UN/Brazilian Troops stand-by as Haitian police provoke violence

October 1, 2004

UN/Brazilian Troops stand-by as Haitian police provoke violence

Haiti Information Project

Port au Prince, Haiti (HIP) - Last September 11th
more than 10,000 Lavalas militants took to the streets
to demand the return of President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide. The marchers were accompanied by a large
contingent of Haitian police who returned fire when
unidentified gunmen shot at the demonstration as it
passed the Office of National Insurance on Delmas 17.
The crowd immediately took up the chant, “Down with
the army. Long live the police!”

Another march was planned for September 30th marking
the thirteenth anniversary of the military coup that
overthrew Aristide in 1991. Although organizers for
the march received permits from the Haitian National
Police (PNH) it was clear from the beginning something
was amiss. The first noticeable difference was the
absence of police escorts that normally ride shotgun
at the head and tail of these types of sanctioned
demonstrations. These days the police are also aided
by roving UN vehicles that monitor the negotiated
route of the demonstration. They were conspicuously
absent as well.

By 10:00 am it was evident this wasn’t going to be
business as usual on the streets of Port au Prince.
More than 10,000 singing and chanting Lavalas
militants had already started pouring out of the slums
of Bel Air and were marching towards the national
palace. It was certain that if it the march continued
it would swell to even greater numbers by midday
despite reports that Lavalas militants from the Cite
Soleil slum had just been ambushed by police and
blocked from joining the march.

As the crowd approached the capital’s center known as
“Champ Mars”, three armored personnel vehicles and an
impressive line of Brazilian soldiers in full riot
gear blocked their access to the street in front of
the national palace. Despite the hurtling of a few
insults by the crowd, intended for the UN troops
Lavalas considers to be occupiers of Haiti, the march
passed without incident and continued towards the old
section of Port au Prince known as “La Ville.”

As the demonstration passed a street leading to the
National Penitentiary, heavily armed units of the
police SWAT team opened fire without warning on the
crowd. People panicked and scattered in all directions
knocking over goods of the local market place women in
an effort to seek cover from the gunfire. The shooting
continued sporadically for nearly twenty minutes as
angry marchers began to break out car windows as they
fled. On another side street a pickup truck with four
policemen could be seen shooting and then stopping to
collect the bodies of two of their victims. It was at
this moment everything changed.

Up to this point, in what had been a peaceful
demonstration, not a single weapon was brandished or
seen among the marchers. Suddenly, according to
witnesses, five men in masks appeared out of nowhere
with small firearms. They surrounded the police in the
small pickup truck and began to return fire. Despite
the fact they were heavily outgunned by automatic
weapons, they managed to catch the police in a deadly
crossfire. Witness’s say that two of the police were
killed almost immediately while a third died of his
wounds in the hospital and the US-backed government is
claiming a fourth was kidnapped by demonstrators.
Justice Minister Bernard Gousse claims that there were
no deaths reported among the marchers although several
witnesses dispute this. This is understandable given
that Lavalas marchers now collect bodies as they fall
because they do not trust the current government to
allow the families to give them a proper burial.

The official version being put out by the UN is that
“a gunfight broke out between Aristide supporters and
security guards at shops looted during the march” to
cover the fact that the Haitian National Police
provoked the incident by firing on unarmed
demonstrators. Observers note this may also be to
protect the Brazilian troops from embarrassment and
explaining why they stood by as the Haitian police
provoked the conflict. At the same time the UN is
claiming that the violence occurred before the
marchers reached the national palace, witnesses
including many in the press, say this is not the case.