While Trying to Send Aristide Back to Africa
U.S. and France Thwart UN Investigation of Haiti Coup
The U.S. and France are doing their best to scuttle the United Nations investigation into the Feb. 29th overthrow and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide being demanded by Caribbean nations, the Inter Press Service (IPS) disclosed Apr. 17. IPS correspondent Thalif Deen reported that “the two veto-wielding permanent members of the 15-nation Security Council have signaled to Caribbean nations that they do not want a U.N. probe of Aristide’s ouster.” Twice last month, the 15-nation CARICOM called for “an investigation under the auspices of the United Nations” but have not yet presented a formal request to the body. ‘’The reasons are obvious,’’ the IPS quotes an anonymous Caribbean diplomat as saying. ‘’We are under tremendous pressure not to follow up on our request.’’ This same pressure has been brought to bear on Jamaica, which has granted Aristide sanctuary since he escaped on Mar. 14 from the exile Washington and Paris devised for him in the Central African Republic (see Haïti Progrès, Vol. 22, No. 1, 3/17/2004). Although the Haitian president has been kept in a remote mountain-top former mining colony under heavy guard, rigorous vetting of visitors, and strict orders not to speak to the press, Washington still wants him removed from the hemisphere immediately. U.S. officials feel his mere presence some 200 miles from Haiti will excite the very masses they say sent him packing. At the very time two weeks ago that U.S. National Security advisor Condoleeza Rice was snubbing calls to testify before the special commission investigating the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, she was on the phone pressuring Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to get rid of Aristide and to reinforce his cage. Under Washington’s pressure, the Jamaican government could send Aristide to South Africa any day now. The Jamaican government has not consulted him about whether he wants to go there or about the arrangements they have made, according to friends who have spoken to him. Despite Jamaican press reports that he is “deciding where to go and what to do,” friends report that Aristide learned about his imminent transfer from a BBC radio news report last Thursday. On Apr. 13, he was able to receive a delegation of six lawyers organized by the National Lawyers Guild (NLG). In a letter, the delegation commended the Jamaican government for its “adherence to fundamental legal principles in connection with the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from Haiti on February 29, 2004” and for granting him asylum. The NLG delegation also urged Patterson and CARICOM to “pursue vigorously an investigation at the United Nations.” On April 5 , U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said during a one-day visit to Haiti that he didn’t think “any purpose would be served by an inquiry.” But the IPS quotes Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, as saying: “It is clear that the United States and France violated the U.N. charter as well as the 1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons, with respect to their criminal treatment of President Aristide.” Meanwhile last week, on the anniversary of the failed 2002 coup against him, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez reiterated his condemnation of the coup in Haiti and his willingness to offer Aristide asylum. Such a prospect will raise hackles in Washington. Not only would Aristide remain in the Caribbean but be based in a nation more willing and able to stand up to U.S. bullying. Then there is the sheer symbolism. Haiti, Latin America’s first independent nation, helped Simon Bolivar liberate the second, Venezuela. If the current presidents of these two nations, both targeted today by the U.S., join together to fight against Washington’s destabilization campaigns, the synergy of the alliance will energize mass resistance far beyond their borders.
Legal Delegation Produces Scathing Report on Haiti
(The second of three installments)
The first phase of the National Lawyers Guild’s investigation into the aftermath of the Feb. 29th coup in Haiti took place from Mar. 29 to Apr. 5. Last week’s installment described the tense and confused situation in Port-au-Prince, the repression of popular organizations, and the tension created by the U.S. Marines and other occupying forces. We continue now with the NLG’s Summary Report, which was written by attorney Thomas Griffin, a delegation member.
d. The State Morgue in Port-au-Prince and Cadaver Disposal The Director refused the Delegation’s request to view the cadavers and to review the record books.Director admitted that “many” bodies have come into the morgue since March 1, 2004, that are young men with their hands tied behind their backs, plastic bags over their heads, that have been shot.The Director insisted only 8 bodies were presently in the morgue (3/31/04).Morgue workers, however, told us in confidence that 50 bodies were then in the morgue. They confirmed that many bodies continue to come in that have hands tied behind their backs and bags over their heads.The Director admitted that 800 bodies were “dumped and buried” by morgue on Sunday, March 7, 2004, and another 200 bodies dumped on Sunday, March 28, 2004. The “usual” amount dumped is less than 100 per month. The bodies are taken to Titanyen, [a desolate dump] north of the capital, and buried in a mass grave.There is usually a 22 day waiting period before a body is dumped. However, due to what the Director claims is a “broken motor” there has been no refrigeration since February 29, 2004. Therefore, the morgue dumps bodies within 5-6 days. The Director gave no estimate of when the motor would be repaired.People are afraid to claim bodies of Lavalas members because of fear of the Lavalas connection.
