Preliminary report by Paul Reineke, human rights
observer with AUMOHD (Association des Universitaires Motivés Pour une Haïti de Droits)
On Wednesday, October 26th, at about 9pm, residents in
the community of Gran Ravin/ Martissant say that members
of an armed outside group entered the community of Gran
Ravin and opened fire in the central market place. The
group entered the area after the contingent of Sri
Lankan MINUSTAH troops (which has a regular patrol in
the area) had left for the night. Another attack
happened the same night at a family home in the
community. There are initial reports of 4 injured or
killed.
Yesterday, we interviewed two of the victims. A
woman, 24, who was selling at the market, was injured
by a gunshot in the stomach. A boy, 12, was shot
through the arm in the market place. There are
reports that in a different part of the community on
the same night, a woman was shot and killed and her
child was shot when two or more men with guns
attempted to enter her house and shot them through the
door. The woman's husband, who escaped through a
window, reported this on the radio Thursday night. We
also received a report that a man was shot and killed
on Thursday in Martissant 19, though this is
unconfirmed. It is not yet known whether these were
attacks by members of the same group who opened fire
in the market place.
AUMOHD has been conducting regular visits to the area
since August. We learned last week from members of
the community that men involved in the "Soccer Stadium Massacre"
of August 20-21 ("Lame Ti Manchet") had begun to enter the
area again, some fearing that they were looking for
those witnesses and victims of the initial massacre
who have been pursuing justice in the courts and
continuing to speak publicly about the massacre. It is not known
whether this latest attack was perpetrated by members of this group. This
latest attack doesn't appear to have been targeted at
anyone in particular, but rather at the community in
general, which, according to residents, is the area
where the “Lame Ti Manchet”used to terrorize and
extort people before the community got together en
masse to force them out of the area. Some residents
believe that they are trying to intimidate (or worse)
those who survived or speak out against the massacre.
Some believe they are trying to (violently)
re-establish themselves in the area.
Above all, the residents we spoke with are frightened
and vulnerable to further attack. All whom I've
spoken with have said that, for the purpose of
security, they want the MINUSTAH troops to have a
24hour presence in the community while this armed
group is lurking, waiting for MINUSTAH to go back to
their base. The same Sri Lankan contingent has been
in the area since August, and many people seem to
think that they are an effective deterrent to armed
incursion and further attacks. Unlike many MINUSTAH
patrols in Port-au-Prince where the soldiers never
leave their armored vehicles. These troops are often
walking through the community, interacting with people
and, hopefully, creating relationships that will
compel them to protect them. They have no one else to
turn to for protection, and they have made it clear
that this is what they want.
Please contact the following UN officials to urge them
to comply with community members' request for:
1. A 24hour patrol/presence in the area of Gran
Ravin/Martissant starting immediately.
2. Kreyol or French speakers to accompany and
translate for the Sri Lankan patrols (the regular
patrols have virtually no local language ability, and
are thus unable to respond to community members
communications generally and in the case of an
emergency)
3. Regular communication and cooperation with
community members/leaders and the organizations
(AUMOHD and IJDH) who are working with them and
monitoring the situation.
1. Thierry Fagart <mailto:fagart@un.org>fagart@un.org Chief, Human
Rights
011-509-403-4012
2. John Lawrence UNPOL Human Rights Team member
<mailto:tcb4usa@yahoo.com>tcb4usa@yahoo.com 011-509- 510-3183 ext 6479, ext
6076
3. Graham Muir <mailto:muir@un.org>muir@un.org UNPOL chief
011-509-244-0366
4. Juan Valdes <mailto:valdes@un.org>valdes@un.org MINUSTAH mission
chief 011-509-244-9650 or 9660
fax 011-509 244 3512.
5. MINUSTAH Office of Communications and Public
Relations 011-509-510-2563 ext 6027 or
011-510-3183/84/85 ext 6037, 6034, 6035
6. Dana Banks <mailto:banksD@state.gov>banksD@state.gov Human Rights
officer at the U.S. Embassy
Reports on the August 20-21 massacre can be found at:
<http://www.hurah.webhop.org>http://www.hurah.webhop.org
<http://ijdh.org/articles/article_recent_news_8-24-05.htm>http://ijdh.org/articles/article_recent_news_8-24-05.htm
…
Association of University Students Motivated For a
Haiti With Rights -AUMOHD
181 Autoroute de Delmas 23 Enface de la Sogébank
Phone 509-249-3468/ 424-3334 / 249-3469
E-mail: <mailto:aumohddwamoun@yahoo.fr>aumohddwamoun@yahoo.fr
Port-Au-Prince