POSTCARD FROM ST. MARC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000404 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR S/CRS SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM HA SUBJECT: POSTCARD FROM ST. MARC REF: PORT AU PRINCE 336 PORT AU PR 00000404 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. Summary: The Haitian National Police (HNP) says the security situation in St. Marc, located in the Artibonite Department, is stable. However, the HNP admits that violent crime arising from land disputes as well as violence against women are widespread and threaten security and stability in the area. Prostitution practiced widely in St. Marc's organized red-light district is one of the few economic options for women, and it is tolerated by the HNP. A human rights NGO, Groupe d'Action pour la Defense des Droits Humains (GADH),which has an established local reputation for fighting violence against women and promoting non-violent conflict resolution, provides victim assistance in an USG funded program. End summary. ¶2. Poloff visited St. Marc on March 4, a major port city in the Artibonite Department. Poloff met with Marc-Arthur Mesidort (president),Charline Luma (legal assistant),and Jacqueline Bernard (program manager) for Groupe d'Action pour la Defense des Droits Humains (GADH),a human rights NGO. Poloff also met with Inspector Gedeon L. Georges of the Haitian National Police (HNP). Security Situation is Stable -------------- ¶3. Georges reported that the security situation in St. Marc is stable. The HNP and MINUSTAH enjoy a good working relationship and have dismantled the gangs, including those that vied for control of the port. Currently, the most frequent crime at the port is theft of food from food depots. The HNP and the port authority -- which has its own security force -- jointly inspect arriving and departing ships, the majority of which are from the U.S. and Panama. (Note: Cars and automotive parts are the primary goods in volume and value that pass through St. Marc's port according to Georges. End note.) St. Marc is also blessed with working Teleco (the GOH-owned telephone company) telephone land lines and receives about eight hours of electricity per day -- in contrast to many Haitian provincial cities that have neither. Both the HNP and GADH receive electricity and landline telephone service. Nevertheless, the HNP has insufficient cars and firearms, and has no radios. But Violent Property Disputes are Rife -------------- ¶4. Georges specified that conflicts over property are the number one threat to security in his area of the Artibonite, which includes the Artibonite river delta, a fertile agricultural plain. Individuals with conflicting land claims frequently resolve their disputes with machetes or firearms. The HNP must often mobilize riot police to quell this violence. Mesidort and Bernard confirmed that violent land disputes are a problem, noting that residents often see severed body parts floating down the river. They said that landowners often hide their firearms in tombs and cemeteries. Luma and Bernard claimed that parties frequently call on GADH to mediate disputes since residents view the local judges as corrupt. Georges confirmed that land conflicts arise directly from the corruption in the judicial sector because judges often render their decisions in favor of the party that pays the larger bribe. In practice, Georges remarked, judges would one day award the disputed property to one party that paid a bribe, only to reverse their decision days later, once the losing party re-filed the case under a different relative or co-owner and paid a larger bribe. All interlocutors claimed that judges also accepted bribes to release criminal detainees from jail. Consequently, many disputing parties resort to violence as the only way to settle their disputes or to obtain justice. As is Violence Against Women -------------- ¶5. Georges claimed (and GADH concurred),that rape and physical attacks against women are prevalent in St. Marc and the Artibonite. Aggressors enjoy impunity because they either bribe judges or threaten victims' families with harm PORT AU PR 00000404 002.2 OF 002 if the victims do not drop the charges. Doctors, who sometimes try to charge a fee for the free medical certificate documenting rape, aggravate the hostile environment that many women face. GADH noted that it is an ongoing struggle to ensure that women victims have full access to their legal rights. In response, GADH relies on radio programming, with air time donated by the local radio station, to disseminate information on victims' legal rights. These programs often result in GADH receiving telephone requests to mediate abusive or violent situations between partners or spouses. ¶6. Even though the HNP contends with a high incidence of physical and sexual abuse of women, HNP Inspector Georges does not view the prostitution in St. Marc's well-known red-light district as a contributing factor to violence against women. Georges views prostitution as within the realm of "individual rights." As long as the prostitutes do not walk the streets, Georges claimed, the HNP will not arrest or prosecute them, the pimps, or their customers. Georges revealed that the HNP intervenes on behalf of the prostitutes only when clients fail to pay or when clients physically assault these women. (Note: Prostitution is illegal in Haiti, but there are no specific penalties for individuals who engage in related activities such as brothel owners/operators, clients, pimps or enforcers. See reftel.) In fact, Georges continued, prostitutes are often HNP informants. Georges claimed they are deployed especially against Port-au-Prince criminals who come to St. Marc or the Artibonite in order to hide from the authorities. Comment -------------- ¶7. With gangs at the port apparently under control, the HNP is addressing other equally serious forms of crime in St. Marc. St. Marc and the Artibonite river delta remain plagued by violence with deep social roots that is of a type not easily remedied by the HNP. Much of the lawlessness in St. Marc and the Artibonite river delta is spawned by a corrupt judicial system, aggravated by the lack of security of land tenure. Human rights NGOs like GADH that understand the futility of fighting the corrupt judicial sector end up trying to mitigate the resulting human carnage themselves, for example by providing victim assistance to women in an USG-funded anti-violence program or by offering free conflict mediation services. ¶8. Comment continued: Regarding violence against women, St. Marc presents a complex dichotomy. The HNP pursues and arrests perpetrators of violence against women, only to have these perpetrators released by the justice system. HNP tolerance of prostitution also likely contributes to this violence. Many poor and uneducated women in St. Marc and the Artibonite become victims of physical and sexual abuse because they are unaware of their legal rights and because of the corrupt judicial sector. Others become victims of sexual abuse simply because they are poor and must find ways to earn money. The reality is that prostitution in St. Marc's organized, HNP patrolled red-light district remains a viable economic opportunity for poor, uneducated women in the Artibonite. SANDERSON