The White “Saviors” of Haiti by Marguerite Laurent

I am writing this because it’s important and the anger won’t go away.

If I read this over, I would write it differently, probably. So do I apologize in advance for typos, generalizations and offending the simple bystander with my undiplomatic language and over-reaching metaphors? I cannot. For, si’m pa rele, m’ap toufe – if I don’t shout, I’ll suffocate.

This is about the remnants of the white Left in Haiti. We already know the bloodbath the “friends of Haiti” from the Right have brought to Haiti. www.margueritelaurent.com/law/massupdates1.html How different is the so-called white “left” and their syncophants used as the “black portrait”, the vivi, embeciles who serves to legitimizes these white folks forays into our sovereign Haitian rights?

What made me start to write this night was Tom Luce’s “Update” report below. But it’s a culmination of things done by so-called “allies” for the past 6-months or more since Haitians in the Diaspora begin to suffer their “work” on Haiti. That’s why I, for one, am thoroughly SICK of these few remaining “leftist” white folks and their paternalistic judgments and initiatives “in our names”.

First off if one reads the latest Concannon (Justice Prevail) posts on Ristil and Pina or the Luce “update”, you’ll think these are the saviors of Haiti and its jailed people. Yet, all Haitians know “justice has NOT prevailed.” However, Luce and Concanon seems, to continually be patting themselves for their “great work”, while all we Haitians struggling see is how our people are just simply dying and suffering.

Luce’s “update” gives a nod to IDJH, but thoroughly ignores that HLLN’s report on the soccer massacre came out BEFORE even his or anyone elses. www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/testimonies/personaltestimonies.html

Should we just continue to ignore these obvious dismissals and disrespects?

Why should we keep turning the other cheek for these paternalistic sods in terms of defining Haitian rights and our plight?

It’s like this People Tribunal, supposedly a “Haitian” People’s Tribunal scheduled for Sept. 23, 2005 filled with Kim Ive’s selected white eyewitness, white lawyers, white investigative judges to the pains and sufferings of black people, which excludes Haitian lawyers except as “assistants”, which excludes CARICOM reps, African Union reps, and all those of us who have stood and fought for Haitian rights and waded through the blood, sufferings and trauma of more than 10,000 Black people’s death and agonies in Haiti. Yes, HLLN wants to see the defendants names in the People Tribunal complain brought to justice. There is no doubt about that. But does that mean, we must suffer, in the stark quiet, through another attempted humiliation in Washington, on Sept. 23, 2005 with no Haitian lawyer in the forefront, but a bunch of leftist white folks who dubbed themselves arbiter of our “justice rights”, as if this was Cinques’ defense at the Amistad trial and we Blacks are still slaves or there’s apartheid and we can’t speak for self.

I say enough. ENOUGH. No more. If no Haitian will stand up and denounce these white leftist and their arrogance, then let the record shows HLLN shall denounce this Haiti Tribunal. We shall denounce IDJH and its continued use of Haiti’s pain and denounce Tom Luce’s misguided righteousness, as if no Haitian out here, are fighting, in a myriad of battlefields, throughout the world, for our own danm survival and self-respect. As if, we are not wading through the blood of more than 10,000 of our own Black people. As if New Orleans didn’t show the world Haiti and lift up our sufferings to a more unbearable level. As if we’re invisible. When I say I’ve had enough, that’s a period, no comma. From now on, transparence requires, the next time Tom Luce writes a piece like the one below, or Brian Conconnan, who uses Haitian lawyer Mario Joseph to gain his organization legitimacy and then uses the release of Kevin Pina and Jean Ristil as an opportunity to fundraise for IDJH, bending over backwards to pat himself on the back for ALL HIS handwork as if IDJH single-handedly put out the information to get Ristil and Kevin release; the next time I, speaking for myself and the Haitians whose heart I speak aloud for, we-Haitians shall NOT turn the other cheek pretending we don’t see Conconnan’s hustling our people’s pain out here. The African movement to free Africans in Haiti, shall not be dismissed, disrespected or be distracted by these colonial efforts from the so-called remnants of the white left. Haitians shall lead this struggle for Haitian liberation. Let it begin for those who were unaware: Nou la. We’re here, in the belly of the beast. Not in Marronage. Forget the old standards and the old subservient Haitian guards and sycophants.

