A delegation from the human rights group Amnesty Interna-tional expressed concern on Thursday about "serious problems" in Haiti's police force and justice system as the team ended a visit after more than a month of sporadic violence.
The delegation cited reports of summary executions by police, beatings by police and illegal arrests. Scores of people have been killed in recent violence pitting police against armed supporters of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
"There are serious problems in the functioning of ... justice in particular and the functioning of the police in general," the delegation said in a statement, concluding an 18-day visit.
The group urged the interim government to create an independent commission to investigate executions carried out by men in black uniforms and masks.
Residents in one Port-au-Prince slum reported 13 killed on Oct. 26 by men who appeared to be police. Residents elsewhere said four young men were slain on Oct. 28 by men in black uniforms who used a police vehicle.
Police denied involvement, and Justice Minister Bernard Gousse ordered an investigation to determine whether rogue officers were involved.
Gousse said on Thursday he was "very adamant" that just as with fighting crime, "with the same strength I will fight human rights abuses."
Amnesty criticized the government's choice of putting a public prosecutor in charge of the investigation. Gousse defended it as standard procedure in a murder investigation.
At least 86 people have been killed in Port-au-Prince since Sept. 30, including a bus driver and a 1-year-old girl shot and killed by unidentified gunman at an intersection on Wednesday night, said a local doctor.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
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