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<b>FROM: THE BLACK COMMENTATOR<br>
ISSUE 90 – MAY 13, 2004 <br><br>
<br>
HAITIANS SEIZED, ABUSED BY U.S. MARINES <br>
WOMEN, CHILDREN SUBJECTED TO HOOD TREATMENT<br>
<i><a href="http://www.blackcommentator.com/90/90_cover_haiti.html">http://www.blackcommentator.com/90/90_cover_haiti.html</a><br><br>
</i></b>At 12:30 in the morning of May 10, approximately 20 U.S. Marines
executed a military assault on the Port-au-Prince home of 69-year-old
ANNETTE AUGUSTE, a.k.a. SOUER ANNE. Auguste’s residence is part of
a compound that includes four other apartments that were also invaded by
the U.S. military forces. The troops covered the heads of 11
Haitians with black hoods and then forced them to lay face down on the
ground while binding their wrists with plastic manacles behind their
backs. The victims of this terrifying U.S. military invasion included
five-year-old Chamyr Samedi, 10-year-old Kerlande Philippe, 12-year-old
Loubahida Augustine, 14-year-old Luckman Augustine, and seven adults.
<br><br>
The Marines blew up a vehicle and a substantial part of AUGUSTE’S
three-story house, leaving behind c4 and c5 explosives paraphernalia
including blasting caps and igniters. Not a single member of the Haitian
National Police force (PNH) or the de facto Haitian government was
present when the U.S. forces attacked the residence, said the
arrestees. <br><br>
All the detainees except AUGUSTE were released after
questioning.<br><br>
According to Haitian law, as is the norm in any democratic country, no
arrest can be made without a proper warrant issued by judicial
authorities. The Haitian Constitution requires that warrants only
be executed between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. The lack of any
legality within the context of Haitian law and the fact this was executed
unilaterally by U.S. military forces raises serious questions of national
sovereignty and the role of the U.S. military in Haiti today. <b>
<br><br>
</b>LESLY VOLTAIRE, one of the highest ranking LAVALAS officials
remaining in Haiti, has consistently condemned the campaign of political
persecution and arbitrary arrests against his political party. Voltaire
stated: <br><br>
“This was an illegal arrest done past midnight. The law does not
allow arrests after 6:00 p.m. I strongly condemn this armed assault
and believe that the charges against Annette Auguste are unfounded.
We are fighting for due process and this was not performed within the
context of due process and Haitian law. This is clearly a part of
the campaign of persecution against Lavalas. No Haitian police or
authorities were present. We must ask what are the rules of
engagement for U.S. military authorities in Haiti and what right do they
have to do this? Is Haiti still a sovereign nation?”
<br><br>
<br>
MS. AUGUSTE is being held incommunicado at a U.S. military-controlled
“special section” of the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince.
Although the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR) claims to have
visited her at the prison, this is disputed by her husband, WILFRID
LAVAUD, who says the family has no knowledge of any such visit by the New
York-based agency. LAVAUD also said that he does not consider NCHR to be
a credible human rights organization because they have worked so closely
in the past with the Haitian opposition to the constitutional government
of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. <br><br>
NCHR played a significant role in the media disinformation campaign that
preceded the coup against President Aristide (see ,
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3 color="#0000FF"><u>October
30</u></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>,
2003).<br><br>
International journalists have been denied access to Ms. August.
