TIRIVYE, HAITI — Friday the 13th was “bad luck” for Haitian Judge Mereus Dorlisme of Tirivye. That’s the day the townspeople decided they’d had enough of corruption. A group of 300 people marched to the courthouse to demand Judge Mereus’ resignation. Carrying placards saying “Down with Mereus,” and “We are for the police,” the people protested Mereus’ suspension of police chief, Ces ar. Cesar had attemted to arrest several members of a political organization, to which Mereus belongs, for beating local election officials.

As officers of Haiti’s new Civilian Police escorted Judge Mereus from the courthouse unharmed, a UN detachment arrived and accompanied them to the Tirivye police station. There, U.S. Army Sergeant H igginbotham spoke to the crowd through a translator. “We will see that your specific complaints against the judge are brought before the proper authorities,” he said.

On September 15, two days before the make-up elections designed to correct irregularities in the June 25 ballot, an election supervisor was beat on the head with a chair. On October 6, the secretary of the local election office was hit on his right hand with a club. Judge Mereus refused to write up reports on either of these attacks which were perpetrated by supporters of his political party.

The town of Tirivye has a long history of problems. During the three-year military government many of its residents suffered arrests, beatings and torture. The court system allowed judges to line t heir pockets with money they extorted from the families of those who sought justice.

As the February 1996 departure of UN troops approaches, major improvements in the justice system are seen as key to the survival of democracy here. Duane Ediger, member of a Christian Peacemaker Tea m based in Tirivye, said, “We feel the tension in the town and pray that violence will not errupt.” CPTer Lena Siegers added, “Under President Aristide, the people are learning to assert their righ ts. I believe Mereus is one of the last judges to abuse the people here.”

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is an initiative among Mennonite and Brethren congregations who participate in public responses to organized violence.

Contact CPT at P. O. Box 6508 Chicago, IL 60680 tel. FAX 312-455-1199 e-mail cpt@igc.apc.org gopher://gopher.uci.com/11/archives/cpt

FORWARDED BY: — Jim Lynch written at Rochester, New York

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