Haiti-Bizarre Accusation
7-18-1994
Dumped Bodies a Plot to Create Invasion Pretext, Haiti Says
^By ANDREW SELSKY
^Associated Press Writer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ Haiti's foreign minister on Monday accused groups linked to expelled human rights monitors of dumping bodies around the capital to create a pretext for a U.S. invasion.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Stanley Schrager dismissed the charge.
"There is no need to exaggerate the human rights situation that exists in the country as a result of repressive actions by the military and its allies," Schrager said.
Bullet-riddled bodies appear almost daily on the streets of Port-au-Prince, believed to be victims of security forces because of the execution-style nature of the killings. The victims are usually shot in the head, and some have their faces hacked off.
Foreign Minister Charles David said that many of the bodies were bought at morgues, shot and dumped on the street by people who want to provoke a U.S. military intervention.
On Monday, a garbage-picker found two heads, one with a blindfold on, in a sack dumped into an open sewer. Hours later, hundreds of onlookers gathered amid the stench to gape at the heads. Police were nowhere to be seen.
There are fears that human rights abuses will increase since Haiti expelled rights observers Wednesday from the United Nations and the Organization of American States.
David said that by dumping the bodies, "groups linked to the U.N.-OAS mission" were creating a false impression that repression was on the increase. He didn't identify the groups.
"This is serious because they are looking for an excuse to invade this country and occupy it," David said of the United States, which has dispatched warships with more than 2,000 Marines to waters near Haiti.
Asked if he was accusing the U.S. Embassy of involvement, David declined comment, saying he did not want to trigger an international incident.
The United States has imposed economic sanctions and threatened to invade to oust Haiti's military leaders and install elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was ousted in a 1991 coup.
Dumped Bodies a Plot to Create Invasion Pretext, Haiti Says
^By ANDREW SELSKY
^Associated Press Writer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ Haiti's foreign minister on Monday accused groups linked to expelled human rights monitors of dumping bodies around the capital to create a pretext for a U.S. invasion.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Stanley Schrager dismissed the charge.
"There is no need to exaggerate the human rights situation that exists in the country as a result of repressive actions by the military and its allies," Schrager said.
Bullet-riddled bodies appear almost daily on the streets of Port-au-Prince, believed to be victims of security forces because of the execution-style nature of the killings. The victims are usually shot in the head, and some have their faces hacked off.
Foreign Minister Charles David said that many of the bodies were bought at morgues, shot and dumped on the street by people who want to provoke a U.S. military intervention.
On Monday, a garbage-picker found two heads, one with a blindfold on, in a sack dumped into an open sewer. Hours later, hundreds of onlookers gathered amid the stench to gape at the heads. Police were nowhere to be seen.
There are fears that human rights abuses will increase since Haiti expelled rights observers Wednesday from the United Nations and the Organization of American States.
David said that by dumping the bodies, "groups linked to the U.N.-OAS mission" were creating a false impression that repression was on the increase. He didn't identify the groups.
"This is serious because they are looking for an excuse to invade this country and occupy it," David said of the United States, which has dispatched warships with more than 2,000 Marines to waters near Haiti.
Asked if he was accusing the U.S. Embassy of involvement, David declined comment, saying he did not want to trigger an international incident.
The United States has imposed economic sanctions and threatened to invade to oust Haiti's military leaders and install elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was ousted in a 1991 coup.
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