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.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
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Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
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