23 August - The UN special envoy to Haiti said on Thursday that some lawmakers were threatening efforts to stabilize the Caribbean nation after a group of senators took steps to fire the prime minister and Cabinet. The lawmakers decided late on Wednesday to summon Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis to appear before the Senate with the intention of taking a vote of no-confidence. A yes vote would force Alexis and his Cabinet to step down. No date was set for Alexis' appearance.

The UN envoy, Edmond Mulet, denounced the legislators and groups of unidentified "ill-intentioned individuals," telling a news conference they wanted to prevent the government from establishing the rule of law in Haiti, where a previous elected government was overthrown in 2004.

The senators, who have the constitutional right to fire the prime minister and Cabinet, took steps toward a no-confidence vote after the government's chief prosecutor in the capital, Claudy Gassant, failed to appear before the Senate judicial committee. The lawmakers wanted to question Gassant about the recent arrests of several high-profile businessmen and members of prominent families accused of involvement in corruption, smuggling and financial crimes. Some lawmakers have called on the government to let them out of jail provisionally pending the outcome of the charges, while others simply called for their release.

"There are lawmakers who are jeopardizing the stabilization process in the country," Mulet said at the news conference at UN mission headquarters in the capital, Port-au-Prince. "Those politicians should be careful not to give the impression that they side with the drug dealers or the corrupt," Mulet said. But Gabriel Fortune, a senator with the center-right Union Party, who first called for a no-confidence vote, said, "Gassant has committed an act of rebellion."

"Since the prime minister failed to force him to comply and to sanction him, we hold him responsible," Fortune said. (Reuters)

23 August - The Swiss government Wednesday extended a freeze on former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier's bank accounts here for another year, officials said. Some 7.6 million Swiss francs (6.2 million dollars) held by "Baby Doc" Duvalier in Switzerland were due to be released on September 1 after a temporary three-month freeze expired, government spokesman Oswald Sigg said. However, the Federal Council (government) extended its decree for another 12 months following a request by Haiti's President Rene Preval, he added. The money has been caught up in nearly two decades of legal and political wrangling since it was first blocked in Switzerland at the request of Haiti's government after Duvalier was toppled in 1986. (AFP)

10 August - Haiti has created an independent commission to speed up stalled investigations into the slayings of journalists in the impoverished nation. Eight journalists have been killed in the Caribbean country since 2000, and the notoriously weak and corrupt justice system has yet to convict anyone in the deaths. The nine-member body, made up of Haitian journalists, will review each case and issue public reports on ways to move the investigations forward, commission president Guy Delva said Friday. "We want to push the justice system to act. If there are obstacles to these cases, we want to know what they are, who is responsible and how to fix them," said Delva, a correspondent for the Reuters news agency and the head of a Haitian press freedom group.

President Rene Preval pledged full support to the commission, the first of its kind in Haiti. "The state must make providing justice a priority," Preval said at a ceremony to introduce the commission. "I think the journalists, working together with justice officials, can help reinforce justice in the country."

Delva said the body's first task will be to revisit the murder of Haiti's most famous journalist, Jean Dominique, who was gunned down along with a bodyguard outside his radio station on April 3, 2000. Dominique's life was chronicled in the 2003 documentary "The Agronomist," directed by American filmmaker Jonathan Demme. The probe into his killing has been plagued by delays, missing case files and the resignation of two investigating judges who received death threats. Three early suspects have been killed, including one under mysterious circumstances in police custody. Dominique's widow, Michele Montas said revisiting his case offers hope after years of frustration. "He was a symbol that gave a voice to the voiceless, and that voice was silenced," said Montas, who once fled the country because of death threats and now serves as spokeswoman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "So we're asking for justice for him and everyone else." (AP)

2 August - Two prominent businessmen were arrested and jailed recently for under-reporting the value of their merchandise to Customs officials.The men, father and son, Fritz and David Brant, have been held at the National Penitentiary, awaiting to see a instructional judge, the equivalent of a prosecutor in the US judicial system. The Brandts are considered one of the richest families in Haiti. The family is a major exporter of coffee.

According to prosecutors, the case stemmed from a deal made between the Brandts and Jean Marc Larco, another prominent businessman, to buy a truck valued at $100,000. Brandt was charged to get the vehicle out of Customs. But on July 18, Larco, who was told he was the subject of a criminal investigation, placed a complaint against Fritz and David Brandt. According to officials, the men colluded to defraud the Haitian government of $20,000 in taxes. On July 26, when the Brandts appeared to answer a warrant, they were arrested and jailed. Some Customs and employees of the Central Bank were also questioned in connection with the case. Constantin Mayard Paul, the Brandts’ lawyer said his clients followed all of the proper procedures and added that his clients were innocent. (Haitian Times)

1 August - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon vowed on Wednesday that there will be no quick withdrawal of UN peacekeepers in Haiti, who have helped stabilize the deeply impoverished country for the first time in years. Speaking during his first visit to Haiti since becoming leader of the world body, Ban said he would recommend a 12-month extension of the mission of the nearly 9,000-strong, Brazilian-led peacekeeping force when its mandate comes up for renewal before the UN Security Council in October. The peacekeepers were dispatched to Haiti in 2004 after a revolt that toppled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They have only recently brought relative calm to a country torn by violent gangs, killings sparked by turf wars in teeming slums and a rash of kidnappings.

"The United Nations, which has been in your country five times in the past, will not leave until the future is secure," said Ban, who spoke at a news conference with President Rene Preval, a former Aristide protege and head of the country's fledgling elected government. "The UN mission is here to create the necessary conditions for Haitian authorities and international donors to implement a national strategy for the poorest urban areas," Ban said. He urged Preval to continue efforts aimed at fighting corruption, which he described as barrier to progress. "This is a very serious matter," Ban said. "Corruption undermines institutions and weakens individuals." (Reuters)

1 August - British investigators who probed the deaths of at least 60 Haitians in a boat sinking off the Turks and Caicos Islands earlier this year say they cannot substantiate some survivors' allegations that Turks and Caicos Islands police caused the tragedy. Following the May 4 sinking, several survivors alleged that a Turks and Caicos marine patrol boat rammed their wooden sailboat at least twice before trying to tow it away from the islands. The boat flipped and spilled its human cargo. The Marine Accident Investigative Branch (MAIB) of the British government said a close inspection of both the Turks police vessel and the Haitian sloop show no signs of collision damage. Turks and Caicos is a British dependency. ''It would appear that the sloop capsized while under tow, when the number of passengers on deck reached a critical number and stability was lost. However, the exact trigger for capsize remains unknown,'' the MAIB investigators concluded in a long-awaited report issued Wednesday in the United Kingdom.

