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For Immediate Release:<br><br>
[For more information,
contact Dave Welsh, from the Labor/Human<br>
Rights Delegation to Haiti, at 510-847-8657]<br><br>
<br>
UN Occupation Forces Carry Out Massacre of Poor in
Port-au-Prince<br><br>
<br>
On Wednesday morning, July 6th, at approximately 3:00 AM, UN
occupation<br>
forces in Haiti carried out a major military operation in the<br>
working-class neighborhood of Cite Soleil, one of the poorest in<br>
Port-au-Prince and also a stronghold of support for Haiti's majority<br>
political party Lavalas and President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Presumably,<br>
the purpose of the operation was to crack down on illegal "gang
activity",<br>
in particular on "gang" leader Dread Wilme. In actuality, a US
trade union<br>
and human rights delegation in Port-au-Prince discovered evidence of
a<br>
massacre conducted by the UN forces, targeting the larger community<br>
itself.<br><br>
According to accounts from many different members of the community,
many<br>
of whom chose to remain anonymous, as well as from journalists who were
on<br>
the scene during the operation, UN forces surrounded two
neighborhoods<br>
within Cite Soleil, Boisneuf and Project Drouillard, sealing off the<br>
alleys with tanks and troops.<br><br>
Two helicopters flew overhead. At 4:30 AM, UN forces launched the<br>
offensive, shooting into houses, shacks, a church, and a school with<br>
machine guns, tank fire, and tear gas. Eyewitnesses reported that
when<br>
people fled to escape the tear gas, UN troops gunned them down from
the<br>
back.<br><br>
UN forces shot out electric transformers in the neighborhood. People
were<br>
killed in their homes and also just outside of their homes, on the way
to<br>
work. According to journalists and eyewitnesses, one man named Leon<br>
Cherry, age 46, was shot and killed on his way to work for a flower<br>
company. Another man, Mones Belizaire, was shot as he got ready to go
work<br>
in a local sweatshop and subsequently died from a stomach infection.
A<br>
woman who was a street vendor was shot in the head and killed
instantly.<br><br>
One man was shot in his ribs while he was trying to brush his teeth.<br>
Another man was shot in the jaw as he left his house to try and get
some<br>
money for his wife's medical costs; he endured a slow death.Yet
another<br>
man named Mira was shot and killed while urinating in his home.<br><br>
A mother, Sena Romelus, and her two young children were killed in
their<br>
home, either by bullets or by a 83-CC grenade UN forces threw. Film<br>
footage of many of these deaths was shared with the US human rights<br>
delegation. Eyewitnesses claimed that the offensive overwhelmed the<br>
community and that there was not a "firefight", but rather a
slaughter.<br>
The operation was primarily conducted by UN forces, with the Haitian<br>
National Police this time taking a back seat.<br><br>
Seth Donnelly, a member of the US human rights delegation in<br>
Port-au-Prince, visited Cite Soleil with Haitian human rights workers
on<br>
Thursday afternoon, July 7th. The team gathered testimony from many<br>
members of the community, young and old, men, women, and youth. All<br>
verified the previous statements we had received from journalists
and<br>
other eyewitness accounts.<br><br>
These community members spoke of how they had been surrounded by tanks
and<br>
troops that sealed off exits from the neighborhoods and then proceeded
to<br>
assault the civilian population. The community allowed the team to
film<br>
the evidence of the massacre, showing the homes -- in some cases made
of<br>
tin and cardboard -- that had been riddled by bullets, tank fire and<br>
helicopter ammunition, as well as showing the team some of the
corpses<br>
still there, including a mother and her two children.<br><br>
The team also filmed a church and a school that had been riddled by<br>
ammunition. Reportedly, a preacher was among the victims killed.
