25778: Severe(pub): BBC article on Jacques Roche's funeral (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Constantin Severe <csevere@hotmail.com>


Tense funeral for Haiti reporter

BBC News 7/21/05

Mourners in Haiti have attended the funeral of a prominent journalist killed by 
kidnappers.
Jacques Roche was found shot dead last week, five days after his capture in the 
capital, Port-au-Prince.

Scuffles broke out during the ceremony, and some 1,000 protesters later marched 
through the city to demand tougher action against rising insecurity.

Haiti has recently been hit by a string of abductions as UN peacekeepers 
struggle to keep law and order there.

Police say more than 450 people have been kidnapped since March.

Correspondents say the unrest is increasing concern about whether elections 
will be able to go ahead as planned later this year.

'Against violence'

In an emotional service, mourners filed past Roche's open casket at a church in 
an affluent suburb of the capital, the Associated Press news agency reported.

"The death of this journalist must awaken our national consciousness against 
violence, and all the evils our society is going through," Roman Catholic 
Bishop Andre Dumas said during his Mass.

After the funeral, protesters waving flags flooded a main avenue and marched 
toward the capital's centre.

Roche's handcuffed and mutilated body was found in a slum district of 
Port-au-Prince.

He had been tortured and shot several times.

Most abductions in Haiti are carried out for money, with the victim usually 
being released after a ransom is paid.

Scuffles broke out at the ceremony after mourners spotted Gerard Jean-Juste, a 
priest close to former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide ousted last year.

The priest was punched by the crowd, following claims by some officials that 
Aristide supporters were involved in Roche's murder.

Mr Jean-Juste was escorted to a nearby police station for protection.