The investigators went on to explain that ``the divergent and contradictory testimony of the witnesses means that it has not been possible to state with certainty what triggered the sloop's capsize.'' ''It is the MAIB's opinion that the sloop most likely capsized during the tow due to lack of stability,'' they added. The report was nevertheless highly critical of the Turks and Caicos police force, saying officers could have prevented the loss of so many lives at sea if they were better trained and had proper equipment. (Miami Herald)

JULY
20 July - President Rene Preval said Friday that Haiti and the United States will continue joint offensives against drug trafficking, which he described as the biggest threat to his impoverished Caribbean country. Preval's comments were his first public remarks since US Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Haitian authorities launched a forceful crackdown on suspected drug traffickers in two coastal towns earlier this week. The agents arrested a Haitian businessman allegedly tied to cocaine traffickers but failed to capture their main target, former rebel leader and presidential candidate Guy Philippe, who is believed to be in hiding. Preval said the operation resulted from meetings he held recently with DEA Administrator Karen Tandy, and said more actions are planned. "These aren't operations we want to advertise. We're not going to say what the next step is but there will be other steps," Preval told reporters during a joint press conference with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He called drug traffickers "the single biggest destabilizing factor facing weak countries like Haiti," which has only a few thousand poorly paid police and a notoriously corrupt judicial system. (AP)

18 July - A new report on Haiti by the International Crisis Group concludes that the development of an honest and community-friendly Haitian National Police is crucial. To consolidate real stability in the country, the government should oppose any attempt to re-establish the army or otherwise create a second national security force. The rule of law must be strengthened through prison and justice reform, with the extent of future funding linked over time to progress in implementation. Haiti needs additional competent personnel to encourage decentralised development, limit rural exodus, and support democratic governance through local, participatory development projects. (ICG)

18 July - Since the beginning of the year, more than 500 gang members have been arrested by MINUSTAH forces. While the UN forces have been criticized by some for allegedly heavy-handed tactics while tackling the violence in Haiti, many residents of Cité Soleil praised the troops for escalating their initiative in recent months. "You can tell they are serious people and committed to helping us," said 49-year-old Samuel Saint Louis while standing next to a squadron of Brazilian soldiers on patrol in Cité Soleil.

Replete with automatic weapons and heavily armored UN vehicles, Brazilian and other international forces are a common sight in the streets of Port-au-Prince. Residents of Cité Soleil appear at ease around the Brazilian troops, particularly the slum's small children, who surround the soldiers practicing what few words of Portuguese they've managed to pick up from the troops. "Before [the crackdown] things here were really bad," said one Brazilian soldier recalling the barrages of gunfire they would receive while patrolling the streets. "But now it seems like things are getter better."

Cité Soleil resident Edith Destiny says the violence in the Haitian slum has decreased since UN forces began cracking down. The Brazilian soldier said UN forces still sustain the occasional attack and that the effort in Cité Soleil and elsewhere is far from over. "We apprehended a lot of the leaders and the neighborhood is safer for it, but we still have a lot of work to do."

Some residents expressed concern that when the troops eventually leave, the gangs will return to power. The UN troop mandate is set to expire in October 2007, though many expect it will be extended, as it has been several times already. "They've done a good job disarming people so far," said 24-year-old Franco Pierre-Louis, an out of work bricklayer and Cité Soleil resident. "But before they can go they need to do more to stop the gangs from ever coming back." Pierre-Louis, like others, would like the UN mission to help solve the rampant joblessness in Haiti, often blamed for giving rise to gangs in the first place. But whether the troops will remain in Haiti until the last remnants of the gangs are finally removed remains to be seen. (World Politics Review)

17 July - US and Haitian anti-drug agents tried on Monday to arrest on drug charges a leader of the 2004 rebellion that ousted then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, police officials said. US Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Haitian police raided the home of former army officer Guy Philippe near the southern town of Les Cayes, said Henriot Toussaint, the police chief for the southern region. "They came aboard two planes and four helicopters to try to arrest Guy Philippe, but they did not find him," Toussaint told Reuters. Police officials said an international warrant was issued against Philippe, who ran for president in the national election that followed Aristide's ouster, for his arrest on drug-related charges.

"The policemen placed under my command did not take part in the operation because we were not informed in advance about the operation," said Toussaint. "It was exclusively conducted by DEA agents and other police officers from Port-au-Prince." Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has long been a key transshipment point for South American cocaine headed for markets in the United States and Europe. Haiti and the United States have signed an agreement that allows DEA agents to pursue and arrest drug dealers within the Caribbean country's borders and territorial waters.

The DEA office in Miami had no immediate comment on the raid and the DEA media relations office in Washington D.C. did not return telephone calls. The US embassy spokesman in the capital, Port-au-Prince, was not immediately available for comment.

Plagued by frequent bouts of political instability and a feeble national police force, Haiti has been an open territory for traffickers lured by miles (km) of unpatrolled coastline, remote airstrips and corrupt law enforcement. Philippe, a former army officer and police commissioner, went into exile in 2000 after a disagreement with the government and police but returned in February 2004 to command the bloody rebellion that toppled Aristide's government. Philippe finished well back in the pack in the February 2006 election won by President Rene Preval.

Preval had complained that the United States had not used its power to counter drug dealers' activities and said Haiti would never enjoy lasting peace and stability unless the drug problem is dealt with. While the US and Haitian agents failed to capture Philippe, they did arrest a hotel owner, Lavaud Francois, on drug trafficking charges on Monday, said Osman Desmangles, a spokesman for police in the northern town of Gonaives. Desmangles said Lavaud was the subject of an international arrest warrant and was taken by helicopter to Port-au-Prince. (Reuters)

17 July - Police assisted by peacekeepers deployed by the United Nations Mission for the Stabilisation of Haiti (MINUSTAH) have arrested Remilien "Ti Nasson" Emmanuel, a gang member suspected of participating in the 16 May murder of Radio-Télé Provinciale manager and presenter Alix Joseph in the northern city of Gonaïves. Emmanuel's arrest on 13 July was hailed by the local population. He was a member of one of the most feared gangs in Raboteau, Gonaïves' biggest slum. (Metropole)

14 July - Massive numbers of illegal guns circulate on Haiti’s streets as a programme meant to disarm gangs met with little success since its launch one year ago, police say. The initiative, led by the United Nations in cooperation with local police, has resulted in numerous arrests in some of the most violent neighbourhoods, and many gang leaders have been either arrested or killed by security forces. Despite small steps toward collecting weapons from gang members who willingly turn them over to officials, those who patrol the streets say the major problems are unabated.

