VZCZCXRO2647
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #0528 0941553
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031553Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8007
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1860
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1663
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 1086
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1478

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 000528 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: SHOOTING IN HAITI'S CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES 
 
REF: A. PORT AU PRINCE 453 
 
     ¶B. PORT AU PRINCE 320 
     ¶C. PORT AU PRINCE 520 
 
¶1. (U)  This message is sensitive but unclassified--please 
protect accordingly. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary: The Chamber of Deputies suffered more 
damage to its reputation April 1 when Deputy Joseph Mercier 
Isidor (RDNP-Jeremie, Grand'Anse) shot a parliamentary staff 
member during an argument with a fellow Deputy.  Several 
prosecutors showed up to arrest the shooter, but were denied 
entry into the building.  A small crowd gathered outside the 
parliament to protest the Deputies' behavior and the 
Chamber's lack of progress on urgent issues.  Deputies from 
various parties have decried the incident, with one going so 
far as to call on President Preval to intervene and bring 
order to the lower house.  The shooting highlights the fact 
that many members of Haiti's unruly legislature walk around 
armed, and is yet another distraction from important 
business, including internal reforms in the Chamber and work 
on vital legislation.  End summary. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Deputy Joseph Mercier Isidor (Rally for 
Progressive National Democrats/RDNP - Jeremie, Grand'Anse) on 
April 1 brought a firearm into the main chamber of 
Parliament.  It discharged during an altercation with fellow 
RDNP Deputy Anthony Dumont (Leogane, West), wounding 
parliament clerk Antonio Celestin in the shoulder, who 
happened to be standing nearby.  Eyewitness Deputy Patrick 
Domond (Lespwa/Jacmel, Southeast) told Poloff April 2 that 
the argument began when Deputy Dumont, in reaction to a 
Chamber report on the irregular activities of the former 
Treasurer (ref A), accused Deputy Isidor of misappropriating 
parliament funds and supplies. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Port-au-Prince Chief Prosecutor dispatched several 
assistant prosecutors to the scene soon after the shooting, 
but Deputies and Parliament staff prevented them from 
entering the building and arresting Isidor.  Deputy Sorel 
Francois (Fanmi Lavalas/Port-au-Prince, West), told Poloff 
that Gassant's office on April 2 issued an arrest warrant for 
Isidor but the Haitian National Police have yet to locate 
him.  Francois claimed that after considering Isidor's role 
in the interpellation of Prime Minister Jacques Edouard 
Alexis in February (ref B), he is sure to face political 
retaliation from the GoH.  Chamber President Eric 
Jean-Jacques (Lespwa/Tabarre, West) immediately announced 
plans to form a commission to investigate the incident. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Embassy staff witnessed the gathering of 
approximately 50 citizens outside Parliament immediately 
following the incident.  Protestors shouted about continuing 
hunger and the high cost of living in Haiti, and accused the 
deputies of ignoring the plight of the people. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Following the shooting incident, former Chamber of 
Deputies Finance Committee Chairman Jonas Coffy (Fanmi 
Lavalas/Port-au-Prince, West) lashed out at his fellow 
legislators for failing to show up for work (Note:  only 37 
of 99 Deputies were in the chamber that day), lamented the 
general ineffectiveness of Parliament, and called on the 
President to halt the chaos and close down the legislature. 
(Comment:  Coffy cited Article 136 of the Haitian 
Constitution, which makes the President ultimately 
responsible for the functioning of all public institutions. 
It is not clear how shutting down Parliament would help make 
it more functional.  End comment.)  Coffy told the press that 
he and most legislators carry weapons. 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Comment:  This shooting has further distracted the 
Chamber from urgent business and further tarnished the image 
of the legislative branch.  On the heels of a very negative 
report about the handling of finances in the Chamber (ref A), 
as well as an escalating investigation into the potential 
dual nationality of members of Parliament (ref C), the urgent 
issue of the electoral law seems further away from 
consideration and passage. 
SANDERSON