We know you white leftist know that one Haitian, that one “nice negroes” who hates confrontation and open up his network of contacts for you to be “sudden experts” when you get to Haiti. Some on you do have good work out here and HLLN has not failed to support it. But, we don’t support your arrogance and delusion that you may speak for our people better than they may for themselves. Similarly, we don’t support the arrogance that allows you to believe you may limit our role because you’ve been on a delegation to Haiti. Our lawyers are always in Haiti. Our people are always in contact. These days your work do not reflect their interests or desires. HLLN is here to point this out. The UN is an OCCUPYING force in Haiti, there to uphold dictatorship, the former army officials and this upcoming selection, followed by a formal protectorate. Haitians are VERY clear on this. Follow their lead to support their struggle for sovereignty, or you’re not in solidarity with us, but working for the enemy.

As the people of Haiti say: “WË pa wË, sa ou pa vle a, wap wË’l kanmËn” – No matter what, what you don’t want to happen, you’ll see it any way! We either live free, in every aspect, tell our own story, own our own pain and authenticity or die fighting for it. Either way, the Haitian story and plight will be articulated from a Haitian perspective, taking all Haiti’s enemies to task, whether they defined themselves “friend or foe” as long as HLLN is on the scene. Self-determination and reliance affords us the opportunity to define friend and foe. Let it begin here with HLLN denouncing IDJH, the upcoming “Haiti Tribunal” by Kim Ives and Tom Luce and Conconans insistence that the UN soldiers raping Haiti are Haiti’s saviors or Ann Sosin from IDJH’s unchecked refrain about how Haitian men in Site Soley are rapists and bandits. Let the denunciation, begin here with me, Marguerite Laurent Desalin’s daughter Ezili Danto child (my mËt tËt). Come with it. STEP. Let’s get this over with, once and for all. I ain’t one of these terrorized Haitian men watching how some of you white men use my Haitian sister as semen receptacles while telling all in a sundry how much you “love” the people of Haiti and fight for their “rights.” I’ve learnt too much about you all. And frankly, You all are not so clean and capable of defining Haitian rights, ok. STEP and publicly say to the world your work is MORE worthy than what Haitians do to maintain their own soul, own dignity, own culture, own ancestor’s legacies.

Go on, come with it. Make sure you can handle the public scrutiny in this war for the souls of Black folk, everywhere. IDJH talks about rape, we ask: Who brought aids to Haiti? Who is using our children, raping them in Haiti, bringing sex tourism, raping our women through sex tourism or by using white privilege with the colonized petit bourgeois for moving up the social ladder?

You folks wanna have this discussion right now? How many white folks without a dime, go to Haiti to make their fortunes, to beef up their resume, to make more money than they could ever command in the U.S. per day? Just because the colonized Haitian will sell you their first born to get close to a U.S. passport, network or dollar, don’t mean you really the dependency you’re strumming and are basking in makes you “godly,” or worthy of this peasant’s respect. And some of you white folks, pretending to be unaware of the privileges your white skin bring in Haiti and in the US, want to tell us it’s about class not race? OK. Let it begin. But when you set up a “Haiti Tribunal”, make sure your actors are qualified to talk about these “black rights.”

September 17, 2005

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From: “K. M. Ives” kives@toast.net To: haiti-tribunal@lists.mutualaid.org Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 23:23:32 -0400 Subject: [Haiti-tribunal] Proposed Structure for Opening Session

Proposed Structure of Opening Session 7 – 10 p.m.

Presiding judges: Ben Dupuy, Brian Concannon, & Lucie Tondreau

Investigating Judge(s): Desiree Wayne

Assistant Investigating Judges: Lionel Jean-Baptiste, Marguerite Laurent

Chief prosecutor & head of Commission of Inquiry: Ramsey Clark (will arrive about 8:00 p.m.)

Assistant Prosecutors: Kim Ives, Ray Laforest

Witnesses: Chuck Kaufman, Jeb Sprague, Yves Engler, Ira Kurzban, Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, Tom Griffin, Kevin Pina, Seth Donnelly

Jury: Lavarice Gaudin, Fanfan Latour, Bernier Archille, Greg Dunkel, Jill Ives, Ted Romashko, Serge Lilavois, Berthony Dupont, Margaret Duval, Karine Jean-Pierre, others

Commission of Inquiry: Ramsey Clark, Capt. Lawrence Rockwood, Tom Griffin, Dave Welsh, Katharine Kean, someone from IAC, someone from ANSWER, (Danny Glover?) (Randall Robinson?)

