<html>
<body>
<font size=3><br>
***<b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</b>:***<br>
Statement Regarding Ron Daniel's cruising into Haiti<br><br>
<b>Urgent Action Requested<br>
</b>August 4, 2004<br><br>
***<br>
<b>Ron Daniel's cruise must dissociate with Coup D'etat initiators and
implementers, starting with Frandley Denis Julien <br>
and the morally repugnant Group 184 business elites and their death squad
supporters<br><br>
</b>Dear Friends,<br><br>
Haitian pro-democracy activists hereby denounce Ron Daniel's apparent
close association with those who supported the violent and illegal
overthrow <br>
of the Constitutional Government of Haiti. We urge Ron Daniel's cruise
endorsers, organizers, funders and participants to dissociate with
Coup <br>
initiators, implementers and supporters, starting with taking Frandley
Denis Julien, Ron Daniel's cruise spokesperson in the North of Haiti, off
the <br>
cruise organizers' payroll. It is imperative that a public statement be
issued, by cruise organizers, concerning this and clearly and
unequivocally stating <br>
that Haiti Support Project's "Cruising Into Haiti" is not only
not an endorsement or recognition of the illegitimate Latortue government
but cruise <br>
organizers publicly disavow the February 29, 2004 Coup d'etat and are
calling for an end to the widespread repression of the People of Haiti
and the<br>
occupation of Haiti by supporters of the Coup d'etat. <br>
<br>
Decent folks worldwide who strongly support Haiti and its people's free
expression and universally acknowledged democratic processes and
principles <br>
cannot simply ignore the ground situation in Haiti today and the lack of
participation, on the part of the Haitian masses, in their own country's
affairs, <br>
including with Ron Daniel's "Cruising into Haiti" when it
arrives in Haiti.<br><br>
We therefore suggest a press conference with about five or six or more of
the big name endorsers of the cruise ( such as, Rep. Conyers, Danny
Glover, <br>
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Suzan Taylor, Don Rojas of WBAI, Rev. Al Sharpton,
former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, Katherine Dunham, Harry<br>
Belafonte and/or Sonia Sanchez and other prominent leaders and
personalities) be immediately convened, declaring that they are no longer
going and <br>
disassociating their names with the project because it cannot go into
Haiti without dealing directly and being received by the illegal,
U.S--installed <br>
Latortue government whose on-going repression against the masses of
Haitian people is well documented in recent human rights reports, just
released <br>
in July, 2004 by Amnesty International, Institute for Justice Democracy
in Haiti, Haiti Information Project, the Haiti Accompaniment Project and
<br>
others. <br><br>
<b>All these reports should forthwith be made available to the press and
cruise participants and endorsers who decide to continue with the cruise.
<br><br>
</b>At the very least, these human rights reports, a method for including
the participation of the average Haitian person in Haiti and a media
advisory stating <br>
dissociation with the bloody Coup implementers must be issued well before
the cruise departs (August 14, 2004) by cruise organizers and endorsers.
The <br>
cruise is scheduled to arrive in Haiti August 19, 2004 aboard Royal
Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. <br>
See:
</font><a href="http://www.cruisingintohistory.org/pressroom.htm"><font size=3 color="#003399">http://www.cruisingintohistory.org/pressroom.htm</a></font><font size=3>
)<br><br>
Cruise organizers must publicly disavow the February 29, 2004 Coup d'etat
and call for an end to the widespread repression of the people of Haiti
and <br>
Haiti's occupation. That's the only way a cruise honoring Haiti's
Revolution could makes any sense right now on the eve of Bwa Kayiman,
2004.<br><br>
We urge everyone concerned about protecting and saving the life of the
average Haitian person in Haiti this August, 2004 to call, write, fax Ron
Daniels at <br>
the Haiti Support Project (877-424-8404 phone. email:
</font><font size=3 color="#003399">info@cruisingintohistory.org</font><font size=3>)
or, at the Center For Constitutional Rights in New York (212-243-3805
<br>
phone, 212 243 2007 fax); Congressman John Conyers, Jr (202 225 5126
phone, 202 225 0072 fax. e-mail:
</font><font size=3 color="#003399">John.Conyers@mail.house.gov</font><font size=3>);
Mr. Don Rojas of <br>
WBAI (212-209-2800 phone, e-mail -
</font><font size=3 color="#003399">drojas@wbai.org</font><font size=3>)
and any of the cruise endorsers mentioned above, urging them and cruise
organizers to denounce the Coup <br>
d'etat, unequivocally support Haiti's resistance to tyranny and
dissociate with Coup d'etat supporters such as Group 184, the Latortue
regime, Guy Philippe <br>
and his death squad members and all those responsible for the violent
overthrow of the Constitutional government of Haiti and for the current
repression of <br>
the Haitian masses as evidenced in the aboved-referenced July 2004 human
