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Radio Commentary on the Soccer Match Massacre
and UN complicity in the killings
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HLLN Note: Below is a commentary excerpted from a Haitian Radio Broadcast in New York on August 23, 2005 by an HLLN network collaborator. This sort of reporting on the USAID|OIM "Camp for Peace" Soccer Match massacre this weekend in Haiti may only be heard on (un-embedded) Haitian radio as none of the mainstream press will likely report on the Bush bloodbath brought to Haiti or even when they do, tell the truth about the UN-led police slaughters in Haiti. It appears that Organized foreign-sponsored kidnapping phenomemon replaced by organized MINUSTHA-led police hacking poor Haitian women and men Rwanda-style with with imported machetes (See, Have the Latortues Kidnapped Democracy in Haiti? and multi-millionaire arrested in kidnapping ring at Arrestation d'un important homme d'affaires en relation avec les cas de kidnapping enregistrès à Port-au-Prince. English translation at: An Important Businessman was Arrested in Relation to Kidnapping cases reported in Port-au-Prince )

AUGUST 23, 2005 COMMENTARY FROM A HAITIAN JOURNALIST REPORTING FROM HAITI, as excerpted and translated by the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network for the Ezili Danto Witness Project

Employing criminal means, supposedly to eradicate criminal elements from the population:
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Haitian radio news correspondent: News of massacre in Grand Ravine over the weekend (August 20-2, 2005) have been confirmed. Saturday, the Machete Army was at it again. The rumors were strong starting from Wednesday and indeed this weekend they chopped up over 20 people. The practice of hacking people with machetes is continuing. It started in Solino, proceeded to Bel Air and now it is Grand Ravine that was visited by an army named “lame ti manchete” (little machete army), accompanied, according to neighborhood resident witnesses, by the Haitian Police and MINUSTHA. They hacked 20 people to death.

It occurred Saturday and Sunday during a soccer game. With UN-MINUSTHA troops securing the area, these armed men erupted, by arms we mean machetes, they cut a few heads and quartered many. Twenty died and many more were wounded.

Lionel Mondestin who is on the executive board of a political party named MUR (Movement for Republican Unity) said that it was unacceptable that the national police and MINUSTHA accompany these machete-wheeling men on such a barbaric mission, inside a community! He continued to say that he understands that the police want to apprehend bandits; nonetheless nothing justifies the national police and MINUSTHA staging a systematic massacre, by attaches armed with machetes. This sort of thing had never been seen before in the history of Haiti! According to the MUR official, none of the previously repressive regimes had ever reached such barbaric and criminal heights. Ironic, since they claim their actions to be justified by the fact that they are looking for bandits.

What is interesting though is the matter-of-fact attitude of the Haitian elite and authorities, characterized by Mrs. Coicou’s claim that the national police did not have all the facts and that she would not comment until she got a report. When Mrs. Coicou (police spokesperson)was asked more specifically about the Haitian police distributing machetes to people, suggesting that they seek vengeance, she ignored knowing this fact in the case of Solino, but agreed that she had heard reports from neighboring residents witnesses that such was the case. Nonetheless, she is yet to confirm the distribution of machetes by the national police.

Still, the machete hacking crimes continue with the complicit silence of notably all the political leaders that were actively denouncing, creating and fomenting violence during the anti-Aristide campaign. Today, they are harboring the “fool’s silence”, since the victims seem to be Lavalas supporters. It is to be noted, nonetheless, that in Solino, MINUSTHA interfered when the machete-wheeling brigades took to the streets, seeking more Lavalas blood, subsequence to the news that a former Lavalas minister had come back to Pot-au-Prince. The MINUSTHA soldiers got the men to lay down their machetes. However, informed sources attribute the MINUSTHA action to reports that EURO News had played images of people being hacked to death in the presence of both the National police and MINUSTHA soldiers. Mindful of their image, the MINUSTHA officers ordered an end to operations.

Unfortunately, the reality of the machete armies is that the National Police is installing them in popular neighborhoods like Solino and Grand Ravine. The armies are composed of people who were ostracized in the past for petty crimes, forced to leave the area or jailed. They hold grudges and are coming back for revenge. Many are not from these areas, and the MINUSTHA-led Haitian Police gives them machetes and uses them to kill Lavalas supporters, a subhuman practice that one is at a lost to qualify, similar to the one where armed men slaughter people.

