Haiti Report for April 21, 2005

The Haiti Report is a compilation and summary of events as described in Haitian and international media. It does not reflect the opinions of any individual or organization. This service is intended to create a better understanding of the situation in Haiti by presenting the reader with reports that provide a variety of perspectives on the situation.

IN THIS REPORT:
– New Horizons in Gonaives
– Elections
– Political Parties Merging
– Residents of Cite Soleil Killed During MINUSTAH Operation
– UN Mission to Haiti Says International Engagement Critical
– Law Students Lodge Complaint on Behalf of Former Prime Minister
– Aristide Calls for His Restoration and National Dialogue
– Former Interior Minister Charged for Alleged St. Marc Massacre
– Demonstration in Petiti Goave for Journalist Killed
– US Broke its Own Arms Embargo to Haiti
– Security Council Praises UN Mission at End of Visit

New Horizons in Gonaives:
U.S. military members of Task Force New Horizons (NH) delivered more than 9,000 pounds of humanitarian supplies from the U.S. Navy’s Project Handclasp to eight schools, one hospital and two orphanages here April 15. The donations, which included hygiene and medical products, books, clothes and toys, were transported from the Project Handclasp warehouses in San Diego across the United States on a C-130 from Fleet Logistic Support Squadron (VR) 55, Point Mugu, Calif. In Mayport, Fla., Commander, Task Force (CTF) 43 arranged for further transfer to Port-au-Prince and then to Gonaives.

Once the material arrived to its intended destination, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Carlton Gray from the 4th Civil Affairs Support Group, Washington, D.C., organized the sorting and delivery of the donations. “We knew the needs of several organizations that meet our requirements to receive donations,” said Gray. “These schools were devastated during last year’s hurricane; the parents cannot afford to pay tuition; and the teachers have not received a salary for months, but they are still there trying to make it through with the children.”

New Horizons Haiti is one of the four humanitarian and civic assistance exercises sponsored this year by U.S. Southern Command in Central America and the Caribbean. As part of New Horizons Haiti, a combined task force is deployed to Haiti to build three schools, drill three potable water wells and provide free medical attention through three Medical Readiness Training Exercises. The NH Haiti provides an excellent opportunity for the U.S. forces to refine engineering and medical skills while assisting the people of Gonaives.
(Navy NewsStand, 4/18)

Elections:
Paul Denis, a member of the national coordination unit of OPL (Organization of the People in Struggle) said Tuesday that he believes it is imperative that the elections take place this year on the dates scheduled by the Provisional Electoral Council. Denis said he deplored that the OPL proposal for a one year political transition was not accepted, and asked the interim authorities to take all appropriate steps to guarantee that free, honest and transparent elections will he held. While acknowledging that the country’s socio-economic situation has deteriorated considerably, he asserted that there are no other avenues to power except through elections. The OPL official announced that representatives of the party have already been designated to run as candidates for certain elected offices. The choice of the party’s presidential candidate should be made sometime in May, he said. “We will take part in the elections because we see no other way to hold power in the country other than through well-run elections”, said Mr. Denis. (AHP, 4/19)

Political Parties Merging:
A high-ranking CONACOM official, Micha Gaillard, announced Tuesday that the official merger of his party with PANPRA and Haïti Kapab will be consummated on April 22 and 23 on the occasion of the founding conference for the fusion of the parties. Micha Gaillard also announced that on April 21st there will be a special meeting to dissolve these three political parties. The delegates will have to say whether or not they agree to the merger. “Starting on that date, the three parties will lose their individual identities as they become a fusion of socialist parties, as opposed to being a front in which the parties each retain their individual identities”, explained Mr. Gaillard, who affirmed that this merger will assure a solid representation of the three parties. (AHP, 4/19)

Residents of Cite Soleil Killed During MINUSTAH Operation:
Rene Monplaisir, speaking for Lavalas activists in Cité Soleil, declared Monday that at least 20 people were killed during operations by MINUSTAH soldiers. According to René Monplaisir, the dead are not political activists but rather citizens who were simply going about their daily activities. “The UN soldiers, from inside their tanks, opened fire on everyone who was naive enough to venture close to their vehicles; the soldiers considered them all to be bandits”, deplored René Monplaisir.

