Haiti, U.S. spar over illegal guns

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — As the mystery surrounding an American Airlines passenger arrested in a Haiti airport with an arsenal of weapons continues, both the airline and U.S. security agencies say it’s not their responsibility to police where weapons ultimately end up. Nor is it their role, they say, to determine whether a passenger, after signing a firearms declaration form before boarding a flight, has the proper authorization from the country to which they are traveling.

“Our mission is to screen every bag for explosives or other elements that could cause catastrophic damage to an aircraft,” said Sari Koshetz, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security agency that has authority over security at U.S. airports. “TSA’s mission does not include opening bags that do not alarm for explosives or other hazardous chemicals.”

American Airlines said it is not the carrier’s responsibility to inspect the weapons in checked luggage nor to prevent passengers from taking firearms to countries where they are banned. Jacques Yves Sebastien Duroseau, 33, was arrested in Haiti Tuesday by Haitian police and remains in custody, after arriving on an American Airlines flight in Port-au-Prince with an arsenal of weapons and ammunition.

“We do not physically inspect firearms. However, we require the customer to sign the form stating they are unloaded and then they are transferred to TSA for screening,” said AA spokeswoman Martha Pantin.

That lack of inspection of firearms on flights from the U.S. isn’t going over well in Haiti, where an estimated 500,000 illegal guns are in circulation despite a U.S. arms embargo, and heavily armed criminal gangs are exacerbating a political and economic crisis by barricading streets, hijacking vehicles and holding entire communities hostage.

U.S. agencies “have a responsibility to make sure that the person has the proper authorization,” said Samuel Madistin, an attorney and chairman of the board of directors of Fondation Je Klere, a Port-auPrince based human-rights group.

The TSA said it is only responsible for screening luggage for things that would affect the safety of the aircraft, like explosives. Customs and Border Protection said passengers planning to take their guns and ammunition to another country should check with that country’s embassy to see what arms are legal to take.