Some<br>
community members allowed the team to interview them, but not to
film<br>
their faces for fear of their lives. People were traumutized and, in
the<br>
cases of loved ones of victims, hysterical.<br><br>
Many community members -- again young and old, men and women --
spoke<br>
highly of Dread Wilme, referring to him as their "protector" or
"father",<br>
and expressed fear for the future. One member said that he heard
that<br>
another UN operation against the community was planned for later
Thursday<br>
night or early Friday morning.<br><br>
Multiple community people indicated that they had counted at least
23<br>
bodies of people killed by the UN forces. Community members claimed
that<br>
UN forces had taken away some of the bodies. Published estimates
indicate<br>
that upwards of 50 may have been killed and an indeterminate number<br>
wounded, and that more than 300 heavily armed UN troops took part in
the<br>
assault on this densely populated residential neighborhood.<br><br>
"There was systematic firing on civilians," said one eyewitness
to the<br>
killing. "All exits were cut off. The community was choked off,<br>
surrounded -- facing tanks coming from different angles, and
overhead,<br>
helicopters with machine guns fired down on the people. The citizens
were<br>
under attack from all sides and from the air. It was war on a
community."<br><br>
The Labor/Human Rights Delegation from the United States, sponsored by
the<br>
San Francisco Labor Council, had been in Haiti since late last month
to<br>
attend the Congress of the Confederation of Haitian Workers (CTH),
the<br>
country's largest labor organization, and interviewed hundreds of
Haitian<br>
workers, farmers and professionals about the current labor and human<br>
rights situation in Haiti.<br>
**********************<br><br>
AN OPEN LETTER<br>
TO DUMAS SIMEUS<br>
OF REPRESENTACTION<br><br>
July 7, 2005<br><br>
Dumas M. Simeus<br>
Chairman & Founder, Simeus Foods International, Inc.<br>
Co-Chair, National Organization for the Advancement of Haitians<br>
Chairman, PromoCapital USA, the Haitian-American Investment Bank<br><br>
<br>
Dear Mr. Simeus:<br><br>
It is with great consternation that I read your open letter dated June
<br>
30, 2005 asking the president of the United States of North America,
George <br>
W. Bush to consider sending U.S. troops to provide security to our
“helpless brothers and sisters” in Haiti. You also stated in your letter
that you <br>
are acting on “behalf of Haitians everywhere”. Sir, it seems to me that
you<br>
still do not understand the roots of the problems in Haiti.<br><br>
First let me tell you that you have not spoken on my behalf.
Second, part of the problems of Haiti is and has always been the
involvement of US policy makers in the internal affairs of this
Caribbean country. US policy makers have never been interested in both
the development of democracy in Haiti and the well being of the Haitian
mass. They have yet to prove me wrong.<br>
<br>
You either do not know the history of the US interventions in Haiti. Or
if <br>
you knew, you are simply ignoring it. In order to solve a problem, you
have <br>
to understand the roots of its causes. Dumas Simeus, I emphatically
<br>
repeat that the US Embassy is one of the major causes of our problems in
<br>
Haiti.<br><br>
The majority of the Haitian people have made it clear that they want to
<br>
be included in the affairs of their country. They want to be considered
as <br>
real citizens of Haiti but not second class human beings. They want
access <br>
to health care, education, opportunities, freedom to express, respect of
<br>
their human rights, and especially respect for their rights to choose
their<br>
elected representatives. US marines have never come to Haiti to
guaranty<br>
those rights and to further advance those goals. Instead they always
<br>
come to maintain the status quo, a status quo that the majority of
Haitians <br>
have repudiated and will never accept. Furthermore, I would like to <br>
enumerate who those “helpless brothers and sisters” are that you are
asking <br>
protections for? Nevertheless, I have not heard you lending your
voice to those<br>
denouncing the despicable, barbaric acts of human rights violations (i.e.
illegal and arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention without any charge,
summary executions, rapes, beatings by the Haitian police while under
arrest, etc) being committed by the current de-facto Haitian government.
