Preliminary Report by Michelle Karshan on Police Executions & Torture of Criminal Deportees in Haiti 2004-2006

Preliminary Findings by Michelle Karshan, Executive Director of Alternative Chance/Chans Altenativ, program for Criminal Deportees in Haiti

October 23, 2006


Partial List of Police Executions and Torture of Criminal Deportees
in Haiti 2004-2006


The following information is based primarily on personal interviews conducted during my recent visit to Haiti (September/October 2006) during which I met with Criminal Deportees, Haitian government officials, non-profit organizations, Alternative Chance staff, and others. Additionally, one report was taken directly from press coverage.

2004:
Max (from Miami), Marc (aka “Gambino” from New York), and Patrick (from New York). A police officer living in the same neighborhood as Marc had a grudge against him because he was a Criminal Deportee and had a car and money. The police and one of the three men got into a fight in front of Munchies, a restaurant in Petionville which is famous for carnival activities held in front of the restaurant on some Sundays. The three deportees ran but were later fingered by that one police officer and were arrested in Petionville but were taken to the Thomassin 25 police station in a suburb far above Petionville for the express purpose of beating and torturing them. The three Criminal Deportees were severely beaten and tortured by police. According to a eyewitness, a few days later the police took the three Criminal Deportees out of the police station and executed them. Marc’s mother in New York was said to have had a stroke as a result of learning of her son’s execution.

2004:
Harry (from New York, in his 30s) lives in Petionville, targeted by police because of his tattoos, and American charteristics, and his reputation for being a Criminal Deportee. Arrested by Petionville police officers, detained in Petionville police station, beaten by five police officers who took turns in teams of two at a time, beating him about the ears with their fists and open hands, and beat him on both ankles with police clubs (billy clubs). A high level police officer at the time revealed that Harry was arrested by the other police for a high level crime in order to extort monies from him because they knew he was a Criminal Deportee. The police officer reported that the police knew that Harry had a job and that he was not the culprit in the high level crime.

2005:
Reginald (from Miami, in his 20s) lived in Delmas 75, Port-au-Prince suburb, family witnessed uniformed police officers on motorcycle drive by his home, target Reginald and spray automatic gunfire directly at him, killing him.

2005:
Marc (from New York) lived in Petionville, seen as flaunting his American ways because he wore his jeans very low, spoke English, was seen in nightclubs spending money. Uniformed police arrested him, detained him in the Cafeteria police station in downtown Port-au-Prince and after a few days in detention was disappeared.

2005:
At the conclusion of a demonstration against the interim government, which journalists reported was a peaceful demonstration, the police attacked a few of the demonstrators, including a Criminal Deportee, and shot them to death in front of witnesses, later claiming that they were gangsters and were attacking the police. This was contrary to eyewitness accounts, including those filed by reporters on the scene.

2005:
Shyler (from Miami, in his 20s) lived in Cite d’Dieu, suburb of Port-au-Prince. Uniformed police (black uniform from one of the specialized units) shot him point-blank in front of several neighborhood witnesses.

2005:
Dimitri (from Miami, in his 20s). Executed by Haitian police in Wannamet, a border town. Dimitri was well known as a Criminal Deportee.

2005:
Johnny (from Puerto Rico, in his 20s) Lived in Turgeau but was targeted by police for execution and assassinated by police because of his various tattoos and do-rag on his head when he walked through a Route Friere neighborhood unfamiliar to him.

2006:
Andy (from New York, in his 30s) lived on Route Friere, Petionville area. Witnesses reported that he was kidnapped by uniformed police officers known for their involvement in illegal activities, and was disappeared.

2006:
“Trigger” (Miami, 20s) Lived in Carrefour, police were looking for him for allegedly killing a police officer. The police executed him in his neighborhood according to neighbors.

2006:
Bernard, (New York, in his 30s), a plain clothes police officer known to the neighbors and others set him up, he stole a car battery and the left car open so he would take the battery, tied him up to an electrical pole, beat and broke his arms and legs, and then poured battery acid on face and head until he died. This happened on Lalue near the Immigration Office.