VZCZCXRO1471
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #2273/01 3331451
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 291451Z NOV 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4671
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1299
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1134
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 0630
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1044

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 002273 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL HA
SUBJECT: YOUNG WOMAN'S VIOLENT MURDER SPARKS OUTRAGE; PM 
BLAMES DEPORTEES FOR UPTICK IN CRIME 
 
REF: PORT AU PRINCE 2207 
 
PORT AU PR 00002273  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified -- please 
protect accordingly. 
 
¶2. (U) Summary:  The kidnapping and murder of a young woman, 
Natasha Dessources, has shocked and angered the population of 
Port-au-Prince over the past two weeks.  The story has caused 
a strong reaction from the public and the press, including 
anti-government demonstrations at the girl's funeral.  The 
reaction shows a mounting frustration with the government's 
policies towards gangs and kidnappings, and has forced Prime 
Minister Alexis to publicly defend his government.  End 
summary. 
 
-------------- 
A Brutal Crime 
-------------- 
 
¶3. (U) On the night of November 13, kidnappers grabbed 
20-year-old Natasha Farah Kerbie Dessources as she was 
entering her home in Marin on the northern edges of 
Port-au-Prince.  The victim's mother desperately sought help 
from the Haitian police to no avail.  Meanwhile, the judicial 
police (DCPJ), the Haitian police's main unit charged with 
fighting kidnapping, was embroiled in the scandal that 
eventually led to the resignation of director Michael Lucius 
(ref A).  The kidnappers demanded a USD 30,000 ransom, but 
the young woman's mother, who makes her living selling 
telephone calls on the streets of Port-au-Prince, could only 
scrape together about USD 500, mostly from other impoverished 
merchants.  The mother paid the kidnappers what she had, but 
the kidnappers refused to release Dessources.  Authorities 
discovered her badly mutilated body on Thursday, November 16. 
 The community has been shocked by the brutality of the 
crime, and Dessources' tragic story has gripped 
Port-au-Prince for the last two weeks. 
 
----------------- 
Populace Outraged 
----------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Port-au-Prince has experienced over a dozen 
kidnappings in recent weeks, but the Dessources murder has 
caused a strong reaction amongst the populace.  Natasha's 
youth, beauty and light skin played into the drama of this 
particular case.  There is a strong association in Haitian 
culture between skin color and class, and the girl's light 
skin was likely mistaken as a sign of wealth by her captors. 
News reports circulated the graphic details of the murder, 
and funeral attendees viewed a display of photos of her 
disfigured body. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Protests at the Funeral Blame Preval Administration 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) A large crowd of demonstrators gathered at 
Dessources' funeral on Saturday, November 25 demanding that 
President Preval rethink his policy toward the gangs.  The 
crowds accused the GoH of tolerating the kidnappings, and 
reminded Preval of his ultimatum to the gangs shortly after 
taking office to give up their weapons or die.  The crowds 
also heckled Prime Minister Alexis while he attended the 
funeral, and he later expressed to us his great distress at 
Dessources' murder. 
 
-------------------- 
GoH on the Defensive 
-------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Preval has not commented on the murder.  However, 
the Prime Minister spoke out on November 27, claiming the GoH 
is making every effort to fight the gangs and asserting that 
the government's method of negotiating with them is both 
within their authority and an effective method of fighting 
insecurity.  Alexis went on to blame US deportees for 
 
PORT AU PR 00002273  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
insecurity in Haiti, and sources close to the HNP are saying 
that two men arrested in the Dessources case are deportees 
from the US or Canada.  (Note: The GoH has been complaining 
for months that deportees are to blame for the violence in 
the capital, but they have not provided any proof of this as 
yet. End note.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment:  Dessources' tragic murder has brought into 
focus the GoH's as yet unresolved approach to security in the 
capital.  Government officials are concerned that Haitians 
may be losing patience with the government's attempts to 
reduce criminal activity and kidnappings.  However, we see no 
indication yet that the GoH is rethinking its current policy, 
nor do we sense anything more than a general frustration 
among the population that security remains a major 
preoccupation.  End comment. 
SANDERSON