“The notorious criminals have been apprehended or killed but their soldiers are still out there with their weapons,” said policeman Daniel Clervaux whose beat is the gang stronghold in Cite Soleil, a huge, violent slum in the capital.“Even if today the gunfire ceases, the weapons are still in Cite Soleil, and there would be more than 10,000 of them,” he said. Another police officer, who declined to give his name for publication, said many weapons are stockpiled in shantytowns and could be brought out at any moment.

Alix Fils-Aime, who heads a government commission on disarmament, said “if such large quantities of weapons exist, they are being stored in conditions that would render them useless.” Fils-Aime said he works “on the ground” and has “never seen this arsenal.” He said around 200 weapons have been collected along with 6,000 rounds of ammunition. However, a Swiss non-governmental group estimated in 2005 that at least 250,000 illegal weapons were circulating on the streets. (AFP)

13 July - The United States has partially lifted a ban on mango imports from Haiti that was imposed after fruit fly larvae was found in three shipments sent to Florida, Haiti's ambassador to Washington said Friday.US agriculture investigators currently in the Caribbean country inspected and certified three of the nine treatment plants designed to rid Haitian mangos of pests, allowing them to resume shipments immediately, Ambassador Raymond Joseph told The Associated Press. Three other treatment facilities will be inspected and should be certified soon, while the remaining three, the origin of the affected shipments, will be dealt with later, Joseph said after days of high-level talks between the countries. "We wanted to be able to resume shipments as soon as possible because the mango is an important income earner for the Haitian economy," Joseph said, adding that the first crates of the fruit should leave Haiti next week. US agriculture officials didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.

US Animal Plant Health Inspection Service spokeswoman Melissa O'Dell said the United States halted Haitian mango imports after inspectors in Florida found fruit fly larvae in three shipments on June 25 and July 2. Haiti earns between US$20 million (euro 14.5 million) and US$40 million (euro 29 million) per year for mango export and the US is its main customer. (AP)

10 July - At least 500 Téléco workers received termination letters Friday as part of the government's announced plan to privatize the company. Another thousand are expected to be fired on Monday. As of last week, there were approximately 2800 workers remaining after the first wave of mass firings, as the government works to reduce the total number of employees to 800, according to several sources. These mass dismissals, which were expected in the wake of numerous statements by President René Preval and Téléco Director General Michel Présumé, come 10 days after the end of a three week strike organized by the union of telephone workers, initially to demand a dialogue with Présumé, and subsequently calling for his departure. The workers ended their strike after the president of the Communications Commission of the Haitian senate, Mr. Jean Hector Anacacis, asserted that dialogue between the union and the Téléco director general is necessary.

As the first series of letters were sent out on Friday, several police units as well as MINUSTAH officers were called to the perimeter of the Teléco facility to neutralize any possible protesters. Téléco workers found this decision insulting "after so many years of service to the company". "We have never been against privatization; we are simply asking for what we deserve", said one of the dismissed cadres. He noted that workers who have been terminated, he said, have been invited to go to a teller at the National Credit Bank to receive their legal services and a severance bonus equivalent to 12 months of wages, as the has president said. The workers were demanding compensation equivalent to seven years of wages. The president of the union of the National Telecommunications Company, Jean Mabou, whose name appears on the list of sacked workers, termed the dismissals made by management as illegal and arbitrary.

According to several company cadres, the selection of workers to be dismissed was based on a desire for revenge, and the choice of workers who are being kept in their positions was based on favoritism. "What is the common sense behind the dismissal of 14 out of the 17 trainers at the training center, while bogus consultants who only go to the office to collect their salaries are kept on because of their friendship with the architects of this privatization", said an indignant cadre who has been sacked. (AHP)

2 July - The elected deputy for Pétionville, Steven Benoît, has announced that in the next few days he will submit a proposal for legislation to increase the minimum wage. According to Benoît, the current minimum daily wage of 70 gourdes, representing less than two US dollars, is wretched, and the situation of those who receive it could be compared to slavery. The member of parliament said that as the cost of living is too high, the minimum wage must be increased, adding that he has the support of the majority of his colleagues. Benoît also criticised the behaviour of certain businessmen who this week threatened to close their businesses if the gourde continued to appreciate against the the US dollar. He said, "I cannot begin to understand these comments", suggesting that it is normal that when the value of the local currency improves, the spending power of citizens automatically increases.

Another deputy, Acluche Louis-Jeune, who represents Dame Marie for the OPL, said an urgent response to these members of the private sector is needed, so that they reconsider their position and stop thinking of themselves as the only citizens with rights. Louis-Jeune called on the head of state to have the courage to tackle this sort of problem in the appropriate way. Other members of parliament suggested that the private sector only thinks of its own interests, and is not concerned with the rest of society. They called on the head of stae to assume his responsibilities to all sections of society. (AHP)

JUNE
28 June - A two-week strike by janitors and support staff has forced Haiti's largest hospital to turn away patients, officials said Thursday. Doctors and nurses are not taking part in the protest, but say garbage piling up inside Port-au-Prince's General Hospital has made it impossible to practice medicine. "We can't even use the operating room due to the garbage and unhealthy conditions," said one doctor, Dezard Ulick. Only homeless patients with nowhere else to go are staying at the hospital.

The striking employees are demanding four weeks' worth of unpaid wages, ambulances, and the rehiring of colleagues who recently lost their jobs. They say hospital and government officials have not met with them about their concerns. Haiti's cash-strapped government has struggled to pay thousands of public employees, many of whom have gone months without a salary. (AP)

22 June - The regional UNPOL commander in Gonaives, Jean-Jacques L'Hour, indicates that the bandits have very little room to maneuver now. He maintains that the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) will do all that is within its power to restore order in Gonaives. He invites the people in this city to collaborate with the forces of order to help maintain a security climate in the area. L'Hour said, "The people have visibly regained confidence in MINUSTAH and the Haitian National Police (PNH)." He added, "We have dealt with part of the problem, but the situation is not over yet. The situation has got a lot better. And what we want is for the people to continue to collaborate with us. Once we have trustworthy information from official sources, we can then go and arrest the bandits immediately." He also indicated that there is free access to Raboteau and Jubilee now, thanks to the joint operations carried out in these neighborhoods by MINUSTAH and the national police. He said, "We have arrested 54 people, seven of whom were wanted by the police. We seized some weapons, drugs, stolen vehicles, and 326,231 gourdes." (Metropole)

21 June - Haiti's president said on Thursday that fighting drug trafficking and corruption in his impoverished country was now the priority of his government. René Préval said in an interview in Washington, D.C., that sustainable social and economic development was not possible unless both plagues were fought. "Police officers, judges, customs and government officials are bought off by drug dealers and there will be no stability if traffickers are not defeated," Préval told Reuters during a meeting of Caribbean leaders in the US capital. "They will do anything to destabilize the government." Préval, who recently submitted to parliament a bill that would force government officials and their close dependents to declare their assets every year, said corruption was a major threat to development. "...If we allow smugglers and other corrupt officials to go unpunished, honest investors won't come to do business in our country," he said. (Reuters)

19 June - President René Préval arrived in Washington on Monday to take part in a meeting between the US administration and presidents and heads of state from the Caribbean. The president and his delegation intend to lobby US businessmen on the advisability of investing in Haiti in the context of a significant reduction in insecurity.