The composition of the International Tribunal on Haiti will be a hybrid of Anglo-Saxon and Napoleonic judicial systems.

There will be three presiding judges, who will supervise each session of the Tribunal.

Under their direction will be an investigating judge, as opposed to a Grand Jury, who will amass evidence and testimony. She will have assistant judges.

There will be a chief prosecutor, Ramsey Clark, who will also be the head of the Commission of Inquiry. He will have assistant prosecutors.

The prosecution will call witnesses to testify about what they know about massacres committed since the Feb. 29 coup. There will also be witnesses called to present the background to coup.

Finally, there will be a jury of 15 to 20 members.

The Investigating Judge will issue the indictments prior to the trial. Orders calling on those indicted to appear before the court will be sent out at least one week before the trial.

At the trial, the indictments will be presented, evidence and testimony will be seen and heard, and the jury will render a verdict. At the Sept. 23 opening session, the Commission of Inquiry will also be announced.>>

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Subject: [Haiti-news] News: The August Massacres Update

news Haiti

THE AUGUST MASSACRES UPDATE

by Tom Luce 9/15/05

There were two separate ugly massacres in August in two different but neighboring sections of Port-Au-Prince, one on August 20 at the St. Bernadette soccer stadium in Martissant and another on Aug 21 in a residential section of Gran’Ravin. This writer has been personally involved in an ongoing investigation and community justice effort regarding these massacres and offers the following update as an alternative to the RNDDH (formerly NCHR-Haiti) report contained in the Konbit Pou Ayiti/KONPAY Haiti Report for Sept. 16, 2005.

There is a connection between the two massacres. Both involved killing innocent Lavalas activists and both were carried out by a murderous team of Haitian National Police aided by thugs using machetes marked with the initials, “PNH” or Haitian National Police .

The first massacre—in front of 5000 soccer fans in Martissant— involved as many as 50 victims slaughtered because they were labeled as Lavalas scum. They were either shot by the police and/or hacked to death by the thugs with “PNH” marked machetes. The second at GranRavin, involving some 5 victims, was a pre-meditated combination of house burning, house vandalizing, shooting at a church, and killing by machete and bullets, again of alleged Lavalas scum by police bullets and thugs with “PNH” machetes. Witnesses to the Saturday soccer massacre say that the police and thugs threatened to finish the job the following day which they did.

Three separate articles with photos covering these events can be seen at www.hurah.webhop.org AUMOHD, a Haitian human rights organization with offices at 181 Autoroute de Delmas 23 (Pres. Evel Fanfan, 424-3334) is the agency conducting its own investigation and providing legal support for the two affected communities. In conjunction with AUMOHD, a US delegation has taken affidavits and has filmed survivors and eyewitnesses in order to prepare a case to present to the international community. Other Haitian human rights groups either have done nothing, or have merely commented on these massacres (usually combining them into one). IJDH has posted two articles (www.ijdh.org/articles/article_recent_news_8_24_05.htm)

The RNDDH (formerly NCHR-Haiti) report concludes that the Grand Ravin massacre (note: there were in fact two massacres in two different places and times) involved neighbors taking revenge on alleged bandits similar to other massacres reported earlier in the summer in Solino and Bel Air. RNDDH claims the police were passive witnesses and that the machetes used were not “handed out.” These July killings were reported in the popular press, though not yet confirmed by believable investigations, as neighborhood lynchings. The press characterized them, as if to excuse the massacres, as a citizen summary executions of alleged bandits who had incurred the righteous wrath of good neighbors, thus eliminating the huge problem of kidnapers terrorizing the whole city.

The massacres at Martissant and Gran Ravin were definitely against innocent people perpetrated not by indignant neighbors but by police and known thugs against political targets. The UN also conducting its own investigation, has, according to Juan Gabriel ValdËs, confirmed the involvement of the police (AHP Sept. 1). Mchael Lycius, Director of the Haitian Judicial Police has also confirmed (AHP Sept. 12) that police were involved and are being detained and that the civilians involved are being sought after. AUMOHD has gathered the names of the alleged civilian murderers, reported by community residents as having been disturbing the communities earlier in the year and asked to leave the area.