I would like to ask you if you are pleased with what is going on in the
popular neighborhoods in Haiti and are you going to send an open letter
to President Bush asking him to stop the bombings of innocent civilians
in Cite Soleil?<br><br>
Today instead what we need is a new national and patriotic vision for
<br>
the country based on respect for one another without any outside
interference while recognizing the harm that has been done and still
plaguing the society to come up with a new consensus to make Haiti the
country we all dream <br>
of.<br><br>
You and I have had a chance to access many opportunities in these United
States of America. Otherwise, you and I would have been among one
of those fighting for those opportunities and those rights denied
to millions in today’s Haiti. Let us not forget that. We do not need any
more boots including north-american to trample the aspirations and rights
of the Haitian people.<br><br>
Patriotically,<br><br>
Jean Yves Point-du-Jour, <br>
Transportation Engineer<br>
Maryland, USA<br>
Yves@erols.com<br>
********************<br><br>
From: <x-tab> </x-tab>"RepresentAction"
<info@representaction.net><br>
To:<x-tab> </x-tab>jpoint du jour<br>
Date: <x-tab> </x-tab>07/02/2005 6:26:36 AM<br>
Subject: An Open Letter To The President of The United States of <br>
America<br><br>
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::<br>
AN OPEN LETTER<br>
TO THE PRESIDENT<br>
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA<br>
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::<br><br>
June 30, 2005<br><br>
President George W. Bush<br>
The White House<br>
Washington, D.C. 20500<br><br>
Dear Mr. President:<br><br>
We have read a press release from the U.S. Embassy in Haiti further
reducing the in country personnel and sending them back home as a result
of continued and accelerating violence in Haiti. While all of us
Haitians and Haitian Americans are very grateful to the United States for
its repeated benevolent acts towards Haiti, we are respectfully asking
you once more for additional help that only you can provide.<br><br>
UN Peacekeeping Chief Jean Marie Guehenno recently stated that parts of
Haiti are far worse than the violent conditions in Darfur, and that the
1,000 additional troops assigned to Haiti will be insufficient to solve
this crisis. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has
also stated that only the presence of U.S. troops working side by
side with the U.N. will bring about peace and security.<br><br>
We Haitians and Haitian Americans support the assertion of Mr. Kofi Annan
that only the direct intervention of the United States will stem the flow
of violence and bring about peace and security for all of its
citizens. <br><br>
As you know, there are at least 6 10 kidnappings daily in the country and
citizens are living in a state of terrorism, full of fear and anxiety,
afraid even to drive their kids to school.<br><br>
May I urge you Mr. President, on behalf of Haitians everywhere, to
consider direct action and help us provide security to our helpless
brothers and sisters in Haiti.<br><br>
Respectfully yours,<br><br>
Dumas M. Siméus<br>
Chairman & Founder, Siméus Foods International, Inc.<br>
Co Chair, National Organization for the Advancement of Haitians<br>
Chairman, PromoCapital USA, The Haitian American Investment Bank<br>
***************<br><br>
The spokesperson of Lavalas activists of Bel-Air denounces the MINUSTHA’s
"blind operation" in Cité Soleil<br><br>
Port-au-Prince, July 7, 2005 (AHP)- Spokesperson of Lavalas activists of
Bel-Air, Samba Boukman, denounced Thursday the intervention considered
brutal and without discrimination, done the day before at Cité Soleil, by
the MINUSTAH and the National Police against gang leader Emmanuel (Dread)
Wilmé.<br><br>
People close to Mr. Wilmé said there were dozens of people killed, while
the MINUSTHA military spokesperson, Elouafi Boulbars, speaks of several
people killed, 6 of them only in Wilmé’s home. According to the daily
newspaper Le Nouvelliste, among the people killed in the gang leader’s
home are one of his children and one of his lovers.<br><br>
Samba Boukman accused the MINUSTAH of violating Resolution 1576 of the
United Nations Security Council, by killing members of the civil
population during its operations. "Crimes occur regularly in
residential neighbourhoods, Samba Boukman declared.<br><br>
Dread Wilmé is accused of being involved in several cases of violence
registered lately in the capital, notably the murder of another gang
leader named Robinson (Labanyè) Thomas who was known to be close to the
former opposition.<br><br>
The spokesperson of the activists of Bel-air said that the MINUSTHA and
the National Police have the right to want to arrest individuals whom
they accuse of violence, but they should have other ways, different than
the armour, to neutralize one man only.<br><br>
"Using weapons of destruction in a neighbourhood as populated as
Cité Soleil can only harm the population, Samba Boukman declared, saying
that the activists of democracy are determined to mobilize peacefully
until the return to democratic order.<br><br>
Meanwhile, the body of Dread Wilmé, who was declared dead by UN
officials, was still not found over 24 hours after the
operations.<br><br>
AHP July 7, 2005 12:05 PM<br>
***************************<br><br>
<br>
Outsiders plan Haitian elections: No voters? No problem<br>
by Sue Ashdown, June 29, 2005<br><br>
<a href="http://www.sfbayview.com/062905/haitianelections062905.shtml" eudora="autourl">
http://www.sfbayview.com/062905/haitianelections062905.shtml<br><br>
</a>Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom<br>
Haitian police patrol Bel Air in Port au Prince Monday. No voter
registration centers have been provided in Bel Air or other poor
neighborhoods.<br>
Photo: Thony Belizaire, AFP<br><br>
The elections planned by the U.S. and its allies for Haiti in the fall
are a fiasco that is becoming impossible to conceal. Faced with the
hopeless prospect of registering 4.5 million Haitians by Aug. 13 60
days before the first election on Oct. 13 Haiti’s Provisional Electoral
Council (known by its French acronym CEP) and the UN Peacekeeping Mission
in Haiti have taken to issuing surreal and unsubstantiated statements
about the voter registration process.<br><br>
By the end of May, out of 436 planned registration offices, the
Organization of American States admitted that only 14 had been set up.
