[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
6227: RE: Question about Caricom's election observations (fwd)
From: Amy Battle <AMBATTLE@ssu.edu>
I, like some others, have been a silent member of the Corbett list for about five months now. For the past two years, though, I have been diligently trying to learn more about the country and people of Haiti. Being a member of this list has been helpful to me because it has opened me eyes to differing views on Haiti's past and present situation.
Up to now, I have been taking a lot of information from the list in. But, after reading the post regarding Caricom's election observation mission and its voter turnout report, I feel compelled to respond in order to get some clarification about the Caricom mission.
Mostly, I am concerned about the statement:
"Compton's statement carries special significance because Caricom was the only international entity that sent observers to monitor the elections" (from post 6213) because of the following information:
Prior to reading the post 6213: 15-20% turnout says Caricom, I had understood that there wasn't an "official" Caricom observation mission. I had heard that what is now being referred to as Caricom's observer mission was actually comprised of about 4-5 people who were present in Port-au-Prince (only) for the elections. I had also heard that this group of 4-5 people had refused to even refer to themselves as an official delegation of election observers. Instead, they were referring to themselves as simply a Caricom presence in Haiti for the elections.
So, now I am wondering if Caricom did indeed have an official observation mission for the presidential elections in Haiti. If they did, then I am wondering in how many of the nine departments in Haiti did they observe. Finally, I am also wondering what methodology they used to determine a 15-20% voter turnout.
If anyone has any information about the Caricom mission that could help clarify this situation, I would be grateful if he/she could share it.
Thank you,
Amy Battle
ambattle@ssu.edu