by Greg Dunkel

Even Haitians, who knew about the story, were shocked and horrified when watching the video of Fredi Romélus, as he sat besides the bodies lying in a pool of blood in his home in the sprawling Port-au-Prince slum of Cité Soleil. He described how his 22-year old wife Sonia Romélus and their sons, Stanley and Nelson, were killed by UN occupation troops.

“They surrounded our house this morning and I ran out thinking my wife and the children were behind me,” he said. “They couldn't get out and the ‘blan’ [UN] fired into the house.”

Sonia was holding Nelson, 1, when the attack began. The bullet that passed through her killed him too. U.N. troops then killed Stanley, 4, with a shot to the head. A U.N. spokesman said that U.N. troops only shot “bandits” who fired on them first.

This video testimony, filmed just hours after U.N. troops gunned down some 60 people in Cité Soleil on July 6, 2005, was part of the evidence put on the record at the opening session of the International Tribunal on Haiti, held in Washington, September 23, 2005. Other sessions are being planned for cities like Miami, New York, Montreal, and Boston, where there are large Haitian communities.

In opening the session, presiding judge Ben Dupuy explained that the Tribunal has two main purposes. “First, it will investigate reports of human rights violations in Haiti, with particular attention to individual responsibility, for those violations under international law,” he said. “To this end the tribunal will examine current reports of killing, torture, illegal detention and other serious violations if international human rights, as well as the events leading up to the overthrow of Haiti’s elected government in February 2004. The International Tribunal for Haiti’s second purpose is to develop a case file that will be referred to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court [ICC] in the Hague.”

The United States does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC, but the countries whose forces comprise the U.N. troops in Haiti do.

Ira Kurzban, a Miami-based lawyer who represented Haiti’s constitutional government, testified to the disappearance of the justice system in Haiti. He pointed out that the United States itself recognizes this "fact" by refusing to deport back to Haiti Emmanuel "Toto" Constant, the leader of the death-squad FRAPH (Front for Advancement and Progress of Haiti), on the grounds that the Haitian justice system cannot guarantee him a fair trial.

Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, coordinator of the Fondasyon 30 Septanm, an organization which demands justice for the victims of Haiti’s 1991 coup, testified to the complicity of the United States in the systematic undermining of the democratic process in Haiti by recounting how he was personally threatened by the deputy U.S. ambassador before he escaped from Haiti after the coup.

Thomas Griffin, a civil rights and immigration lawyer in Philadelphia, who was a federal parole and probation officer for 10 years before he became a lawyer, testified on his human rights investigation in Haiti during November 2004. He interviewed people suffering from gunshot wounds to the head who were afraid to go to the hospital because people who go to the hospital with gunshot wounds wind up in the morgue.

Griffin said that he investigated the burning of 60 bodies after a massacre in Belair. He said that misprinted Haitian currency was used as incineration fuel, noting that this suggests de facto government involvement. Only government officials generally have access to reject money.

Kevin Pina, a U.S. filmmaker and journalist who has lived in Haiti for over a decade, testified to how he obtained the video detailing the July 6 Cité Soleil massacre, in which Fredi Romélus testified. He described witnessing Haitian police fatally shooting unarmed peaceful demonstrators under the noses of troops of the U.N. Mission to Stabilize Haiti (MINUSTAH). He had obtained videos of Haitian police planting guns in the hands of their dead victims. Pina also described how Haitian police arrested and detained him after he, acting as a journalist, tried to investigate their attempt to plant weapons in the house of Fr. Gérard Jean-Juste, imprisoned since July 21 (see Haïti Progrès, Vol. 23, No. 27, 9/14/2005).

California-based researcher Jeb Sprague, Canadian activist Yves Engler and U.S. Labor delegation member Seth Donnelly also testified.

Fresh off a plane from a trip to the Middle East, Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General and founder of the International Action Center, also addressed the Tribunal. He will lead a Commission of Inquiry to Haiti in early October. Court-martialed Capt. Lawrence Rockwood, lawyer/investigator Tom Griffin, and unionist Dave Welsh have agreed to serve on it. Other prominent U.S. political figures have also expressed interest.