Spokesmen for Gerard Latortue's government claim they are “too busy” to
respond to requests to see the prisoner. <br><br>
<b>Media for hire<br><br>
</b>Why was Annette Auguste targeted for this military-type assault by
U.S. Marines? LAVALAS officials, who had been calling for the end of
political persecution against their party, last week announced they would
begin demonstrations on May 18 calling for the return of President
Aristide. Annette Auguste was active in supporting the Aristide
government, and in helping to build Lavalas’ base of support among the
poor majority in Haiti. Many Lavalas activists see the attack
against Ms. Auguste as a preemptive strike against their party by the
Bush administration – a continuation of the destabilization campaign
hatched in the U.S. State Department by Otto Reich and Roger Noriega,
that eventually led to the forced departure of President
Aristide.<br><br>
The real question is, what right does a U.S. military assault team have
to perform such an action in Haiti? The Haitian media, controlled
by the same forces that allied themselves with the Bush administration to
forcibly remove President Aristide, allege that Ms. Auguste controlled
violent factions associated with the Aristide government. A second
accusation, fielded by Radio Metropole, is that Ms. Auguste was
organizing a clandestine operation aimed at launching armed assaults
against U.S. military personnel in Haiti. As per usual with the
elite-controlled media, no corroboration or factual evidence was ever
given to back up these claims, which are typically made by paid
surrogates. <br><br>
Guyler C. Delva, of the Association of Haitian Journalists, has publicly
accused many of his colleagues of working as paid informants for the U.S.
military in Haiti. These are the same Haitian media that worked
hand-in-glove with the campaign that removed President Aristide on
February 29.<br><br>
<b>Relentless persecution<br><br>
</b>ANNETTE AUGUSTE, a naturalized U.S. citizen, has been a frequent
target of the Haitian elite, due to her close ties with President
Aristide. She is the leader of PROP (Pouvwa Rasembleman
Organizacion Popile), a popular Lavalas organization. She is also a
singer of Haitian folk songs and is open about her practice of voodoo,
officially recognized as a national religion for the first time in
Haitian history under the Aristide administration. Ms. Auguste’s
religious beliefs and practices have led to many unfounded, disparaging
rumors and a campaign of demonization against her.<br><br>
In the past, critics such as Yves A. Isidor, professor of Economics at
the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and Executive Editor of
wehaitians.com, and Raymond Joseph of the <i>Haiti Observateur</i>, now
the Chief Diplomatic Representative to America for Haiti, have accused
MS. AUGUSTE of things as outrageous as human sacrifice. Isidor
authored a January 2, 2001, article that charged Ms. Auguste was
President Aristide’s “voodoo medium” and that she bathed him in human
blood to curse George W. Bush and ensure the election of Vice President
Al Gore in 2000. No evidence or witnesses were cited as sources for
this information. <br><br>
Isidor’s grotesque article was picked up and embellished by Raymond
Joseph. Joseph added details regarding a ceremony where a newborn
was sacrificed in a giant mortar with a heavy pestle. Joseph
contends that those who question the veracity of this allegation need
only find support in the statement, “But who would have thought that men
infected with the AIDS virus in South Africa believe that they can be
healed by having intercourse with a young virgin!” Joseph never
actually states that Ms. Auguste was involved in the alleged sacrifice,
but two paragraphs later, his reference to her as Aristide’s “voodoo
medium” implies her presence there. Joseph directly accuses Ms.
Auguste of holding meetings at her home where criminal activities were
planned – the nature of which was never revealed.<br><br>
In a March 11, 2004, New York Sun article, Joseph lambasted California
Congresswoman Maxine Waters for making three trips to Haiti in seven
weeks, with the third trip being first-class. Joseph asked, “Do
American taxpayers have to pick up the tabs? Or is it the Haitian
government robbing from the poor in the ‘poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere’ to maintain Waters and company in luxurious style?”
Joseph provided no support or explanation for these allegations. He
simply sought to discredit Rep. Waters, never even offering the possible
explanation that she paid for the tickets herself or upgraded with
frequent flier miles. As a reward for his part in the campaign of lies
and misinformation against Aristide and Lavalas, Joseph has been named
the Boca Raton regime’s highest representative to the United States.
<br><br>
In his current position, Joseph is well placed to direct the U.S. Marines
to the doors of people’s activists like ANNETTE AUGUSTE. His is the face
that smiles when boots trample on hooded, helpless women and
children.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
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