According to AHP (9/12/05) Pierre Esperance, Director of RNDDH (National Network Of the Defense of Rights of Haitians) attacked UN Rep, ValdËs for having announced on Sept. 1 that henceforward “all operations of the Haitian National Police must be planned and carried out in strict collaboration with MINUSTAH with a view to good management.” Mr. Valdes made his statement following the August massacres and made reference also to the July massacres as examples of how the Haitian National Police have been “out of control”. Mr. Esperance accused Valdes of “destroying the Haitian police and supporting bandits.” (Note: UN Declaration 1608 has given MINUSTAH control over the Haitian National Police as of June 05.)

AUHMOHD has worked with the UN human rights office securing the permanent posting of a MINUSTAH patrol in Gran Ravin. Community leaders have reported that this has greatly reduced the terror that had gripped the people in the area. It is also working with local media to prepare a full documentary. Ongoing work developed at a community meeting facilitated by AUMOHD President Evel Fanfan on Sept 2, has dealt with securing autopsies, backed up by the UN human rights office, of the remaining bodies of victims, preparing for funerals, and developing a community strategy for pursuing justice.

AUHMOHD is a volunteer organization receiving minimal funding to pay for phones, gas, internet and expenses related to its work for poor clients and communities. To learn more and to contribute to their work go to www.hurah.webhop.org

— Tom Luce, President HURAH, Inc. Human Rights Accompaniment In Haiti 900 Advocates In The Northeast of the U.S. 30 Park St. Barre, Vt. 05641 Tel. 802-476-7056, 522-3525 www.hurah.webhop.org

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Forwarded by the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network www.margueritelaurent.com/law/lawpress.html
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“Men anpil chay pa lou” is Kreyol for – “Many hands make light a heavy load.”

Join our International Solidarity – THE FREE HAITI MOVEMENT. For info, see: www.margueritelaurent.com/photogallery/haitisolidarityday.html and, www.margueritelaurent.com/solidarityday/infoforsponsors.html

Matters To Be Investigated by an International Tribunal on the Bicentennial Coup: www.margueritelaurent.com/law/matterstoinvestigage.html

* The Bush bloodbath brought to Haiti – List (partial) of Victims and Massacres www.margueritelaurent.com/law/massupdates1.html * Ezili Danto Witness Project www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/testimonies/personaltestimonies.html *******

5-point demands from the grassroots and Fanmi Lavalas-base in Haiti for the majority of people in Haiti to participate in elections:

1. Liberation of all political prisoners including Father Gerard Jean-Juste who the Fanmi Lavalas grassroots-base in Haiti has chosen as their candidate for the presidency of Haiti.

2. The Latortue government must go.

3. The repression and killings in the popular neighborhoods must stop

4. Disarmament. Arms must be gone. There cannot be elections with all these arms on the streets (even those in the hands of the “no-nationality” Haitian bourgeoisie, their “anti-poor” thug enforcers and former military).

5. President Aristide and all those in exile must be allowed to return to Haiti.
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UN Machetes in Haiti | Haitian Perspectives by August 15, 2005 (Letter to UN officials – Stop the slaughter and bloodshed in Haiti, in particular the new Coup D’etat folks practice of chopping up the Lavalas poor and women with police machetes www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/unmachetes.html

HLLN’s Open Letter Demanding a stop to UN slaughter in Site Soley www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/openletter.html

Demand a Stop to the killings in Site Soley | Denounce the slaughter of Haitian people by UN Troops:www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/kidnapping.html

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Urgent Action Requested
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Amnesty International designates Father Gerald Jean-Juste as a prisoner of conscience. Calls for internations action to secure his immediate release www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/freejeanjuste.html

DEMAND IMMEDIATE RELEASE of Father Gerald Jean-Juste. International pressureis needed on the US, the Haitian Minister of Justice and the UN. For their addresses and how Fr. Jean-Juste was attacked at church and arrested.

Click here to also take further action: action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/Jean_Juste

Free Jean Juste – www.haitiaction.net/News/HAC/7_21_5.html
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