However, a spate of new crises are developing. The national telephone company (Téléco) has been paralyzed for more than two weeks by a strike of employees who demand the departure of the director general, Michel Présumé, whom they accuse of ineptitude and bad management. They accuse him of sabotaging the institution so that it can be sold off cheaply when it is privatized. Despite the fact that the situation is deteriorating with no Téléco services functioning normally, the authorities are still not intervening to resolve or impose an end to the crisis, and the opposing parties are left in a stand-off. Meanwhile, Téléco subscribers have been abandoned, and their broken telephone lines are not being repaired. However, customers have got used to this!

At the national electricity company (EDH), trade union members are denouncing intimidatory maneuvers aimed at preventing them from meeting to discuss the serous problems that have brought the institution to its knees and unable to distribute a basic supply. Meanwhile, the government's contract with the private company, Alstom, which supplements the electricity supply to the capital, is due to expire on 30 June, and nothing has been arranged to meet the shortfall. The trade union members are denouncing a scheme that aims to hand the EDH over to the private sector.

At the same time, there seems to have been no progress with the negotiations between the government and the transport workers unions whose 48-hour strike last week paralyzed the transport system. The unions are demanding a reversal of recent fuel price increases. The unions are threatening more strike action if this demand is not met. Meanwhile, there are rumours of a further price increase in the offing.

And that's not all - the ancillary workers at the main public hospital complex in the capital (HUEH) are on strike to demand the payment of several months back pay and to denounce threats of dismissal. (AHP)

12 June - United Nations peacekeepers and Haitian police on Tuesday killed a suspected gang leader wanted in the kidnap-slaying of a French businessman. Charles Junior Acdelhy was shot to death after he opened fire on Brazilian peacekeepers and police as they tried to arrest him during an early morning raid in Port-au-Prince’s notorious Cite Soleil slum, UN spokeswoman Sophie Boutaud de la Combe said. No peacekeepers or police were injured. Acdelhy, known as Yoyo Piman, was accused of helping lead a Cite Soleil gang and was wanted on international warrants for homicide, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy, Boutaud said, including the January 2004 abduction and killing of Claude-Bernard Lauture, a French businessman of Haitian descent. Boutaud said peacekeepers had surrounded a section of Cite Soleil when Acdelhy ran out and began shooting. She said peacekeepers warned Acdelhy to put down his gun before they shot him "in legitimate self defence". (AP)

7 June - The United Nations envoy to Haiti has denounced attempts by groups involved in corruption, drug trafficking and contraband to destabilise the country as government authorities declared a war on those plagues. Edmond Mulet said those groups, which he did not cite by name, wanted to create a chaotic situation in the country to facilitate their "evil activities". "There are people involved in corruption, drug trafficking and goods smuggling who are trying to destabilise the government," Mulet said. UN and Haitian officials have denounced a number of suspicious kidnappings as a move by ill-intentioned groups to create panic and fear among the population. "They have kidnapped a number of people and then they released them later without demanding any ransom," said Mulet, warning wrongdoers they would be sooner or later arrested and tried. A spokesman for the Haitian police, Frantz Lerebours, said the recent incidents were desperate reactions by those evil groups who had been tracked down by the government and security forces. "Their attitude is clearly an attempt to destabilise the government, because those criminals today feel really targetted," said Lerebours. (CMC)

5 June - Heavily armed gunmen in a pickup truck shot at unsuspecting bystanders in an upscale neighborhood, wounding five and spreading panic in what police said Tuesday was a plot to destabilize the nation. The shootings Sunday and Monday terrified residents in the leafy Port-au-Prince suburb of Petionville and stoked fears of a return to lawlessness following months of calm that resulted from a crackdown by U.N. peacekeepers on gangs earlier this year. Police spokesman Frantz Lerebours said the gunmen entered Haiti from the neighboring Dominican Republic over the weekend. They were later seen speeding through Petionville and firing at crowds of people with a silencer-equipped firearm, sending onlookers fleeing for cover. At least five people were shot and wounded. "They're trying to create panic so that insecurity will reign," Lerebours told reporters. (AP)

4 June - Haitian authorities are trying to root out a network of secret airstrips used to smuggle in South American cocaine bound for the United States, a top security official said Monday. The effort comes days after Haitian police and U.N. peacekeepers intercepted 420 kilograms (925 pounds) of cocaine in a coastal town in the country's biggest drug seizure in more than a decade. Much of the cocaine entering Haiti arrives by plane, usually small, single-engine aircraft that land on remote airstrips hidden throughout Haiti's poorly guarded countryside. "We want to identify these airstrips, find out who owns them and who they're associated with," Luc Eucher Joseph, Haiti's secretary of state for public safety, told broadcaster Radio Metropole. Following last Thursday's cocaine seizure, police raided a suspected traffickers' hideout in an upscale Port-au-Prince area and found several high-powered weapons and a global positioning device believed to be used to help guide incoming drug planes, Joseph said. (AP)

2 June - Switzerland decided on Friday to extend a freeze on some 7.6 million Swiss francs (4.6 million euros, 6.2 million dollars) held by Haiti's former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier in Swiss banks, a government spokesman said. Spokesman Oswald Sigg told the Swiss news agency ATS that the extension would take effect on Sunday, when the previous sequestration order was due to end. The move followed a legal appeal earlier this week by lawyers acting for two former victims of the Duvalier regime, Swiss foreign ministry spokesman Lars Knuchel said. (AFP)

MAY
31 May - The authorities have arrested 10 people, including four police officers, who were allegedly transporting 925 pounds of cocaine in two vehicles with government license plates. Acting on a tip, police discovered the drugs Thursday after stopping the cars in the town of Leogane, just west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, police spokesman Frantz Lerebours told reporters. It was one of the largest drug seizures in Haiti in years. Eight Haitians were arrested, including four active members of the National Police, Lerebours said. Two Colombian nationals were later arrested on suspicion of involvement. Both vehicles had government license plates although one was a rental car, Lerebours said. Police also seized three automatic rifles, five pistols and a shotgun. (AP)

30 May - A Geneva court has blocked the release of some of the 7.6 million Swiss francs (US$6.2 million; €4.6 million) stashed in Switzerland by former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, a lawyer for two Haitians said Wednesday. The decision comes days before a freeze on all of the ex-president's Swiss accounts is due to expire, which would allow the money to be returned to the Duvalier family, Marc Henzelin said. "We received the notice that the order has been issued, so that our request has been accepted," he told The Associated Press. It was not immediately possible to confirm the ruling with the court.

