News
and opinions on situation in Haiti |
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| 14/7/06 |
Demand UN and coup d’etat police in Haiti not kill the peaceful demonstrators tomorrow | Coup d’etat assassins bring illegal arms shipments to Haiti while UN ignores this, there are reports of UN mobilized to attack tomorrow and/or give cover to Haitian police attack on peaceful demonstrators against the coup d’etat’s continued oppressions | New Press and Communications Director speaks out on partisan Haitian press |
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Date: 14 July 2006 “…Why are they bringing all these arms into the country? Are they getting ready for a war?…we did speak to a member of APN?s management (Port au Prince customs authorities) who claims that he is not in control even though he is in charge. He claims that every time illegal activities are planned, arms or drugs are about to be offloaded; there is a scheduled blackout for 10 or 11 pm at the port, to permit them to disembark the drugs or arms on APN?s wharf.” Excerpt from “Another Black Market Arms Shipment arrives for the Coup Detat assassins in Haiti” HLLN’s Translation of excerpts from a July 12, 2006 Radio Levekampe Broadcast (the Masner Beauplan show) Ale tande rapò a an Kreyol: Zam elegal pou mesye koudeta yo ki dekouvri Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 11:22:54 -0400 <<Marguerite: Our Haiti report this morning mentioned ‘MINUSTHA action’ (moving in on different parts of the popular neighborhoods). What is interesting is that they did not go to the places where the massacres took place last week. They are moving on other popular neighborhoods. Our contact wondered whether or not it was a show of force to try and intimidate the demonstrations scheduled for tomorrow. Apparently four people died in Site Soley. He did not mention who killed them.>>> ******************************************************** ********** Translation of excerpts of a July 12, 2006 Radio Levekampe Broadcast (the Masner Beauplan show) from Kreyol original into English by Frantz Jerome, Ezili Danto Witness Project, July 12, 2006 (ZAM – Listen to original Kreyol audio) START OF REPORT: “…This weapons dossier brings many problems to the surface. The police and the judicial system are not yet ready to provide the identity of the owner of this weapons shipment. This container of weapons was discovered at customs. Customs officials at the Port-au-Prince port were obligated to called at once upon the justice of the peace to officially witness the existence of this weapons container. All calibers of arms were part of this shipment, which also included the appropriate ammunition. Could an airplane (Editor’s note: in reference to a statement made by the president of the national assembly), how could an airplane carry such a big container? We don?t believe the statement made by the president of the National assembly and must wonder about his sources. In reality, he should have been better informed than us, even though as journalist we are always seeking information. Well, we don?t believe his story as per the way this shipment got there. (Editor’s note: The President of the legislative assembly, Joseph Lambert, apparently said on a radio program that the arms had arrived on board an American Airline flight!) According to our information, the container was discovered at customs in Port-au-Prince and port management called the justice of the peace to legally witness its presence. We will point out that the private sector – the civilian society had been awarded a waiver of three years for all customs duties – took advantage of their waiver to bring EVERYTHING that they wanted to bring in. It is not for the first time. Not too long ago there was a container of arms that arrived via the St. Marc port. This shipment caused a scandal, had made a lot of noise and the appropriate judges are still studying the dossier. Still, Ramicos members had already taken possession of these arms. The public prosecutor of St. Marc and the investigative judge, Philippe Pierre Gilles, already started questioning many in town. But, it was their way to stage a cover-up, for it was Ramicos members that were implicated in this arms scandal. Still closer to the present, right before president Preval?s investiture, a container of arms passed though customs (APN) in Port-au-Prince. It is the private sector that is transporting all these arms. Furthermore, for the past two years, there is a ship that officially brings sugar to a private wharf. The ship belongs to the owner of the wharf and also brings important arms shipments. The wealthy men in the private sector have their own ships and their own private wharfs in Haiti and do as they please. Why are they bringing all these arms into the country? Are they getting ready for a war? These are the questions that come to mind. In a parallel story, the American ambassador Mrs. Janet Anderson, explained that all the arms that the de facto government had ordered – Gerard Latortue had indeed said that he would not stand on ceremony and would buy arms from anywhere even from illegal arms dealers if he had to and he had indeed bought in huge numbers – had been confiscated by the American government when they reached the police academy. The ambassador explained that the police had