Canada to help rebuild Haitian justice system

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Montreal — Canada will play a key role in rebuilding Haiti's judicial system, Prime Minister Paul Martin said Saturday at a conference on the future of the impoverished Caribbean country.

"Along with the European Community and others, we want to re-establish the court system," Mr. Martin said at a joint news conference with interim Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue.

Canada will be involved in everything from training magistrates and judges to reconstructing courthouses. "Military security is only part of the answer." he said. "Police security is only part of the answer. You've got to have a court system that people can believe in. You have to have a court system that can basically deal with what the police eventually come up with."

The projects will be undertaken as part of the $180-million over two years that Canada pledged to Haiti in July for reconstruction and development. The Prime Minister said Canada would also be involved in reconciliation between Haiti's fighting factions.

"This is an area where Canada has a lot of expertise," he said. "We want to train people in that kind of mediation."

Mr. Latortue said it would take time to rebuild Haiti's fractured legal system and welcomed Canada's participation.

"The facts are not always pretty," he said. "But the co-operation of Canada, and the fact that Canada has signed up along with the European Union and la Francophonie, will allow us to advance our judicial system considerably," he said.

Haiti has been mired in political upheaval since the ouster of its elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, on Feb. 29. New elections are expected next fall. Canada currently has 100 RCMP officers stationed in Haiti as part of a 5,700-member UN peacekeeping mission.

Liberal MP Denis Coderre, Mr. Martin's special adviser on Haiti, said ensuring public safety is critical as the elections approach.

"What we are looking for is to have a secure environment for elections at the end of 2005," Mr. Coderre told reporters outside the conference. "We can have elections, but lack of security remains and we have to do something about it."

Mr. Coderre said there were no immediate details available on how many Canadians would participate in retraining the judiciary.

Also at the news conference, Mr. Martin played down reports that he gave a dressing down to the Quebec wing of the federal Liberal party for adopting a resolution last weekend calling on the government to reject participation in the American missile-defence shield.

"Quite the opposite," Mr. Martin said. "I think it's very important that what Liberals do is discuss all of these issues. I'd like to see it expanded to the wider foreign policy issues."