Henzelin's legal firm lodged a request with the cantonal (state) court of Geneva on behalf of two Haitians, a taxi driver and a priest, who were awarded damages against Duvalier worth US$750,000 and US$1 million respectively by a U.S. court in 1988. The U.S. District Court in Miami also ordered US$500 million to be paid to the Haitian people under the Alien Tort Claims Act, according to Miami attorney Ira J. Kurzban who represented the claimants in the case. Last week, a senior Swiss Foreign Ministry official warned that the money in Duvalier's Swiss accounts would have to be released on June 3 because all legal means to retain it had been exhausted.

The latest court decision affects only one account, with the Geneva branch of UBS AG, held in the name of a foundation based in the tiny principality of Liechtenstein, Henzelin said. Fondation Brouilly is owned by a Panama-based company, which in turn is owned by members of the Duvalier family. Henzelin said it was not known at this point how much money was in the Geneva account. Duvalier had at least two further accounts in Lausanne and Zurich, though the latter could have been closed, he said. To recover money on behalf of Duvalier's victims, a Swiss court would have to be convinced that the funds were of criminal origin. (AP)

29 May - The national police carried out operations in the Carrefour area over the weekend and arrested at least 121 individuals. This was part of a vast offensive aimed at dismantling gangs and putting an end to the insecurity phenomenon in this sector. In a press conference yesterday, Police Superintendent Franc Georges indicated that 37 of the detainees are suspected of involvement in the murder of two police officers killed in Carrefour last week. Some dangerous gang leaders were also caught during the operation. (Metropole)

24 May - Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, better known as "Baby Doc," could receive up to US$5.6 million from a Swiss bank account. Swiss government officials said they may have no choice but to turn over the money to Duvalier, accused of stealing millions from Haitian state coffers during his reign, as his family set up a bank account in Liechtenstein. The accounts were frozen for years while Haitian officials and activists argued that the former dictator's deposits were made with stolen money. (UPI)

19 May - The remains of dozens of Haitian migrants who died when their boat capsized off the Turks and Caicos Islands were returned to their homeland Saturday and buried in a common grave, angering relatives who were not given a chance to identify their loved ones. Family members clutching photographs of victims wept as the 59 bodies – wrapped in black bags and marked “John Doe” or “Jane Doe” – were unloaded from a cargo ship in Cap-Haitien's seaport, two weeks after one of the deadliest disasters to hit Haitians in years. Officials said the bodies were badly decomposed and could not be readily identified.

More than 160 migrants were aboard the overcrowded sloop when it capsized May 4, flinging them into choppy, shark-filled waters. The bodies of 61 migrants were recovered and more than a dozen are missing and presumed dead. Some had been eaten by sharks. Two bodies were buried in Turks and Caicos.

The 78 survivors have accused a Turks and Caicos patrol boat of ramming their vessel as they approached shore and towing them into deeper water. The Turks and Caicos government is investigating but has said the migrants were being towed toward shore when their boat overturned in rough seas.

Haiti's government declared a period of mourning and announced a crackdown on illegal migrant smuggling in response to the disaster. Police arrested six suspected migrant smugglers and seized two migrant boats in an operation Friday, local delegate Georgemain Prophete said. (AP)

18 May - At 9:30 pm, two unidentified men shot dead Alix Joseph, station manager and host of a cultural show on local Radio-Télé Provinciale, as he was sitting in a car outside his wife’s house in Gonaïves, 105 miles (170 kilometers) north of Port-au-Prince, according to press reports and interviews. The station’s director, Frantz Justin Altidor, told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that Joseph’s wife ran for help when she saw the two men pull out their weapons. Moments later, neighbours found the journalist’s body lying outside his car, Altidor said. He had been shot at least 11 times, according to Haitian and international press reports.

Joseph hosted a popular Sunday morning program that featured music and news about cultural activities in Gonaïves, Altinor said. According to Altinor, Joseph managed the daily work of the radio station, and often filled in as host of the station’s daily news program. Additionally a high school philosophy teacher, Joseph was active in local cultural organizations, Altinor said.

Altidor said that in March he received an anonymous call from a man who warned him that he did not like Radio-Télé Provinciale’s stand on the disarmament of local gangs. Joseph told Altidor that he also had received similar phone calls at the radio station but did not pay attention to them. According to Altidor, Joseph had been recently threatened by an individual with whom he had a financial dispute unrelated to his journalism. Local authorities are investigating the murder, Altidor said. (CPJ)

18 May - President Rene Preval declared a "war without end" against corruption Friday, calling crooked state officials traitors who rob the deeply impoverished nation of vital investment and jobs. "The fight for equality requires the government to have money without having to ask for it. For the government to have money, people have to stop stealing from the state," Preval said during a Haitian Flag Day speech on the lawns of the National Palace. Laying out a major initiative of his year-old government, Preval vowed to root out corrupt police, customs agents, judges and legislators, whom he accused of enriching themselves at the expense of the aid-dependent Caribbean nation, which is struggling to return to stability following a crippling 2004 revolt. "This war without end against corruption will be long and hard, but we will win because it's a fight for life," Preval said during the address attended by diplomats from Haiti's biggest donor-nations, including the United States, Canada and France.

Preval also warned local companies not to smuggle in contraband and evade taxes, which he said discouraged legitimate businesses from investing in the country. "Everyone involved in corruption is a traitor in the fight for equality," he said. "If there's corruption, there will be no investment. Without investment, there will be no jobs." (AP)

17 May - More than 20 members of the criminal organisation, L’Armée Timanchet, have been arrested in recent days by the police in Martissant. According to a source close to the Haitian National Police, six members of this armed group were arrested during an operation on 15 May, including Eliphet Orelien, wanted for alleged involvement in numerous murders in Grand Ravine, Ti Bois and Bolosse. Another source said that the security forces were continuing to mount operations against Grand Ravine bandits who had taken refuge in the Fort Mercredi area. (Metropole)

10 May - Survivors of the worst disaster to hit Haitian migrants in years were ``angry and revolted'' as they accused a Turks and Caicos police vessel of ramming their crowded boat twice before it capsized, killing dozens in shark-infested waters, a senior official said Wednesday. The shocking allegation against the British territory's police boat didn't come out until Tuesday because the 78 survivors of the disaster have been locked in a jail-like detention center and barred from speaking to journalists. Officials say about 160 migrants were jammed onto a rickety sailboat that capsized before dawn last Friday, spilling most of them into the Atlantic Ocean a half-mile off one of the islands in the Turks and Caicos, 125 miles north of Haiti. ``They're very angry and revolted by what happened, because this is a problem that we still can't clarify up until now,'' Jeanne Bernard Pierre, director-general of Haiti's National Migration Office, told The Associated Press from the Turks and Caicos, where she met with the detained survivors.

