Haitian Police Attack Crowds as American Troops Look On : Caribbean: At least one is killed and dozens injured as local forces disperse demonstrators welcoming arriving soldiers. U.S. policy leaves issue of civil order to Haitian authorities.

By KENNETH FREED

Sept. 21, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — As combat-ready American troops looked on, Haitian police and soldiers beat at least one person to death Tuesday and wounded several others in breaking up crowds that gathered by the tens of thousands here to cheer the arrival of U.S. forces.

Twenty-four hours after the Americans began landing in an effort to end brutal military rule as part of “Operation Uphold Democracy,” the confrontations highlighted both local tensions and the delicacy of the U.S. position here.

The police were operating under an American policy that leaves the responsibility for maintaining civil order to the Haitian army, among the most brutal in the world and until recently labeled “thugs” by U.S. officials.

The worst of the violence came at this capital’s seaport in front of heavily armed American troops from the 10th Mountain Division, at the entrance to an industrial park used by the Americans as a supply depot and in view of the office of Haitian army commander Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras.

By late afternoon, one Haitian was confirmed beaten to death by police, with dozens of others hurt. There were reports of at least two other deaths.

The blue-uniformed police and brown-suited army riot units, long accustomed to using violence against even peaceful demonstrators, were under orders “to stay away from Americans but defend your dignity.”

More than 6,000 American troops had landed in Haiti by the end of Tuesday, including between 1,600 and 1,800 Marines who took the northern town of Cap Haitien, the country’s second-largest city and a major port. There were no reports of any incidents there.

The dead man in Port-au-Prince, so far unidentified, was standing with several hundred other men on a corner about 50 yards away from the seaport’s main gate. Witnesses said about five or six police suddenly ran at them, swinging their clubs.

The victim, a coconut vendor standing against a wall, fell to the ground, where he was kicked, clubbed with a wooden baton and battered with a five-foot-long leather thong. He died, the witnesses said, after about five minutes of continuous clubbing.

Tuesday’s ugliness might have been even worse if not for the Americans, who rarely interfered but whose presence nearby seemed to restrain somewhat the Haitian police and army troops. There were no reports of shootings other than the firing of some tear-gas canisters, and the Haitian forces staged only sporadic raids and left quickly.

According to eyewitness accounts, the police were reacting only to the crowds’ existence and not to any provocation, although some in the crowd, which had been shouting pro-American slogans, threw rocks to slow the pursuing troops.

As the gatherings grew large, “the police would come and start beating us,” said Jean-Louis Ednar, who answered questions through broken teeth and bloody lips. “I came to the port to watch the Americans come. I thought they would stop all of this.”

But Army Col. Barry Willey, spokesman for the U.S. forces in Haiti, said Tuesday there “had been no disturbances or civil disorders . . . requiring our involvement.”

Willey said the troops’ job “is to establish a secure environment for the return of the legitimate government,” but he emphasized that the maintaining of order in the near future is being left to the Haitians.

Right now, the colonel said, U.S. soldiers will not use force except to defend themselves or other American personnel and facilities. U.S. personnel on Tuesday were largely restricted to their camps at the airports, ports and the industrial park.

Willey did say that American forces “will be moving out into the countryside to carry out their security mission.” He spoke of “joint patrols” by U.S. troops and Haitian police, but said “there will not be patrolling immediately.”

His statement about joint patrols stood in contrast to those by Pentagon officials in Tuesday morning briefings indicating that civil disorders may be left to Haitian forces in the long run. Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington: “The task of keeping law and order in Haiti is the responsibility of the Haitian police force and the Haitian military. We are not in a business of doing the day-to-day law and order, for that matter resolving or quelling any demonstrations.”

As dawn on Tuesday illuminated the sites where American troops were disembarking from helicopters at the city’s airport and unloading tons of equipment at the downtown port, thousands of Haitians had begun to gather.

It seemed to be the start of a good day. The people were in a good mood and seemed motivated as much by curiosity as political purpose. Brightening the day was the reopening of stores and markets, closed for the last three days as the population went into hiding in anticipation of an American invasion.

By midmorning, the seven-mile stretch of streets and roads connecting the port to the airport was seething with people walking or standing, all nearly ecstatic as they watched what one bystander called “our coming of Christ.”

But as the day progressed and the crowds grew, the police began patrolling aggressively, first in trucks and cars and then on foot. About noon the police began wading into the crowds.

This went on sporadically for about two hours. At one point, a yellow school bus loaded with about 60 army troops arrived. They wore gas masks and carried clubs, whips and gas-grenade launchers.

Without provocation, they began running in the streets, first going one way and beating people, then turning in a mass and heading in the other direction, swinging clubs all the way.

At least 10 U.S. soldiers guarding the port saw the violence but did nothing. One man was saved from a severe clubbing when a National Public Radio reporter and another journalist stood next to the soldier and recorded what he was doing. The Haitian soldier held back and walked away, muttering.

One U.S. sergeant standing inside the port gate said, “If I had my way, I would send patrols out and stop this, but it’s not my call.”

A different American soldier, a private from Atlanta, did stop a police officer from beating a boy in front of the industrial park.

As a group of six police officers randomly attacked a large stream of people walking toward the airport, a dozen or so Haitians started running toward the industrial park. In front of the gate, two police officers caught up with two boys, one on a bicycle, and shoved them to the ground as two American soldiers watched. As one officer beat the boys, the other stood guard with a submachine gun.

The Atlanta trooper shouted at the police, cursing and ordering them to move away from the boys while pointing his M-16 rifle at the Haitian officer with the gun. The two police officers backed off with the American tracking them in the sights of his rifle, and the boys ran away, leaving the little red bike behind.

“This was the first time I saw anything like this,” the U.S. soldier said. “It’s been nice all day until now.”