Wyclef Urges Violence in Haiti to Stop

Grammy Award-winning musician Wyclef Jean is asking his fellow Haitian citizens to give up crime and attempt to improve the country in a new radio ad sponsored by a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti.

"If you love Wyclef, that means you love Haiti. So you should not be raping women, kidnapping people and children, because there can be no excuse for doing so," Jean said in Creole (native language of Haiti) in a brief ad run several times throughout the day by local stations in Haiti.

"I reject these evil practices," 35-year-old Jean said, also going on to urge the Haitian men to protect and respect women's rights in his birth country.

Jean's ad comes on the heels of Haitian police and U.N. authorities noting the rise in crime in recent weeks, among that crime being a wave of kidnappings and crimes committed by gangs in the capital.

During March, official figures say that 36 people were kidnapped in Port-au-Prince, and around 30 in February. Previous to these two spikes, the average number of kidnappings had been lower than 20 a month.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas, and for decades has had to endure dictatorship, military rule and a great deal of violence.