HAITI:2000 Demonstrators March Against kidnapping

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By JONATHAN M. KATZ Associated Press Writer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti June 4, 2008 (AP)
ABC's Jeffrey Kofman reports on unrest in one of the world's poorest countries.

Thousands of protesters, bearing photographs of victims and with fists thrust in the air, marched through the capital to demand Haitian officials crack down on a kidnapping scourge that has terrorized the Caribbean country.

Well-dressed Haitians from the hills above Port-au-Prince and lawmakers were among more than 2,000 demonstrators who walked to the Justice Ministry and Supreme Court in a peaceful protest.

Thousands more lined the streets to watch.

U.N. police said more than 157 people have been kidnapped this year in Haiti, up 10 percent from last year to date and a rate of about one per day.

Kidnappings for ransom have plagued the impoverished country since 2005, leaving restaurants empty, scaring away foreign investment and destabilizing the government.

Almost every sector of society has been targeted, including schoolchildren and foreigners.

Lionne, June 7 2008, 7:46 PM

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