Note: The following article is based on a recent investigation carried out in Haiti by a member of the Haiti Action Committee and other U.S. human rights observers in Haiti.

This man – with a severe head wound – says he was hit by one of the hammers the U.N. soldiers were using to smash the market stalls outside the main cathedral.

In the immediate aftermath of the killing, at approximately 3:30 p.m. that same afternoon, MINUSTAH troops launched a massive assault on Haitian vendors at the open-air sidewalk market near the main cathedral in downtown Port au Prince – the area where the soldier had been killed.

U.N. soldiers smashed and burned down the Haitian street vendors’ market area.

According to one vendor, MINUSTAH soldiers used flame throwers to torch the stalls. He said the soldiers also grabbed hammers and began destroying property. This vendor was hit in the head by MINUSTAH soldiers with these hammers. On April 17, he showed a member of the Haiti Action Committee and other U.S. human rights observers a massive wound to his head and a blood soaked shirt. He lost consciousness and was taken by a friend to the St. Joseph Hospital nearby.

Another vendor reported that he was shot in the leg by MINUSTAH soldiers and showed his wound to the delegation. He also showed his medical records from the hospital where he had gone to be treated.

These bullet holes in the market wall came from U.N. soldiers in their April 11 assault on street vendors near the main cathedral in Port au Prince.

The National Association for the Defense of Haitian Vendors and Consumers has filed a formal complaint asking the Haitian president to take action and secure compensation for the 263 Haitian vendors whose property was reportedly destroyed by the MINUSTAH troops. Members of the association provided our human rights delegation with a full listing of the names of these vendors, what property they lost, and for how much it was valued. For many of these vendors, who live in dire poverty, the loss in property is truly devastating. Additionally, the association provided us with a list naming seven people who were injured and two killed – Amonese Pierre and Anna Ainsi Connu – by the MINUSTAH troops.

This kind of massive assault by MINUSTAH troops on the civilian population has happened many times before, such as the notorious attack on the people of Cite Soleil on July 6, 2005. It is time for the international human rights community to stand up in defense of the street vendors and the Haitian people.

Demand that UN soldiers be held accountable

MINUSTAH, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, was brought into Haiti by the U.N. in June 2004, several months after the U.S., Canada and France forced then-President Jean Bertrand Aristide out of office and into exile. Some 9,000 military and police officers from different countries are charged with keeping the peace, but they have been accused by many of targeting Aristide supporters. More than 100 U.N. soldiers have been deported from Haiti, having been accused of sexual abuse. The June 2007-July 2008 budget for the U.N. operation in Haiti is $535 million.

Demand full compensation for the street vendors

Contact U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH): Phone 011-509-244- 0650/0660, fax 011-509-244- 9366/67 or fax Office of Secretary General (New York) at (212) 963-4879; and President Rene Preval: Fax (206) 350-7986 (a U.S. number) or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , and your letter will be hand-delivered to the Presidential Palace in Haiti; Haitian Ministry of Justice: Phone 011-509-245- 0474.

Seth Donnelly is a Bay Area high school teacher and a member of the Haiti Action Committee. Contact the Haiti Action Committee at www.haitisolidarity.net. For more news and information, visit www.haitiaction.net

Tag it:

?