ACTING HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS GRAVELY CONCERNED OVER SITUATION IN HAITI

10.02.2004

Acting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan issued the following statement today:

The Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights is gravely concerned about the situation of human rights in Haiti, where violent confrontations in recent months between pro- and anti-Government militias and clashes pitting the police against anti-Government demonstrators have left dozens dead in many parts of the country.

The acting High Commissioner in particular deplores the killings and destruction over the past week in the Haitian cities of Gonaives and St. Marc and condemns the use of violence on all sides.

The acting High Commissioner strongly encourages all concerned to stop the violence and resolve the political crisis in a peaceful and constitutional manner. He urges the authorities to bring to justice those responsible for serious acts of violence and human rights violations according to national and international norms.