News
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Haiti News roundup February 3 2005 |
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************** The Narcosphere narcosphere.narconews.com/ February 3, 2005 Haiti: the Western World’s Worst Crimes By Benjamin Melancon, I feel guilty every time I use my limited time to post on Guantánamo. The U.S. media have started to cover that travesty. The world media, with the notable exception of Australia, are nearly unanimous in their condemnation of the interrogation camp. On far, far worse crimes in Haiti – including paramilitary death squads, killings by police, and jailing without legal cause or counsel – crimes committed with the conscious and active aid of U.S., French, Canadian, and Brazilian governments – the media silence is, as they say, deafening. Tom Reeves, discussing a recent human rights report, and Reed Lindsay, reporting for Free Speech Radio News – www.fsrn.org/ from Port-au-Prince, provide a partial corrective… Investigators saw and include photos of boys as young as twelve lying in pools of their own blood in the General Hospital, where doctors refused to treat them, Reeves described the report by the Center for the Study of Human Rights (CSHR) at the University of Miami (available as a 7MB PDF document – www.ijdh.org/CSHRhaitireport.pdf). Other photos show bodies left in the street and dozens of bodies rotting and piled high at the morgue after police and UN invasions of Port au Prince’s poor neighborhoods. Interviews with police and others make clear a systematic campaign of political repression and assassination aimed at Aristide’s Lavalas Party, often committed directly by the Haitian National Police (HNP), and in some cases by the UN forces (MINUSTAH) accompanying them. Free Speech Radio News reports that the U.S.-installed Latortue government announces elections only for the end of this year– at best nearly two years after the coup. Already Fanmi-Lavalas, Aristide’s party with large majority support, says it will not participate because of the terror and assassination against its members. Reed Lindsay in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, reported Monday that the residents of a cinderblock-house neighborhood faced a 4 a.m. police raid Sunday morning. A man said police tied the hands of his 17-year-old son, dragged him into the sheet, and shot him dead. Another man said police executed his 45 year old brother in front of his house. The police chief confirmed that police did stage an operation Sunday, but said no-one died. Residents say there had already been two police attacks in the past month, burning houses and killing at least 8 people. UN peacekeepers are investigating a string of summary executions allegedly committed by police in Port-au-Prince’s poor neighborhoods, where support still runs high for Aristide, Lindsay said. Yesterday Lindsay reported on the death of Haitian journalist Abdia Jean, a correspondent for a Miami radio station. The top official of the United Nations called the killing an intolerable attack on democracy and rule of law. According to witnesses, Jean was executed by police last month near his home in a Port-au-Prince slum known as God’s Village– ten days after residents there reported summary executions by police. Dictator Gerard Latortue has publicly denounced journalists who report the crimes of his government, raising fears of more violence against working reporters. The manipulation of Haitian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) by U.S. organizations supported by the U.S. government reveals how governments prepare for mass murder and the crushing of democracy. Reeves summarized the CSHR report’s details on the effect of aid from the USAID-supported International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES): Extensive interviews with staff of CARLI, a Haitian human rights organization, revealed that IFES funded CARLI during the lead-up to the ouster of Aristide— with technical support and as much as $54,000 during 2003. CARLI staff revealed that it was instructed to provide lists of alleged Lalavals human rights violators, which were then read out on Haitian commercial radio. (Twenty of the twenty-five commercial stations and several of the Haitian daily and weekly newspapers are owned by members of the “184" anti-Aristide coalition.) It is now feared that these lists have been used since the coup to target Lavalas leaders for summary arrest, attacks on property, and even death. With IFES funding slowly removed during 2004, CARLI began to report on fraudulent human rights cases put forward by the government, and on violent campaigns against Lavalas and other community groups who refused to endorse the removal of Aristide. It investigated the claim of Latortue that Lavalas had ordered decapitation of police officers in a campaign dubbed “Operation Baghdad.” These accusations were picked up and spread uncritically by Haitian and U.S. media. CARLI now says no such campaign by Lavalas existed, and that the only two decapitations of police were committed by former Haitian army officers, not Lavalas. Cause, and effect. Lies and a complicit media, and death and the destruction of self-rule. This isn’t in the past, this continues to happen right now. We must stop it. The first step: telling the truth, and spreading it. And facing its horror. The second will have to be mass action. Thank