Protesters in Haiti denounce violence

Chanting protesters filled the narrow streets of a poor neighborhood in the Haitian capital on Jan. 12 to denounce violence and political chaos after clashes between gangs and UN peacekeepers reportedly killed one person and wounded at least 17. Hundreds of people, including political activists, gang members and children, shuffle-danced to the blaring of horns and banging of drums toward two UN armored personnel carriers at the edge of Cite Soleil, then veered off toward the sea without confronting the peacekeepers who patrol the poverty-stricken neighborhood's perimeter. Organizers said they feared that UN peacekeeping troops would soon attack Cite Soleil, a warren of bullet-riddled shanties with raw sewage flowing in trash-clogged canals. "The population is standing up to say 'No' to UN persecution in Cite Soleil," said John Joel Joseph, an activist for Lavalas, the political party of ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. "Every day, we are counting dead bodies." On Jan. 11, shooting broke out between the two sides after nightfall, according to aid workers and residents. One of the wounded was a 12-year-old girl who was shot in the thigh. Sushil Kujur, who works at a Missionaries of Charity clinic at the edge of the neighborhood, said workers treated seven people with gunshot wounds, including a man who was shot in the abdomen and died on the way to a hospital. Another 10 people were treated by the Belgian and French sections of the aid group Doctors Without Borders, officials said. The aid groups said they couldn't be certain where the gunfire came from. Kujur said his clinic has treated about 70 people for gunshot wounds in the last four months, including 10 who later died, and that some were not involved in clashes with UN troops. "They are hitting innocent people," he said.