News
and opinions on situation in Haiti |
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| 9/12/05 |
Why should I trust fake elections? by Lyn Duff | Jordanian “peacekeepers” shoot Haitian police officers | Supreme Court rules in favor of Simeus, AP now quotes UN spokeman saying kidnappings are NEAR Site Soley… |
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********************************************************** – ‘Why would I trust this fake election?’ Haitians sound off on …by Lyn Duff – HLLN Note: The Coup D’etat sector continues to fear a democratic vote in Haiti, that is, an election attended by the majority of voters eligible to vote in Haiti. See article below entitled: A Haitian political interest has reportedly contacted lobbyists to try to persuade the U.S. government of the need to postpone the elections in Haiti (AHP) Yep, this traditionally unable-to-win-an-election-in-Haiti-sector allegedly went to Washington to ask massah to postponed the upcoming vote because, according to the article QUOTE “if the elections are held right away and are won by a political group that does not subscribe to the policies of the interim government and the political parties that support it, Haiti might lose the benefit of the reforms that are now underway”!!!!!!!!! UNQUOTE – Jordanian ‘peacekeepers’ likely tied to Haiti shooting, AP – Haiti’s Supreme Court rules in favor of US businessman’s – Political leader released by kidnappers; number of abductions soar ************************* ‘Why would I trust this fake election?’ www.sfbayview.com/120705/fakeelection120705.shtml Presidential elections in Haiti were postponed for the fifth time this week and have been rescheduled for January. Some on Haiti’s left have called for an election boycott until the thousands of political prisoners are released and there is an end to the extensive human rights violations against Haiti’s poor majority by the national police. Observers predict that elections will take place and that RenÈ Preval, a former member of Fanmi Lavalas and past president, will win in a landslide. Bay View reporter Lyn Duff was on the ground in Port-au-Prince speaking to ordinary Haitians about whether they plan to vote and why. Samson, a 62-year-old carpenter: “No one could persuade me to vote in this election. It’s a farce. The last time I voted, the person I voted for was removed by a coup. Why would I trust this fake election by the people who did the coup against democracy? No, I will not vote.” Emil, 19, high school student: “I would vote if I could, but I was not able to register to vote. I went to register, but I did not have the papers I needed. If I could vote, I would vote for RenÈ Preval because he will make a good change in Haiti.” Wendelly, 31, merchant: “I am tired of politics here. The elections have no meaning for me. No matter who becomes president, things will not change here. When people try to make change, they make a coup against him. I am tired of elections. I have better things to do than vote for someone who will just make my life more miserable in the end.” Wootrood, 22, vocational student: “I plan to vote for Preval. He is the best of the choices. We don’t have very good choices. There are many people running for president, but none of them are as good as Aristide. Even when Aristide had problems, he was the best for the Haitian people.” Sarah, 37, merchant: “I support Aristide, and I will not rest until he comes back. I will not vote in these elections. They are a sham election. If I voted, that would support the elections and the coup!” Markenson, 45, welder: “On the television there is a spot about Marc Bazin that says, ‘If you support Aristide, vote for Marc Bazin.’ Are they crazy? Do they think we’re going to believe this shit? If you support Aristide, don’t vote!” Viola, 27, cashier: “I don’t get involved in politics. Voting in the elections, I don’t want to get involved in that. It’s too dangerous to have an opinion today.” Phillip, 51, driver: “They say that Charlito can make a real difference in Haiti because he has discipline. I haven’t made a decision yet about who to vote for. My wife is voting for Preval because she thinks he is the best of the bad options we have. “Whoever becomes president will have to make a change about the high cost of living. We have so many problems, economic problems, and I can’t pay for my children to go to high school because the cost of living is so high. If a president could change this, I would support him.” Lyn Duff (LynDuff@aol.com) is a reporter currently based in Port-au-Prince. She first traveled to Haiti in 1995 to help establish a children’s radio station and has since covered Haiti extensively for Pacifica Radio’s Flashpoints, heard on KPFA weekdays at 5 p.m., and other local and national media. ***** Port-au-Prince, December 6, 2005 (AHP)- A Haitian political sector is said to have recently contacted lobbyists in the United States in hopes of persuading the U.S. government to work for a postponement of the elections in Haiti, AHP has learned from sources that are generally reliable. The first round of the presidential and legislative elections has been set for January 8, with the second round scheduled for February 15, 2006, after having been postponed on three different occasions. The reasoning behind the effort by the political sector in question to try to obtain a postponement of the elections is reportedly