Media Center

Press Release


SECRETARY GENERAL CONDENMS DEATH OF SECURITY GUARD FOR OAS ELECTORAL PROGRAM IN HAITI

  August 8, 2006

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, today strongly condemned the murder of Kedy Herbiveau, a Haitian security guard for the OAS electoral program in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and expressed condolences to his family.

It was with deep regret that Insulza learned the news of the crime, which took place on Saturday, August 5, near the OAS base in Port-au-Prince. Preliminary investigations show that the OAS Special Mission in Haiti was not a direct target of the assault, Insulza said. “This was a gratuitous and repugnant crime closely related to the increase in violence in the Haitian capital,” he explained.

The Secretary General said incidents such as these lead him all the more to redouble the efforts and commitment of the OAS to bring about stability in Haiti. “These reprehensible crimes against citizens constitute a grave threat to peace, security and development in that country,” he said.

Insulza also called on Haitian authorities to spare no effort to apprehend the perpetrators and to apply the full force of the law.

Kedy Herbiveau, age 47, had worked approximately a year and a half with the security team of the Technical Electoral Assistance Program for Haiti, which supported the registration of more than 3.5 million Haitian citizens in the months leading up to last February’s elections. Herbiveau is survived by his wife and a daughter.

Reference: E-171/06