[News] Haiti Today: Update & Occupation and Resistance Berkeley 9/9

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Dear frends,

Last week, Democracy Now featured the authors of 
an article released in the Lancet Journal - one 
of the world's oldest and most respected 
peer-reviewed medical journals - reporting on 
interviews with Haitians about their experiences 
during the period after the coup and occupation. 
The study found that in the two year period 
following the coup, 35,000 women were raped and 
8000 people were murdered in the greater 
Port-au-Prince area. The study documents that 
perpetrators include Haitian National Police, 
armed anti-Lavalas (paramilitary) forces and UN troops.

The Lancet has a signfiicant readership 
throughout the world so the article has 
international impact in establishing the record 
of human rights abuses and crimes perpetrated by 
the US/UN sponsored occupation and the need for 
reparations. This is also the first major article 
addressing the astonishing extent of rape during 
this period. A summary of their findings is 
below, and the full article is attached along 
with the accompanying Lancet editorial.


"Findings Our findings suggested that 8000 
individuals were murdered in the greater 
Port-au-Prince area during the 22-month period 
assessed. Almost half of the identified 
perpetrators were government forces or outside 
political actors. Sexual assault of women and 
girls was common, with findings suggesting that 
35 000 women were victimised in the area; more 
than half of all female victims were younger than 
18 years. Criminals were the most identified 
perpetrators, but officers from the Haitian 
National Police accounted for 13·8% and armed 
anti-Lavalas groups accounted for 10·6% of 
identified perpetrators of sexual assault. 
Kidnappings and extrajudicial detentions, 
physical assaults, death threats, physical 
threats, and threats of sexual violence were also common.

Interpretation Our results indicate that crime 
and systematic abuse of human rights were common 
in Port-au-Prince. Although criminals were the 
most identified perpetrators of violations, 
political actors and UN soldiers were also 
frequently identified. These findings suggest the 
need for a systematic response from the newly 
elected Haitian government, the UN, and social 
service organisations to address the legal, 
medical, psychological, and economic consequences 
of widespread human rights abuses and crime."

Regards,

Leslie M


Haiti's Father Jean-Juste, Dr. Paul Farmer and 
Brian Concannon to speak in Berkeley, September 9

Haiti's activist Lavalas priest 
<http://www.haitiaction.net/News/RAW/9_9_6/../../about/FrJJ.html>Father 
Gerard Jean-Juste was kept as a political 
prisoner during most of the recent elections. The 
U.S. State Department knew that if the prophetic 
voice of Father Jean-Juste wasn't silenced the 
"selections" - as they were called at the time by 
most Haitians - wouldn't come off as planned by 
the "international community." While he was in 
prison, the renown Dr. Paul Farmer snuck a 
syringe into his prison room and smuggled a 
sample of the ailing priest's blood out of 
occupied Haiti. All during this time and during 
Fr. Jean-Juste's imprisonment the previous year, 
human rights attorney Brian Concannon led the 
public outcry to have him released.

All three of these champions for peace and 
justice in Haiti will make up a panel hosted by 
the Haiti Action Committee (HAC) in Berkeley on 
Saturday, September 9, 2006. Members of the HAC 
delegation to Haiti will also show footage of a 
"routine" raid by UN occupation forces in an 
impoverished neighborhood of Cite Soliel near the 
capital of Haiti. During that raid a 15 year old 
boy was killed and many were injured.

The Haiti Action Committee presents

Haiti Today: Occupation and Resistance

A panel discussion with
Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste - Haitian political prisoner of conscience
Dr. Paul Farmer - Founder of Partners in Health
Brian Concannon - Founder of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti
Members of the Haiti Action Committee delegation 
to a recent Solidarity Conference in Haiti

Saturday, September 9
7:00 PM

St. Joseph the Worker church
1640 Addison Street, Berkeley (between Jefferson and McGee)
Wheelchair accessible/disabled persons should park on Jefferson
Parking is available in the church lot on McGee

Donation of $7-15 requested, no one turned away
Proceeds to benefit Haiti Action Committee and 
Fr. Jean-Juste's Food Program in Port-au-Prince


www.haitiaction.net
510-483-7481



The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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