In addition to Ben Dupuy, who is a former ambassador for President Aristide and secretary general of the National Popular Party (PPN), the Tribunal’s presiding judges were Lionel Jean-Baptiste, a Haitian lawyer based in Chicago, and Lucie Tondreau, a leader in the Miami popular organization Veye Yo. The Investigating Judge was Brian Concannon, head of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), and the chief prosecutor was Desiree Wayne, a lawyer based in Colorado, assisted by journalist Kim Ives and unionist Ray Laforest.

Of the 21 people indicted, the Investigating Judge asked the jury to find three guilty and referred the rest of the cases to the Commission of Inquiry for further investigation. He also proposed that de facto Haitian Prime Minister Gérard Latortue be indicted.

The jury rendered guilty verdicts for former Haitian National Police Chief Léon Charles, former MINUSTAH military commander Brazilian Lt. General Augusto Heleno Ribiero Pereira, and the Chilean MINUSTAH chief Juan Valdes.

In coming months, the Tribunal will convene additional sessions in the U.S., and if possible, in Canada and Haiti. All of the sessions will present eyewitness and expert testimony, which will be collected in the case file.

Four buses with Haitians and North Americans traveled from Brooklyn, Queens, and Irvington, NJ to Washington, DC to attend the Tribunal on Friday evening. Afterwards, the delegates spent the night in a progressive church.

The next morning, the Haitian contingent marched in the September 24 march of 300,000 against the occupation of Iraq, Palestine and Haiti, a slogan seen on many signs and placards and raised in speeches.

When addressing the tens of thousands massed in the Ellipse behind the White House, Ramsey Clark called for "the impeachment of Bush for crimes against peace, and his campaign of shock and awe against civilians in Iraq." Clark pointed out "the United States spends more on weapons than the rest of the world combined." He accused the United States of being directly responsible for the destruction of democracy in Haiti.

If Bush is impeached, Clark said he dreams about Jean-Bertrand Aristide, an honorable, just and upright man, becoming president of the United States of America. That would certainly change the attitude of the United States.

Ben Dupuy, who spoke right after Clark, noted how Bush had to send U.S. Special Forces to Haiti to destroy democracy and expel a democratically elected president. He asked: "Why is the U.S. afraid of Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti? It is not because they possess weapons of mass destruction, those so-called WMDs. It's because they are democratic.”

Cindy Sheehan, the mother who led a month-long sit-in in Crawford, Texas -- Bush's vacation home -- demanding a meeting with the president so he could tell her personally why her son had to die in Iraq, shouted, her arms upraised.: “We have to do our jobs as Americans. If nobody else will hold them accountable, we will. We'll be the checks and balances on this out-of-control, criminal government."

Jesse Jackson, the well-known U.S. civil rights figure, spoke after Sheehan. "The response of the Democratic Party has been weak, too weak." Jackson was once upon a time candidate for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. He felt that the antiwar movement in the United States has to raise the occupation of Palestine and Haiti.

During the march, a white police officer from the Executive Protection Service, which guards the White House, the U.S. Treasury, and other highly sensitive installations, noticed a white North American marching with the Haitian contingent, carrying a Haitian flag and a sign denouncing the de facto government and calling for the return of Aristide as president. The cop asked the demonstrator: “What do you know about Haiti? How can you support a dictator like Aristide?”

The protester responded: “I lived in Haiti for some time. I know Aristide is a democrat, a man of the people. Aba makout! Aba Latortue! Viv Aristide!”

There were more than a few North American marchers carrying Haitian flags. When asked, they generally responded that the lack of democracy in Haiti because of U.S. intervention was an issue that the antiwar movement had to address.

Both the International Tribunal on Haiti and the September 24 March on Washington were great successes. They augur well for the growing international movement resisting war and demanding justice for the crimes of U.S. aggression around the world.

