Two killed in Haiti protest

Wednesday, December 24, 2003

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): Two people were killed and six others were wounded during anti-government demonstrations in the Haitian capital calling for President Jean Bertrand Aristide to step down, police said Tuesday.

Anti-riot police fired shots late Monday to halt a jeep carrying government supporters who had been shooting at several thousand demonstrators taking part in the latest rally against the leader of the poorest nation in the Americas. The victim, Stanley Jacques Loiseau, was hit in the head in the crossfire.

Police did not identify the second person killed. Witnesses and police had earlier noted the death of just one man.

Prime Minister Yvon Neptune confirmed the deaths of two people in the protests but denied that authorities shot at demonstrators, countering opposition claims that they had.

The government was also at the centre of a controversy over a student who has said he was injected with a mystery liquid after being arrested at an anti-government demonstration last week. The student has been sent to the United States for examination.

Several opposition leaders took part in the march through Port-au-Prince Monday. Marie Carmel Austin, who resigned as education minister after the police put down a student demonstration on December 5, also joined the protest.

At the same time, several thousand people from poor districts of the city staged a rally in front of the presidential palace in support of Aristide.

Calls for his resignation have mounted in recent months amid accusations of corruption and misrule. More than 30 people have been killed in clashes linked to political unrest since September.

Meanwhile, a 21-year-old opposition student, Josue Alcena, who was detained by police on December 15 and said he was given a mystery injection, has been sent by human rights groups for treatment in the United States.

The National Coalition for Haitian Refugees (NCHR), a human rights group, and some doctors arranged for Alcena to be sent to the United States on Saturday, said NCHR official Yolene Gilles.

Gilles added that tests would be carried out to determine what the liquid was.

The government and police have strongly denied any mistreatment of the student and blamed a "disinformation campaign."

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