you, Lindsay and Reeves, and others like Randall White at HatiAction.net – haitiaction.net/ and Marguerite Laurent of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, – www.margueritelaurent.com/law/haitianlawyers.html for pushing us into that first step. ************** Resolution of the Cuba/North America Labor Conference Concerning the Situation in Haiti The Cuba/North America Labor Conference, meeting in Tijuana, Mexico, December 10-12, 2004, adopted the following resolution on Haiti, by unanimous vote of the more than 200 labor delegates from the United States, Cuba and Mexico who were in attendance. The Cuba/North America Labor Conference: 1) Expresses our solidarity with the large majority of the people of Haiti who do not support the Latortue coup government, which they consider as illegitimate and imposed by outside powers; 2) Demands an end to the occupation of Haiti and the withdrawal of all foreign troops; 3) Applauds the action of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) in refusing to recognize the coup regime — a regime that condones and encourages the daily killings of supporters of President Aristide by paramilitary death squads and national police, as well as repression of trade unions; 4) Respects the fervent desire of the Haitian people for the return of their legitimate president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide — whom they have twice elected to office by overwhelming majorities [in clean, huge-turnout elections], only to see his government twice overthrown by foreign powers in collaboration with the Haitian death squads. This cries out for our human and labor solidarity! ************** South Florida Sun-Sentinel www.sun-sentinel.com/ February 1, 2005 Prominent Miami priest says Haiti peace unlikely without Aristide By Alva James-Johnson Staff Writer The United States must help restore former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power, or Haiti won’t see peace, a priest and former political prisoner warned Monday. The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, the former director of the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami, made the statements to about 250 jubilant Aristide supporters in Miami, after returning from South Africa where he said he met with the ousted president and his wife, Mildred, last week. Jean-Juste said Aristide and his wife are still working as honorary research fellows at the University of South Africa. “President Aristide is doing great physically,” Jean-Juste assured the crowd. “He said he’d like peace to come back [to Haiti], and the sooner the better.” In the 1970s and 1980s, Jean-Juste was a prominent spokesman for Haitian immigrants in South Florida. He recently spent seven weeks in a Haitian prison after authorities accused him of inciting violence among Aristide supporters, but was released last month. Vice Consul Ralph Latortue, of the Haitian Consulate in Miami, said Jean-Juste’s comments Monday were not surprising. “Opinions most of the time are very relative to your situation,” said Latortue, a cousin of Haiti’s Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. “I don’t think I would be happy either if I had been in jail for a period of time.” Gerard Latortue’s U.S.-supported provisional government replaced Aristide’s administration. Jean-Juste has denied charges that he and Aristide are provoking violence, and accused the interim Haitian government of persecuting its political enemies. He said the U.S. government kidnapped Aristide, and forced him out of office Feb. 29 although he was a democratically elected president. Elections are scheduled for later this year, but Jean-Juste said Aristide’s Lavalas party would not participate unless Aristide returned, political prisoners were released and human rights were respected in the country. “We want constitutional order to return to Haiti,” he said. “If America can recognize his leadership and can help organize his return to Haiti … there will be peace in Haiti.” Alva James-Johnson can be reached at ajjohnson@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4523. Copyright © 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinel ******** SF Bay Area Indymedia www.indybay.org/ February 2, 2005 Reporters In Haiti Under Attack Journalist Abdias Jean of Miami radio station WKAT 1360 was killed by “security” forces in Village de Dieu during a police sweep of that populist district on Friday, January 14. An eyewitness testified – www.ijdh.org/articles/article_attacks_on_press_freedom_january- 21.html that before he was executed, the journalist begged, “Don’t kill me, I am a journalist. Why should I be killed like that?” The same day, Haitian police officers seized a video camera from two journalists with the station Télé Ginen. The police only returned the camera several hours later, after removing video footage of the violent sweep of Village de Dieu. Human rights activists also decried the summary execution of Lavalas activist Jimmy Charles, – williambowles.info/haiti-news/2005/charles_execution.html whose bullet-riddled body was found at the morgue of the General Hospital while he was supposed to be in the hands of the police after having been initially taken into custody by members of the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Activists also denounced the extra-judicial killing of student Ederson Joseph – www.haitiaction.net/News/AHP/2005/01/24/05.html. CPDH (Committee for the Defense of the Rights of the Haitian People) director Ronald St-Jean accused MINUSTAH of not doing enough to pursue the killers of Abdias Jean, Jimmy Charles, and Ederson Joseph. But a MINUSTAH spokesperson denied that the UN had any responsibility for the killing of civilians taken into custody by UN soldiers and handed over to the national police. The spokesperson argued that the only legal force authorized to follow-up on arrests is the national police, and that MINUSTAH has no responsibility in cases of individuals turned over to the police who are later found dead. A new report (view pdf – www.law.miami.edu/news/cshr.pdf) from the Center for the Study of Human Rights (CSHR) – www.law.miami.edu/cshr/ at the University of Miami reports credible evidence – www.indybay.org/news/2005/01/1718887.php that raids began on Port au Prince’s poorest neighborhoods immediately after the landing of U.S. troops, and increased after major pro-Aristide demonstrations in September illustrated continuing wide support for the forcibly-ousted President1s return. CSHR investigators witnessed events immediately before and after a Nov. 18 raid on the desperately poor neighborhood of Bel Air. The report includes photographs and interviews with Haitian National Police and MINUSTAH shortly before the raid began. Investigators photographed bodies of those killed—including women and teenagers—during the operation, and interviewed some of the severely wounded—including at least one who identified the MINUSTAH (UN) soldiers who shot him. Police and residents testified that such violent raids had taken place almost daily since September. One police officer said that they were pushed to target specific individuals for assassination, but that for every ten killed, six were merely witnesses or bystanders. Residents were afraid to take the wounded to the General Hospital, where doctors often refused to treat patients without money (the former staff of Cuban volunteer doctors was expelled after the coup), and where the HNP often came to seize such victims who subsequently disappeared. ****** Prensa Latina www.prensa-latina.org/ English web-site: www.plenglish.com/ February 1, 2005 Haitian Elections Called Haitian authorities set dates for elections Port au Prince, Haiti, Feb 1 (Prensa Latina) Local and national elections will be held in October and November this year, Haitian authorities informed on Monday. According to a Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) report, local elections are scheduled for October 9, while Presidential elections will be contested on November 13. Prime Minister Gerard Latortue is expected to approve the schedule later this week. The elected officials will take up office in January and February 2006, and will replace the US backed interim administration headed by Prime Minister Latortue, which was installed after the controversial departure of then President Jean Bertrand Aristide on February 29 last year. Members of ousted President Jean Bertrand Aristide”s Lavalas Family party have already indicated they will participate only if the interim government ends what they call the arbitrary arrest of Aristide supporters. To date, 91 political parties have already registered with the government, and United Nations elections officer Gerardo Le Chavellier said close to 100 candidates will contest the presidential elections. Supporters of the ousted leader continue to demand his return to office, and political violence in Aristide strongholds has resulted in the deaths of over 250 people over the past four months Copyright © 2004 Prensa Latina ********** PRESS RELEASE January 24, 2005 ACM WANTS HAITIAN JOURNALIST’S MURDERERS BROUGHT TO JUSTICE January 24, 2005 – The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) calls on Haitian authorities to work assiduously to bring to justice the person or persons responsible for the murder of broadcast journalist, Abdias Jean. Our information is that Jean was killed while covering a police operation in Village de Dieu on January 14. We view accounts of Jean’s murder with utmost concern since it has been reported that he was shot by members of the country’s security forces. We believe this incident can have the impact of delaying the re-entry of Haiti as an active member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the benefits to the people of the country such status has the potential to bring. This savage assault on the free press follows on the heels of recent reports of violent acts and threats against Haitian journalists. This is absolutely unacceptable and we join with partner institutions in the hemisphere and beyond in expressing our condemnation of any attempt to impede the work of the media in Haiti. ********* February 3, 2005 Haiti Human Rights Alert – Executions Continue under RCMP/UN Watch Haiti – Urgent Action Requested Residents from Korido Bassia and Mòn St Michel (Rue Tiremasse Prolongée) denounce police persecution and ask for protection. On January 30, 5 men were shot after police raided this poor neighborhood stuck between Bel Air and Fort National, allegedly looking for “bandits”. Two of these men, one a student aged 17, were dragged from their homes and executed outside in the street. The other three were left wounded, one of whom is lying in critical condition at the hospital. On January 18, at least 20 houses were