Haitians Taking Justice Into Own Hands (graphic content)

[Khephra]

PETIT-GOAVE, Haiti -- It took an armed posse five days to track down Ti Roro. Once they did, Roro was beaten with sticks, taken to the morgue to identify his alleged victims, ringed with gasoline-soaked tires and burned alive.

With no police, no courts and no law, communities are taking justice into their own hands, hunting down former militants of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide who they say made their lives a living hell.

"It took him more than an hour to die, but as he was burning, he admitted to all of the 15 people he killed in the last year," said Joubert Muraille, 41, who witnessed Wednesday's killing but said he did not participate. "He deserved it 1,000 times."

This small colonial city 40 miles west of the capital has been bitterly divided since Aristide won his second election victory in 2000 and pro-government militias began terrorizing opposition members.

more...................

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-haiti-searching-for-justice,0,1698584.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

[Zhade]

1. What the hell?

...but as he was burning, he admitted to all of the 15 people he killed in the last year...

First off, I can say this - if I were also on fire, I would confess to killing Mother Teresa! Confessions under torture - or impending death - are rarely credible confessions.

I'm just pointing this out - I'm not defending Ti Roro, I know absolutely nothing about the guy. But something about this piece troubles me:

...taken to the morgue to identify his alleged victims...

How long do they keep bodies in the morgues in Haiti? Roland Lysias' son was killed two months ago - was his body still being kept in the morgue?

The whole article reads like propaganda. All of the "pro-Aristide bad guys" are alleged or accused killers/rapists/etc. The piece states that Aristide "fled" - a clear and proven lie - and here's a juicy little bit of misdirection:

"We haven't slept because we need to keep the city safe," said Junior Lionel, 33, clasping his World War II-era M-1 rifle. "We need help from the Americans and peacekeepers, but they can't just come in here and abandon us like they did the last time."

Nowhere in the piece does the author raise the fact that 20,000 brand-spankin'-new U.S. military arms made their way to the Dominican Republic next door only to end up in the hands of the Duvalier-linked "opposition".

There may indeed have been rampant abuses in Haiti under Aristide. Such abuses may - or may not - have been at his direction. This article sure doesn't gleam with credibility, though. In fact, it reeks of propaganda.

[bemildred]

2. Lemme help you out.

It is propaganda.

Saw another one about how the pro-Aristide fellows are
looting and burning out the rich.

I can assure you the media big-shots are not running around
getting the facts right now. I would not be at all surprised
if they just make shit up.

My guess is it's just chaos morning noon and night, and
no telling when it will get fixed.

I half-way expect they will let Aristide back to settle things
down, after all they already made their point about how he
serves at their pleasure.