PRO-ARISTIDE MARCHERS STAGE LARGE BUT PEACEFUL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001410

SIPDIS

WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT FOR DS/IP/WHA
DS/DSS/ITA
DSERCC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM HA
SUBJECT: PRO-ARISTIDE MARCHERS STAGE LARGE BUT PEACEFUL
RALLY



1. (U) Summary: Roughly 5,000 supporters of former President
Aristide marched without incident through the streets of
Port-au-Prince on May 18. The rally was organized by the
Cite Soleil and Bel Air cells of Fanmi Lavalas to celebrate
the Haitian 'Flag Day' holiday and to demand Aristide's
return to Haiti. MINUSTAH military troops lined the protest
route while Haitian police officers stayed mostly in the
background. The demonstration, which was observed by PolOff
and DAO, was the largest and most organized display since the
Lavalas Flag Day march of last year. End Summary.


2. (U) The three-hour march began in two separate locations
in Cite Soleil and Bel Air and attracted followers along the
way as marchers zig-zagged through La Saline, lower Delmas
and Nazon, skirting the Champs de Mars and then returning
back to Bel Air to listen to speeches, including a discourse
from Father Gerard Jean Juste. The marchers had planned to
enter Champs de Mars to stage a rally at the Place de la
Constitution, but MINUSTAH officers, who monitored the march
from the start, successfully negotiated a revised course that
steered away from the central plaza where a few dozen Haitian
National Police (HNP) crowd control officers stood guard.
Most of the security along the route was provided by MINUSTAH
military in light armored vehicles and jeeps, although HNP
SWAT and CIMO officers sat in large trucks nearby. Poloff
observed a CIMO commander collaborating closely with senior
MINUSTAH officers along the rally route while rank and file
HNP officers remained in their vehicles.


3. (U) Marchers generally stuck to the well-worn script
demanding Aristide's return to Haiti, and demanding the
United States to "take Latortue back." Lavalas militants on
the radio proclaimed that the U.S. was giving up and
Aristide's return was imminent, while claiming that they
would not participate in elections until Aristide returned.
On the streets, demonstrators waved Haitian and South African
flags (most likely the result of recent declarations by the
ANC of South Africa in favor of Aristide),as well as small
and at times quite large portraits of Mr. Aristide. But the
rally did differ significantly from previous efforts in
several ways. First, march organizers (Sanba Boukman from the
Bel Air cell and John Joel Joseph from Cite Soleil) sent to
MINUSTAH a complete itinerary and announcement in advance
following an agreement between MINUSTAH and march organizers
in April. Second, perhaps because of the "Flag Day" holiday,
the demonstration attracted more followers than the usual
cadre of several hundred Lavalas militants, swelling the
march at its peak to roughly 5,000 people. Lastly, the
protest was noticeably orderly, both in the demeanor of the
participants and the relaxed posture of the MINUSTAH troops
along the route. There were no violent incidents reported in
or near the march.


4. (SBU) A representative from the Institute for Justice and
Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) claimed publicly on May 19 that
members of the HNP shot and killed at least one protester
after the protest finished, as the marchers were returning to
Cite Soleil. According to the report, a car with 6 CIMO
officers pulled up to a group of people along the street,
removed one individual from the group, and executed him. The
individual, identified as Sanel Joseph, later reportedly died
while being transported to Cite Soleil. No report was
formally filed with either MINUSTAH or the HNP to
investigate, and we have no way at this point to confirm if,
in fact, the incident occurred. MINUSTAH sources told us that
they received a call from a Lavalas supporter the night of
May 18 who apologized for the report and denied that the
death was indeed caused by the HNP. We will request an
inquiry by both the HNP and CIVPOL of the accusation.


5. (SBU) Comment: We have started to monitor these marches
as closely as possible depending upon the areas the
demonstrators choose to stage their protests. In this case,
we caught up with the march at two separate locations at the
end of the route and parked unobstructed and very visibly
next to the oncoming protesters, drawing a few glances but no
direct interest. We doubt that the larger-than-usual march
represents any clear demonstration of wider or growing
support for the Pro-Aristide cause rather than simply a more
organized effort by pro-Aristide militants; and possibly a
(welcome) change in tactics towards mobilizing larger,
peaceful marches instead of smaller, deliberately provocative
ones. End comment.
GRIFFITHS