burned in the same neighborhood by police officers in black uniforms and hooded. They looted the houses or shops before setting fire to them. On December 28, more than 10 residents are reported as having been executed, some in Corridor Bassia while others were taken in Delmas and killed there. Many other residents, especially old women, were assaulted by those police officers who asked them for information about the whereabouts of “bandits”. When they replied that they did not know of bandits living in the area, they were hit. As a result of these violent acts, many residents have been forced to leave the targeted zone. Many no longer have a house to live in while others are terrified as the police officers who have been persecuting the zone have indicated that they will come back to “clean” the area. Police officers were again operating in the neighborhood on Sunday night. Heavy continuous shootings could be heard coming from the zone. Residents called requesting to inform MINUSTAH troops to be sent there in order to protect them from the police. Terrified residents have been denouncing the arbitrary acts carried out by police against them and keep asking that MINUSTAH forces offer them around the clock protection. They believe it is because troops are not stationed in their neighborhoods that they have been attacked. A detailed report of the violations committed in Koridor Bassia and other poor neighborhoods will be available shortly. PLEASE SEND URGENT MESSAGES TO THE HAITIAN AUTHORITIES AND ALL THOSE CONCERNED ASKING THAT – POLICE STOP ACTS OF PERSECUTION (SPECIALLY SUMMARY EXECUTIONS) AGAINST RESIDENTS FROM KORIDOR BASSIA AND MON ST MICHEL AS WELL AS OTHER POOR NEIGHBORHOODS; – MINUSTAH OFFER PROTECTION TO ALL TARGETED NEIGHBORHOODS; AND – THAT A FULL AND INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION IS CARRIED OUT IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY AND PROSECUTE THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE CRIMINAL ACTS. Judy Dacruz Port-au-Prince February 1, 2005 Help Preserve Independent Media in Haiti: Support Radio Solidarite and the Agence Haïtienne de Presse (AHP) January 2005 Dear Friends, We are writing to ask for your help in preserving two of the last remaining vehicles of independent media left in Haiti. The essential Port-au-Prince station Radio Solidarite, along with its sister organization, news agency Agence Haïtienne de Presse (AHP), are now struggling to remain operational in the face of dire economic and political impediments. During the 1991-1994 military takeover, AHP was among the very few organizations providing at great personal risk the only reliable news from Haiti, offering a beacon of hope for the many Haitians craving courageous, independent reporting. AHP’s record of defending basic Haitian human rights has been monumental. In the lead up to the February 29, 2004 ouster of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, AHP and Radio Solidarite resisted tremendous pressure to abandon their independent line. Today, after yet another coup which has forced democratically-elected President Aristide from office has given way to violence and oppression, AHP and Radio Solidarite function together as a daring experiment in solidarity with the Haitian people and the democratic movement. By financing operations via paid commercial advertising and public service announcements, and subsidizing AHP text news resources through the radio station, the joint operation©ˆs director Georges Venel Remarais was able to keep this highly professional but feisty and independent project alive. This unusual commercial model with its public interest mission has also informed Haitians on a wide range of issues through radio programs on women’s and children’s health, HIV/AIDS and human rights. This model has great potential to sustain democratic development and unfettered grass roots communication. Unfortunately, advertising revenue has dropped off considerably over the past year. Despite hard times, AHP and Radio Solidarite have grown to support a staff of 12 in the main Port-au-Prince office. Another 10 correspondents are based throughout Haiti; additional reporters write from The Dominican Republic, Canada and the United States, where there are large Haitian populations. In order to maintain its loyal staff, Radio Solidarite and AHP need to raise US$7,000 by the end of January to make up for lost income from the precipitous decline in advertising revenue. You have received daily English translations of AHP news without charge and know the importance of the service it provides, and so we are asking you to give generously in this, our first fund major fund appeal to our subscribers. Your generous support for Radio Solidarité/AHP©ˆs efforts to tell the truth about Haiti are greatly appreciated. Every dollar of your checks will go to Radio Solidarité/AHP in Haiti. We will keep you informed about future projects to keep this essential project solvent. Please make checks out to AHP/Radio Solidarité and mail them to: Friends of AHP PO Box 370 Osceola, WI 54020 (Please note that your contributions are not tax deductible.) Thanks for whatever support you can provide this essential beacon of independent media in Haiti. Sincerely, The Friends of AHP For more information, or to receive English translations of AHP news, email mlhaiti@cornernet.com. *********** February 3, 2005 Out of prison, priest