Canadian National Sought in Haiti

Reported by Kevin Pina

Port au Prince, Haiti- May 18, 2000- Less than one week before Haiti's scheduled election, the Haitian National Police have issued an "arrest on sight" order for a Canadian national on charges of "activities suspected of being destabilizing to democratic order." The suspect was identified as 53 year-old Lynn Garrison who claims Canadian citizenship and is known to have served as advisor to former military strongmen General Raoul Cedras and Chief of Police Michel Francois. Cedras, who led the 1991 coup in Haiti, was last reported to be living in Panama while Francois was indicted in the US on charges of narcotics trafficking in 1997.

Garrison was described in a June 1994 interview in the Toronto Globe and Mail as "a former Canadian born fighter pilot.playing the improbable role of advisor to the military regime, public relations man for the 1991 coup, and intelligence source for attacks by American conservatives on exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide." Garrison has made public claims he was the source for the "psychological profile" of former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide that was presented by the CIA's Brian Latelle to the US Senate in 1993. In that report, Aristide was described as mentally unbalanced, on lithium, and having been confined to a Canadian mental institution in the 1980's.

Garrison's name surfaced May 11th following a raid at two addresses in the capital of Port au Prince. The raid resulted in the arrest of eight members of the former Haitian military and a warrant was also issued for the arrest of Serge Justafort who remains at large. Police sources confirmed that Mr. Justafort is the chief of security for rental installations operated by the US diplomatic mission in Haiti.

In addition to the arrests, police confiscated equipment used to manufacture identification cards bearing the logo of the former Haitian military. Aristide disbanded the military in 1994 when he returned to Haiti after the Clinton Administration dispatched 20,000 troops with the stated purpose of restoring democracy. In an apparent challenge to Haiti's fledgling democracy, police sources have confirmed that the operation was devised to recruit membership for an eventual resurgence of the armed forces. For a nominal fee of roughly $25 in US currency, recruits were guaranteed a position in the army and then issued a new identification card.

Mr. Garrison's whereabouts are presently unknown but a police spokesperson stated he has been "circulating throughout many regions of the country for several days" engaging in activities to "destabilize democracy" in the Caribbean nation. Police have not elaborated on the charges and their investigation continues.

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