[News] Lavalas, elections, denounces attacks on underprivileged

[News at freedomarchives.org]

Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 22:13:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: zili danto <erzilidanto at yahoo.com>
Subject: Lavalas will not follow path of violence of the coup d'etat 
sectors urging MINUSTHA to decimate underprivileged classes



A SPOKESPERSON OF LAVALAS ACTIVISTS OF CITE SOLEIL DECLARES THAT
LAVALAS IS NOT READY TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY SELECTION AND DENOUNCES A
CAMPAIGN OF HATE AGAINST UNDERPRIVILEGED CLASSES


Port-au-Prince, July 19, 2005 5:10 PM (AHP)- A spokesperson of LAVALAS
activists in Cité Soleil minimized Tuesday the request made by the
Council of the Wise to the interim regime to disqualify the political
organization FANMI LAVALAS for the elections announced for this year.

According to Mr. Momplaisir, the spokesperson of the Council of the
Wise is losing her time, since the LAVALAS party had no intention of
participating to the selection that will be organized. The Council had
called the government to punish LAVALAS in reaction to journalist
Jacques Roche’s murder.

"Our objective is to continue peaceful mobilization to get the
liberation of all political prisoners and better living conditions for
the majority of the population rotting in misery", Momplaisir declared,
adding that members of FANMI LAVALAS grassroots groups had no intention
to follow the path of violence of those urging the MINUSTAH to decimate
underprivileged classes.

The leader of Cité Soleil activists announce the holding of two
peaceful demonstrations this coming Tuesday and Wednesday to continue
to pass masses’ demands, notably the end of exclusion. He informed that
his colleagues and himself are currently working on preparing cases for
the international court on Haiti that will open in Miami in September.
"The world must know the truth about those who distil venom of hatred
and revenge", he also declared.

Several sectors that participated to the anti-LAVALAS fight in February
2004 accused those they call bandits from populist districts of Cité
Soleil, of Bel-air and of Cité de Dieu of being involved in Jacques
Roche’s death.

A former minister close to this political movement, Raoul Peck, even
accused former LAVALAS senators, former deputies and former LAVALAS
ministers of being disguised murderers.


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THE CARLI DEMANDS EXPLANATIONS ON THE OPERATIONS LEAD ON JULY 6TH IN
CITE SOLEIL BY MINUSTAH SOLDIERS IN A LETTER ADDRESSED TO JUAN GABRIEL
VALDES

Port-au-Prince, July 19, 2005 12:20 PM (AHP)- On Tuesday, the Lawyers
Committee for the Respect of Individual Freedoms (CARLI) demanded of
the Representative of the UN General Secretary, Juan Gabriel Valdès, a
detailed explanation from MINUSTAH forces about the July 6, 2005 events
in the populist district of Cité Soleil.

During the operation lead by UN forces and the National Police of Haiti
on July 6th against Emmanuel (Dread) Wilmé, several members of the
civil population were killed and dozens of houses riddled with bullets,
the CARLI wrote in an open letter to Juan Gabriel Valdès.

According to the human rights organization, the Saint-Joseph Hospital
lead by the Organization Médecins Sans Frontières, received in the
afternoon of July 6th 27 people wounded by bullets, including women and
young children, all residents of Bois-Neuf, a district of Cité Soleil.

The CARLI considers that in many cases, military operations by MINUSTAH
forces done together with the PNH, are apparently done without real
strategic planning, a thing that does not facilitate the arrest of the
bandits that spread terror in the metropolitan area, nor the seizing of
illegal arms. The organization says it believes that it is important,
probably essential, for the UN forces to support the PNH in its fight
against violence, crime and kidnapping.

However, the CARLI demands, in accordance with the 1949 Geneva
conventions, the strict respect of members of the civil population’s
rights, as they do not participate to the hostilities. Otherwise, it
said, we will register crimes against humanity in Haiti, an offence to
which the statute of limitations does not apply, in accordance with the
convention on the non-applicability of statutory limitation to crimes
of war and crimes against humanity, adopted by the UN General Assembly
in its Resolution 2391 of November 26, 1968.

The CARLI declared it was certain that corrective measures will be
adopted in order to protect the most vulnerable social classes while it
said it expects explanations on July 6th events.

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Forwarded by the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
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