MINUSTAH officials indicated that the dead were killed during armed clashes, and suggested they were all gang members. One of the dead was presented as one of the killers of a Philippine UN soldier who was killed last week. René Monplaisir said that Fanmi Lavalas supporters will not participate in the next elections under present conditions of violence and without the return off constitutional order. He also announced that a peaceful demonstration will be held on April 25 and 26 to continue to press for the release of all political prisoners, an end to the political persecution and the departure of the UN force from Haiti. The Haitian national police as well as the UN’s MINUSTAH will be notified of the demonstrations as called for under the Constitution in order to avoid any misunderstandings, added René Monplaisir. (AHP, 4/18)

Samba Boukman, speaking on behalf of the activists of the populist district of Bel-Air, announced that a peaceful demonstration will be held 4/20 as an act of solidarity with the inhabitants of Soleil, following the killing of 20 residents during MINUSTAH operations in the Cité. A Moroccan MINUSTAH official, Lieutenant Colonel Elouafi Boulbars, stated however that the people killed were members of gangs killed during armed clashes.

Samba Boukman also said he was amazed to find that the Brazilian Ronaldo Motta Sardenberg, who led a four-day UN Security Council mission to Port-au-Prince, said nothing about the crimes and massacres perpetrated against supporters of Lavalas, focusing instead on the elections.This failing makes it clear, according to Samba Boukman, that the UN Security Council has a long way to go before it will manage to bring about respect for human rights. (AHP, 4/19)

UN Mission to Haiti Says International Engagement Critical:
The leader of the United Nations Security Council fact-finding mission just back from Haiti expressed cautious optimism today, saying security was gradually improving, but that the international community must remain engaged if the strife-torn nation is to make any headway against urban violence and grinding poverty.

Briefing the full Council on last week’s mission, Brazilian Ambassador Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg said the 15-member delegation had condemned all violence in Haiti and called for a comprehensive national disarmament programme, while providing for the social needs of former members of the Haitian Armed Forces.

He noted that many of the nation’s long-term structural problems would persist, but that the new political climate and national dialogue, along with respect for human rights standards, would help to resolve them. Mr. Sardenberg said the delegation had recognized dramatic poverty as the prime cause of Haiti’s instability, and underscored the need for a long-term strategy to fight the scourge.
(UN News, 4/19)

Law Students Lodge Complaint on Behalf of Former Prime Minister:
Law students at the University of California, Hastings, along with Haitian and U.S. attorneys will file a petition tomorrow (April 20) with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on behalf of Haiti’s former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune. Haiti’s political situation has been unstable since the February, 2004 coup in which President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted. Yvon Neptune, who was Haiti’s last Constitutionally appointed Prime Minister, has been illegally imprisoned since June 2004. Mr. Neptune has yet to see a judge in his case, despite a Constitutional bar against holding detainees longer than 48 hours without judicial approval. The former prime minister began a hunger strike on February 11, 2005 to protest his indefinite detention and prison conditions, which has left him hospitalized.

At the invitation of the Government of Haiti, the IACHR is conducting an on-site visit to Haiti from April 18-22, 2005 to observe the human rights situation. The IACHR is charged by the Organization of American States (OAS) to examine and report on human rights in the western hemisphere. The Commission investigates claims of human rights violations, makes recommendations to governments, and refers cases to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The law students’ petition requests immediate action on the part of the Commission to prevent further endangerment of Mr. Neptune’s life. In addition to calling for the former Prime Minister’s immediate release from arbitrary detention, the petition will ask for international oversight and supervision of Haitian prisons in order to improve their dismal conditions.

The petition will be filed by the Hastings Human Rights Project for Haiti (HHRPH) in conjunction with attorneys from the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) and Bureau des Avocats Internationaux. (BAI). (Press Release, 4/19)

Aristide Calls for His Restoration and National Dialogue:
Statement from President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Pretoria, South Africa Return to Constitutional Order

In 1994, who could have expected free, fair and democratic elections in South Africa with Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Oliver Tambo and other leaders and members of the African National Congress in jail, exile and hiding? Today in 2005, who can expect free, fair and democratic elections in Haiti with thousands of Lavalas in jail, exile and hiding? To repair the tragic mistake of the February 2004 kidnapping and coup d’etat and reverse the disastrous events that it unleashed, the following steps must be taken:

1. Thousands of Lavalas who are in jail and in exile must be free to return home.
2. The repression that has already killed over 10,000 people must end immediately.
3. Then, there must be national dialogue.
4. Free, fair and democratic elections must be organized in an environment where the huge majority of Haitian people is neither excluded nor repressed as they have been up until today.
Their continued peaceful demonstrations calling for my return and the restoration of constitutional order must be heard. Racism should not maintain a “Black holocaust” in Haiti where African descendents proclaimed their independence 200 years ago. What an historic paradigm for all the nations! (4/19)

Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide called on Tuesday for his restoration as leader of the Caribbean country and a national dialogue to pave the way for free and fair elections. He accused the United States, France and others he blames for his expulsion of instigating a “black holocaust” in Haiti and said they had a racist agenda. At a rare news conference from his exile in South Africa, Aristide urged an end to repression, which he said had killed thousands in the past year and which targeted his supporters. “The continued peaceful demonstrations calling for my return and the restoration of constitutional order must be heard. The people voted for a president and they want him back, I support them because it is fair,” Aristide said. (Reuters, 4/19)

Former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide charged Tuesday that political violence in Haiti was a “black holocaust” orchestrated by France and the United States. Speaking to reporters in Pretoria where he lives in exile, Aristide renewed his charge that he was kidnapped by the United States and France as part of a coup d’etat in February 2004 and that he remains Haiti’s democratically elected leader. Aristide refused to say if he would be a candidate in general elections promised later this year in Haiti, but he said there could be no free democratic elections in the troubled country until thousands of his Lavalas party members are freed from jail or allowed to return from exile. The ousted president said he wanted to return to Haiti, “whenever conditions permit.” Aristide also again denied fomenting political violence in Haiti from South Africa and defended his former interior minister, Jocelerme Privert, who was charged Monday in connection with the killing of political opponents. He called the charges “lies.”

“We are for peace, not violence,” said Aristide, claiming his Lavalas party members were victims, not perpetrators. “Racism is behind a black holocaust in Haiti,” said Aristide. “More than 10,000 of my supporters have been killed in the past year.” Pierre Esperance, the director of National Coalition of Haitian Rights, said last month the figure for the total number of people killed in political violence during the last year — not just Lavalas supporters — is between 1,000 and 1,500. Police also have given much lower estimates. He also charged that killings were being orchestrated by the United States and France, who he has said kidnapped him and organized the coup that ousted him. (AP, 4/19)

Former Interior Minister Charged for Alleged St. Marc Massacre:
Haiti’s former interior minister under ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was charged Monday in connection with killing political opponents last year, officials said. Jocelerme Privert was removed before dawn from a private hospital in Port-au-Prince, where he was being held while recovering from a hunger strike protesting his detention, U.N. civilian police spokesman Dan Moskaluk said. Privert, who had been held for a year without charges, was taken to St. Marc, the town on Haiti’s west coast where he allegedly helped orchestrate killings of Aristide opponents during last year’s uprising that led to Aristide’s ouster in February 2004 and his exile to South Africa. The number of people killed in St. Marc on Feb. 11, 2004, and the circumstances, have been disputed. On April 7, a U.N expert on human rights said that he had a list of 25 people killed, while others say up to 60 died.

The details of how Privert was charged weren’t disclosed. By Monday afternoon, Privert had left St. Marc and was expected back at the hospital in the capital Port-au-Prince, about 60 miles away, Moskaluk said. A spokesman for Haiti’s interim government referred questions about Privert to the National Coalition for Haitian Rights, a human rights groups which has been following the case. The group’s president, Pierre Esperance, said he expected Privert to be charged with masterminding the St. Marc killings and he was awaiting details on the charges. (AP, 4/18)

The former Interior Minister in the Aristide government, Jocelerme Privert, was transported to Saint-Marc this Monday and brought to the office of the investigating judge in charge of the alleged massacre at La Scierie, Cluny Pierre-Jules. Jocelerme Privert, in a situation very similar to that of former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, has been held in prison for the past year based on accusations made against him by two organizations, NCHR and RAMICOSM. Mr. Privert was reportedly awakened around 4:00 AM at the Canapé Vert Hospital where he is receiving treatment following his hunger strike at the National Penitentiary, and was transported to St-Marc accompanied by police officers from a specialized unit.

According to reports, Mr. Privert spent more than one hour at the judge’s office, despite the delicate state of his health. But he reportedly did not reply to any questions. Mr. Privert limited himself to making a statement in which he asked the investigating judge to take note of the fact that he was brought to Saint-Marc in an illegal manner and without the presence of his lawyer. This statement was made in the presence of an OAS official and was also signed by Judge Cluny Pierre-Jules, said the former Minister’s wife, who added that her husband was returned to the Canapé-Vert Hospital. (AHP, 4/18)

Demonstration in Petiti Goave for Journalist Killed:
Students in Petit-Goâve demonstrated Monday in the streets of that city to protest the manner in which the interim government is handling the case of the killing of journalist Robenson Laraque. The journalist from Radio Contact was killed during clashes between UN soldiers and demobilized soldiers who were occupying the Petit Goâve police station.