been killing too many people, had been assassinating too many people and did not have any experience. However, now that the police is being turned into a professional force, these arms would be returned to the police. We must point out that the American government had confiscated these arms and they were being kept at the police academy in Frères. Really in order to understand what is happening, we must note that the disarmament commission is calling for disarmament while the floodgates are open for the arrival of arms shipments. We hope that the president of the national assembly Joseph Lambert comes up with an explanation on the happenings of arms shipments in Haiti. Did they arrive by air? Well, we believe that there is a need for real information about this arms affair. …There at Port-au-Prince?s APN (customs agency), and we did speak to a member of APN?s management who claims that he is not in control even though he is in charge. He claims that every time illegal activities are planned, arms or drugs are about to be offloaded; there is a scheduled blackout for 10 or 11 pm at the port, to permit them to disembark the drugs or arms on APN?s wharf. It is clear that the Jacques Edoaurd Alexis government needs to be vigilant, for these people are bringing many weapons to the country. Indeed, that is the situation. To sum up, custom officials don?t want to release the identity of the owner of the illegal weapons containers just confiscated. We wish that the president of the Legislative Assembly would identify the owner. The Haitian public has a right to know who is bringing these arms to Haiti. Will government officials organize one more cover-up? Well, we wish today that the president of the Legislative Assemby would provide an explanation. END OF EXCERPT, Ezili Danto Witness Project, reports come direct from Haiti. (ZAM-Listen to original Kreyol audio of Masner Beauplan show on Levekampe) *********************** *************** Listen to Kreyol Audio- Blan Kolon mete jèn Ayisyen lan kòd: www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/testimonies/Sonje6Jiye05.mp3 New Press and Communications Director for the Prime Minister On 11 July 2006, Pierre-Raymond Dumas entered into function as the new Press and Communications Director for the Prime Minister of Haiti’s Office. He replaces Jean-Junior Joseph who fulfilled the role for interim prime minister, Gérard Latortue. A new prime minister, Jacques Edouard Alexis, was sworn in on 9 June. Pierre-Raymond Dumas is an author and formerly a writer for Le Nouvelliste newspaper, where he was in charge of the celebrated column, ‘The Transition That Never Ends’. In Le Nouvelliste of 14 October 2005, Dumas wrote about his participation in a debate on the challenges facing the press during the electoral period: “For my part, being the author of several books of political history and analysis, I deplored the partisan, passionate and lazy state of the Haitian press. Referring to the memorable elections of 1990 I also insisted on the necessity of utilizing two journalistic means almost forgotten – investigative journalism and analysis & commentaries – in order to establish a professional body with rigorous standards, with the quest for excellence and in the best interests of the general population. All this is, of course, an integral part of a functioning society, of intellectual development, of respect for principles and academic standards. Like all changes in mentality, that in the media, calls for continuous training and in addition, an improvement in working conditions for Haitian journalists, whose salaries are almost negligible. We must stress this emphatically. I should mention, in finishing, that those problems facing journalists are as difficult as the challenges facing our society. One sheds light on the other.” ********************************************* See also HLLN’s call for investigation of the CEP and electoral fraud Blan Kolon mete jèn Ayisyen lan kòd Haitian Children Put in Chains by the Whites: Remembering How The UN dropped bombs on Haitian civilians in Site Soley last July, 2005, then put the wounded in chains July 6, 2006 – Remembering July 6, 2005 and the UN massacre of innocent civilians from Site Soley: Demand UN soldiers stop killing innocent Haitian civilians and brutalizing the Haitian public, Demand Justice for the UN victims from Site Soley HLLN Apèl pou Aksyon: Mande pou solda Nasyonzini yo sispann touye inosan nan popilasyon sivil la e sispann ak lòt zak maspinay yo ap fè sou pèp Ayisyen. Mande Pou Okipasyon ak Represyon Nasyonzini an Sispann Celebrating the Life of Emmanuel “Drèd” Wilmè by Frantz Jerome, Haitian Perspectives, July 1, 2006 EXPOSE THE LIES: www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/expose.html ****** Ale tande rapò a an Kreyol: Zam elegal pou mesye koudeta yo ki dekouvri – Another black market arms shipment to coup d’etat assassins arrives in Haiti excerpted from a Levekampe Radio Broadcast and translated from Kreyol into English by Frantz Jerome ********* – Other recommended links: – Reverse Solidarity – Undeclared war on Haiti’s poor – Tension and grief in the Caribbean By Kent Rosenthal, March 1, 2006 – One island, two nations By Kent Rosenthal, July 1, 2005 ***************************************** |
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