rights reports.<br><br>
Marguerite Laurent, Esq.<br>
Founder/Chair<br>
Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network<br>
August 4, 2004<br>
</font><font size=3 color="#003399">Erzilidanto@aol.com<br>
</font><font size=3>Website: Margueritelaurent.com<br><br>
BACKGROUND INFORMATION and THE ROLE OF GROUP 184 IN THE RON<br>
DANIEL's CRUISING INTO HISTORY: - <br><br>
A July 21st, 2004 post by Frandley Denis Julien with reference to the
"position" of the Ron Daniel's cruise participants and
endorsersIn the post below, <br>
Frandley Denis Julien, head of Group 184 in the North of Haiti, and the
spokesperson for Ron Daniel's "Cruising into History", is
describing the "purpose" and/or <br>
"position" of the Ron Daniel's cruise! <br><br>
Not good. <br><br>
It is a celebration, Coup-supporter Denis Julien maintains, of Haiti's
independence. <br><br>
Mr. Frandley Denis Julien states, and we quote, in the original French,
" Cruising into history » vise un double objectif, a ponctué Denis
Julien. Premièrement, il <br>
constitue un témoignage de la solidarité existant dans la communauté
noire qui ne saurait rester indifférente aux 200 ans d'indépendance de la
première république noire. <br>
D'autre part, cette croisière sera une bonne occasion de vendre une image
positive d'Haïti pour attirer les touristes. La chaîne américaine BET
<b><i>accompagnera les artistes</i></b> <br>
<b><i>noir-américains</i></b> qui feront le déplacement. " (See,
</font><a href="http://news.caribseek.com/Haiti/Haiti_Press_Network/article_274.shtml"><font size=3 color="#003399">http://news.caribseek.com/Haiti/Haiti_Press_Network/article_274.shtml</a></font><font size=3>
)<br><br>
Brief English translation of above: According to Frandley Denis Julien:
Cruising into Haiti has two objectives. <b><i>First, it testify to the
solidarity that exists between the <br>
Black community that won't remain indifferent to the 200 years of
independence of the First Black Republic</i></b>. And, secondly, this
cruise will be a good occasion to sell <br>
a positive image of Haiti to attract tourists! <b><i>BET, the Black
American TV network will accompany the African-Americans coming on the
cruise." <br>
</i></b>(See,
</font><a href="http://news.caribseek.com/Haiti/Haiti_Press_Network/article_274.shtml"><font size=3 color="#003399">http://news.caribseek.com/Haiti/Haiti_Press_Network/article_274.shtml</a></font><font size=3>
)<br><br>
Fact is, today, the people of Haiti, are not free. The people of Haiti
are being terrorized under an installed, imported U.S.-supported
dictatorship that came to power <br>
through force and in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Constitutional
government. What sort of macabre "tourist" attraction is this
that Ron Daniel's Cruising-into-<br>
History would be promoting? At whose expense?<br><br>
This appalling message Mr. Frandley Denis Julien delivers, on behalf of
Ron Daniels' Cruising-Into-History, appears to implicate the
African-American celebrities in a <br>
blatant lie and dangerous propaganda. <br><br>
Caricom, the African Union, Venezuela, the Congressional Black Caucus,
all, have publicly DENOUNCED and refused to recognized the Latortue
regime and/or ignore,<br>
or endorse their brutal repression of the Haitian people. The OAS has
even passed a resolution calling for an investigation into the Coup
D'etat. Thus, for, Ron Daniels, <br>
of the Haiti Support Project and Center For Constitutional Rights, to be
either directly or indirectly endorsing this illegitimate government, to
the point where his <br>
representative, the head of Group 184 in the North, is announcing that,
U.S. African-American celebrities, such as Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte,
Katherine Dunham, <br>
Rev. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, et al, all, are coming to Haiti, to
stand in solidarity and celebrate that Haiti is free for 200 years! This
lie must be immediately denounced <br>
by the celebrities mentioned below by name by Mr. Julien.<br><br>
Haitians are not free today. Their elected leaders, have all been
summarily removed and replaced by the un-electable Group 184 supporters
and their death squad co-horts.<br><br>
If cruise endorsers, organizers and supporters remain silent, especially
after the Frandley Denis Julien post below has come to their attention
and do not acknowledge they <br>
are being used by this murderous Latortue regime, then their silence
equals nothing-less than support for the current genocide (3,000 Haitians
dead since Feb. 5, 2004) and <br>
repression of Fanmi Lavalas supporters (jailing of Prime Minister Yvon
Neptune and folksinger/humanitarian, So Ann, amongst others) and the
(350,000 ) internal Haitian <br>
refugees living in fear and in hiding in Haiti today. Because of
the Coup supporters, such as Ron Daniel's group 184 spokesperson,
Frandley Julien Denis, there are tens of <br>
thousands of Haitians right now in marronage, which is causing severe
economic and social dislocation for those in hiding and for their hosts.