renews call for democracy, Aristide in Haiti by Judith Scherr The timing of the arrest may have been a coincidence – or maybe not. It was Oct. 13, just two hours after his cell phone conversation with friend and political ally, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s ousted president, when black-hooded police with automatic weapons burst into the churchyard where Father Gérard Jean-Juste was feeding some 600 children. The men grabbed the priest and took him to prison, shooting and wounding three of the children as they left. The telephone conversation might have been of interest to a George W. Bush supporter, had such a person been listening in to the dialogue between the priest and the exiled president. Aristide was removed from Haiti Feb. 29, 2004, by U.S. officials and now, recognized as a head of state, stays as a guest in South Africa, where he and his wife Mildred research and teach at a university. Aristide says U.S. officials forced him out of Haiti; the U.S. says Aristide asked to leave. The Oct. 13 phone conversation wasn’t about Haiti, where Aristide supporters are murdered, jailed or run out of the country on a daily basis. The conversation focused on the upcoming U.S. elections and on the priest’s vacation plans. “I said, ‘Oh President, I’m going to have one more vacation. I’m going to the U.S. – it’s election time. I wish that people can come out in big numbers and vote in the United States. Maybe we’ll have a friendly candidate win, and things will go better for Haiti.’” Jean-Juste told the story of his arrest and talked about the recent face-to-face visit with Aristide Saturday evening, when some 250 people filled the pews at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Berkeley. It was just one stop on a three-day Bay Area speaking/media tour that took Jean-Juste from Palo Alto to the East Bay and Marin County. The visit was sponsored by the What If? Foundation, which funds Jean Juste’s meals program, and by the Haiti Action Committee, an organization that supports the democratic movement in Haiti. “I told President Aristide I was going to Florida to stay for a month,” Jean-Juste said. The priest’s pre-election season “vacation” in Florida was to be spent working with a coalition of Jewish-Americans, Haitian-Americans and African-Americans – John Kerry supporters – to encourage their participation in the upcoming elections. “Those who cannot vote can assist. That’s my role every time there is an election. We have rallies, meetings.” (Jean-Juste spent time in Florida before the 2000 election as well.) The outspoken priest, the first Haitian ordained in the United States, is known throughout the world as a humanitarian who worked in Florida with Haitian refugees during “Baby Doc” Duvalier’s dictatorship and the military rule that followed. He cited a number of reasons to oppose the current U.S. administration. One is the war in Iraq. “The sons of the poorest U.S. citizens are dying in the wars. There is no reason to go to war. I see so many young Americans being killed in Iraq. In the ‘60s people stood up to say ‘no’ to the Viet Nam War. Today we must wake up and say, ‘No more war.’” The core of Jean-Juste’s opposition to the Bush regime – Juste likes to refer to “right-wing elements” in the Republican administration – is the defiling of the Haitian constitution: the democratically-elected leader was banished from his country and hundreds of Aristide supporters have been illegally arrested, beaten and even killed since that time. “When I see President Bush swear he’ll defend the constitution, I say, “Will George Bush respect the constitution of Haiti, too?” Jean-Juste never got the vacation he’d planned. Instead, he spent the next seven weeks in jail. “I was arrested before the elections and kept in jail until after,” he said. But doing jail time didn’t discourage the priest. It gave him time to pray, encourage the other prisoners – mostly Aristide supporters – and advocate for better jail conditions. Like Jean-Juste, most of the political prisoners have not been formally charged with a crime. Haitian law says that arrests must be accompanied by a warrant and 48 hours after an arrest one must be formally charged by a judge. In the priest’s case, there was no warrant. One month after being locked in jail, he finally got to see a judge who found no wrongdoing. The judge ordered Jean-Juste freed, but he wasn’t allowed to walk out the prison gate for another three weeks. Jean-Juste credits his eventual freedom to pressure from worldwide religious and humanitarian organizations, as well as a number of U.S. Congress members. Most of the other more-than-700 political prisoners are not so lucky. Jean-Juste points in particular to the case of Harold Severe, the former mayor of Port-au-Prince – just one among dozens of former government officials that languish today in Haitian jails. “They were about to release him – because the judge ordered his release. At the exit door of the jail, they ordered him to come back.” Jean-Juste says the Minister of Justice interfered with the judicial process, ordering that Severe remain in prison. The growing numbers of political prisoners was one of the subjects Jean-Juste said he’d discussed when he met with Aristide in South Africa. He said Aristide is worried about the arbitrary arrests and the overcrowded jails. Sham elections, such as those in Iraq, are not the