Bloody U.N. siege on Cité Soleil

Bloody U.N. siege on Cité Soleil

by Lyn Duff
12/7/05

At least 15 residents were killed and dozens wounded by United Nations troops during incursions in the zone of Cité Soleil this past week. Cité Soleil is a highly populated area with 300,000 residents living in only a few square miles. The neighborhood residents are known to support Fanmi Lavalas, the party led by ousted President Jean Bertrand Aristide. Cité Soleil has been the site of several recent shootings by U.N. soldiers.

Beginning the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 22, U.N. soldiers initiated an infiltration of Cité Soleil with patrols through the narrow streets on foot and in armored personnel carriers. The U.N. troops were seen arresting civilians and occasionally shooting into crowded residential areas. In the early morning hours of Nov. 23, a 15-year-old girl was reportedly shot in the leg and arm by U.N. soldiers who were attempting to raid the home of her neighbor on a search for illicit arms. No weapons were recovered.

Also on Nov. 23, a man who makes kitchen utensils was killed when U.N. soldiers fired into his shop. Five others were reported wounded in the attack.

Raids continued over the next few days, with three wounded on Nov. 25, when Jordanian U.N. troops shot into a yard where several children were playing, wounding an adult cousin who was babysitting the children and two unrelated bystanders. Later an anonymous U.N. official was quoted in the French press claiming that “armed gangs” were using children as “human shields.”

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