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Haiti kidnap wave accompanied by epidemic of rape
by Joseph Guyler Delva

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N08405626.htm

PORT-AU-PRINCE
Haiti's violent gangs are increasingly terrorizing hostages and other victims,
government officials and health workers say.
Sexual assaults of women appear to have become a fixture of the kidnappings for money
Rape has been used in Haiti before by government death squads intent on sowing terror
in the poorest country in the Americas, which has long been rocked by political
instability and violence.
A recent effort by U.N. peacekeepers appears to have reduced the kidnappings.
But health workers report the number of rape victims is increasing.
Doctors and aid workers estimate that more than 800 women were raped between February
2006 and February 2007 in just the capital of this country of 8 million people.
Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, a French humanitarian organization which operates
three medical centers in Haiti, treated 70 rape victims in the first two months of
the year.
"The number of women raped has constantly been increasing over the past months," said
MSF medical coordinator Dr. Maria Guevara. She said the number of monthly rape
victims seen by the group had grown from five last September to 26 in January.
Another 44 were treated in February.
Joanne, a 25-year-old resident of the capital's Delmas district, said she was
kidnapped late on Jan. 17 by two men who forced open her door and took her away in a
pick-up truck.
"They held me for 3 days. They raped me several times and demanded $50,000 from my
aunt to whom they talked on the phone," Joanne said. "When they realized my aunt was
not able to find any more money, they agreed to release me for $2,000."
The government of President Rene Preval, elected just over a year ago amid widespread
hopes that he could bridge the divide between the poor masses and a wealthy elite,
and also bring an end to crime, has vowed fight sexual assaults.
But health workers say many rapists go unpunished because most victims refuse to go
to the police and probably do not even tell their husbands

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and other beneficiaries of the institutionalized slavery and genocide.

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"The army that will defeat terrorism doesn't wear uniforms, or drive
Humvees, or calls in air-strikes. It doesn't have a high command, or
high security, or a high budget. The army that can defeat terrorism
does battle quietly, clearing minefields and vaccinating children. It
undermines military dictatorships and military lobbyists. It subverts
sweatshops and special interests.Where people feel powerless, it
helps them organize for change, and where people are powerful, it
reminds them of their responsibility." ~~~~ Author Unknown ~~~~
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