At least 9 demonstrators killed during huge march on Haiti’s Flag Day

This pro-Aristide demonstrator, Titus Simpson, 23, was shot by Haitian Special Forces (CIMO) less than 30 yards in front of an American journalist covering Tuesday’s march celebrating Haiti’s Flag Day. U.S. Marines threatened the journalist with arrest for filming the events, and he was shot at twice. Simpson was unarmed, the only item in his possession a Walkman disk player.

Marchers face down US Marines, shout ‘Liberty or death,’ ‘Bring back Aristide’

by Marguerite Laurent, J.D.

Haitian Lawyers Leadership


This pro-Aristide demonstrator, Titus Simpson, 23, was shot by Haitian Special Forces (CIMO) less than 30 yards in front of an American journalist covering Tuesday’s march celebrating Haiti’s Flag Day. U.S. Marines threatened the journalist with arrest for filming the events, and he was shot at twice. Simpson was unarmed, the only item in his possession a Walkman disk player.
May 18 is Haiti’s Flag Day, and a demonstration was planned and authorized by the police authorities. Copies of the authorization letter, dated May 10, were sent by Fanmi Lavalas to the United Nations, OAS and CARICOM.

Yet today the Haitian police, along with U.S. Marines, shot indiscriminately into the crowd aiming to break up the demonstration.

“They slapped us hard today,” one of the demonstrators stated over the phone from Port-au-Prince. “But we slapped them right back because they thought all their killings of Lavalas and torturing had intimidated us all into hiding in our own country. They did not expect so many of us to take to the street to ask for the return of President Aristide and the disbanding of the army soldiers who are now running the Haitian National Police. That’s why we slapped them back.”

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Staff report
Posted May 20 2004

Pompano Beach · The aftermath of violent political protests in Haiti kept Prime Minister Gérard Latortue from keeping an appointment to celebrate Haitian Flag Day at the Worldwide Christian Church Center on Wednesday night.

The church, along with the Louverture Center for Freedom and Development, scheduled a week of special events and services to commemorate Flag Day, which was Tuesday. Latortue was scheduled to pick up the Louverture Haiti Renaissance Award. Gov. Jeb Bush, who could not attend, was given the Star of Freedom Award.


On Tuesday, the Westminster Academy Haiti Missions Team from Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and Jean Colin, executive director of the Haitian Health Foundation of South Florida, were given the Spirit of Excellence Award during a celebration sponsored by Minority Development and Empowerment Inc

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Haitian Police kill peaceful demonstrators
by Anthony Fenton Thursday May 20, 2004 at 12:18 PM
apfenton@ualberta.ca

Chile is part of an illegal occupation that has overseen the slaughter of as many as 3000 Haitians since February 29th. Emerging evidence shows that the destabilization and coup d'etat began in 2000, planned and executed by the US, UN, Canada, France, EU, and the Dominican. Empires and vassals. The same forces that helped overthrow Allende have repeated history in Haiti!!!

by the Haiti Information Project

May 18, 2004
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Special Forces units (CIMO) of the Haitian National Police (PNH) killed Lavalas demonstra-tors today in Port-au-Prince as a larger U.S. Marine "peacekeeping" force of about 50 soldiers stood by.

About 6,000 Lavalas demonstrators in one of many separate marches tried to converge near the Champ De Mars for a larger demonstration. The march had been planned for some time and the organizations that planned the march received written approval by the PNH to hold this demonstration on Haitian Flag Day.

It is hard to estimate the actual size of the demonstration but figures of 30,000 to 60,000 different demonstrators in various parts of the city seem credible.

A contingent of about 50 U.S. Marines patroled every hour at the start of one march in Bel-Air trying to intimidate the population there. One of the marines officers in command tried to threaten an American journalist who was filming the action. Whenever, any of the groups of marchers tried to reach Champ de Mars a CIMO unit would "appear out of nowhere" and commence shooting into the crowds of demonstrators.

Reports of similar killing is coming in from different areas of the city. At 10PM in Haiti, there were nine verified dead by the U.S. trained killers. The Marine's seem to be coordinating this carnage, and are standing by with heavy artillery in case the population tries to stop the killers.

Recently the U.S. Marines have been directly involved in the current violent political repression of Lavalas activists. Last week the Marines used explosives to gain access to Annette Auguste's home before they arrested her and her family on the pretense that she was arming Lavalas militants to attack the Marines during Haitian Solidarity Week. No weapons were witnessed or found in possession of any of the protesters today.

Even though the demonstrators were rather angry no rocks were thrown or violence was witnessed to provoke the shooting.

One demonstrator who was shot 30 yards in front of the journalist lay dying of a gunshot wound to the head. The only item in his possession was a Walkman disk player. The CIMO unit that shot the non-violent Lavalasien drove up in a red truck license plate: 1-0060.

Later reports indicate that the U.S. Marines have begun reprisals for the large show of solidarity, once darkness descended on Port-au-Prince

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