e. The Bodies Dumped and Burned at Piste d’Aviation Several witnesses told the Delegation that 40 to 60 bodies were brought in trucks to a field near the Piste d’Aviation, bordering the Delmas 2 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince on Sunday March 22, 2004, along a road to the airport.On Monday March 23, 2004, the bodies were moved away from the roadside to a more remote field and were burned.The Delegation observed the massive ash pile, and pigs eating flesh of human bones that had not burned at Piste D’Aviation. The Delegation photographed fresh skulls and other human bones, some still tangled in clothes or with shoes and sneakers nearby.The fuel for the fire was misprinted Haitian currency.
f. The Event at Lafanmi Selavi During the Delegation’s interview of OP leaders on March 30, 2004, some had told us that they had seen four men bound, lying face down, and shot dead in the back in front of Lafanmi Selavi, an Aristide orphanage and school in the city shuttered since February 29th.The Delegation immediately went to the site and found it closed off and surrounded by police. The police insisted that no one had been killed, and that the men were under arrest for trying to steal a generator from the site. They did admit that shots were fired at the men and one was hit and hospitalized. The policeman advised the Delegation to go to the local police station.Some blood was at the scene and a Delegation member found a spent bullet.At the police station, the chief advised the Delegation that the men were under arrest, but he could not say where they were being held.
g. The Haitian Human Rights Groups The Delegation spent time with the directors and legal staff of CARLI (Comité des Avocats pour le Respect des Libertés Individuelles) and NCHR (National Committee for Haitian Rights), two well-known “human rights” organizations based in Port-au-Prince.CARLI has an IFES (International Foundation for Election Systems) and USAID-sponsored “Hotline” for victims of human rights abuses. CARLI then publishes a list each month of the names of the “abusers” using conclusion-filled language condemning the person for the acts (typically murder and attempted murder) and calling for their immediate arrest.There is no evidence that CARLI conducts any investigation before condemning the named person. The person “condemned” to the list is never contacted to answer to the allegations.CARLI insisted that it conducts a thorough investigation of each of the 60 to 100 monthly calls and verifies all information beyond a reasonable doubt before publicly condemning a person by naming him/her, CARLI has no full time staff, there are only two lawyers at the office, and all are volunteers.The February list contained the names of approximately 85 human rights violators against whom calls were made in February, and their political affiliations. All were Lavalas supporters or HNP.Prior lists observed also contained only people named who are deemed by the list to be Lavalas supporters.Completed “hotline” intake forms observed used terms such as “a supporter of the dictator Aristide.”CARLI leaflets issued to the public to publicize the “hotline” are written in French, not Creole.CARLI insists that it will investigate cases involving Lavalas victims, but admits that none have come forward.CARLI gives that list to the police, other government agencies, USAID, and the U.S. Embassy, and other copies are distributed to the public. The lists contains the name and party affiliation of the condemned, but does not contain their home addresses.CARLI was asked if it would consider ceasing the publication of the “list” because it was forcing innocent people into hiding and to fear for their lives, preventing people from returning to their jobs and schools, and, as a non-judicial forum, was creating the possibility of extra-judicial execution squads, and non-judicial arrest warrants. CARLI refused.The Delegation met with people who are now in hiding because their names appear on the CARLI list. All deny being involved in any human rights abuses, and insist that the list exists to serve the political ends of the opposition and to instill fear.NCHR is a well-funded and equipped “human rights” agency that purports to take all cases, regardless of political affiliation.NCHR however, could not name a single case in which a Lavalas supporter was a victim.NCHR took the delegation into a large meeting room where the wall was adorned with a large “wanted” poster featuring Aristide and his cabinet, in small photos, across the top. It named Aristide a “dictator” guilty of human rights abuses. Among a long list of other charges, it condemned him for the murder of John Dominique and included a large photo of Dominique’s dead body. The poster calls for the arrest and imprisonment of Aristide and his associates.The Delegation suggested that NCHR’s neutrality and inclusiveness might be better expressed with additional posters condemning, for example, FRAPH [Revolutionary Front for Advancement and Progress in Haiti], Jodel Chamblain, Jean “Tatoune” Baptiste, Ti Kenley, etc. While the Director and the staff acknowledged the existence of all of those named, they laughed at the suggestion of adding other wanted posters to the office.The Delegation noted that many of the newsletters, “open letters,” and advisories available in the NCHR waiting room refer to Aristide as a “dictator” and that none of them concern abuses against supporters of the elected government or Lavalas.NCHR was asked if they would investigate the 1000 bodies dumped and buried by the morgue during the last few weeks at Titanyen, and the alleged malfunctioning of the refrigeration at the morgue. The director and his staff denied ever knowing about these events, laughed, and said none of it was true.NCHR was asked if it would investigate the dumped bodies at Piste d’Aviation. The director and his staff laughed and denied that it was true. The Delegation then showed NCHR the photographs we had taken of the ashes and fresh human skeletons. In response, the NCHR director told us that the General Hospital routinely dumps bodies at the Piste d’Aviation.
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