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She also said, in a radio interview broadcast here in the capital city, that troops only fired once into the air in attempt to disperse the crowd. They had called for backup from the local platoon of Sri Lankan U.N. troops."Rinvil Jean Weldy, 50, has a wound on his right shoulder as a painful reminder of the very real bullets aimed at the crowd. The incident begs the question: Who are the frightful monsters that people must be cautioned against -- the Haitian people who are dying by the hundreds of thousands or MINUSTAH's heavily armed military contingent? The Haitian people for one, know the answer to that question. They don't want MINUSTAH. They don't need MINUSTAH. They can't see what MINUSTAH has done for Haiti since they've been there. Even during this earthquake crisis, the UN was seen conducting military exercises, ignoring the acute suffering of the Haitian people. Why was the UN in a convoy with food supplies anyway? Who are they delivering it to--it can't possibly be for the Haitian people.
"Edmond Mulet, as the organization's Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General and interim head of MINUSTAH. Mulet clarified on January 22 that MINUSTAH will concentrate on assisting the Haitian Nation Police in providing security within the country after the earthquake, while United States and Canadian military forces will distribute humanitarian aid and provide security for aid distribution."Since MINUSTAH's "peacekeepers" claim to be securing the peace in Haiti, it's natural to wonder what casualties they have incurred as a result of their clashes with these violence prone Haitians- - the bandits, gangs, Chimeres and desperate criminals. It's been four long years since MINUSTAH has occupied Haiti. The fearsome native gangs must have taken a toll on the UN forces? After all, they are reportedly armed and dangerous. Nope. Not so much. There is a staggering imbalance when one looks at the numbers. The Lancet documented in 2006 that the conservative estimates of the carnage in Haiti since 2004, following the removal of the democratically elected government were: 8,000 dead and 35,000 raped. On the UN side, the documented deaths are 2: one suspicious "suicide" of a Brazilian UN Commander (suspicious because he had argued with members the repugnant and immoral oligarchy just before his death) and one Philippino soldier. This mission has been a breeze for the men in blue helmets. It's as if the threat of violence has been extremely exaggerated.
Wikipedia
The most casualties sustained by the UN forces in Haiti are the 100 reportedly killed when the UN building in Port-au-Prince collapsed during the earthquake.
The actions of the UN Destabilizing mission in Haiti as described by HLLN in Nov. 2005 were as criminals preying on members of Fanmi Lavalas.
"HLLN comment on the continuing occupation of Haiti:In the aftermath of the catastrophic 7.0 earthquake of Jan. 12, so-called "isolated" incidents of violence by the Haitian population are being pointed to by the media and the US Pentagon as a pretext for keeping Haiti under a brutal military lock-down. So with the blessing of these two American institutions, these "criminals," who are masquerading as a "peacekeeping" force and who have had zero accountability for all the crimes they have committed in Haiti, have the license to go on operating as they have in the past -- as a brute force.
In what should be a community police function, military soldiers from the multinational UN contingent [...] are executing, not arresting, "suspected criminals" in Haiti with no judicial oversight and against the Geneva Convention and other well established rules for military engagement and clearly beyond "peacekeeping" functions which normally means MEDIATION between two political different armed groups. But because Haiti is weak, poor and Black, profiling of Lavalas supporters is the standard to determine whether a Haitian male is "a gang member" standards of law seem suspended for this nation by the international community (US, Canada, France) and the UN."
Anti-UN graffiti Fort Liberté, Haiti (2009).
It is evident that MINUSTAH is the culprit for much of the violence and death in Haiti since its brutal occupation began in June 2004. The people feel no security from the presence of MINUSTAH's armed forces. See Mediahacker's piece: "Mistrusting of Their Government and UN, Haitians Place Their Hopes In US Troops, Aristide."
However, the tiny one percent of the Haitian population which monopolizes Haiti's wealth, do feel very secure; as do the NGOs, hypocritically pious churches, the multi-national business interests, foreign government agencies, sweatshop owners, charities... they by and large have felt very comfortable with the hunting down, killing and criminalizing of Fanmi Lavalas members. A democracy really does not work very well for them. It would impinge on their turf and they might have to answer to the people for their actions in Haiti. Why, they might even be expected to pay taxes!
In the interview quoted at the beginning of this piece, President Aristide talked about the "hoodlums" who were the instrument of fear and panic used to create the impression that he had lost control of his government. The same scenario is unfolding in Haiti now. The media covering the events in Haiti are constantly anticipating and predicting violence. It's as if they act as an arm of the US Pentagon in times when the Empire is ready to make interventions in hapless countries like Haiti. Haiti is ripe for the picking because it has been crippled by the US' economic, social and foreign policies -- not a "natural" disaster.
"It was never really about me, it's got nothing to do with me as an individual. They detest and despise the people. They refuse absolutely to acknowledge that everyone is equal. So when they behave in this way, part of the reason is to reassure themselves that they are different. It's essential that they see themselves as better than others. I'm convinced it's bound up with the legacy of slavery, with an inherited contempt for the common people, for the petits nègres. It's the psychology of apartheid: it's better to get down on your knees with whites than to stand shoulder to shoulder with blacks."President Aristide understands the dynamics of the forces aligned against Haiti. He is the only one who can finally unify the people. President Aristide must be allowed to return to Haiti. The international community has no right to keep a former head of state landless and exiled. Moreover, President Aristide is needed to help in the reconstruction and rebuilding of Haiti and in the establishment and maintenance of Haiti's institutions. He only needs to have his Haitian passport restored. President Preval, are you listening? Now that your handlers are no longer heaping praise on you for the improvements you have made, please stop kowtowing to them. President Aristide must return home to his country in Haiti's time of need.
An Interview with Jean-Bertrand Aristide," July 20, 2006
"The South African government has welcomed us here as guests, not as exiles; by helping us so generously they have made their contribution to peace and stability in Haiti. And once the conditions are right we'll go back. As soon as René Préval judges that the time is right then I'll go back."Vive retou Aristid.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide/Pretoria, South Africa 2006
UPDATE 7:00pm 02.03.10:
In early 2005, MINUSTAH force commander Lieutenant-General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira testified at a congressional commission in Brazil that "we are under extreme pressure from the international community to use violence," citing Canada, France, and the United States. Later in the year, he resigned, and on 1 September 2005, was replaced by General Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar as force commander of MINUSTAH. On 7 January 2006, Bacellar was found dead in his hotel room. His interim replacement, Chilean General Eduardo Aldunate Hermann.
In January 2006, two Jordanian peacekeepers were killed in Cité Soleil.
Source: Wiki.
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