News
and opinions on situation in Haiti |
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| 13/2/06 |
Brazil calls for Urgent UN Meeting on Haiti | Witnesses said Jordanian U.N. soldiers opened fire on peaceful protestors, killing two and wounding four, AP reports |The people take over the Montana Hotel | MINUSTHA soldiers accompanies Preval to Port-au-Prince | HLLN Urgent Action Alert |
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Urgent UN meeting is reported on Haiti being held right now: Urgent UN Meeting for Haiti Crisis Brasilia, Feb 13 (Prensa Latian) Brazil called for caution and strength to deal with the violence generated by slow vote count and delay to announce a winner of the Presidential elections in Haiti. Foreign Minister Celso Amorim says slow vote count of the 3.5 million voters generated protests in the capital and called the situation disturbing. The latest data from the Provisional Elections Council gave Rene Preval 48.73 percent lead out of 89.93 percent scrutiny after it had announced “the peoples” candidate” victory Saturday by 50 percent. The UN Mission for Haiti said the demonstrators blocked several streets urging to declare Preval”s win and the Jordanian battalion of MINUSTAH opened fired at a crowd near the airport, killing one. The Brazilian leadership of MINUSTAH asked the US Monday to convene a UN meeting to discuss the Haitian crisis. hr/emw/otf ****************************** KREYOL: Sak enpútan anpil se ke nou pa bliye rele radyo Ayisyen lan peyi d’Ayiti e ekri MEDYA Ayisyen e medya enténasyonal yo. (Kontak enfúmasyon lan e-mail sa a, anba) ENGLISH: – One Dead in Pro-Preval Protests in Haiti – Gunfire Erupts in Haiti Protests By STEVENSON JACOBS, Associated Press Writer – Urgent Action Alert (Kreyol) with contact information for Haitian radio and media ********************* One Dead in Pro-Preval Protests in Haiti By STEVENSON JACOBS, Associated Press Writer 24 minutes ago Supporters of Haitian presidential candidate Rene Preval erected smoldering roadblocks across the capital and occupied a luxury hotel Monday. At least one protester was killed, but U.N. peacekeepers denied witness accounts that they had shot him. As Port-au-Prince descended into chaos, Preval returned to the capital for the first time since the election Tuesday. He was the clear winner with about 90 percent of the votes counted, but supporters claimed electoral officials were tampering with results to prevent him from getting the majority he needs to avoid a runoff. Barricades made of old tires were ablaze across the capital, sending plumes of acrid black smoke into the sky. Protesters let only journalists and Red Cross vehicles pass. “If they don’t give us the final results, we’re going to burn this country down!” a protester screamed. The election will replace an interim government installed after former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a bloody rebellion two years ago. A popularly elected government with a clear mandate from the voters is seen as crucial to avoiding a political and economic meltdown in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation. Gangs have gone on kidnapping sprees and factories have closed for lack of security. Preval arrived in the capital aboard a U.N. helicopter from his rural home in north Haiti. “We have questions about the electoral process,” he told reporters after meeting with the top U.N. official in Haiti and ambassadors from the United States, France, Canada and Brazil. “We want to see how we can save the process.” Preval also planned to meet with the interim prime minister and president. Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue appealed for calm in a nationally broadcast address. “People, don’t stay in the streets,” he said. “I’m asking you to go home. … The transitional government is not stealing your vote.” In the middle-class Tabarre neighborhood, Associated Press journalists saw the body of a man on a street, blood soaking Preval’s image emblazoned on his T-shirt. Dozens of witnesses said Jordanian U.N. peacekeepers in a jeep opened fire, killing two people and wounding four. The body of the second victim was not seen. “We were peacefully protesting when the U.N. started shooting. There were a lot of shots. Everybody ran,” said Walrick Michel, 22. U.N. spokesman David Wimhurst first denied that peacekeepers fired any rounds, then later said they had fired in the air. “We fired two warning shots into the air and we didn’t injure anyone,” he said. In the Petionville neighborhood in the hills east of Port-au-Prince, thousands of screaming protesters poured into the Montana Hotel, where election officials had been announcing results. Blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers armed with assault rifles looked on from the grounds and the roof. No violence was reported. Protesters waving Preval campaign posters and tree branches jumped up and down in unison, chanting: “Now is the time! Now is the time!” Dozens somersaulted fully clothed into the pool, turning the water into froth as they splashed around ó a rare treat in a country where most people lack running water. Protesters stretched out on chaise lounges and ran up and down the hotel stairs past rooms costing $200 and more a night. