HAITI: Protesters demand Aristide's return, commemorate 1986 killings
Saturday, April 26, 2008 at 11:26PM
TheSpook

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) Hundreds of people marched through Haiti's capital on Saturday to demand the return of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The demonstrators also commemorated the killing of seven protesters on April 26, 1986, when army troops fired into a crowd outside a notorious prison.  As president, Aristide shut down the Fort Dimanche prison, where dissidents were tortured under the Duvalier family dictatorship. Aristide was ousted in a bloody 2004 revolt.

Haitian police and U.N. peacekeepers said Saturday's protest was peaceful. At least seven people died during food riots in Haiti earlier this month. U.S. Rev. Jesse Jackson and a delegation of ministers and Haitian nationals are expected to arrive Sunday for a three-day visit.

Jackson hopes to increase humanitarian aid efforts and help draft policies to avoid another crisis, according to a news release issued Saturday by his religious and social organization, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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