that “if the elections are held right away and are won by a political group that does not subscribe to the policies of the interim government and the political parties that support it, Haiti might lose the benefit of the reforms that are now underway”. At the same time, many political sectors consider that the electoral process has never aroused so much concern in Haiti and preparations for elections have never been so mishandled despite the extraordinary mobilization of the international community. In addition, despite grave technical problems facing the Council mandated to organize the elections, a degree of coolness has set in among some political sectors that no longer exhibit the level of enthusiasm they once displayed. However, many feel that any possible further postponement of the elections in Haiti would be perceived as a very serious failure for the international community, to the extent that no solution would have been found to the impasse in Haiti 23 months after the sudden departure of President Jean Bertrand Aristide on February 29, 2004. ***** Thursday, December 8, 2005 Peacekeepers likely tied to Haiti shooting By ALFRED DE MONTESQUIOU PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The United Nations acknowledged Thursday that its peacekeepers likely opened fire on a car full of Haitian police officers this week, wounding two. According to a preliminary investigation, five uniformed officers were driving toward a U.N. checkpoint on Monday when the peacekeepers opened fire, said U.N. spokesman Damian Onses-Cardona. He showed reporters photographs of the blue car, which had official license plates but no other markings. “The first elements of the investigation tend to show that U.N. peacekeepers could have done the shooting,” Onses-Cardona said. Peacekeepers may have confused the police with armed gang members whom they are fighting to gain control of the seaside slum of Cite Soleil, Onses-Cardona said. Cite Soleil, where gun battles between peacekeepers and gangs take place almost daily, remains the most insecure place in Haiti ahead of national elections scheduled for Jan. 8. Haitian police do not enter the slum, which a battalion of 1,500 Jordanian peacekeepers in armored vehicles has pledged to reclaim from the gangs. One of the two wounded Haitian police officers remained hospitalized in stable condition Thursday. “Even though this incident is appalling, the tight collaboration between U.N. peacekeepers and Haitian police will continue,” Onses-Cardona said. The two forces currently are studying a joint plan to combat kidnappings, which have surged in areas near Cite Soleil, he said. Meanwhile, representatives of Haiti and the European Union Thursday signed an $88 million deal for road-building and repair grants. The aid will go to building about 60 miles of new roads, mainly in Haiti’s north and near the neighboring Dominican Republic. Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue said he hopes the improvements will help reduce the hundreds of deadly accidents each year on Haiti’s crumbling roads. ****** Haiti’s Supreme Court rules in favor of U.S. businessman’s presidential bid 12/09/2005 By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU / Associated Press Haiti’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal seeking to block a Haitian-born U.S. businessman from running for president, but the interim government said Thursday the ruling won’t allow him back into the race. The court ruled in October that Dumarsais Simeus, owner of a food services company in Mansfield, Texas, could seek the presidency, overruling electoral officials who argued he wasn’t eligible because he is a U.S. citizen. Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council appealed the ruling on a technicality, but the five-member court threw out the motion, saying its original ruling was correct. The court ruled on the appeal Monday but published its decision Thursday. Supreme Court judge Michel Donatien said the ruling “puts an end to the issue for the court” but stressed it wouldn’t lead to Simeus being reinstated on the ballot for national elections scheduled for Jan. 8. That decision is up to a government-appointed nationality commission, which has already declared Simeus ineligible. Michel Brunache, chief of staff of interim President Boniface Alexandre, said the court’s decision wouldn’t allow Simeus to run. “The court’s new decision has no impact, the issue of Simeus’ candidacy is closed,” Brunache said. However, Simeus praised the ruling in a statement, calling it “the final victory for democracy, rule of law and clean government.” Simeus, 65, is currently in the United States where he said he was meeting with officials and investors. He stated last week he remained in the race for president and would use “all legal pressure” to force authorities to let him run. The elections will be the first since a February 2004 revolt toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first democratically elected president of the Caribbean nation of 8 million that has suffered decades of civilian and military dictatorships and coups. ********************************* Agence HaÔtienne de Presse – AHP December 7, 2005 English translation A relentless pursuit of Haitians is underway in the region of Cibao, Dominican Republic, after the murder of a money-changer: Dominicans vow to kill any Haitian they meet Santo-Domingo, December 7, 