We should also point out that many observers are afraid that this practice will lead to a civil war. The Rwanda scenario is being echoed more and more, referring to the machete dominated civil war where over a million died. These same observers are saying that whoever is distributing the machetes is fomenting civil war!

It should also be pointed out that the “Haitian Authorities” (the defacto gang”) are yet to take a stand on this new MINUSTHA-led police practice. The last statement to memory can be attributed to Mrs. Coicou encouraging neighborhood vigilante gangs to get together with the police to go “bandit hunting”! She said that she was aware of the courageous side of Haitians and that she knew that the people would not step back and she appealed to their sense of responsibility, asking the neighborhood who were yet to follow suit to hurry-up! That is exactly what just happened in Grand Ravine where a machete-wheeling gang received logistical and material support from the police and MINUSTHA and hacked to death 20 neighborhood residents, in the realm of this new wave of violent crimes being perpetrated against the people of Haiti.

One should also point out that this new wave seems to have replaced the kidnapping phenomenon that had so abruptly erupted on the Haitian scene. As a matter of fact, the sustained salvos of gunfire heard in Haiti day and night seem to have mysteriously disappeared, since the apparition of this new crime wave that Haitians call “Lame Ti Manchèt” (Little machete Army). One can only point to one killing that does not seem to be connected to the MINUSTHA/Police sponsored machete gangs. It is a case in Drouillard, where a Canadian and a Haitian seem to have been shot in a kidnapping attempt. Nonetheless, there is a marked change in the kidnapping situation, reflected in some resuming habits that made them prime kidnapping candidates.

Thus, the new wave of criminal acts definitely seems to be machete massacres implemented by the MINUSTHA/Police Nationale sponsored gangs. Though, as mentioned previously MINUSTHA reluctantly did stop the Solino gang on Sunday, subsequent to the news of images played on Euro News showing people being hacked and quartered under the supervision of the MINUSTHA-led Nationale Police and MINUSTHA troops.

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Ezili Danto Witness Project Report on SOCCER GAME MASSACRE | Ezili Danto Witness Project, August 25, 2005

Below is an excerpt from an Ezili Danto Witness Project report, direct from our HLLN Investigator in Haiti about the Aug. 20 and Aug. 21st slaughter of Haitian youths attending a soccer game. This interview was recorded August 25, 2005 and translated from Kreyol into English by Frantz Jerome for the Ezili Danto Witness Project.
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“Daddy, its goats or pigs that I have seen cut up before. How come they are cutting up people now?" (Horrified exclamation of a traumatized young Haitian boy watching the Grand Ravine Massacre on Sunday, August 21, 2005)
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Ezili Danto: ...What happened in Grand Ravine, on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 20 and 21. I understand that it was in the realm of a soccer game?HLLN Haitian Investigator: It is the Summer Camp for Peace program, organized by USAID, OIM and the Haitian Secretary of State for Youth and Sports, especially for the youth of various “hot- neighborhoods” around the city.

Ezili Danto: So, the activity name is “Summer Camp for Peace?”

HLLN Haitian Investigator: Summer Camp for Peace!
Ezili Danto: O.I.M.? You said OIM… Do you know what OIM stands for?HLLN Haitian Investigator: Eh… It escapes me right now. I will have to look it up. It is the same organization set up to offer political asylum in the context of the first coup against President Aristide in 1991. They were located in Lalue, in the Bank of Paris building. That's the same institution. It is an American company.

Ezili Danto: They are the ones who organized the soccer game?HLLN Haitian Investigator: They are the one who sponsored it. Many different location like Martissant, Lasaline, everywhere there is a Summer Camp for Peace, they are sponsors. OIM**, USAID, the Haitian Secretary of State for Youth and Sports. If one goes to any of the neighborhoods, one will notice the big banners on display: Summer Camp for Peace!