The 436 offices, were they to exist, would still stand in sharp contrast
to the Haitian elections of 2000, when more than 12,000 registration
centers and polls served the Haitian people.<br><br>
Observing this logistical nightmare, the National Council of Electoral
Observers expressed grave doubts about the feasibility of registering
Haitian voters: “It would take six months to register 4 million voters in
the 436 registration offices projected across the country. That is
assuming that the offices were functional today, open seven days a week,
10 hours a day and staffed by competent technicians.”<br><br>
In early June, with the lack of registration centers becoming a public
relations disaster and with less than 2 percent of eligible Haitians
registered to vote, the CEP and the UN appeared to agree on a joint
communications strategy. Every few days, one or the other would announce
the opening of new voter registration centers and the registration of
additional Haitian voters. After all, the numbers would be almost
impossible for anyone to verify, especially in the face of the
skyrocketing violence in the country.<br><br>
So, during a tidal wave of kidnappings which encouraged the U.S. to
withdraw its entire Peace Corps contingent as well as non-essential
embassy personnel and issue a travel warning, the CEP and UN reported
that within the space of one solitary week in June, voter registration
centers in Haiti doubled and then quadrupled again with a concomitant
increase in voter registration that brought the claimed total registrants
to 3.5 percent of the potential total.<br><br>
One might argue that the average Haitian, having nothing to lose, and
therefore nothing to fear from kidnappers, might choose to spend his or
her practically nonexistent free time hunting down a registration center
in order to be fingerprinted and photographed in return for the right to
vote. But it seems unlikely.<br><br>
The average Haitian would have to get out of her neighborhood first.
There are no registration centers in the poor neighborhoods and no plans
to open any either.<br><br>
Poor Haitians have been terrorized in their own homes by police and
ex-militaries backed up by UN forces. They have been fired upon by those
same forces when they gather in peaceful demonstrations demanding the
return of the president they elected last time, with 92 percent of the
vote, Jean Bertrand Aristide.<br><br>
Neither Aristide nor his party, Fanmi Lavalas, is on the ballot this
fall, thanks to the U.S.-French-Canadian-supported coup which removed him
to Africa last year, and Lavalas has sensibly refused to join the
elections unless the attacks against it stop.<br><br>
Of course this is not to be discussed. With Aristide out of the way, the
whys and wherefores are of little interest to the international
community, who treat the democratic Haitian elections of 2000 and the
coup that overturned them as though it were all a bad dream, better
forgotten. Time to move on!<br><br>
An election result more favorable to foreign business interests has been
in the works since long before Aristide won in 1990 and again in 2000. As
in Venezuela, the U.S. has funneled millions of dollars to Haitian
opposition parties through the pleasingly named National Endowment for
Democracy.<br><br>
The fall elections planned for Haiti are the fruit of that investment,
designed to give those opposition parties the platform they have always
desired, free of competition from the 900 pound gorilla, Lavalas but,
just to cover the bet, free of potential Lavalas voters as well. Just
this week, a diplomatic source told Agence Haitienne Presse that the
international community was prepared to accept a Haitian election with
only 200,000 to 300,000 voters, or less than 7 percent of the
electorate.<br><br>
And why not? Evidence continues to emerge that the same international
community that howled about the invasion of Iraq was not only untroubled
but supportive of the 2004 coup in Haiti. Yet coups are, by their nature,
nasty affairs that tend to leave lingering doubts about the legitimacy of
the replacement government.<br><br>
An election is the tried and true method for erasing those doubts. That
the Haitian election is totally rigged seems to trouble no one.
International election observers are already being prepared.<br><br>
Sue Ashdown, with the Washington, D.C., branch of the Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom, can be reached at
sashdown@hotmail.com.<br><br>
<br><br>
***************<br>
Forwarded by the Haitian Lawyers' Leadership Network<br>
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