[News] Danny Glover editorial - Stop the Political Persecution of Aristide and Fanmi Lavalas

[Anti-Imperialist News]

*Please follow this link 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danny-glover/aristide-fanmi-lavalas-political-persecution_b_5852006.html#es_share_ended> to 
the source article, share it, tweet it, e-mail it.*

*By DANNY GLOVER: _Stop the Political Persecution of Aristide and Fanmi 
Lavalas Once and for All_*

In March of 2011 I accompanied Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide 
on his trip home to Haiti following years of forced exile in South 
Africa. I did so in support of Haitian democracy and Aristide's civil 
rights, and in protest against my country's role in illegally removing 
him from power in 2004 and then preventing him from returning to his 
native land for seven long years. Today, Haitian democracy and the 
rights of Aristide are again under threat and the U.S. government 
appears to be turning a blind eye.

Since returning to Haiti, Aristide has focused his energy on rebuilding 
and reactivating a medical university that he founded in 2001 and that 
had been closed down during his time in exile. Though he hasn't been 
directly involved in politics, he remains a popular figure and is the 
leader of Fanmi Lavalas (FL) -- a political party that has won the 
majority of votes in every election in which it has participated. 
However, FL has been kept off the ballot by Haiti's authorities ever 
since the 2004 coup that led to Aristide's forced exile.

Haiti's parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for 2011, are now 
three years overdue and the UN and other foreign entities have 
repeatedly called for them to take place before the end of the year. 
With Aristide back in Haiti it would appear to be more difficult this 
time around for the government to prevent FL from participating. This is 
perhaps why the deposed president is once again under attack.

Last month, a Haitian judge reportedly issued an arrest warrant for 
Aristide. The case being mounted against him reeks of political 
persecution directly tied to efforts to suppress a popular alternative 
to the current administration of Michel Martelly, who is supported by 
conservative Haitian elites and the U.S.

The charges against Aristide stem from an investigation conducted by the 
illegal government established by the 2004 U.S.-backed coup. Under that 
government, human rights researchers found that some 4,000 people were 
killed for political reasons, while many others were imprisoned on bogus 
charges. Despite his powerful enemies' best efforts, and a grand jury 
investigation in the U.S., no evidence has been produced that could 
support criminal charges against Aristide. In the meantime, the 
persecution of Lavalas and human rights defenders continues. On August 
20, Lavalas activist Clifford Charles was killed following a protest 
demanding the release of fellow activist Louima Louis Juste.

The judge who issued the warrant for Aristide's arrest has been 
disbarred from practicing law for 10 years -- as soon as he steps down 
from his position as judge -- for his role in the arrest last year of 
Andre Michel, an attorney investigating corruption within the Martelly 
administration. Lawyers for Aristide contend that they never received 
the initial summons from the judge and that when they did go to the 
court at the required time, the judge himself was a no-show. Now, in an 
apparent attempt at saving-face, the judge has ordered house arrest for 
Aristide, something that is not even legal in Haiti. The National 
Network for the Defense of Human Rights, Haiti's most prominent human 
rights organization, has pointed out that these are not the actions of a 
neutral third-party.

On the night of September 11th, Haitian authorities went a step further, 
removing the security detail that had been with Aristide since his 
return from exile, a move that put him, his family, and his supporters 
at risk. Haitian press reports indicate that the command came not from 
the National Police, who have been reluctant to act against Aristide, 
but straight from the National Palace. The message was chilling and 
clear: the government can and will stop offering protection to the 
former president whenever it chooses to do so.

Is the government scared of facing Fanmi Lavalas in a free and fair 
election? President Martelly was elected in 2011, but only after 
intervention by the U.S. and its key partners, who arbitrarily 
overturned the results of the first round, thereby putting Martelly into 
the run-off election. Voter participation barely reached 20 percent.

The U.S. government was one of the main funders of those flawed 
elections and a major funder of the elections of 2006 and 2009, all of 
which excluded Fanmi Lavalas. The U.S. is also expected to provide key 
funding for the next elections, if and when they end up taking place. If 
elections aren't held by the end of the year, terms will expire for the 
majority of the senate and the entire chamber of deputies, effectively 
letting the president rule by decree. My country's government is a de 
facto, if not active supporter of this rampant curtailing of democracy.

It's time to end the campaign of attacks against Aristide and Fanmi 
Lavalas once and for all. Aristide, like all Haitian citizens, must be 
allowed to participate in politics without fear and intimidation being 
the norm. My government has been complicit in undermining Haitian 
democracy for many years now -- from the 1991 CIA-backed coup against 
the first Lavalas administration to the U.S. Administration's last-ditch 
effort to prevent Aristide from returning to Haiti in 2011.

This needs to change. The U.S. government should stand by its professed 
support for democracy and development and stop standing in the way of 
the popular will of the Haitian people.

Sent by Haiti Action Committee

www.haitisolidarity.net <http://www.haitisolidarity.net/> and on FACEBOOK



-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20140920/0fa6773b/attachment.htm>