Three gang members were shot to death in an impoverished...

Three gang members were shot to death in an impoverished quarter of the Haitian capital after opening fire on Haitian National Police officers, a police spokesman said.
But residents of the area who witnessed the shootings late on May 25 in the Cite Soleil slum said the victims were affiliated with activist organizations close to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Lavalas Family party and were executed by heavily armed police. The deaths triggered exchanges of fire between police and gangs.
The killings came in the wake of a disarmament campaign launched by Aristide this month, in which he offered to buy back arms from residents of poor areas. Entering office in February 2001, Aristide launched a "zero tolerance" policy against violent crime. Although widely praised by Haitians, human rights groups have criticized the policy for giving police permission to attack suspected criminals.
Haitian National Police spokesman Jean-Dady Simeon rejected accusations the men were shot to death as they arrived for an arranged meeting with police officials.
"These were bandits who opened fired on and attacked the police while they were conducting an operation, which was to disarm and arrest the criminals," Simeon said. "The police simply responded, defending themselves."
Billy Petit, a local leader and Lavalas Family activist, said the three were not criminals. "They (police) just killed them, shot them down in the street."