Article updated: 5/14/2013 12:07 PM

Eviction fears haunt Haiti camp after arson, death

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Darlin Lexima shows a scar covering his collar bone which he says was inflicted by a police beating as he stands outside his home at Camp Acra in the Delmas district of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Lexima, 21, was arrested by police early April 15 when he was walking home from a disco club, as residents at his camp were protesting a raid by motorcyclists who set fire to their homes.

Associated Press

Camp leader Elie Joseph Jean-Louis holds up a photograph of the body of Merius Civil after he was allegedly beaten by police during a protest in the Delmas district of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Civil was arrested by police early April 15 when, according to his sister, he was taking out the trash when police stormed the camp as residents were protesting a raid by motorcyclist who set fire to their homes.

Associated Press

Darlin Lexima walks through Camp Acra in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Lexima, 21, who lives in the camp for people displaced by the 2010 earthquake, was arrested by police early April 15 when he was walking home from a disco club as police were responding to residents protesting an earlier raid by an unidentified band of motorcyclist who set fire to their homes. In the few weeks since the mid-April confrontation, it has become an instant symbol for what many say is the growing use of threats and sometimes outright violence to clear out sprawling displaced person camps, where some 320,000 people still live.

Associated Press

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Darlin Lexima is treated for injuries by family members at his home in Camp Acra in the Delmas district of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Lexima says his injuries are from being beating by police with their batons and the butts of their pistols and rifles in the Delmas police station after he was arrested by police early April 15 when he was walking home from a disco club, as police were responding to residents at his camp who were protesting an earlier raid by motorcyclists who set fire to their homes.

Associated Press

About this Article

Attorney Reynold Georges showed up on a recent afternoon up at a Haitian refugee camp of some 30,000 people to say they were squatting on his land and had to leave, witnesses said. In the few weeks since the mid-April confrontation, their plight has become a symbol for what many say is the growing use of threats and sometimes outright violence to clear out sprawling displaced person camps, where some 320,000 Haitians still live after the 2010 earthquake.