Haitian police academy instructor resigns

Sunday, December 21, 2003

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): An instructor at Haiti's National Police academy resigned late Friday, charging that criminals were being recruited into the force by supporters of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Inspector Ernst Paul, an academy instructor since 1996 who was in charge of teaching tactics and human rights, addressed his resignation letter to national police chief Jocelyne Pierre.

"I resign but I will return when the police force respects its duty to protect and to be useful," he told local reporters.

Paul added that the National Police "was infested hired killers and gangsters" whose presence was imposed by powerful Aristide supporters.

It is the first public resignation by a top police officer since violence heated up again in Haiti starting on December 5.

Aristide was re-elected president in 2001 for a five-year term. But violence has intensified as opponents have accused him of misrule and corruption and demanded he step down.

On December 12 thousands of Haitians burned tires and erected barricades in rallies for and against Aristide, in which at least four people died in two days of unrest.

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