Ezili Danto: OK. Was there a soccer match during both days or was the game on Saturday? Was there a game on Saturday and then one on Sunday?HLLN Haitian Investigator: No, there was no game on Sunday. The "attaches" [machete wielding paramilitary] came back to the area along with the police [on Sunday].

Ezili Danto: So, they started hacking soccer game attendants on Saturday…

HLLN Haitian Investigator: They started Saturday during the game.

Ezili Danto: Give more details on “they came back on Sunday?” Where were the people gathered on Sunday? Were they in one location? How did they find the people?HLLN Haitian Investigator: When they came back, they attacked people inside their house and anybody they found in the neighborhood. Soon, you’ll hear a citizen I interviewed, an elder, he said that his home was on the verge of being burnt down and was saved thanks to the vehement “NO!” of a couple of MINUSTHA soldiers. They had already set five houses on fire. There were also a few people that they had already cut up.

This same elderly man tells you of his young son who said in shock:

“Daddy, its goats or pigs that I have seen cut up before. How come they are cutting up people now?
I have all this on tape. He provided a detailed account and I will play it for you soon.

Ezili Danto: Ah yes. I would like to see this videotape! When you said MINUSTHA intervened, you mean that MINUSTHA was present when the assassins were attacking the people?

HLLN Haitian Investigator: That Sunday, MINUSTHA was present. There are more interesting facts to be reported, for when MINUSTHA arrested some members of the machete wielding gang, they casually took out cell phones and called the police. The police intervened, took them away from the MINUSTHA soldiers, then freed them and it’s not a simple matter. I have an interview with a Solino resident who testifies to this fact.

Ezili Danto: They arrested these guys on Sunday…

HLLN Listener: On Sunday, when they arrested these assassins, was it in Solino?

HLLN Haitian Investigator: No. Yes, they arrested them in Corridor Bastia. When they [MINUSTHA] arrested them in Corridor Bastia, it was the same scenario: the police intervened; the police liberated them and subsequently gave them new machetes. The same thing happened in Solino. That proves that the police are aware of the events of Grand Ravine. One does not need an investigation!

Mrs. Coicou [Latortue’s police spokesperson] is taking the position that she saw 7 corpses in the morgue and that the police are still investigating [the Solino massacre from the first two weeks of August where this hacking with police-distributed machetes started]. Well, the death toll is much higher than that [7 people]. On Sunday, when I went to the emergency section of the General Hospital, I saw those with machete gashes in the back, others with gashes in the arm, in the legs, all over. And there were those who were succumbing to their wounds. They were dying, on Sunday afternoon!

Ezili Danto: OK. Corridor Bastia, is it part of Solino…

HLLN Haitian Investigator: Corridor Bastia, it’s the extension of Rue Tiremasse. It extends all the way to Nazon. It’s one of the two longest streets in Port-au-Prince. Corridor Bastia is one, the other one is Rue Monseigneur Guilloux.

Ezili Danto: OK. So there are two instances where MINUSTHA soldiers arrested the men armed with machetes and in both cases, according to the information you got, the Haitian police released them and gave them new machetes!

HLLN Haitian Investigator: Yes, the police took them away from MINUSTHA, released them and gave them new machetes!

Ezili Danto: All together between Saturday and Sunday, August 20 and 21, how many do you think died? I have…

HLLN Haitian Investigator: According to an organizer in the area, he was one of the conference’s organizers, he said that they can account for 30 corpses, for they found, over these two days, 30 mutilated bodies. Some in the media are not relating this information.

(End of excerpt. More to come)

Note:– Please help us do this work. More Kreyol translators are critically needed to tell our people’s stories. Please consider volunteering by sending an e-mail to: Erzilidanto@yahoo.com)


**Note 2: IOM stands for International Organization for Migration and reportedly it manages the Haiti Transition Initiative, the USAID-program that sponsored the "Summer Camp For Peace" soccer game.