September 30 marks the 14th anniversary of the 1991 coup against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Heeding a call by the Fondasyon 30 Septanm, demonstrators in 38 cities around the world will hold actions around the date to make the following demands:

1) Stop the massacres of the poor by UN troops, Haitian National Police and paramilitary mercenaries under police control;
2) Restore the democratically elected government of President Aristide;
3) Free Father Jean-Juste and all the more than 1000 political prisoners in Haiti's jails;
4) End the brutal US/UN occupation - Restore Haiti's sovereignty;
5) Open an independent inquiry into the February 29, 2004 coup and forced removal of President Aristide, including the role of the US, France and Canada. (See accompanying article on the newly launched International Tribunal on Haiti.)

The demonstrations on or around September 30, 2005, spanning 14 countries, will be part of an international campaign in solidarity with the Haitian people. There will be actions in three countries in Africa, two in Europe, two in North America and seven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Among the U.S. cities where there will be actions are San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Hayward, CA, Miami, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, Newark, NJ, Boston, Northampton, MA, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Portland and Enterprise, Oregon, and Detroit; in Canada, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Charlottetown, Fredericton, Halifax, Tatamagouche (Nova Scotia), New Glasgow (Nova Scotia), and Antigonish (Nova Scotia). Demonstrations will also take place in Durban, South Africa; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Kinshasa, Congo; Santiago, Chile; Brasilia, Brazil; Dublin, Ireland; San Jose, Costa Rica; Paris, France as well as Guadeloupe, Martinique Dominica, Dominican Republic, and Benin.

For more information, or to add your city or town to this mobilization, email the Sept 30th Organizing Committee at sub@sonic.net or call 510-847-8657.

Imprisoned priest, Father Gérard Jean-Juste, dictated the following letter to one of his lawyers, Bill Quigley, on September 27, 2005 from his prison cell.

Dear Friends:

Your work has been having results - keep up the pressure! The cause of justice in Haiti is moving forward.

Today in Port-au-Prince, Condoleeza Rice made a point to challenge the unjust legal system in Haiti. She held up Yvon Neptune and myself as examples of how the system continues to work injustices for the people of our country.

There is no doubt that your pressure is making the US and the UN face the injustices in Haiti. Every one of you who has demonstrated, written a letter, made a phone call, stood up for justice in Haiti - I thank you.

You have uplifted my spirits and the spirits of all who struggle against the machinery of injustice.

I am holding on to the log of hope in the swirling waters of injustice. The church tried to knock my hands off the log when they suspended my priestly duties when someone tried to register me as a candidate for president. I am appealing the decision to suspend me from priestly duties. Since I am not a candidate for the election for president, I should be able to continue my service as a priest. But I cannot do that until I have the canon law books to defend myself. But I will do it when I can.

Contrast how the church treated me with the recent case of two white belgian priests who were being deported by the Dominican Republic for standing with the Haitian poor in that country. I salute my brothers for taking that action. There the church stood with them and even the papal nuncio came to their defense. Why is it different when I try to stand with the poor of Haiti? I too am a friend of the poor. Why is there no church support?

That is why I was so happy to see all the church leaders from many faiths sign onto a letter asking for my release - your courage helps me and will hopefully help our sisters and brothers of faith in Haiti’s struggle for justice and peace.

I want to hold on to the log of hope and cross over the waters of injustice to freedom and to continue serving the people of Haiti.

I am very sensitive about the people in the St. Claire's community. As you know, the church serves hundreds of meals to hungry children several times a week. We are only able to do this with the help of the What If Foundation and Margaret Trost and all those who join in helping the poor. Please support this work and help continue our program of feeding the poor.

Punish me but do not punish the poor people. Even though I am currently under suspension, the people should not suffer.

Thank you for uplifting my spirits and keep up the pressure for human rights and justice for all the people of Haiti!

Père Gérard Jean-Juste
Pacot Annex Haitian National Penitentiary

Bill Quigley is a professor of law at Loyola University New Orleans and is assisting Mario Joseph of BAI in his representation of Fr. Jean-Juste. Bill is a volunteer with the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.