The population of Cité Faustin Soulouque as well as the family of Robenson Laraque have continued to call for justice and reparations from the interim government. According to reliable sources, the interim authorities have released 55.000 Haitian dollars for this case: 15,000 for his funeral, 20,000 for members of the deceased’s family, and 20,000 to be distributed to senior officials of Radio Kontak and friends of the deceased. In their discontent, the students of Petit-Goâve took to the streets and shut down several public agencies including the local office of the General Taxation Authority and Electricity of Haiti. They feel that there is a lack of respect for members of the family of Robenson Laraque. The students also called for the departure of the MINUSTAH soldiers who, they said, are bringing grief to the population. (AHP, 4/18)

US Broke its Own Arms Embargo to Haiti:
The Bush administration has been accused of ignoring its own arms embargo and overseeing the sale of $7m-worth (£3.7m) of weapons to the Haitian government to equip its police force. Human rights groups say the police carry out routine executions of dissidents and weapons are often illegally funnelled to armed militia. Robert Muggah of the Swiss-based Small Arms Survey, a non-profit group, said that last year the US effected the sale of thousands of weapons to the interim government headed by Gerard Latortue, despite a 13-year arms embargo. “They are meant to brace up a shaky security force, but the reality is they could actually undermine security by jeopardising an innovative disarmament effort just getting under way,” said Mr Muggah, who has spent several months in Haiti interviewing diplomats and UN officials for a report.

The embargo was established after a coup that ousted the elected president Jean-Betrand Aristide, who was forced into exile for a second time last year. Washington, which had long under- mined his presidency, refused to help him. The weapons embargo remains in place. Mr Latortue, installed following negotiations involving the US, France and Canada, complained the ban prevented him equipping the police. But according to Mr Muggah, despite Mr Latortue’s public protestations, a number of arms sales have gone ahead. His report says 5,435 “military-style weapons”, including M-14 and other semi-automatic guns and 4,433 handguns worth $6.95m, were provided from the US.

Media reports have identified several Haitian Americans allegedly involved in an arms sale, raising suggestions that the deal was privately organised and sanctioned by the US, rather than an official sale of weapons by Washington. One of these, Joel Deeb, a self-styled “freedom fighter”, told The Independent on Sunday he had been approached by Mr Latortue’s nephew, Youri, and given $500,000 to buy arms. “I was given half a million dollars in the form of a letter of credit,” he said. “But there is an embargo. There has not been any deal yet. The money is frozen. Everybody is saying I have done something with the money, but it is still there.” A State Department spokesman said restrictions on arms sales remained. He said the US would not sell arms to Haiti but would consider lifting the embargo on a case-by-case basis to allow third parties to make the sales “to be helpful” to the interim government. (Sunday Independent, UK, 17 April 05)

Security Council Praises UN Mission at End of Visit:
Winding up a four-day fact-finding visit to Haiti, the United Nations Security Council praised the UN peacekeeping mission there for its work and said it was glad to have had the opportunity to assemble the Caribbean nation’s political, electoral and human rights parties at the same table for talks. In the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, the leader of the 15-member team, Ambassador Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg of Brazil, said he was confident that the general elections would be held this year, as scheduled, despite the present violence, and benefit not only the international community, but Haiti itself.

During the mission, which ended on Saturday, the Council delegation took advantage of its presence to express to the head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Juan Gabriel Valdés, “our satisfaction with the excellent work of MINUSTAH,” Mr. Sardenberg said. The delegation encouraged the Government to proceed with the launch of the national programme of disarmament, demobilization and re-integration (DDR) while giving a concrete response to claims from authentic former members of the Armed Forces of Haiti, disbanded by ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the mid-1990s, the mission said.

For its part, the Economic and Social Council’s (ECOSOC) Ad Hoc Consultative Group on Haiti, led by the Permanent Representative of Canada, Allan Rock, and which also ended on Saturday its four-day mission to assess the country’s economic development potential, said it would submit a report to ECOSOC. The report would emphasize that the three major axes of long-term Haitian development should be providing education, building infrastructure and repairing the environment, it said. (UN News, 4/17)

To learn more visit: www.konpay.org
To support this service:
Konbit Pou Ayiti
7 Wall Street
Gloucester, MA 01930

_______________________________________________
Haitireport mailing list
Haitireport@haitikonpay.org
haitikonpay.org/mailman/listinfo/haitireport