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, who is visiting Haiti, came out of his suite to appeal for calm. One of his security agents said the South African had refused to be evacuated by a helicopter plucking guests from the roof. U.N. peacekeepers controlled access to a separate part of the hotel that was being used as an election center, and U.N. Huey helicopters clattered overhead. After several hours, the crowd began to file out of the hotel. “We came looking for someone to give us the real results,” said a 30-year-old Preval organizer who identified himself only as “Sanpeur.” “We made them leave because we don’t want disorder. We did not come here looking for violence.” With about 90 percent of the vote counted, Preval was leading with 48.7 percent, Haiti’s electoral council said on its Web site. His nearest opponent was Leslie Manigat, another former president, who had 11.8 percent. But of the 2.2 million ballots cast, about 125,000 ballots have been declared invalid because of irregularities, raising suspicion among Preval supporters that polling officials were rigging the election. Another 4 percent of the ballots were blank but were still added into the total, making it harder for Preval to obtain the 50 percent plus one vote needed. Jacques Bernard, director-general of the nine-member electoral council, denied accusations that the council voided many votes for Preval. Council member Patrick Fequiere said Bernard was releasing results without notifying other council members, who did not know where Bernard was obtaining his information. And another council member, Pierre Richard Duchemin, said he was being denied access to the tabulation process. “According to me, there’s a certain level of manipulation,” Duchemin said, adding that “there is an effort to stop people from asking questions.” ___ Associated Press Writer Andrew Selsky contributed to this report. ******************** Gunfire Erupts in Haiti Protests By STEVENSON JACOBS, Associated Press Writer PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Gunfire erupted Monday during protests over election results in Haiti and at least one supporter of leading presidential candidate Rene Preval was killed. Witnesses said U.N. peacekeepers opened fire on the crowd, but a U.N. spokesman denied that. The protests erupted amid increasing anger at vote counts from Tuesday’s elections showing that Preval, a former president and one-time protege of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, may have fallen short of the 50 percent needed to win outright and avoid a runoff. Witnesses said Jordanian U.N. peacekeepers opened fire on them, killing two and wounding four. David Wimhurst, a U.N. spokesman in Haiti, denied in a phone interview that blue-helmeted peacekeepers who deployed across the capital opened fire. Associated Press journalists saw the body of a man in the street in the Tabarre neighborhood. He was wearing a blood-soaked T-shirt bearing an image of Preval. The body of the second victim was not at the scene. “We were peacefully protesting when the U.N. started shooting. There were a lot of shots. Everybody ran,” said Walrick Michel, 22, one of the pro-Preval protesters. Hundreds of screaming demonstrators elsewhere stormed past U.N. peacekeepers into an upscale hotel in the hills above Port-au-Prince and helicopters landed on the roof to evacuate guests, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu. At church services Sunday, South Africa had appealed for calm as election results trickled in. No violence was reported at the Montana hotel, where election officials have announced results of Tuesday’s presidential and parliamentary elections. The electoral council had abruptly canceled a press conference in the hotel Sunday evening. Protesters have alleged the electoral commission is manipulating the vote count to prevent Preval from winning a first-round victory in this battered and poor Caribbean nation. Preval supporters erected roadblocks throughout Port-au-Prince, paralyzing the capital. Some barricades made of old tires were set ablaze, sending plumes of acrid black smoke into the sky. Protesters let only journalists and Red Cross vehicles pass. With some 90 percent of the vote counted, Preval was leading with 48.7 percent of the vote, Haiti’s electoral council said on its Web site. His nearest opponent was Leslie Manigat, another former president, who had 11.8 percent. But of the 2.2 million ballots cast, about 125,000 ballots have been declared invalid because of irregularities, raising suspicion among Preval supporters that polling officials are trying to steal the election. Another 4 percent of the ballots were blank but were still added into the total, making it harder for Preval to obtain the 50 percent plus one vote needed. Throngs of Preval supporters poured into the streets, chanting angry allegations of fraud, after two members of Haiti’s electoral council questioned the counting procedures. Electoral council member Pierre Richard Duchemin said he was being denied access to information about the tabulation