answer, Jean-Juste said. Aristide said that if conditions for bona fide elections are respected, then Lavalas, his political party, would participate: those conditions include return to constitutional order; the physical return of Aristide to Haiti to serve out the remainder of his five-year term – about one more year; and the release of all political prisoners. “He’s worried about the people,” Jean-Juste said. “He wants peace in Haiti; he wants to stop the repression. With all the conditions respected, we can go to elections.” Why is Jean-Juste speaking out, risking re-arrest and even his life? (He has received death threats, according to the Margaret Trost, president of the What If? Foundation.) He says his goal is to bring democracy to Haiti, but his vision is broader – he encourages those in the U.S. to fight for democracy here. “Freedom, democracy, Aristide – we must have all of this together. I read somewhere there are U.S. citizens who are so discouraged they want to go to Canada,” he said, addressing the audience directly: “Do not be discouraged at that point. We must stay here and fight back. It’s about time we the people in America take our power in our hands. Those of you who are discouraged, keep working – change will come.” ********* San Francisco bay View www.sfbayview.com/ February 3, 2005 Father Gérard Jean-Juste brings a message of unity to the Bay Area by Sasha Kramer Last weekend hundreds of Californians had the honor of hearing the words of Father Gerard Jean-Juste, beloved Haitian liberation theologian and recently released political prisoner. California was his last stop on a long journey across continents through Miami and Washington, D.C., to South Africa and back again. As a liberation theologian, Father Gerry believes that one cannot preach about the kingdom of heaven while ignoring the suffering and injustice that take place on earth. His trip to California was a part of actualizing this philosophy, a way to move his country ever closer to justice and democracy by building solidarity and understanding around the world. On Friday night he transformed a chemistry lecture hall at Stanford University into a community meeting place, a church without denomination. Over 100 people, including students of all ages, community activists and local religious leaders, gathered to hear the perspective of Father Gerry, who had just returned from a visit with Jean Bertrand Aristide, elected president of Haiti now in exile in South Africa. The amazing thing about the way that Father Gerry spoke was that he was able to unite all these communities; there was room for everyone in his words. Father Gerry spoke of his meeting with Aristide, saying that he spent the first three hours filling President Aristide in on the situation at home in Haiti. He said that the president wanted to know how everyone was, asking about the public housing, the Université de la Paix (University of Peace), the political prisoners. Unfortunately, the news is not good. The public housing and the university, both built under Aristide’s administration, now house UN troops. There are over 700 political prisoners in Port au Prince, none of whom have been convicted of a crime, and many who have never been before a judge. Father Gerry called on university students in the U.S. to protest the closing of Université de la Paix and its much needed medical school, first occupied by U.S. Marines and now by UN troops. In a country where there is only one doctor for every 10,000 people and educational needs are not met, it is unconscionable for “peacekeepers” to obstruct the functioning of the university. He also asked that human rights and social justice organizations work for the release of the political prisoners and the return of Aristide, saying, “The people have voted twice for Aristide, and twice they have seen their democracy destroyed. If he is not returned to serve out his term, people will lose faith in the democratic process.” Everyone who attended the Stanford event went away inspired. Several freshmen have decided to spearhead a letter writing campaign on behalf of the political prisoners, and other students are planning to show a video of Father Gerry’s event in their dorms. This event was a wake up call to the Stanford community, a community that played an important solidarity role during the first coup against Aristide, from conducting hunger strikes to inviting the exiled president to speak. The following night more than 400 people filled the pews at St. Joseph the Worker in Berkeley, the church where Father Bill O’Donnell pledged solidarity with Haitians during the first coup against Aristide, declaring it a sanctuary, a place of refuge for those facing political persecution. Father George Crespin, the pastor at St. Joseph’s, welcomed the crowd, renewing the commitment of his parish to the suffering of the Haitian people. The event opened with a musical slideshow with photos of Father Gerry and his church and Lavalas demonstrations in Cap Haitien on Aug. 14 and Dec. 16, set to the song “Rezistans” by So Anne. Then the Freedom Song Network warmed up the crowd with rousing renditions of “We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest” and “We Are Going to Change This World.” Margaret Trost, president of the What If? Foundation that works with Father Gerry to provide two meals a week to 600 hungry children, introduced the priest with a story about