUSTAH forces (both military and CIVPOL) have already conducted, with success, more than 50 joint operations without causing any harm within the ranks of the PNH. MINUSTAH has never refused to support or assist operations of the PNH, even under difficult circumstances, and reaffirms its commitment to this effort.

Concerning the operation conducted by the PNH on May 22, the MINUSTAH forces were not informed of that operation until the moment when the PNH, after having commenced the active phase of the operation, found itself confronted with operational difficulties that required urgent assistance. As soon as the PNH called for assistance, MINUSTAH forces immediately went to the scene in Bel-Air where they discovered that three civilians had been injured and that all officers of the PNH had already left the scene. The blue helmets provided first aid to the injured. One of them, however, died in the process of being evacuated. Out of a concern to ensure improved coordination and integration of operations, several proposals have already been made to the PNH by MINUSTAH, which will be jointly studied and which would help to prevent a repetition of such incidents. (MINUSTAH Press Release, 5/25)

Former Prime Minister Neptune is Charged in St. Marc:
Haitian authorities took former prime minister Yvon Neptune before a judge yesterday to hear charges of orchestrating political killings, more than a month after he started a hunger strike to protest his nearly year-long incarceration without charge. Neptune went before a judge in a close-door session in the western town of St Marc. The former premier is accused of masterminding the killings of political opponents during the February 2004 rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, said Pierre Esperance, whose National Network for the Defence of Human Rights has been monitoring Neptune’s case.

International pressure had been mounting on the interim government to either charge or free Neptune, who denies wrongdoing and started a hunger strike April 17 to demand his unconditional release. UN officials said Neptune had been taken to St Marc in a UN vehicle, but declined to comment on his health. Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has denied claims from family members and others that Neptune was nearing death, saying the former premier has been drinking water with sugar, salt and vitamins and was in stable condition.

The judge was expected to read Neptune the charges and evaluate the evidence to determine how to proceed with the case. It was unclear whether Neptune was accompanied by a lawyer. Mario Joseph, an attorney who has been representing Neptune, said the government had not notified him about the hearing. The interim government accuses Neptune of being behind the killings of at least 25 Aristide opponents in St Marc several weeks before Aristide was ousted on February 29, 2004. (AP, 5/26)

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