And, for every Yvon Neptune <br>
and So Ann that we know about, there is at least a hundred anonymous poor
people in similar conditions, arbitrarily arrested and being retained in
chains behind bars by the<br>
coup initiators and supporters. <br><br>
Mr. Frandley Denis Julien's free use, below in his July 21, 2004 post, of
big names such as Mr. Danny Glover, Katherine Dunham, Harry Belafonte,
Jesse Jackson, to <br>
support this illegitimate Latortue government, as if the people of Haiti
have not suffered a Coup D'etat, MUST NOT to unchallenged. <br><br>
Haiti's constitutional rule advocates and friends must remind Mr. Ron
Daniels and the endorsers and participants of Cruising Into History that
if Ron Daniels and <br>
TransAfricacould have issued a press release before joining the Haitian
people in the celebration of their bi-centennial, under a Constitutional
Government, back on January <br>
1, 2004, basically when a minority was trying to usurp power from the
majority of Haiti's African population - a press release stating that
their institutional and personal <br>
presence at Haiti's bicentennial celebration on January 1, 2004 and
beyond, was NOT in support of the then Constitutional government, but in
support of the "People of <br>
Haiti", (See, Transafrica Forum's webpage at
</font><a href="http://www.transafricaforum.org/newsletter/news_jan1_04_200haiti.html"><font size=3 color="#003399">http://www.transafricaforum.org/newsletter/news_jan1_04_200haiti.html</a></font><font size=3>
) <br><br>
Then, what more should be done now that the sanctity of Haitian
sovereignty has been violated and Group 184, the terrorist/death squads
that supports them, et al, have, <br>
through killing Haitian police, releasing murderers and convicted felons
from prisons and burning down villages, and with foreign troop support,
actually succeeded in <br>
usurping power from the peaceful majority of Haiti's African
population. <br><br>
It is imperative and will likely save Haitian lives for cruise organizers
to state unequivocally their disassociation with the unconstitutional
Latortue and all those who <br>
participated in the violent overthrow of Haiti's democratic process.
Cruise endorsers and organizers shall cast a shadow on their
participation and their institutions unless <br>
they dissociates and openly denounce the current US-installed and
unconstitutional Latortue Regime and its repression of the Haitian
masses. <br><br>
First, it would be most regrettable, if the pro-democracy celebrities
endorsing Ron Daniel's cruise were not made aware of Mr. Daniels and
Haiti Support Project's close <br>
connections with the opposition that overthrew the Haitian people's
Constitutional government as evidence by their Group 184 spokesperson in
the North of Haiti.<br><br>
Second, it would be irresponsible if said endorsers and organizers, went
to Haiti, with no knowledge, as recently reported by Amnesty
International, Institute for Justice <br>
and Democracy in Haiti, Haiti Information Project, the Accompaniment
Project and others, of the brutal state supported repression of the
Haitian people under <br>
Latortue/Group 184/Guy Phillipe's reign of terror since February 29,
2004.<br><br>
Third, we believe these reports, by human rights monitors, just released
this July, 2004, describing the widescale grassroots Haitian resistance
and continuing repression <br>
of the People of Haiti by the Coup d'etat government and its death squads
should be distributed and made available to all participants, endorsers,
and/or organizers of <br>
Cruising Into History, who wish to be informed and educated about the
current continuation of the Haitian Revolution they wish to
celebrate.<br><br>
Finally, it is our position, that is dangerous if not criminally
negligent for the Ron Daniel's Cruising-into-History sponsors,
participants and endorsers to ignore these <br>
reports outlining the mayhem and chaos ruling Haiti today that was NOT
present under the people's Constitutional government and to blithely
enter Haiti to, as <br>
Frandley Denis Julien, states below, as testimony of the "solidarity
that exists between the Black community that won't remain indifferent to
the 200 years of <br>
independence of the First Black Republic and to use the cruise as a
good occasion to sell a positive image of Haiti to attract
tourists!"<br><br>
If the descendants of those enslaved Africans who first put liberty into
application in this Western Hemisphere, are today being hunted down,
denied the right to <br>
congregate, the right to freedom of speech, the right to participate in
the freedom they inherited from their forefathers and mothers, the right
to schooling, literacy, <br>
freedom of religion, security of their person, a living wage; if they are
fighting, bleeding, starving and dying to make real the Haitian
Revolution's promise; if the people <br>
of Haiti no longer even have structural democracy, never mind justice,
transparency and participatory democracy, then what better objective
could African-American <br>
glitterati. could have then to come to Haiti, this August, 2004, during
Bwa Kayiman, and publicly denounce these descendants' lost of even
structural democracy and <br>
stand firm with them for the application of democratic principles and
processes. <br><br>
If the trip is designed to both pay tribute to the history of Haiti and
honor the contributions of the Haitian people to the world, then what
better objective could there <br>
be other than for Cruising-Into-History to come denouncing the Haitian
people's brutal repression, providing press coverage and media light
about the people's real <br>
repression and glorious resistance to tyranny since the Coup d'etat while
collectively celebrating the continued Haitian Revolution. <br><br>
Marguerite Laurent, Esq.<br>
Founder and Chair,<br>
Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network<br>
August 4, 2004<br>
*****<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
</font><font size=3><a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">www.freedomarchives.org</a></font></body>
</html>