- Title: HAITI: POLICE AND UNITED NATIONS FORCES TRY TO RE-ESTABLISH ORDER
- Date: 22nd October 2004
- Summary: (W1) PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (OCTOBER 20, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. HAS/SLV UNITED NATIONS CHECKPOINTS IN MAIN AVENUE OF PORT-AU-PRINCE 0.16 2. SLV HAITIAN POLICE AT CHECKPOINTS AROUND LA SALINE PORT 0.41 3. MV HAITIAN POLICE CAR PATROLLING IN BELLE AIRE NEIGHBORHOOD 0.51 4. SCU CHIEF OF HAITIAN POLICE, LEON CHARLES SHOWING OPERATION POINTS
- Embargoed: 6th November 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
- Country: Haiti
- Reuters ID: LVA4ZD36OGPIVJA7LGM85EIFHY9X
- Story Text: Haitian police and United Nations forces try to re
establish order in Port-Au-Prince.
A series of raids and checkpoints by United Nations
and Haitian police forces in Port-Au-Prince on Wednesday
(October 20, 2004) seemed to have diminished the violence which
has swept the capital over the last two weeks, according to
the Chief of the Haitian Police Leon Charles.
"We have got the situation under control. Of course,
one guy with a 28 (=type of weapon) can get into a crowd
and shoot in the air and people will get crazy and that can
create disorder. That's the reason we are trying to circle
the area and keep them in one place so they cannot move
around."
U.N. and Haitian police have repeatedly raided the
pro-Aristide stronghold of Belle Aire over the last week,
arresting suspected militants, removing barricades from the
streets and making their presence felt. Some people,
however, think that the police presence is not enough to
control the situation.
Charles said the police would maintain high
visibility operations throughout the capital to discourage
any outbreaks of violence again. Over the last two days Haitian
security forces, backed by U.N. armoured personnel
carriers and Brazilian soldiers, staged a number of raids
in the flashpoint slum of Belle Aire, setting up
checkpoints leading into the conflicting area. Charles
confirmed that 250 people have been arrested as a result of
the operations. Forty-five of them, alleged members of the
pro Aristide armed gangs, will be prosecuted, he said.
"We don't see the police at all. They come here to
attack us and we chase after them. They have fake arms.
They don't have bullets. They have 'Creole' guns. If they
had real guns, they'd shoot at us to terrorise us more", a
resident of the Belle Aire area told Reuters.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has faced
simmering tensions since Aristide was driven out on Feb. 29
by an armed revolt and U.S. and French pressure to quit.
Pro-Aristide gangs retain control of many of
Port-au-Prince's sprawling slums and the former soldiers
who opposed him remain in charge of several towns,
demanding the re-establishment of the army and years of
back pay.
Furthermore, floods that killed more than 3,000 people
last month after Tropical Storm Jeanne swung north of the
deforested country have strained the peacekeepers'
resources as they try to protect aid convoys from looters
and patrol the capital.
The current bout of violence erupted on Sept. 30 when
gunmen attacked a pro-Aristide rally. Protesters blamed
police and decapitated or shot up to five officers in
retaliation.
At least 50 people have been killed since, many of them
in gang warfare in the slums, and police and Brazilian
troops have arrested dozens in sweeps through Aristide
strongholds. Burning barricades block some roads and many
businesses are shuttered.
Lavalas members say the interim authorities have
targeted them for supporting Aristide, who is now in South
Africa. But the government and Washington blame the
violence on Lavalas.
ENDS
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None