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#824: Campagne pour le retour des Documents FRAPH/FADH (fwd)
From:Avokahaiti@aol.com
October 28, 1999
Hello Everyone:
We have two urgent requests for action from the Campaign for the Return
of the FRAPH/FADH Documents. If you can, come to the demonstration on
November 4, 1999 in front of the UN. If you cannot, please contact your
foreign ministry by telephone, fax or letter, and ask them to support the
initiative of Adama Dieng in calling for the return of the Documents at the
U.N. General Assembly.
DEMONSTRATION AT UN IN NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 4
The demonstration, organized by the Center for Constitutional Rights,
will take place in front of the UN, beginning at 11AM. So far we have
support from, among others, Konbit Vigilans, Witness for Peace, students from
Columbia and Fordham Universities, but we need more. Haitian media in New
York have reported the demonstration widely, including Haiti Progres, Haiti
en Marche, Radio Soleil, Radio Eclair, Radio Samba, Horizon 2000 Plus and
Perspectives Haitiennes. For more information, call Ron Daniels at CCR at
212-614-6464 ext. 468.
PRESS RELEASES
Several organizations are planning to issue press releases for the 4th.
If your organization can do so, please fax it to Ron in advance at
212-614-6499.
LOBBY YOUR GOVERNMENT
If you cannot come to the demonstration, please contact your government
(including the U.S.) by phone, fax or letter, and: 1) tell it that you
believe the return of the FRAPH/FADH Documents is important for establishing
justice in Haiti, and 2) ask it to support Adama Dieng's resolution, by
assuring that it gets to the General Assembly for a vote, then voting for it.
Send us an email if you need contact information for your foreign ministry.
This does not have to be done by the 4th, but should be done by November 15,
when General Assembly resolutions on Haiti will be set.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Campaign for the Return of the FRAPH/FADH Documents was launched by
Haitian grassroots organizations, with supporters in over 30 countries to
demand the return of approximately 160,000 pages of documents (including
"trophy photos" of human rights victims with their torturers, as well as
video and audiocassettes) removed from Haitian military and paramilitary
offices by U.S. troops in 1994. These documents are the legal property of
Haiti under national and international law. They are important for Haitians
to establish the truth about the 1991-94 military dictatorship, and to
prepare cases against those responsible for the regime's human rights
violations.
On November 4, the U.N. Human Rights Commission Special Expert on Haiti,
Adama Dieng, will deliver his report to the U.N. General Assembly. We expect
Mr. Dieng, as he has at previous General Assembly and Human Rights Commission
sessions, to propose a resolution calling for the Documents' return (excerpts
from M. Dieng's advance text in French available on the UN website, our
website, or by email). We expect the U.S. delegation, as previously, to
maneouver to prevent the delegates from voting on this resolution.
For more information on the Campaign, contact the website,
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~advocacy or, in Europe: Haiti Support
Group, London, phone/fax: 44-181-201-9878, email: haitisupport@gn.apc.org; in
Haiti: Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, 168 Avenue John Brown,
Port-au-Prince, phone: 509-245-8550, fax 509-245-0371, email:
avokahaiti@aol.com; Everywhere else: Haiti Advocacy: 1309 Independence Ave.
SE, DC 20003, phone 202-544-9084, fax: 202-547-2952, email:
advocacy@bellatlantic.net.
Kenbe fem, Brian Concannon Jr.