The Turks and Caicos government will not comment on the allegations until two investigations into the incident are completed, said Ben Boddy, an official with the governor's office. Britain's Foreign Office also declined to comment pending the investigations. One probe is being conducted by the local government, and three government experts from Britain are carrying out an independent investigation, said David Stewart, spokesman in London for the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.

Turks and Caicos Gov. Richard Tauwhare said Tuesday the sailboat capsized while it was being towed by a police boat in rough seas, contradicting earlier claims by local officials that police did not arrive on the scene until after the migrant boat capsized. Pierre told AP that she had seen no evidence of a cover-up, but added: ``It's too early to say that we're satisfied with the (progress of the) investigation.'' On Tuesday, she said the Haitian government would consider the ramming of a migrant boat to be a ``criminal'' act.

The known death toll rose to 61 late Tuesday after dozens more bodies were found floating in the ocean, some partially eaten by sharks. More than a dozen migrants remained missing and presumed dead. The decision to tow the overcrowded sloop in stormy seas without giving life jackets to the migrants has raised safety concerns, but lead British investigator Richard Mull said Turks and Caicos police were following procedure. ``The Haitian sloop was on the tow with the Turks and Caicos police boat at the time, as is standard operating procedure, when it capsized,'' Mull told reporters Tuesday. Mull said his team interviewed survivors and local police and examined the migrants' sailboat, but he didn't say if the vessel had sustained any damage from a collision. He said a preliminary report should be ready in a few weeks. (AP)

9 May - Following a meeting with US President George W. Bush in Washington DC on Tuesday, President Preval thanked the US president for help in supporting Haiti's judicial system, the police, the state bureaucracy, and the war against drug cartels. "Peace has been restored, and the conditions for investment are here," said Preval. "Haiti is awaiting American investors." The United States is Haiti's largest trading partner and largest donor of humanitarian assistance.

Speaking earlier to the US Chamber of Commerce, Preval announced a campaign to crack down on corruption and smuggling as part of efforts to lure foreign investments to his impoverished country. Preval said Haiti needs new roads to help farmers get their products to markets and an improved electricity network to bolster its economy. The Haitian leader said a commission is being formed to focus on a battle against corruption, contraband and drug smuggling as part of the campaign to be launched next week. "We will not tolerate any importer to continue with contraband. We will not tolerate any importer or any business trying to corrupt the administration," he said. "The fight against corruption, the fight against contraband to set equal conditions for competition in the private sector, we will launch it next week," Preval said. (AFP)

8 May - A long-hunted gang leader accused of assassinations, kidnappings and extortion was arrested today in a joint operation by Haitian National Police and United Nations peacekeepers in Cité Soleil, the notorious slum area in the capital, Port-au-Prince.The arrest of Torchon Jean Eoldy, alias Blade Nasson, who terrorized the neighbourhoods of Ti-Haïti and Linteau, is a part of "the joint efforts of the blue helmets and the PNH to return a lasting peace to Cité Soleil," according to the UN Mission in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH. "It will, in particular, allow the population of Linteau and Ti-Haiti to get back little by little to normal life," the mission noted in a press release. In addition to being the leader of violent criminal activity in his own right, Mr. Eoldy was also known as the right-hand man of another recently arrested gang leader, Bélony Emalyse, who has been accused of attacking MINUSTAH troops in Cité Soleil. In recent months, MINUSTAH has stepped up efforts to crack down on criminal gangs in violence-ridden Haiti; since the start of the year, more than 400 gang members have been arrested. (Minustah)

4 May - Haiti-born filmmaker Raoul Peck will direct "Karl Marx," tracing the young adventures of the German philosopher and revolutionary, the project's producer said. The picture will cover the period 1830-1848, including Marx's time in Paris before being expelled to Brussels and culminating with the publication of The Communist Manifesto. "Marx was considered a young genius at the time, but it was also a period marked by the birth of a great movement in thinking," said producer Jacques Bidou.

The story also will encompass Marx's love for his aristocratic wife Jenny von Westphalen, and his friendship with Friedrich Engels, with whom he co-authored The Communist Manifesto. No cast is yet attached, but Bidou said the principal characters will necessarily be young. "Raoul very definitely wants to make this a film for a wide public," he said. The $20 million English-language movie is penciled in to begin shooting in February 2008 in France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, for delivery at the end of that year. Peck ventured down the biopic trail in 2000 with "Lumumba," a project about Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba. (AP)

4 May - More than 600 individuals have been arrested since the beginning of the year, according to a report presented by MINUSTAH's military spokesperson. There were 27 suspects arrested from 26 April to 2 May as a result of operations carried out by the joint MINUSTAH and PNH (Haitian National Police) patrols. He said, "Among the people that were arrested this week, 15 of them were suspected of being members of the Timanchet Army gang, and seven others are alleged members of the Amaral gang."

According to the PNH, there was a drop in the number of arrests made last month compared to the preceding month. In a press conference held yesterday, the police spokesperson reaffirmed the willingness of the police authorities to fight impunity. Frantz Lerebours said, "The national police made 1,035 arrests last month. During March, we made 1,270 arrests."

The national police carried out an operation in the Croix-des-Bouquets area over the weekend that facilitated the arrest of the murderers of Emmanuel Mercier and his son last month. The PNH confirms the arrest of Tiyeye, a member of the Timanchet Army. A joint operation carried out by the PNH and MINUSTAH in Saint-Louis du Nord resulted in the seizure of more than 59 kilograms of cocaine that had been hidden in a vehicle. Nine people were arrested during this operation thanks to the information provided by local residents. (Metropole)

4 May - According to the latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, Haiti’s tenuous steps toward police and judicial reform cannot succeed unless the overcrowded, insecure prison system is also overhauled. "Haiti: Prison Reform and the Rule of Law,* warns that the prisons are powder kegs that could erupt and further destabilise the country unless immediate steps are taken to alleviate overcrowding and prevent violence or mass escape. “A dangerous cycle has begun of ‘managing’ Haiti’s prison crisis through uncontrolled releases and even the acceptance of escapes”, says Crisis Group Senior Analyst Damien Helly. “This is just adding to the broader problems of impunity and insecurity that have undercut the country’s confidence in rule-of-law”.

