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United Nations Taking "Robust Posture" in Haiti

25 July 2005

Peacekeepers seek to disrupt gangs while avoiding harm to civilians

By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- A United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti says it is taking a "robust posture" to disrupt and bring to justice armed gangs in the Caribbean nation while employing all possible measures to reduce the risk of civilian casualties.

In a July 25 statement, the U.N. mission in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, said its security operations followed two particularly "egregious crimes" in the country that "have shocked the Haitian people recently."  Those two crimes were the June 1 arson at the Tête Bœuf public market in Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince, which killed at least 11 people, and the July 10 kidnapping and subsequent killing of well-known Haitian journalist Jacques Roche.

James Foley, U.S. ambassador to Haiti, said in a July 3 speech that criminals in Haiti are "burning homes; they are burning stores; they are attacking transportation and communication links; they are kidnapping people of all social classes; they are assassinating, torturing and raping."

The attack on the Tête Bœuf market, said Foley, "was unimaginably savage; the attackers shot at people so that they would perish inside the market that they had torched."  Foley said 4,000 merchants and employees at that marketplace "lost their livelihoods."

"All of this has a name," added Foley.  "The use of violence against civilians for political purposes is the very definition of terrorism."

Foley said those committing the terrorist acts will not succeed because the people of Haiti do not support them and because the international community "will not give in to terrorist pressure."   Foley said MINUSTAH, backed by the United States and other members of the United Nations, "will create the climate necessary for holding free and independent elections in Haiti," scheduled for later this year.

U.N. MISSION INVESTIGATING JULY 6 OPERATION IN CITE SOLEIL

MINUSTAH said there have been allegations that its multinational force injured or killed civilians during a July 6 operation in an impoverished Port-au-Prince district called Cité Soleil.  That operation was aimed at apprehending a prominent gang leader, Emmanuel Wilmer.  The gang leader is believed to have been involved in murder, kidnapping, rape, arson, carjacking and extortion.

Wilmer is also suspected of involvement in the April 14 murder of a Filipino soldier serving with MINUSTAH.

MINUSTAH said its forces "take all possible measures to reduce the risk of civilian casualties in their operations," but added that “the nature of such missions in densely populated urban areas is such that there is always a risk of civilian casualties," Referring to the July 6 action against Wilmer, MINUSTAH said it “deeply regrets any injuries or loss of life during its security operation."

MINUSTAH said it had been informed by the Haitian National Police and other sources that gangs were seen killing civilians following the July 6 action against Wilmer.

"In any and all circumstances," said MINUSTAH, "the United Nations condemns the killing of civilians in the strongest terms.  MINUSTAH will investigate any serious allegation of the use of unnecessary force on its part, as well as of the killings allegedly perpetrated by gangs."

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)