a1462: Haiti Solidarity Week 2002: Seeking Justice and Freedom from Fear (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Haiti Solidarity Week 2002: Seeking Justice and Freedom from Fear
Haiti Reborn - A Project of the Quixote Center
P.O. Box 5206, Hyattsville, MD 20782
tel: 301-699-0042
fax: (301) 864-2182
www.quixote.org/haiti

Every Wednesday at noon, victims and survivors of the 1991 coup d'etat gather
around the Man of Peace statue across from the Presidential Palace in
Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The statue is impressive from a distance; it depicts a
man holding a dove in his outstretched hands. Drawing closer the statue
becomes even more striking. The man is standing on a pedestal of hundreds of
faces, hands raised above heads. The words on the base of the statue read:
"Haitian blood was shed in order for Haiti to rise."

One observer called this ritual, "as unsparing and inescapable as the brutal
midday sun." The men and women who march around the Man of Peace statue each
week represent the entire population of Haiti, still watching vigilantly to
see if democracy can take hold and years of violence can be put behind them.
Major obstacles exist - former paramilitary members still oppress people
throughout the countryside and in urban centers, and former soldiers walk the
streets with impunity, still armed.

This year Haiti Reborn/Quixote invites you to get more involved in solidarity
for Haiti by becoming a co-sponsor of Haiti Solidarity Week 2002 and
organizing an event or action campaign in your community.

Each year, Haiti Reborn dedicates the first week of March to educate people
in the U.S. about the current situation in Haiti. This weekly event is called
Haiti Solidarity Week (HSW). This year, HSW will take place March 3-10, 2002,
and the theme is "We seek justice to end fear, N ap chèche jistis pou fini ak
impinite (We seek justice to end impunity)."

for details see www.quixote.org/haiti