Global Policy Forum

American Soldiers Arrest, Handcuff, Shackle, Hood, Beat and Hold
Innocent Bel Air Residents without Charge

By Lyn Duff*

Since the 2004 coup overthrowing the democratic government of Haiti, international observers have reported an overwhelming increase in the number and severity of human rights violations against Haiti's poor majority. These rapes, targeted killings, illegal arrests and jailhouse beatings have received little attention from the mainstream press.

When the media covers human rights violations, the victims themselves often find that their voices are ignored. San Francisco Bay View reporter Lyn Duff spoke with Rico Serve, 36, from the jail cell where he had been held for nearly a week without being charged with a crime. Here is his story:

I live in Bel Air. That's a neighborhood near the center of Port-au-Prince. It's one of the popular neighborhoods, which means that a lot of people live there, and the police and the foreign military come to our zone more often than they go to other places. The other day, the American soldiers came to our area first at three o'clock in the morning. They went from house to house, pulling people out of bed.

The American soldiers made us sit in the mud, but after a while they had to release us because they had no charge against us. We had not committed any crime. The Americans came back at four o'clock in the afternoon, to the street near my family's house. I was shocked – they came to arrest us again.

The American soldiers shackled me and they arrested me. There was a police officer that was also arrested by the Americans at the same time as us. They hit him on his head after he was shackled because they did not believe him when he said he was an off-duty police officer, even though he showed them his I.D. card.

To hit a man when he is shackled – what kind of craziness is that? Hitting us, that I can understand, because the Americans have no respect for the people in our zone. But to hit a police officer, and to hit him while he is handcuffed, that behavior shows the true brutality of the soldiers.

The American soldiers made us sit for three hours on the ground. We were all shackled and they still hit us! At the time that the American soldiers hit me, I was already shackled as well and I was no danger to anyone. After they hit us, the Americans took us to the (National) Palace (the Haitian equivalent of the White House), where we were held for a while. People hit us there too, but we could not see who hit us because at that time the soldiers had covered our heads with black bags.

The American soldiers gave us no explanation for what they were doing. There was a man, an informant for the Americans, who gave them information, and he claimed that I was someone I am not and said that I was going to kill an American solider – at least that's what the Americans told me he said. My identification card says that I am not the man the informant claimed I am, but the Americans do not care about my real name. They don't care about the truth, or that the accusation against me is not true.

I would not be able to kill a marine because my hand is damaged. Look at it – I am a cripple. I am not able to hold a gun. Besides, if I were put in the position of having to kill someone, I would rather take poison and kill myself instead. I say before God that I would never kill someone.

I don't know most of these people being held in the police station with me. I have never met them before. They were just passing by when the American soldiers arrested them. This is insane, because the Americans say we are all in a plot together to make a disaster for the government. But before we were arrested we didn't even know each other's names!

For myself, the only real solider I know is God on earth. The American soldiers say they are here to free us. Instead we are being held in the cell at the police station. We have not seen a judge – even though the Constitution says when a person is arrested he must see a judge within two days. We have no opportunity to plead our case. We sleep on the ground. We are not allowed to wear shoes. I have not been told why I am here. I still have not been charged with any crime.

Still, the American soldiers say they came to Haiti to free us. What a joke!

About the Author: Lyn Duff is a reporter currently based in Port-au-Prince. She first traveled to Haiti in 1995 to help establish a children's radio station and has since covered Haiti extensively for Pacifica Radio's Flashpoints and other local and national media.