his vision for his community. Father Gerry hopes to increase the program to feed 1,000 children three times per week, and the thousands of dollars generously donated by those who attended this weekend’s events will help the What If? Foundation to work towards that goal. To support their work, go to www.whatiffoundation.org. On Saturday night, Father Gerry again spoke with conviction about the urgency of the political situation in Haiti, the necessity of a return to constitutional order, including the physical return of President Aristide. He explained that the majority of Haitians voted for a president, but that the issue is more than that. They voted for someone who managed to build more schools then had been built in all of Haiti’s history, a man who worked under the pressures of an international embargo to build public housing. To those who would question the authenticity of claims of popular support for Aristide, Father Gerry said, “This is not a fiction. This is a reality. And they are ready to die for Aristide, starting with me, talking to you!” Father Gerry’s fierce conviction and legitimate anger were always tempered by a gentle faith in humanity and a commitment to peaceful resistance and the power of love. He ended his talk with a blessing: “Listen to our prayers, to our singing, and increase our love for each other, for everyone on earth, the beautiful people of every color, ethnicity and denomination. We are all God’s children. Peace be with you, my brothers and sisters.” This is not just an article; it is a letter of thanks, a letter of commitment and solidarity. To Father Gerard Jean Juste and the millions of Haitians whose struggle he represents, thank you for coming to California, for bringing your message of peace and universal respect. I know that I speak for hundreds if not thousands of Californians when I say that we pledge to stand with you in this struggle, to give what we can, be it our voices, our bodies, our resources, our prayers. Just after Father Gerry spoke at Stanford on Friday night, as a friend and I marveled at the way the community had come together to make it a beautiful event, he said to me, “We are all in the same band; we just play different instruments.” So bring whatever you can to the struggle. For those of you who came out this weekend to listen to Father Gerry, know that your very presence WILL make a difference for people. Father Gerry will take this message back to Haiti and tell the people through his church and his radio program that they are not alone, that there are people in the United States who care about their sisters and brothers in Haiti. As Father Gerry says, “We are all Americans, part of the same continent. And when we work for the liberation of others, it benefits us all.” Through our presence and our activism, we have sent a message of hope to the people of Haiti. So, thank you to the people of Northern California and throughout the world who are working in solidarity with the pro-democracy movement in Haiti. The band is getting bigger, and the louder we get, the more people will hear us. This article goes out as a call to good hearted people around the world to pay attention to the suffering of our sisters and brothers in Haiti. From the time of Haitian independence 200 years ago, the United States has been intimately involved in the affairs of Haiti. The U.S. denied the country official recognition until 1862, afraid of the moral threat posed by a nation of freed slaves. Haitians have struggled for centuries under successive dictatorships and economic embargos placed on their duly elected government. Father Gerry has lost many friends in the fight for democracy, and he is still able to deliver a message of hope and empowerment. While in Haiti, I saw this determination and faith in many Haitians. I was continuously amazed by their generosity and courage. We have much to learn from their struggle. But Father Gerry’s talks called for more than compassion. He asked that we translate our thoughts into action. Everyone who reads this has a chance to send a message to the people of Haiti. There is a petition at www.haitiaction.net to the U.S. and Haitian governments and officials at the UN demanding the release of Annette Auguste, the folk singer and Lavalas leader known as “So Anne,” and all of the other political prisoners being held without charges. Please sign the petition and we will keep Father Gerry updated on the number of signatures so he can pass the word to the thousands of people he reaches. We can send a message to the people of Haiti that they are not alone. We will be watching over Father Gerry and all of our sisters and brother in Haiti who continue to fight for democracy in a climate of intense repression. Sasha Kramer, sash@stanford.edu, is a Ph.D. candidate in biology at Stanford. Don’t miss the four video clips she shot of Father Jean-Juste, including his tribute to Bay View readers, posted at www.sfbayview.com. Another must-read story about Father Jean-Juste and his Bay Area visit is also posted at www.sfbayview.com. ****** Forwarded by the Haitian Lawyers’ Leadership Network ****** “Men anpil chay pa lou” is Kreyol for – “Many hands make light a heavy load.” See, The Haitian Leadership Networks’ 7 “Men Anpil Chay Pa Lou” campaigns to help restore Haiti’s independence, the will of the mass electorate and the rule of law. www.margueritelaurent.com/law/lawpress.html ******************* Here is what you can do to help us help the people of Haiti: ********************** HLLN – Action Requested from Haiti solidarity groups and activists for justice and democracy Please circulate our mailings and posts to your mailing list and e-mail contacts. Subscribe or unbscribe by writing to: Erzilidanto@aol.com Read, adopt and circulate the Haiti Resolution (see below) from the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network: www.sfbayview.com/080404/haitiresolution080404.shtml , and/or the Porto Alegre Declarations on Haiti adopted at the World Social Forum in 2005: www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/declaration.html Circulate the human rights reports, especially the latest Miami Law Center report www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/human_rights_reports/c1humanrightsreports.html Do Press Work: Join our letter writing campaigns to help free the political prisoners in Haiti, stop the persecution of Haiti’s most popular political party and restore Constitutional rule. Write a letter, call the media, fax, – See our Press Work page for sample letters and contact information: www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/pressreleases_hll.html Volunteers to maintain and send us updated or new phone numbers and addresses to put on our Contact Information Sheet pages for our Network’s pressworks www.margueritelaurent.com/law/lawpress.html Virtual interns and volunteers are needed to help us translate selected materials into French, Kreyol, or Spanish to reach a wider audience; Volunteers with some research and computer skills are also needed to help us update our “list of victims” and “Personal Testimonies” pages under Campaign One. (We have the materials, what we don’t have we know where to extrapolate them, but need help to put it together and into the format pages on our website for “List of Victims” and “Personal Testimonies”: See: www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/campaignone.html HLLN Networkers are urged, in addition to the general writing campaigns and e-mail circulations, to also consider volunteering as primary coordinators/contributors to one of our seven campaigns www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaigns.html One internet savvy volunteer interested in logging and archiving, on our new Ezili Danto blog, (not yet unveiled) the regular Erzilidanto posts we send out so that those who only want to see these at their leisure or who cannot receive daily mailings will have access to these materials and posts, in an archived format. Fundraise for the work of HLLN, donate to our projects, or, better yet, earn money, save lives and spread meaning and value by becoming an HLLN Marketing Associate trained to train other HLLN Associates and licensed to use our logo and HLLN materials to sponsor a “To Tell The Truth about Haiti Forum and Teach-In.” www.margueritelaurent.com/DNC_2004/dnc_slideshow/DNC_2004_01.htm Proceeds from such teach ins will go to pay the Associate and to continue the work of HLLN projects, such as, our partnership with AUMOHD, the young human rights lawyers in Haiti who are defending the defenseless poor whose only crime is that they voted for Lavalas, supported Constitutional rule or are resisting a return of the bloody U.S.-trained Haitian army and US-sponsored dictatorship. For information on AUMOHD, go to: www.april6vt.org/ ********* The Haiti Resolution: 1. Support the return of constitutional rule to Haiti by restoring all elected officials of all parties to their offices throughout the country until the end of their mandates and another election is held, as mandated by Haiti’s Constitution; 2. Condemn the killings, illegal imprisonment and confiscation of the property of supporters of Haiti’s constitutional government and insist that Haiti’s illegitimate “interim government” immediately cease its own persecution and put a stop to persecution by the thugs and murderers from sectors in their police force, from the paramilitaries, gangs and former soldiers; 3. Insist on the immediate release of all political prisoners in Haitian jails, including Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, other constitutional government officials and folksinger-activist Sò Ann; 4. Insist on the disarmament of the thugs, death squad leaders and convicted human rights violators and their prosecution for all crimes committed during the attack on Haiti’s elected government and help rebuild Haiti’s police force, ensuring that it excludes anyone who helped to overthrow the democratically elected government or who participated in other human rights violations; 5. Stop the indefinite detention and automatic repatriation of Haitian refugees and immediately grant Temporary Protected Status to all Haitian refugees presently in the United States until democracy is restored to Haiti; and 6. Support the calls by the OAS, CARICOM and the African Union for an investigation into the circumstances of President Aristide’s removal. Support the enactment of Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s T.R.U.T.H Act (HR 3919) which calls for U.S. Congressional investigation of the forcible removal of the democratically elected President and government of Haiti. *************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, contact Erzilidanto@aol.com |
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