UN Troops Use Rubber Bullets and Pepper Spray on Student Protesters and Unarmed Families

By Ali Sprott-Roen
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti –  In one of the most serious confrontations since the earthquake on Jarnuary 12, troops from the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) fired rubber bullets and used pepper spray on student demonstrators at Port-au-Prince University.. The students were protesting government inaction in the aftermath of the quake, many demanding the resignation of President René Préval, who they accuse of seeking to increase his power by extending mandates past the original end date.

Troops first entered the university campus calling students thieves and vagabonds, to which the students responded by throwing rocks at the troops. This led the troops to bring in larger vehicles for reinforcement and to shoot rubber bullets at the protesters. This was the first time since the quake that troops used rubber bullets against demonstrators.

Later that day, the protest escalated and spilled into Champs de Mars plaza, the internally displaced people’s camp, where thousands of Haitians left homeless after the quake live in tight quarters. Small children and a few adults with preexisting heart conditions passed out after choking on the pepper spray. At least six people were treated at the local emergency room, including, a young girl injured by a rubber bullet who required approximately 10 stitches to mend a laceration on her face.

MINUSTAH apologized for entering the school and instigating the demonstration, but made no mention of the attack on the camp nor using rubber bullets. While the UN forces claim the right to use rubber bullets if people or institutions are in danger, they admit that their actions made the situation much worse.

For more information, please see:

 

Nj.com – Violence and Rubber Bullets in Haiti at Demonstration; Pentagon Investigating Behavior of 10 U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan– 1 June 2010

Huffington Post – – United Nations Attacks Refugee Camp, Protests Mount – 1 June 2010

CNN – – UN to apologize for troops on Haitian university campus – 26 May 2010

Inter Press Service – U.N. Clash with Frustrated Students Spills into Camps – 25 May 2010

Author: Impunity Watch Archive