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Urgent: Help Prevent Further Massacres in Haiti! - Letter to UN officials and Canadian Members of Parliament | from Jean St. Vil, August 28, 2005
*
Dear U.N. officials and Canadian Members of Parliament,

News broke two days ago that a key organizer of the kidnapping wave that caused so many deaths and so much suffering to Haitians in the past year have been finally caught.

http://www.radiokiskeya.com/article.php3?id_article=1169

The arrest of Stanley Handal, a multi-millionaire suspected to be a ring
leader of the kidnapping enterprise, seems to corroborate the many reports
which suggested all along that the materminds of the kidnapping phenomenon
are rich and powerful individuals from Haiti’s ruling elite who have powerful
connections in the banking industry and within a faction of the post-coup
government, and who, as identified by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, are
the primary owners of firearm stocks in the country.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=55&ItemID=8165

Nonetheless Lavalas political activists or suspected sympathisers of the
deposed constitutional president continue to be scapegoated and marked for
elimination on the pretext that the regime and its foreign accomplices are «
fighting bandits ».

Most disturbing of all, in the last few weeks, news broke that the Police had
distributed machetes and supervised numerous public lynchings in the poor
neighborhoods.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/050825/3/3uh9l.html

We are receiving frequent on the ground reports of major UN/MINUSTAH
operations in the poor neighborhoods like Cite Soleil. The last such
operation, which was well-documented, resulted in the deaths of several dozen
civilians. Independent journalist and fimmaker Kevin Pina wrote an emergency
appeal about the coming massacre on August 18th, 2005, where he writes:

"If the UN goes ahead with its plan for a second major military incursion
against Cite Soleil, it is guaranteed the number of casualties will far
exceed July 6th and further tarnish and expose the real role of the UN in
guaranteeing the coup of Feb. 28, 2004."

http://haitiaction.net/News/KP/8_18_5/8_18_5.html

As early as June of this year, the Police spokeperson who refused to
divulgate the identity of a detainee suspected of involvement in kidnappings,
shamelessly intervening to protect his « good family name », was lamenting to
reporters how "there are people of good family and high social level that
unfortunately are involved in kidnappings,"

So, why are the poor still the target of such senseless repression?
We ask that you intervene publicly - in your official capacity - by any means
possible - to stop the repressive operations before it's too late; stop the
large scale military attacks on the poor. Please intervene as soon as
possible to stop the loss of innocent life; it is still possible to do so.

Sincerely,
Jean Saint-Vil,
Gatineau, Québec, Canada
Canada Haiti Action Network
www.canadahaitiaction.ca
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Arrestation d’un important homme d’affaires en relation avec les cas de kidnapping enregistrés à Port-au-Prince
Posté le mardi 23 août 2005
Par Radio Kiskeya

http://www.radiokiskeya.com/article.php3?id_article=1169

La police a procédé mardi à Port-au-Prince à l’arrestation d’un important homme d’affaires haïtien d’origine arabe, M. Stanley Handal, en relation avec la série d’actes de kidnapping enregistrés à Port-au-Prince ces derniers mois.

M. Handal, qui est aussi un fournisseur de la police, a été appréhendé dans le cadre de l’enquête ouverte autour de la disparition d’un employé de la UNIBANK, Nathael Aléus Génélus (31 ans) depuis le 2 août dernier après une interpellation dont il a été l’objet au sous commissariat de police de Delmas 62. L’inspecteur de police responsable de ce sous-commissariat, James Bourdeau, est encore activement recherché pour implication présumée dans l’enlèvement de M. Génélus.

Selon des sources policières, l’enquête autour de la disparition de l’employé de la UNIBANK aurait permis à la police de découvrir l’existence d’un vaste et puissant réseau de malfaiteurs impliqués dans le blanchiment d’argent de la drogue, les actes de kidnapping et d’autres activités louches.

L’homme d’affaires Stanley Handal et l’employé de banque Génélus, feraient partie du réseau. Il aurait fallu le déploiement d’importantes forces de police pour l’appréhender, indiquent les sources contactées par Kiskeya. La police civile de l’ONU (CIVPOL) a également participé à l’opération.

Aucune précision n’a pu être obtenue sur le sort de l’employé de banque, de même que sur celui de l’inspecteur de police James Bourdeau.

Après une période d’accalmie, une certaine recrudescence des actes de kidnapping est constatée à Port-au-Prince avec une tendance à l’extension du phénomène à d’autres quartiers jusqu’ici épargnés.