More than 5,000 prisoners are crowded into Haiti’s seventeen prisons, but only ten per cent have been convicted, and many have yet to be charged. Dangerous offenders are housed with petty criminals, disease is rampant, prisoners take turns sleeping or sitting and are granted access to sanitation facilities just once a day, which is often the only time they leave their cells. Despite promises by donors in the Interim Cooperation Framework (ICF) of 2004, there have been no significant steps to rehabilitate prisons and none at all to build them. “Donors should urgently put in place a plan to finance and build secure prisons, hire more guards and put the most dangerous offenders in maximum security cells. Otherwise, the progress President René Préval’s government has made in its first year on police and justice reform will be threatened”, Mark Schneider, Crisis Group Senior Vice President, said. (ICG)

4 May - At least 20 Haitian migrants were found dead in the water Friday off the coast of the Providenciales Island in the Turks and Caicos.The migrants - trying to reach US shores - were aboard a 25- to 30-foot Haitian sail-freighter that capsized, the US Coast Guard said in a statement released Friday. Sixty-three people were rescued from the water by a Turks and Caicos police vessel. The Coast Guard is searching for nearly 60 other undocumented migrants still missing. Survivors reportedly told the police there were approximately 150 people on board. (UPI)

3 May - On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, SOS JOurnalistes called on the judicial authorities to redouble efforts to delvier justice for the journalists killed over the last five years. According to Guyler C. Delva, secretary-general of SOS journalistes, "Journalists are killed, harassed and intimidated by the authorities and by armed groups acting with complete impunity." Delva one more time denounced the lack of progress with the judicial investigation into the murder of Jan Dominique. He deplored the fact that "nothing concrete has been done in the month since the head of state, René Préval, announced the relaunch of this investigation." (Metropole)

APRIL
28 April - President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela is ready to become the sole energy supplier to Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Haiti, presenting the countries with his most generous offer yet of oil-funded diplomacy in the region. Chavez is seeking deals with the four countries, his main leftist allies in the region, during the summit of The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas he hosted over the weekend in the northwestern city of Barquisimeto. The bloc, known as ALBA, was formed in 2004 by Chavez and his Cuban mentor Fidel Castro to promote trade and cooperation along socialist lines and to oppose a U.S.-backed free trade area. (AP)

28 April - The ALBA summit called by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez kicked off Saturday in city of Barquisimeto attended by the presidents of Bolivia, Nicaragua and Haiti, as well as the vice president of Cuba with the aim of forwarding Latin American integration. The Bolivian head of state, Evo Morales, was the first to be received at the air base here by Venezuelan Vice President Jorge Rodriguez. Arriving soon after were the presidents of Haiti, Rene Preval, and of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, and the Cuban vice president, Carlos Lage, who after the reception ceremonies and military honors at the base were taken to the hotel in Barquisimeto where the summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA, is being held. Also scheduled to take part were several prime ministers from Caribbean nations and Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa, who arrived Friday night at this city located some 300 kilometers (186 miles) west of Caracas.

The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas is "the only initiative" that will allow Latin American countries to end poverty while maintaining its sovereignty, said Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in a statement to the press upon his arrival at the hotel where the summit is being held. "Let us reflect on this project (ALBA) and evaluate its progress," he said, adding that it is "the only hope Latin American peoples have of emerging from poverty." The Nicaraguan head of state said the free trade agreements that industrialized nations are promoting with some countries of the region mean continued dependence without contributing anything to the well-being of their inhabitants. He added that "the unity of Latin American and Caribbean peoples is fundamental for achieving full sovereignty, free of all imperialist hegemony." (EFE)

26 April - “The Haitian people do not deserve to continue suffering; that’s why we offer our assistance with such love and affection,” Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo said upon receiving Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs Renald Clerisme in Cuba. On behalf of the Cuban people and government, Lazo stated the island’s interest in increasing collaboration between the two countries. He praised the advances of such efforts in the field of health. To date, Cuban doctors working in Haiti have attended ten million doctor’s visits, administered a million vaccinations and saved an estimated 200,000 lives, said Lazo. Since two ophthalmologic centers were installed in Haiti, some 5,000 people have received vision restoring operations. Nonetheless, Lazo said work must be hastened to bring medical assistance to 17 additional municipalities so that there are Cuban and Haitian doctors in all of them.

Foreign Minister Clerisme called the collaboration between Cuba and Haiti an example for the world calling it “unconditional, in solidarity and motivated by the fraternity that joins us.” He added that the Haitian people are grateful for the assistance. “The Cuban health workers not only bring science and technology to our country, but also transmit a change in mentality to the people and plant sound human values,” said Clerisme. The foreign minister also thanked Fidel Castro and the Cuban people for the help given with the Cuban-founded 'Yes I Can' literacy program with which Haiti seeks to teach three million people to read and write. During his first days in Cuba, the Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs held talks with his counterpart Felipe Perez Roque and was received by Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, president of the Cuban parliament. (Granma)

23 April - On Saturday, police officers in Saint-Michel de L'Attalaye arrested Belony, one of the key gang leaders of Bois-Neuf, Cite Soleil. Belony was found in Nanpol, a communal section of Saint-Michel de L'Attalaye. He was carrying a revolver when he was arrested. He was later taken to Port-au-Prince by helicopter, where he is being questioned by the Central Management of the Judicial Police (DCPJ). (Metropole)

23 April - People in Miragoane have stoned, stabbed, and beated to death five alleged thieves. The police, along with soldiers of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), arrested seven others, including two police officers - Augustin Myrtil of the Intervention and Maintenance of Order Company (CIMO) and Hanz Maitre, who was assigned to the Miragoane police station. They were all part of the armed gang. Police Superintendent Marc Andre Cadostin indicates that the people complained that these gangsters were breaking into their homes and stealing their possessions. The thieves had a truck that they were using to carry the stolen goods. The vehicle and a 9-mm gun are now in the hands of the police, according to Cadostin. (Metropole)

20 April 2007 - Residents of the capital's largest slums are enjoying more undisturbed nights since UN peacekeepers cleared out armed gangs, but they still want to see food, jobs and other hoped-for benefits of the new peace. UN troops have dismantled a number of street gangs in the capital's sprawling slums since the beginning of the year and forced dozens of feared gang leaders to flee. But residents say a dearth of social and economic programs may yet hamper efforts to achieve durable stability in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas.

"It's true the security situation has considerably improved, but you can't eat security. You need food and jobs and schools," said Mackenzy Pierre-Paul, a 32-year-old resident of Cite Soleil, Haiti's largest slum. "The government and the international community need to rapidly invest in social programs to keep this peace," Pierre-Paul said.