process and called for an investigation. “According to me, there’s a certain level of manipulation,” Duchemin told The Associated Press, adding “there is an effort to stop people from asking questions.” Earlier Monday, Preval supporters blew horns and pounded drums outside the electoral center, denouncing Jacques Bernard, director-general of the nine-member electoral council, as a “thief.” “He doesn’t know how to count,” they chanted as police held them off with rifles and shotguns. Bernard has denied accusations that the council voided many votes for Preval. Patrick Fequiere, who is also on the nine-member electoral council, said on local radio that Bernard was releasing results without notifying other council members, who did not know where Bernard was obtaining his information. The elections will replace an interim government installed after Aristide was ousted in a bloody rebellion two years ago. A popularly elected government with a clear mandate from the voters was seen as crucial to avoiding a political and economic meltdown in the western hemisphere’s poorest nation where, gangs have gone on kidnapping sprees and many factories have closed for lack of security. Jean-Henoc Faroul, president of an electoral district with 400,000 voters northeast of the capital, accused the electoral commission of trying to force a runoff, saying ballot tally sheets from Preval strongholds have vanished. “The electoral council is trying to do what it can to diminish the percentage of Preval so it goes to a second round,” said Faroul, who openly supports Preval’s candidacy. Wimhurst confirmed that tally sheets with vote results have been found dumped in the garbage, but said the sheets might have been mishandled by election workers and it was not necessarily evidence of fraud. He said 136 tally sheets containing the results of possibly thousands of votes had still not been processed, and others were still being delivered from outlying districts. Doors were removed from the tabulation center to prevent electoral council lawyers huddling in private, Wimhurst said. ___ Associated Press writer Andrew Selsky in Port-au-Prince contributed to this report. *************** Urgent Action Alert: Mande Lonu, MINUSTHA, KEP, Rejim Boca Raton la, Mériken, France, Canada Respekte la lwa, respekte Konstitisyon an, respekte lwa enténasyonal, respekte vút pép Ayisyen! HLLN e Diaspora Ayisyen an mande tout gouvénman ki genyen twoup yo lan MINUSTA pou yo pase twoup yo lúd PA TIRE sou pép yo ki pran lari a. Leve kanpe manifestan yo LEJITIM!. Se demokrasi yo, yap eseye volé lan men yo. Menm moun andan KEP la, tankou Patrick Fequiere, retire kú yo nan magouy sa. Popilasyon an kanpe, li kanpe paske tout moun te wé sak pase Feb. 7, 2006. Preval geyen, moun ki pa san wont wé sa! Men sa nou kapab fé pou ede pép Ayisyen: 1. Ekri Konséy Elektoral (KEP) a, lan: contact@cep-ht.org 2. Ekri primature at lan: primature@list.primaturehaiti.org Leve vwa nou byen WO. Mande OAS e Kosey Sekirite Lonu pou yo kúmande KEP e Gwo Jera, pou yo respekte la lwa, respekte Konstitisyon Ayisyen an, respekte reg KEP a menm, respekte vút pép la menm jan yo te fé yo mete yon dat si pou eleksyon pase, Feb. 7, 2006 lé gwoup 184 pat vle al lan eleksyon ditou. Sak enpútan anpil se ke nou pa bliye PLIS, ekri MEDYA Ayisyen e medya enténasyonal yo. Di yo fé travay yo! Montre le mond antye MAGOUY kap fét pou anile vút pép la ankú! Fúk rejim teknokrat sa ke OAS/UN/US/France/Canada sipúte an Ayiti, fúk yo respekte la lwa, respekte Konstitisyon an, respekte vút pép Ayisyen an! Di yo direkté egzekitif Konséy Elektoral Ayiti a, Jacques Bernard, li pa yon manm ofisyél konséy la. Kidonk, li pa gen okenn kalifikasyon ni otorite legal pou pibliye rezilta ofisyél eleksyon 2006 yo. Pa bliye se Gerard Latortue ki te nonmen nonm sa a, Jacques Bernard, kúm patwon Konséy Elektoral la ki, dapre lalwa pa ta dwe gen yon patwon. 1. Ekri medya nasyonal e lokal (Kontak pou medya Ayisyen yo nap jwen anba a, Pou medya enténasyonal, ale wé: US Local, national and international media 2. Pou moun lan Diaspora a – Ekri Kongrésman e Senaté pa w yo: Canadian Contact info for Canadian citizens: go to: Kenbe fém Ayisyen, pa lage. Ede pép nou, se konsa n’ap byen ede tét nou. Ezili Danto ****************************** Ayisyen, want justice and their sovereignty, not charity, dependency or UN * Radio Solidarite (011 509) 245 5055, 245 5055, 245 5836) Radio Ginen, 246 2867 Melodie FM 221 8568 or 221- 8596 Radio Tropic FM (011 509) 244 0571 Radio National Dí Haiti – 223 – 5712, 0r 223-6264 Radio Galaxie, 223-9942 or 223-9943 Radio Vision 2000 – 245-4914 Radio Kiskeya 244-6605 or 244- 6607 Radio Metropole, 246ñ2626 or 246-5335 Radio Caraibe FM ñ 223-0644 or 223-6827 Radio Megastar – Radio Antilles – 408 – 9415, 550 – 7313 Radio Balade FM 011-509-268-6607 ****************** Ask the ones you reach for the numbers for the other stations in Haiti. Call Haitian TV stations: Association des Journalistes Haitiens (AJH) / Reuters Contact information for US local and national media is: ***************************************** *********************************** |
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