Confusion over the figures provided by MINUSTAH and the PNH regarding the carnage at the National Penitentiary:  Gessy Cameau Coicou asserts that the UN has been misled
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Port-au-Prince, April 13, 2005, (AHP)- Haitian National Police spokesperson Gessy Cameau Coicou indicated Wednesday that if the results of the ongoing investigation into the December 1st 2004 massacre at the National Penitentiary have not yet been published, it is because the numbers provided by the PNH are substantially less than those of MINUSTAH. 

According to various accounts including statements from survivors of the massacre perpetrated by officers of the PNH,  dozens of prisoners were killed on December 1.

According to Ms. Coicou, an employee of the ambulance service at the General Hospital is at the root of the differences between the MINUSTAH and PNH casualty figures. She claimed that he misled MINUSTAH officials by telling them that he had transported many more corpses than was in fact the case.

The spokesperson tried to convince people that this employee was acting as he did because his objective was to obtain visas for himself and his family.

The day after the tragedy at the penitentiary, an NCHR official accused detainees of having wanted to destroy the National Penitentiary and attach police officers with their tooth brushes. 

Some detainees were in fact seeking improvements in their conditions of detention, while others were protesting against being transferred to the Central Plateau. 

The PNH spokesperson also promised that the results of the ongoing investigation into the escape on February 19, 2005 from the National Penitentiary  will soon be made public. 

Since the prison break, cases of abduction and vehicle theft have increased significantly in Haiti, she said. 

She asked the public to be vigilant and to alert the police about any suspicious unknown individual's presence in the neighborhoods. 

AHP April 13, 2005 11:50 AM