When the gangs ruled, gunfire often rang out at night and residents cowered in their flimsy shacks, afraid to sleep or move. Now schools that had been closed for years have opened their doors. Residents who fled the area are returning, shops have reopened and the street markets are bustling again. UN troops and Haitian police play with children in the streets in areas where they would not have dared set foot three months ago.

But some Cite Soleil residents express nostalgia for the rule of the gang leaders, who sometimes shared out kidnapping ransoms and other loot. "The international community and the government have failed so far to fill the vacuum left by the gangs who used to help the population," said Mirlande Augustin, 27, a mother of four. There are efforts being made to address the deep social needs, but progress is slow. President Rene Preval has complained about delays in the disbursement of international funds pledged for Haiti, a nation of 8 million people where most live on less than $2 a day. "If the donor community and the government do not provide an alternative to the youngsters in the forgotten slums, violence and criminality will always be an option," said Renan Hedouville, head of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (CARLI). (Reuters)

16 April - Dominican soldiers seized weapons, drugs and vehicles during an operation to secure the country's border with Haiti, the army said Sunday. The five-day training exercise along the 225-mile border addresses concerns of Dominican President Leonel Fernández, who has warned of a rise in drug and arms smuggling from Haiti as the neighbouring country struggles to establish order. The soldiers, who captured 270 Haitian migrants Tuesday at the start of the operation that ended Saturday, also seized seven handguns, 77 pounds of marijuana and vehicles including three trucks, army spokesman José Francisco Hernández said. (AP)

14 April - The staff of the weekly newspaper, Haïti Progrès, have said that Johnson Edouard, who was killed before dawn on 13 April in the north western city of Gonaïves, had not worked for the newspaper for about three years. The theory that he was murdered in connection with his political activism therefore seems more likely. Edouard was the regional representative of Fanmi Lavalas, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's party. He was reportedly sleeping when gunmen broke into his home and shot him several times in the head and throat. The killers escaped through a window. David Francois, a Fanmi Lavalas leader in Gonaïves, called Edouard's killing "a political execution" in an interview with Radio Kiskeya. (Kiskeya, RSF)

5 April - A wealthy businessman once considered a suspect in the assassination of Haiti's best-known journalist was shot to death near his house in an apparent contract killing, police said Thursday. Robert Lecorps, who also was implicated in the 1993 assassination of a Haitian justice minister, was killed Wednesday in the upscale Port-au-Prince suburb of Pernier, police spokesman Frantz Lerebours said. Lecorps was shot several times but police have no suspects, Lerebours said. Haitian broadcaster Radio Caraibes FM reported that Lecorps was shot by gunmen riding in a car and that his body lay in the street for hours before being removed. Lecorps, then in his 60s, had been arrested in connection with the April 3, 2000, slaying of journalist Jean Dominique, but no charges were ever filed.

Lecorps was a loyalist of late dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier and was reputed to be a member of Duvalier's feared Tontons-Macoute militia, which terrorized and killed thousands of government opponents. Lecorps made his fortune in business but was once described by the Washington-based Human Rights Watch-Americas as having "a history of violence and drug-dealing." In 1996, he was acquitted in the slaying of Haitian Justice Minister Francios Guy Malary. The trial lasted only 15 hours and was widely derided as a sham. (AP)

3 April - The police arrested at least eight alleged bandits and seized some illegal arms in operations carried out by the Haitian National Police over the weekend. According to Port-au-Prince Police Superintendent, Michel-Ange Gedeon, some of the suspects were involved in the abduction and murder of some police officers. He pointed out that the police were already looking for some of the suspects. Gedeon said, "We were informed about a gang that was operating in a place called Marrot, in the Fontamara 27 area." Gedeon added, "The police, with the support of the Sri Lankan soldiers of the MINUSTAH, carried out an operation around 0200 on 31 March in the Marrot neighborhood and arrested five individuals. Two of them were actually leaders of the Timanchet army."

The police have also thwarted two kidnappings, one in the Pont-Morin area, and the other one in the Martissant area. Police Superintendent Gedeon said the police were able to arrest the alleged kidnappers. He said, "We were informed about some bandits who were robbing people in the Pont-Morin area. They even tried to kidnap one of the victims. Officers from the Port-au-Prince police station worked jointly with those from the Canape-Vert police station and were able to find the vehicle the bandits were in. The suspects fled the area when they saw the police, but one of them was caught and arrested. The incident happened around 1800 on 30 March."

Some of those arrested by the police claim that they continue to kidnap people because they need money to bail out their fellow criminals. There are some others who indicate that they want to make enough money so they can flee the country to escape the pressure of the police and the MINUSTAH troops.

A gang leader who was operating in the Martissant and Fontamara areas was arrested in Petion-Ville late Saturday night. Michel-Ange Saint-Fort, alias Belou, was apparently responsible for the murder of several police officers in the region. Petion-Ville Police Superintendent, Francene Moreau, also announced the arrest of another bandit, Suzan Isaac, who was found in possession of an illegal arm. Superintendent Francene said, "The police in Port-au-Prince and Carrefour were already looking for Belou. He is one of the key gang leaders who were operating in the metropolitan area, in Carrefour, Fontamara, and Martissant in particular. According to the information we had, this gang leader had murders several police officers. For instance, he killed police officer Ronald Blanchard on 25 January 2007. The police officer was assigned to the Saint-Charles police substation. He also killed police officer Candy Jean-Baptiste on 11 February. Actually, we had already arrested a lot of the gang members, but it was very difficult for the police to find Belou himself because he never really stayed in Port-au-Prince for long. Whenever he came here, he would come to carry out some specific operations, and then he would go to Jacmel, in the southeast where he was hiding. But he was in Petion-Ville when he was arrested. We were informed about his presence in the area, we mobilized all the forces, the investigation service as well as the Rapid Intervention Brigade of the Petion-Ville police station. He was accompanied by other bandits who managed to escape while we were trying to get hold of them. We only took hold of him." (Metropole)

2 April - The president of the Republic has underscored the importance of freedom of speech for any countries that have taken the road of democracy. During a visit to the office of Le Matin newspaper on the occasion of the commemoration of its 100th anniversary yesterday, President Préval reacted to a statement made by the editor in chief of the paper regarding the criticism that characterised some editorials. Préval said: "In the Bible, for example, there are the Old and the New Testaments. The editor in chief said that he was scathing in his comments. But if the Old Testament says an eye for an eye, then we will follow the New Testament instead, which says you must love one another. I know that Le Matin experienced some difficult times in the past and that the staff had to be very careful when they were scathing with their comments....Today, I believe that what is important for a head of state who wants to see the progress of democracy is for this leader to let the people express themselves. As far as I am concerned, one of the most important tasks as a leader is to listen to the expression of people's needs and problems, and this can only happen through freedom of speech." (Metropole)