Haiti Support Group's continuing concerns

Return of the Army gathers pace, as armed irregulars maintain grip on de facto power - Haiti Support Group, 10 May 2004

In earlier press releases, the London-based Haiti Support Group deplored indications suggesting that Haiti's Army - demobilised in 1995 - was in the process of re-establishing itself. As we said on 23 February 2004, "the Haitian Army's primary roles have been to defend the country's tiny and reactionary economic elite and to repress movements for political change. We fully expect a reborn Haitian Army to play exactly the same role."

In this context, we were very disturbed to read Haitian media reports that on 28 April, the interim Interior Minister, former general Herard Abraham, issued a public call for former soldiers from certain infantry regiments registered in January 1995 to present themselves, with identification, at the National Magistrates' School in Port-au-Prince on 2 May. A similar call was made to ex-soldiers in the north of the country to assemble in Port-de-Paix. It is understood that the ex-soldiers were documented by the Interior Ministry's Liaison and Evaluation Commission, charged with deciding on the defunct Army's future, with a view to incorporating them into the police force.

Two days after these announcements, on 30 April, the armed irregular forces' leader, Guy Philippe, told the local media that he saw "no serious problem" in integrating former soldiers into the police force. Philippe suggested that a seminar of 10-15 days would be sufficient induction for former soldiers entering into police functions.

Meanwhile, there are indications that across the country, the armed irregular forces are maintaining their grip on de facto power:

On 23 April, in Gonaïves, armed men drove police from their headquarters in a dispute over a government-owned car confiscated by police. French troops had to intervene to regain control of the police station. The rebels beat up two policemen, freed a detainee, and took a revolver, according to police spokesman Jean Yonel Trecile.

On 25 April, in Hinche, according to foreign military sources, men believed to be under ex-soldier Joseph Jean-Baptiste's command set fire to two police stations.

Over the weekend of 1 and 2 May, several people were wounded during violent incidents in the locality of Ka Pòl, a communal section of St-Michel de L'Attalaye. Those responsible for the violence, including the setting on fire of around 50 homes and the theft of people's belonging, identified themselves as supporters of the former opposition and rebels. The violence followed the 29 April murder of at least four people and the wounding of others by men with machetes, accompanied by a dozen ex-soldiers. The attacks came after the local people refused to agree to the former rebels' installation of an ex-section chief as a replacement for the local council, the Conseil d'Administration des Section Communale (CASEC).

On 3 May, Guy Delva, head of the Haitian Journalists' Association, denounced the fact that many journalists working in the provinces, particularly in the Central Plateau, were obliged to go into hiding after being threatened with arrest or receiving death threats issued by supporters of the former opposition and the ex-rebels. In Mirebalais, former solders have threatened those whom they accuse of "betraying their movement".

Also on 3 May, in Cap-Haïtien, former rebels and members of the former opposition used guns to force the staff out of the premises of the Autorité Portuaire Nationale (National Port Authority). The attack, which caused panic in the city, was part of the armed former opposition's campaign to install their own appointees to public administration posts. The ex-rebels expressed their opposition to certain nominations selected by the interim government, and threatened to paralyse the public administration in the city if there choices were not permitted. On 7 May, a group of armed men attempted to expel the new appointee at the departmental education office but were stopped by foreign troops.

On 6 May in the town of Hinche, the armed irregular forces under the command of former sergeant Joseph Jean-Baptiste announced they would resume their armed patrols in uniform to demonstrate their discontent with the way they were being treated by the government. After negotiations with Chilean troops, Joseph Jean-Baptiste apparently promised not to go through with his threat, and to instead collaborate with the foreign troops and Haitian police.

On 7 May, in St. Marc, the armed former opposition group, RAMICOSM, was accused of repressing the local people. A local resident told Signal FM that it was behaving just like the pro-Lavalas organisation, Bale Wouze, and its members had been involved in a string of thefts, rapes and kidnappings as a response to being overlooked for appointments to local authority offices.


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