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MSF asks armed groups to respect civilians, Haiti
11 Jul 2005
As violent attacks intensify and spread in Haiti's capital
Port au Prince, the international medical humanitarian
organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières
(MSF) today called on all armed groups in the city to respect
the safety of civilians and allow those wounded during clashes
immediate access to emergency medical care.
Since MSF opened a trauma center in Port au Prince in December
2004, medical and surgical teams have treated more than 3,100
patients - 1,112, or more than one-third, for violence-related
injuries, including 861 gunshot victims, 126 for machete or
knife wounds, 67 for beatings, and 40 for rape. Half of those
treated for such injuries are women, children, or elderly.
"It is appalling that civilians continue to bear the
brunt of increasing violence in Port au Prince during these
past months," said Ali Besnaci, the Head of Mission for
MSF in Haiti. "We're treating children as young as 4 and
women in their 70s for gunshot wounds. We recently had nearly
30 gunshot victims in one day. And we know that many of those
injured are either afraid of or prevented from getting the
treatment they need. Some patients come several days after
being shot. This is simply unacceptable."
People have been shot and killed, both deliberately and
unintentionally, by all of the armed factions fighting in the
seaside slums, or "quartiers populaires," of Port au
Prince. Some have said they were wounded during operations
conducted by the Haitian National Police (HNP) and the United
Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
"The number of gunshot victims we are treating has been
increasing dramatically these past few weeks," said
Besnaci. "And more and more patients have devastating
multiple wounds caused by exploding bullets. Civilians in many
parts of Port au Prince are struggling just to survive. They
fear leaving their homes because it could cost them their
lives. Everyday, people throughout the city tell us that they
have never experienced such levels of violence before."
In December 2004, MSF opened the 56-bed trauma center at St.
Joseph's Hospital in Port au Prince to provide free emergency
medical and surgical services to the growing number of people
injured by violent acts who had little or no access to care.
MSF also offers post-surgical physiotherapy at a nearby
rehabilitation center. MSF has been present in Haiti since
1991, mainly providing assistance in the country's provinces
or in response to natural disasters, and today also provides
primary and maternal health care in Petite Riviere in
Artibonite Department and in the Decayette area of Port au
Prince.
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