Haiti Arrests 2 Former Duvalier Security Agents

In an apparent change of policy toward officials of the Duvalier era, the provisional government of Haiti announced Wednesday the arrests of two former security agents on charges of torture and murder.

The government also said that other former officials suspected of human rights violations will be brought to justice and will not be permitted to leave the country.

The policy switch follows a brief political crisis brought on by charges that a hated police chief close to exiled President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier fled into exile.

Water Poisoned

Meanwhile, it was reported that Tontons Macoutes militiamen loyal to Duvalier poisoned the water supply in the northern town of Port-de-Paix. Sketchy information released by the government Wednesday suggested that perhaps two dozen people died and hundreds were admitted to a hospital with stomach complaints.

“It’s an act of madness,” said Franz Michel, an official in the government information office.

Michel blamed the incident on the Tontons Macoutes, or bogeymen, Duvalier’s personal militia, whose formal name was the Volunteers for National Security. The secret militia force has been disbanded since Duvalier fled, but some members are still thought to be at large.

However, a communique from the government’s National Drinking Water Service said it was “impossible to inform the public on the exact cause” of the poisoning. It added that soldiers have been sent to guard reservoirs throughout the country.

The two former officials arrested Wednesday were veterans of the regime of the late Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier, Jean-Claude’s father.

Headed Interrogation Unit

One, Luc Desir, was the notorious head of an in-palace interrogation unit called the Special Detectives. Desir tried to leave Haiti Tuesday on an Air France flight, but irate crowds at the airport stampeded the runway, broke windows and threatened a riot should he board the plane.

The Air France pilot refused to let Desir board, and he was escorted away by soldiers.

The other person arrested Wednesday, Elois Maitre, once was a bodyguard to the senior Duvalier and a well-known member of the Tontons Macoutes. He was rumored to be leaving Haiti and was reportedly picked up at his home in Port-au-Prince.

Both Desir and Maitre had been inactive for many years. They were being charged by a man named Emmanuel Ambroise who said the pair had tortured him and murdered his brother.

The arrests were announced by Gerard Gourgue, the justice minister and one of the five members of the ruling National Council. Gourgue earlier had criticized the other members of the government for permitting the former Port-au-Prince chief of police, Col. Albert Pierre, to flee into exile. Pierre’s name is often linked with routine torture.

Gourgue’s announcement Tuesday indicates that a rift developing on the council may have been healed.

“The minister of justice stands ready to intervene against all criminals whom the public will make known,” he said.

A communique from the council reinforced Gourgue’s claim, suggesting that he had won some leverage. The note said that as a result of its intention to “follow up all legal steps” against human rights violators, the government “has forbidden their departure from national territory.”