Un canadien, un haïtien résidant aux Etats-Unis et un haut cadre de la Direction Générale des Impôts ont été tués en moins d’une semaine à Port-au-Prince.

[jmd/RK] [Exclusivité Kiskeya]
Radio Kiskeya

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(Unofficial English Translation of Radio Kiskeya report above):

An Important Businessman Was Arrested in Relation to Kidnapping Cases recorded in Port-au-Prince
Tuesday August 23, 2005
Radio Kiskeya

Tuesday in Port-au-Prince, the police arrested an important Arab/Haitian businessman, Stanley Handal, based on his involvement in kidnapping cases that have plagued Port-au-Prince these last few months.

Mr. Handal, who also does business with the police, was apprehended as part of the investigation in the disappearance of a (31 years old) UNIBANK employee, Nathael Aleus Genelus, which occurred this past August 2, subsequent to his questioning at the police precinct of Delma 62. The police inspector responsible for this precinct, James Bourdeau, is being actively sought for his role in Mr. Genelus’ assumed kidnapping.

According to police sources, the investigation in the disappearance of UNIBANK’s employee allowed police to uncover the existence of a huge and powerful network of crooks, linked with drug money laundering, kidnappings, and many other shady activities.
The Businessman Stanley Handal and the bank employee Genelus were apparently part of this network. Sources contacted by radio Kiskeya pointed out that it took the deployment of an important police contingent in order to apprehend Stanley Handal. The UN civilian police (CIVPOL) were part of the operations as well.

No further details were given about the bank employee’s fate, as well as police inspector James Bourdeau’s.

Subsequent to a slowdown period, kidnapping cases are slowly returning, spreading to previously unaffected parts of Port-au-Prince.
A Canadian, a Haitian residing in the US as well as a high level cadre of the Taxation General Management were killed within a week.

Translated Radio Kiskeya Report

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La police décline toute responsabilité dans la mort d’environ 6 personnes à Martissant
Posté le mercredi 24 août 2005
Par Radio Kiskeya

http://www.radiokiskeya.com/article.php3?id_article=1177

La porte-parole de la Police Nationale d’Haïti (PNH), Mme Gessie Cameau Coicou, a établi à six le nombre de cadavres enregistrés à la morgue de l’Université d’Etat d’Haiti à Port-au-Prince suite aux violents incidents qui se sont produits le week-end écoulé à Martissant (banlieue sud de Port-au-Prince). Ces gens ont été tués par balle et à l’arme blanche.

L’inspectrice générale Gessie Cameau Coicou a démenti du même coup les allégations selon lesquelles la police, aidée de la population, aurait perpétré un véritable massacre dans ce quartier, dans le cadre d’une opération d’envergure lancée contre des groupes de bandits armés évoluant dans la zone.

« Il est clairement établi maintenant qu’un certain secteur cherche obstinément à semer le trouble et à ruiner tous les efforts de paix », fait savoir la porte-parole de la PNH qui invite la population à ne pas se laisser prendre au piège, en s’impliquant elle aussi dans la perpétration d’actes répréhensibles.

Mme Coicou lance enfin un appel à la population et aux parents des victimes pour qu’ils communiquent aux autorités toutes les informations dont ils disposent afin que toute la lumière soit faite sur ces incidents.

Les incidents auxquels fait référence la porte parole de la PNH se rapportent à la forte mobilisation populaire provoquée à Martissant par la réactivation de plusieurs groupes armés qui agissaient il y a peu pour le compte du gouvernement du président déchu Jean Bertrand Aristide.

Des citoyens, vraisemblablement proches de ces groupes, ont dénoncé sur les ondes de certains médias le fait par la police et des membres de la population d’avoir tué une trentaine de personnes après avoir incendié leurs maisons sous prétexte qu’ils étaient des bandits ou des proches de ces derniers. Les incidents ont éclaté après un match de football dont certains des spectateurs seraient des bandits connus, activement recherchés.

