The Haiti Support Group has observed with growing alarm the following:

An extremely limited disarmament campaign, which has not even touched the armed irregular forces commanded by Guy Philippe, Louis-Jodel Chamblain, Gilbert Dragon, Joseph Jean-Baptiste, and others.

· Media reports suggest that the irregular, and blatantly unconstitutional, force which in February attacked and killed many members of the Haitian Police Force is armed and active across the country. Yet the meagre disarmament efforts that have so far taken place have focused on pro-Aristide shantytowns in the capital. Interim justice minister Bernard Gousse has attempted to explain the failure to disarm the irregular forces by saying that such a move could provoke violence which the government could not deal with. This reasoning is exactly the same as that put forward by the Aristide/Neptune government when it was pressed to disarm the so-called chimeres, and if it was unacceptable then, it is surely unacceptable now?

Moves by this armed irregular force to establish itself as a de facto judicial authority.

· For example, media reports from Cap-Haitien detail how former FRAPH death-squad leader, Louis-Jodel Chamblain, has set himself up as a de facto judge to 'deal with' alleged criminals, and that prisoners are detained in a port warehouse that has been converted into a jail. In the city of Les Cayes, armed irregulars are reportedly carrying out extra-judicial executions in the main square.

Moves by this armed irregular force to establish itself as a de facto administrative authority.

· For example, in the city of Gonaives, armed irregular leaders, including the convicted death-squad leader Jean Tatoune, have assumed local government positions. According to a 1st April Haiti Press Network report, in Cap-Haitien, the armed irregulars have set up base in the city port where they charge 'duties' on imported items - for example, charging between US$2-3000 for the 'papers' for an imported car.

The involvement of elements of the armed irregular forces in crime and drug-trafficking.

· For example, in a 12 March Miami Herald report from the city of Gonaives, a Roman Catholic nun whose convent had been robbed five times by the armed irregular force said, "'These guys in the Resistance Force, a lot of them are into drugs and killing, not all, but a lot of them....the money that sponsored them is not coming in anymore, so now they're stealing.'' In the same report, the city's hospital director said that on 24 February the armed irregulars looted the hospital food warehouse, and on 5 March threatened hospital workers with guns. In another report, the Associated Press detailed the discovery by US customs officials in Miami of more than US$1.8 million worth of cocaine on a freighter that had left the port at Gonaives on 10 March - the port is run by the armed irregulars who have controlled the entire city of Gonaives since 5 February.

The involvement of elements of the armed irregular forces in violence against, and intimidation of, judicial officials.

· For example, on 31 March, Naplas Saintil, the judge who presided over the landmark Raboteau Massacre trial in the year 2000, was badly beaten by heavily armed men at his home at Santo 13 on the north-east outskirts of the capital. The attackers threatened to kill him because of his role in the sentencing of FRAPH leader Louis-Jodel Chamblain, before being chased off following the intervention of a passing policeman. The judge was hospitalised as a result of the injuries he received. Meanwhile, the director of studies at the Magistrates' School, Judge Jean Sénat Fleury, has told the Haitian Press Agency that he believes his life is in danger because of his participation in the Raboteau Massacre trial, and he called on the authorities to put the escaped convicts, such as the FRAPH leader, Jean Tatoune, back in prison.

The involvement of elements of the armed irregular forces in violence against, and intimidation of, journalists.

· For example, in Belle-Anse on the weekend 27-8 March, Lyonel Lazarre, the correspondent for Radio Solidarité in Jacmel, was abducted and later released by a group of former Haitian soldiers assisted by a police inspector named Delain Brunet. The men criticised Lazarre for having broadcast information relating to abuses they are alleged to have been involved in around Belle-Anse. The kidnappers beat him and forced him to indicate the location of the home of another colleague working for Radio Ginen, Jacky Jean Baptiste, whom they accuse of being close to the deposed President Aristide.

Moves to integrate the armed irregular force into a revamped police force.

· In a 31 March Radio Vision2000 interview, interim Interior and National Security Minister Hérard Abraham said, "The police are going to take measures to recruit people before long in order to strengthen the police....If there are demobilised military who were rebels, they will use the demobilised military because they are the ones who received training for that. But that will be done after an evaluation. They must not be charged with human rights violations or drug trafficking." Abraham's remarks were made the same day as the armed irregular forces' leader, Guy Philippe, met with Louis-Jodel Chamblain and the local police commander at the Mont Joli Hotel in Cap-Haitien. At that meeting, Philippe said he had handed over a list naming 1,500 "soldiers" to be incorporated into the police force.

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