#4522: SENATE RESOLUTION OF THE U.S. (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: A. =?iso-8859-1?Q?Belokopitsky=2DM=E9dard?= <amedard@gte.net>

SCON 126 PCS


Calendar No. 657

106th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. CON. RES. 126
Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should support free
and fair elections and respect for democracy in Haiti.


IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 30, 2000
Mr. HELMS, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, reported the
following original concurrent resolution; which was placed on the
calendar


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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should support free
and fair elections and respect for democracy in Haiti.

Whereas the legacy of fiat and abuse of the Duvalier dictatorship led
the framers of the 1987 Haitian constitution to provide for clear
separation of powers;

Whereas the 1987 Haitian constitution permanently vests all legislative
authority in an independent National Assembly;

Whereas national and local elections were held in Haiti on May 21, 2000,
which were intended to restore the independent legislature which was
dismissed by Haiti's President, Rene Preval Garcia, in January 1999;

Whereas the Haitian people are to be congratulated for patiently and
peacefully voting in large numbers on May 21, 2000, despite an
unfavorable electoral environment;

Whereas the legitimacy of the May 21, 2000, elections has been
compromised by organizational flaws, political murders, the involvement
of the Haitian National Police in the arrest and intimidation of
opposition figures,
manipulation of the independent Provisional Electoral Council by the
Government of Haiti and the ruling Fanmi Lavalas party, and the
publication of fraudulent results;

Whereas the Provisional Electoral Council has been compromised by Fanmi
Lavalas partisans operating within the Council and inappropriate
pressure and threats made against members of the Council from the
highest levels of the Haitian government to induce the Council to issue
fraudulent results;

Whereas Leon Manus, President of the Provisional Electoral Council, was
forced to flee Haiti in fear for his life and in a statement released
June 21, 2000 noted that the opposition had made `legitimate' challenges
to the
credibility of the electoral process and that the Council `was often
plagued with traps and attacks' and fought `slanders and threats' that
came `most often from state actors' and received `from the highest level
of the government, unequivocal messages on the consequences that would
follow if [he] refused to publish supposed final results';

Whereas the Provisional Electoral Council is no longer viewed as
credible or independent by a broad spectrum of political parties and
civil society groups in Haiti;

Whereas Haitian organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce,
political parties, the Association of Haitian Industrialists, the Roman
Catholic Bishops Conference, and the Protestant Federation have strongly
protested the publication of election results that do not correspond to
the provisions of Haiti's electoral law and generally accepted norms and
which have also been contested by the president of the Provisional
Electoral Council;

Whereas the international community, including the United States,
Canada, France, the United Nations, and the Organization of American
States, has condemned attempts to manipulate the May 21, 2000, electoral
process in
Haiti; and

Whereas the absence of free and fair elections and the resultant failure
to constitute a duly elected legislative Body in Haiti constitutes a
major setback for the Haitian people's aspirations for peace and
democracy, could result in instability in Haiti, and directly
jeopardizes United States anti-narcotics objectives in Haiti and the
region: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That
Congress--

(1) condemns the electoral fraud being perpetrated against the Haitian
people and the continuing interruption of democratic institutions in
Haiti;

(2) calls on the Government of Haiti forthwith to end its manipulation
of the electoral process and take immediate steps to reverse the
fraudulent results announced by the remaining members of the Provisional
Electoral
Council;

(3) calls on the Government of Haiti to immediately engage in a thorough
and verifiable process involving the National Observation Council (CNO),
all concerned Haitian political parties, as well as private sector and
other civil society organizations, to review all reported irregularities
and allegations of fraud and authenticate the true results of the
election so that a legitimate, democratically-elected National Assembly
and local councils can be seated;

(4) urges the Organization of American States (OAS) to consider joint
actions by its members states to bring about a return to democracy in
Haiti; and

(5) calls on the President of the United States to--

(A) terminate United States assistance to the discredited Provisional
Electoral Council;

(B) review and modify as appropriate United States political, economic,
and law enforcement relations with Haiti, if Haitian authorities persist
in their current path; and

(C) work with other democracies in the Western Hemisphere and elsewhere
toward a restoration of democracy in Haiti.

SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this
concurrent resolution to the President.
Calendar No. 657


106th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. CON. RES. 126

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should support free
and fair elections and respect for democracy in Haiti.