Haiti
7-19-1994
^Gunmen Raid Opposition Offices in Haiti; U.S. Says No to Diplomacy
^By ANDREW SELSKY
^Associated Press Writer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ Police raided an opposition coalition's offices and roughed up activists Tuesday while the United States belittled diplomatic efforts by military rulers to end their international isolation.
Firing into the air, police and gunmen in civilian clothes raided the downtown headquarters of K-16, roughed up several people and arrested at least one person, said Sen. Turneb Delpe, a coalition spokesman. The man later was released.
The coalition, formed in June, supports exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and has called for the resignation of army chief Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras. One of its leaders is Port-au-Prince Mayor Evans Paul, who has kept a low profile since the army toppled Aristide's government in September 1991.
The group's name, K-16, is a Creole reference to Dec. 16, 1990, the date Aristide won Haiti's first free elections with a landslide.
Asked about the raid, police officials said they were unaware of it and sent three officers to investigate. They arrived more than an hour later, when the opposition headquarters building was deserted.
Delpe called the raid "a serious violation of the right of assembly." He wasn't present during the raid, but witnesses confirmed his account.
Diplomats fear human rights abuses will increase after Haiti last week expelled rights observers from the United Nations and the Organization of American States.
Police also used belts and switches to control a crowd of about 1,000 people who stormed a Roman Catholic food distribution center that was distributing rice.
Already the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, Haiti is suffering acute shortages of basic foods in part because of an international embargo designed to pressure the military to step down and allow Aristide to return.
The United States has threatened an invasion to restore democracy. U.S. warships carrying more than 2,000 Marines are standing by off Haiti.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Stanley Schrager said Haiti's military was "trying to buy time" by raising the possibility of a negotiated solution to the crisis.
"The days of negotiation are over," Schrager said.
He said army chief, Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, showed he wasn't interested in a diplomatic solution when he reneged last year on a U.N.-brokered agreement in which he promised to resign in exchange for an amnesty for coup plotters.
Charles David, the de facto government's foreign minister, said Monday that Haiti was opening "several channels" abroad to seek a diplomatic solution.
"We are open to every dialogue, the best being through the United Nations," David said. He didn't elaborate.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., warned Cedras and other military leaders in an "extremely frank" meeting that Congress supports President Clinton's strategy to restore democracy in Haiti, Schrager said.
Richardson met Cedras on Monday with the White House's blessing but did not deliver an ultimatum, Schrager said.
"The ultimatum is the 14 U.S. naval ships outside Port-au-Prince and 3,000 Marines," he said. Richardson left Haiti early Tuesday.
Also Tuesday, 235 Haitian boat people were returned to Haiti aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Diligence. The Coast Guard said they chose not to take safe haven at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Coast Guard also picked up 37 refugees in two boats off the Haitian coast Tuesday, bringing to 15,667 the number of boat people interdicted in July, said Petty Officer Jeff Hall in Miami.
Refugees fleeing poverty and repression are being housed at the base or other Caribbean sites but are not allowed to come to the United States. Clinton hopes that strategy will deter thousands from taking to the seas.
^Gunmen Raid Opposition Offices in Haiti; U.S. Says No to Diplomacy
^By ANDREW SELSKY
^Associated Press Writer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ Police raided an opposition coalition's offices and roughed up activists Tuesday while the United States belittled diplomatic efforts by military rulers to end their international isolation.
Firing into the air, police and gunmen in civilian clothes raided the downtown headquarters of K-16, roughed up several people and arrested at least one person, said Sen. Turneb Delpe, a coalition spokesman. The man later was released.
The coalition, formed in June, supports exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and has called for the resignation of army chief Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras. One of its leaders is Port-au-Prince Mayor Evans Paul, who has kept a low profile since the army toppled Aristide's government in September 1991.
The group's name, K-16, is a Creole reference to Dec. 16, 1990, the date Aristide won Haiti's first free elections with a landslide.
Asked about the raid, police officials said they were unaware of it and sent three officers to investigate. They arrived more than an hour later, when the opposition headquarters building was deserted.
Delpe called the raid "a serious violation of the right of assembly." He wasn't present during the raid, but witnesses confirmed his account.
Diplomats fear human rights abuses will increase after Haiti last week expelled rights observers from the United Nations and the Organization of American States.
Police also used belts and switches to control a crowd of about 1,000 people who stormed a Roman Catholic food distribution center that was distributing rice.
Already the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, Haiti is suffering acute shortages of basic foods in part because of an international embargo designed to pressure the military to step down and allow Aristide to return.
The United States has threatened an invasion to restore democracy. U.S. warships carrying more than 2,000 Marines are standing by off Haiti.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Stanley Schrager said Haiti's military was "trying to buy time" by raising the possibility of a negotiated solution to the crisis.
"The days of negotiation are over," Schrager said.
He said army chief, Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, showed he wasn't interested in a diplomatic solution when he reneged last year on a U.N.-brokered agreement in which he promised to resign in exchange for an amnesty for coup plotters.
Charles David, the de facto government's foreign minister, said Monday that Haiti was opening "several channels" abroad to seek a diplomatic solution.
"We are open to every dialogue, the best being through the United Nations," David said. He didn't elaborate.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., warned Cedras and other military leaders in an "extremely frank" meeting that Congress supports President Clinton's strategy to restore democracy in Haiti, Schrager said.
Richardson met Cedras on Monday with the White House's blessing but did not deliver an ultimatum, Schrager said.
"The ultimatum is the 14 U.S. naval ships outside Port-au-Prince and 3,000 Marines," he said. Richardson left Haiti early Tuesday.
Also Tuesday, 235 Haitian boat people were returned to Haiti aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Diligence. The Coast Guard said they chose not to take safe haven at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Coast Guard also picked up 37 refugees in two boats off the Haitian coast Tuesday, bringing to 15,667 the number of boat people interdicted in July, said Petty Officer Jeff Hall in Miami.
Refugees fleeing poverty and repression are being housed at the base or other Caribbean sites but are not allowed to come to the United States. Clinton hopes that strategy will deter thousands from taking to the seas.
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