Diminished democracy
Editorial
Originally published March 10, 2005

RECENT ACTS OF brazen lawlessness and violence underscore the bloodshed and chaos that now define Haiti and underline why the Bush administration should turn its attention there.
Two weeks ago, armed men stormed the national penitentiary and freed a major drug trafficker accused of financing the revolt that deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Nearly 500 inmates, including rapists and murderers, were also freed. A week later, Haitian police fired at 2,000 peaceful marchers marking the first anniversary of Mr. Aristide's ouster. Two people were killed and nearly a dozen wounded.

These events, which occurred in broad daylight and despite the presence of some 8,000 U.N. policing troops, are troubling indications of the ineffectiveness of the U.N. mission there.

The United States, Canada and France - all with vested interests in Haiti - naively predicted that disparate political factions there would have set aside entrenched differences by now and begun laying the groundwork for elections scheduled for November. They were wrong.

It's time for the United Nations, the lead international organization in Haiti, to step up its activities as peace broker. It's also time Haiti's major benefactors take a more central role in those activities. The United States and Canada in particular, which have provided millions in financial aid in Haiti, should use their leverage to push the stubborn, U.S.-backed provisional government to begin a national dialogue - with all major Haitian political groups taking part - so that all sides will participate in the elections, assuming elections even take place.

The Haitian government should quickly establish a promised "framework for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration" of military rebels holding the country's terrified citizens hostage. It should also follow U.N. Security Council recommendations and tie disbursement of $2.8 million in back pay to the rebels - former members of the disbanded army - to participation in the disarmament plan. A recent report by the U.N. secretary-general says that the government has been slow on this front and that promised funding by the international community to support this effort has been even slower. The report also cites serious concerns about corruption and retaliatory killings of Aristide supporters by the Haitian National Police, now a shadow of the professional corps trained by Americans in the mid-1990s.

If the Bush administration needs a rationale for increased U.S. engagement, it needs only look at the transitional government of professional technocrats installed to bring order and civility to Haiti. They are too busy putting out fires to start major development projects that would provide jobs to thousands of disaffected and desperately poor people. The government is losing credibility with its people daily.

Joint U.N.-Haitian police patrols in violent neighborhoods are helping, as are increased patrols in major cities. U.N. troops also are retaking police stations in rural provinces that were seized by rebels and have begun enforcing prohibition of armed demonstrations. While encouraging, these measures are not nearly enough to pull Haiti out of its political and economic morass. Only coordinated and sustained international engagement can do that.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/b...inion-headlines