December 26, 2006
Half-Hour for Haiti: Deadly MINUSTAH Raid in Cité Soleil
Update: We have some very sad news to report: on Friday, December 22, UN peacekeepers with MINUSTAH launched a heavily armed and deadly attack on Cité Soleil. Estimates of the dead vary, but range from at least nine to several dozen. The UN justified the attack as an anti-gang operation, but Cité Soleil residents told Reuters that MINUSTAH troops “came here to terrorize the population.” MINUSTAH showed its typical disregard for civilian casualties by announcing: “it's difficult for us to know for now how many bandits could have been killed or wounded." Pierre Alexis, Haitian Red Cross coordinator in Cité Soleil, denounced MINUSTAH for blocking Red Cross vehicles from entering Cité Soleil to treat the victims.
AUMOHD, a Haitian human rights group, reports that at least one school was destroyed, and that the local hospital was overwhelmed with victims.
The December 22 attack is reminiscent of the July 6, 2005 Massacre, when MINUSTAH troops killed dozens of civilians in an attack in Cité Soleil justified as an anti-gang measure. MINUSTAH initially denied any civilian casualties in that attack, but after hospitals reported large numbers of casualties, promised to launch an investigation. But MINUSTAH military police told the Center for the Study of Human Rights Law that they were not put on the case until January 2006, long after evidence had been destroyed, and MINUSTAH has never released the results of its investigation. The Independent reported that an internal UN investigation report concluded there were civilian casualties.
This Week’s Action: is from the Haiti Action Committee, in response to the December 22 massacre. Please contact the UN officials listed at the end of the alert, to denounce the operation:
Haiti Action Committee:
Urgent action alert
The UN's Christmas present to Haiti
A pre-dawn, heavy-caliber assault on the men, women and children of Cité Soleil
In the early morning of Friday, December 22nd, starting at approximately 3 a.m., 400 Brazilian-led UN occupation troops in armored vehicles carried out a massive assault on the people of Cité Soleil, laying siege yet again to the impoverished community. Eyewitness reports said a wave of indiscriminate gunfire from heavy weapons began about 5 a.m. and continued for much of the day Friday — an operation on the scale of the July 6, 2005 UN massacre in Cité Soleil. Detonations could be heard for miles, AHP reported.
Initial press accounts reported at least 40 casualties, all civilians. According to community testimony, UN forces flew overhead in helicopters and fired down into houses while other troops attacked from the ground with Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs). People were killed in their homes. UN troops from Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia took part in the all-day siege, backed by Haitian police. UN soldiers once again targeted the Bois Neuf and Drouillard districts of Cité Soleil — scene of the July 6th massacre.
While reports are still coming in, this is what we do know right now:
- A Reuters photographer "counted 9 bodies, and eyewitnesses counted 4 others dead. As many as 30 people were wounded, humanitarian workers said. All of the casualties are believed to be civilians." (Reuters)
- One Haitian human rights observer personally counted at least 17 dead bodies on the ground. This eyewitness also reported:
- A woman 6-months pregnant was shot in the stomach, killing the unborn child.
- A man and his 8-year-old boy were in their beds when a helicopter rained bullets into their house, wounding both.
- A man named Jacquelin Olivier was killed in his bed when bullets pierced the walls. He leaves a wife and 3-year old boy.
- "The foreigners came shooting for hours without interruption and killed 10 people," said Bois Neuf resident Johnny Claircidor, quoted by Reuters. "They came here to terrorize the population," Cité Soleil resident Rose Martel told Reuters, referring to UN troops and police. "I don't think they really killed any bandits, unless they consider all of us as bandits."
- Agence Haitienne de Presse (AHP) said Cité Soleil "residents report very serious property damage and there are concerns that a critical water shortage may now develop because water cisterns and pipes were punctured by the gunfire."
- "Local residents say the victims were ordinary citizens whose only crime was that they live in the targeted neighborhood." (AHP)
UN soldiers block Red Cross vehicles from coming to aid the wounded — According to Pierre Alexis, the Haitian Red Cross coordinator for Cité Soleil, the UN soldiers prevented the Haitian Red Cross from treating children injured during the assault. Alexis said that many children were suffering serious injuries, but that UN soldiers blocked Red Cross vehicles from entering Cité Soleil. AHP reported that "residents were outraged that [UN] soldiers refused to allow medical care...for people they had injured." Despite this, St. Catherine's Hospital in Cité Soleil reported receiving many wounded.
Why this latest assault on the people of Cité Soleil? — UN occupation authorities in Haiti claim it is part of their fight against "bandits" and "kidnappers," scapegoating the 300,000 residents of Cité Soleil. However, it is widely known throughout Port-au-Prince that kidnappers are coming from all sectors, including corrupt police officials and the wealthy. Does the UN lead military assaults on affluent neighborhoods where kidnappers are known to operate? Of course not.
A more plausible explanation comes from grassroots activists in Cité Soleil. They argue that this is "punishment" for their ongoing protests demanding an end to the UN occupation, restoration of full democracy, return of President Aristide, and the release of political prisoners. Additionally, the people of Cité Soleil have been vigorously protesting the December 3rd municipal elections, in which there were widespread allegations of fraud and many from the popular neighborhoods were prevented from voting.
Just recently, on December 16th, the people of Cité Soleil led a massive protest throughout Port-au-Prince marking the anniversary of Jean-Bertrand Aristide's first election as president in 1990. [They marched despite the UN shooting up the district the night before, in what was widely viewed as a UN attempt to intimidate the populace on the eve of the march.] In the week following the march, tensions continued to escalate, culminating in the December 22nd assault by UN forces under Brazilian command.
Enough is enough!
Join us in denouncing the ongoing UN terror attacks on the Haitian people!
Now is the time for people in the US and throughout the world to step up our solidarity efforts with the people of Haiti. Our protests, calls and letters after the UN massacre in Cité Soleil on July 6th, 2005 — and the many UN attacks since then — need to be updated, expanded, intensified. Demand an end to the UN's repeated, brutal assaults on this besieged community.
Email or fax the UN official below. Keep it brief.
- Denounce the massive, heavy-caliber assault on the citizens of Cité Soleil by UN occupation forces on Dec. 22, 2006.
- Demand reparations for the victims and their families.
- Demand prosecution of the UN officials, commanders and soldiers responsible for this latest UN atrocity in Haiti.
To: Edmond Mulet, UN Special Representative in Haiti — mulet@un.org fax 011-509-244-3512 cc
To: Thierry Fagart, UN Human Rights chief in Haiti — fagart@un.org fax 011-509-244-9366 cc
To: Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights — ngochr@ohchr.org fax 011-41-22-917-9011
For more information: 510 483 7481 or eMail haitiaction@yahoo.com
http://www.haitiaction.net
http://www.haitisolidarity.net
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For more information about the Half-Hour for Haiti Program, the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, or human rights in Haiti, see www.HaitiJustice.org. To receive Half-Hour for Haiti Action Alerts once per week, send an email to HalfHour4Haiti@ijdh.org.