2005 (AHP)- Pressure on Haitian nationals residing in the Cibao region of the Dominican Republic has intensified since the beginning of this week following the murder of a Dominican money-changer at Villa Trina and a machete attack on three Dominican women in Poton. These violent acts have been attributed to Haitians although no proof has been provided to support any of the accusations. Nevertheless, Haitian citizens living in the region have been the object of relentless pursuit since news of these incidents. Dominicans armed with machetes and other cutting instruments have sworn to kill every Haitian they meet. At least one Haitian worker has been killed according to a local police report, although other sources report that several Haitians have been killed and more than 30 injured, out of hundreds of Haitians who have been compelled to leave the area to avoid the rage of the Dominicans. The situation is a grim reprise of last May, when the killing of Dominican shopkeeper Martza NÒez was followed by similar acts of reprisal in the towns of Pueblo Nuevo, Tamayo, Enriquillo and other communities in the Cibao region, after which no action whatsoever was taken by the criminal justice authorities against Dominicans involved in the attacks against Haitians. A number of human rights groups have spoken out repeatedly in recent days against what they termed the lax attitude of the interim Haitian authorities and the ineffectualness of their diplomatic mission in Santo-Domingo on the one hand and on the other hand, the do-nothing policy of the Dominican authorities accused of tolerating these attacks as part of an overall strategy of diversionary maneuvers designed to distract public attention from the real problems of the Dominican Republic. A delegation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the OAS (IACHR) met Tuesday at the Hotel El Embajador in Santo-Domingo with more than 60 representatives of Haitian and Dominican NGOs working in the area of human rights. The purpose of the meeting was to gather information relating to the human rights situation and living and working conditions for Haitian immigrants. As part of the meeting’s agenda, the Commission’s special rapporteur for the Dominican Republic, Mr. Florentin MelÈndez of El Salvador, received written reports and oral testimony from invitees who had come from several communities in the provinces, offering information indicating that the human rights situation has seriously deteriorated. The Commission’s visit is taking place against the backdrop of a very sharp increase in acts of violence and a raging campaign organized by nationalist sectors against the presence of Haitians, which is being portrayed as a threat to Dominican identity. Mr. MelÈndez underscored the point that this mission of the IACHR is being conducted in an informal manner due to the fact that the Dominican government has not responded affirmatively to the Commission’s official request for meetings with senior officials from the various agencies of government including President Leonel In Haiti and in the Dominican Republic, many observers are indicating that it has been years since they have seen so dramatic a turn for the worse in relations between Haitians and Dominicans. ********************************** Haiti: political leader released by kidnappers; number of abductions soar 02:42 2005-12-08 Emmanuel Cantave, leader of the Lavalas Family party, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he was held by armed gangs in the Cite Soleil slum on the northern outskirts of the capital. Cantave said his party and his family pooled a ransom of more than US$25,000 (Ђ21,000) to set him free on Tuesday. His release came as abductions surged in the capital, a month before national elections scheduled for Jan. 8. “We registered 30 cases of kidnappings for the whole of November and 30 cases just for the first week of December,” police spokesman Frantz Lerebours told reporters Wednesday. Observers believe the real figures could be up to 10 times higher, since many families prefer not to report cases to police and to negotiate directly with kidnappers. Last week, 14 schoolchildren, a U.S. missionary and a Haitian journalist were among about two dozen people who were taken hostage and then released for ransom in the area. Cite Soleil the country’s largest slum, where about 200,000 people live in squalid conditions remains a hub for violence plaguing the capital. Well-armed gangs allegedly close to Aristide clash nearly daily with U.N. peacekeepers in armored vehicles. The freshly released Cantave said gang members beat him and at one point threatened to kill him, criticizing the Lavalas party leadership’s choice for the presidential elections. Many grass root sections of Lavalas, such as those in Cite Soleil, have shown support for independent candidate Rene Preval against the official Lavalas candidate, Marc Bazin. The U.N. force, which has pledged to secure Cite Soleil before national elections, has said it feared some gangs could try to disrupt elections. Meanwhile, police have filed a complaint with the United Nations, asking it to investigate the shooting of two uniformed Haitian police officers by peacekeepers near Cite Soleil on Monday, said police Inspector General Gessy Coicou. The U.N. has said it was investigating, reported AP. ********************************** |
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