Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
caribbeannetnews.com

Human rights group warns of rise in violence in Haiti
06-21-2006

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): About 100 police officers have been shot dead in the past two years, a human rights organization said Tuesday, warning of a resurgence of violence in Haiti.

"We are noticing a resurgence in violence that is seen in a resumption of kidnappings in the capital Port-au-Prince," said Pierre Esperance, an official of the Defense of Human Rights National Network (DHRNN).

Late Monday, police chief Michael Lucius said at least 10 police officers had been gunned down, and two of them decapitated, in the past two weeks.

Lucius said 47 people had been kidnapped in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan region between late April and early June.

In recent days, he said, a US citizen of Haitian origin and a local employee of the European Union had been abducted by unknown assailants seeking ransom.

"Gangs composed of prison escapees and ex-convicts are in the process of regrouping, taking advantage of the new political situation in the country," he told AFP.

DHRNN's Esperance denounced what he called Haiti's dysfunctional justice system, which "encourages impunity and violence."

"It's no secret to anyone that the individuals who are caught red-handed kidnapping are later freed by judges who are paid off," he said.

Lucius noted that police officers were being targeted for assassination in a scare-tactic campaign.

Haiti has been plagued by violence and kidnappings, although the UN Stabilization Mission in the impoverished country (MINUSTAH) recently announced a drop in abductions.

Haiti's parliament was sworn in last month, more than two years after former president Jean Bertrand Aristide fled a popular uprising. MINUSTAH was deployed later to stabilize the Caribbean nation.