Le porte-parole de la police civile de l’ONU (CIVPOL) qui accompagnait l’inspectrice générale Gessie Cameau Coicou lors de la conférence hebdomadaire de la PNH, a de nouveau fustigé les actes de lynchage, particulièrement ceux perpétrés le week-end écoulé, sous prétexte de chasse à de présumés bandits. Il exhorte la population à mettre immédiatement un terme à de telles pratiques en remettant de préférence aux autorités les personnes qu’ils croient être des bandits. Jean François Vézina donne la garantie que les casques bleus et la CIVPOL continueront à seconder la police haïtienne dans l’oeuvre de rétablissement de la paix et de la sécurité. Cela se fait certes avec le concours de la population, mais dans le respect des lois et des droits de la personne, conclut-il.

Au cours de la conférence de presse, l’Agent I Wilton Thomas, membre du Bureau de Communication de la police, a fait état de l’assassinat mercredi dernier à Carrefour du policier Marcel Fortuné affecté au Service de la circulation des véhicules.

Concernant l’interpellation mardi de Stanley Handal, en relation avec les nombreux cas de kidnapping enregistrés ces dernières semaines à la capitale, Mme Coicou fait savoir que rien ne permet encore de conclure à la culpabilité de l’homme d’affaires. De nombreuses autres personnes ont été interpellées au même titre que M. Handal, dans le cadre de l’enquête relative à la disparition de l’employé de la UNIBANK Nathael Aléus Génélus.

Par ailleurs, la porte-parole de la PNH fait état d’une nouvelle mesure d’expulsion à l’encontre d’un aspirant policier de l’Académie de police. Il s’agit du nommé Guy Démy Dorestant impliqué dans un cas d’assassinat. D’autres avant lui avaient été exclus de la 17ème promotion de la Police Nationale d’Haïti actuellement en formation à l’Académie de police. [jmd/RK]
Radio Kiskeya


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U.N. to investigate Haiti slum lynchings
By Joseph Guyler Delva, Reuters, August 25, 2005
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - The U.N. mission in Haiti has launched an inquiry into the lynching of at least 20 people by vigilantes armed with machetes and by Haitian police last weekend, U.N. officials said on Wednesday.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/050825/3/3uh9l.html

During a soccer game on Saturday funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the interim Haitian government, hooded police and individuals with machetes attacked people they called "bandits," according to residents of the Port-au-Prince slum of Martissant.

"Everybody gathered to watch the game, suddenly the police surrounded the area and ordered everyone to lie on the ground," said Roland Roy, a community leader in Martissant.

"Then a group of people, armed with machetes, who came with the police, started identifying people one by one, saying here is a bandit, here is another one. They cut them with machetes and killed a number of them," said Roy. He said up to 30 people died, some shot by police.

Another community leader, Lionel Mondestin, said at least 20 people were killed on Saturday during the soccer game and on Sunday during another police operation. Many other residents gave similar accounts.

French Lt. Col. Philippe Espie, the head of international police who are part of a U.N. force keeping the peace since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted by an armed revolt last year, said the incident was being investigated and would not be tolerated.
"In the first place, we can only condemn what happened. It is intolerable to accept that sort of situation where people take justice into their own hands," Espie told Reuters.

The soccer game was part of a "tournament for peace," funded by USAID and the interim Haitian government that took over after Aristide fled into exile at the end of February 2004, organisers said. Once viewed as a champion of Haiti's fledgling democracy, Aristide faced increasing accusations of corruption and despotism.

POLICE ABUSES ALLEGED
The head of a U.N. human rights unit, Thierry Faggart, said his office was also investigating the incident and several other cases of human rights abuses blamed on police.

Haiti's new police chief, Mario Andresol, said he was ready to punish any officers, if their involvement were confirmed.
"We are here to protect the population, not to repress them or kill them. Such behaviour won't be tolerated while I'm there," Andresol told Reuters.

Both the Haitian police and U.N. forces have previously announced investigations into alleged abuses by police officers. To date, no reports have been published.

Dozens of people have been hacked to death in vigilante justice that often accompanies police operations in slums regarded as strongholds of support for Aristide.

The authorities blame Aristide supporters for violence that has killed at least 700 people in the past year while Aristide's Lavalas Family party says it is being persecuted. Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, is scheduled to hold elections in November.

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