a1619: BBC: OAS jurists arrive in Haiti, explain their mission (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Robert Benodin <r.benodin@worldnet.att.net>

OAS jurists arrive in Haiti, explain their mission
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Apr 9, 2002


The OAS jurists who are in charge of the investigation into the violence on
17 December [when an attempted coup d'etat allegedly took place] arrived in
Port-au-Prince yesterday afternoon. These experts precede the OAS technical
mission for support of democracy. Jean Numa Goudou reports the following:
[Goudou - recording] The juridical mission is composed of four members. The
mission is headed by Nicholas Liverpool, a former judge of the court of
appeal of the island of Dominica. The other members are lawyer and former
Foreign Minister of Honduras Roberto Flores Bermudez; Mexican lawyer and
professor at the University of Mexico, Alonso Gomez Robledo; and the
executive secretary Madam Berta Santoscoy [phonetic]. In his first
statement, Liverpool explained his plan of action and his objective. And he
actually spoke in Creole.
[Liverpool] //The investigating mission has come to examine the acts of
violence which took place on 17 December. When its work is done it will send
a series of recommendations to the Haitian government and to the OAS
secretary-general, which will be based on the results of the investigation
and its respect for a state which is based on the law.//
[Goudou] It should be pointed out that Liverpool does not look like someone
who has just come here on holiday. He has presented a full agenda and has no
time to lose.
[Liverpool] //The investigating commission will start working as from today
[8 April]. During our stay in Haiti we shall have to meet officials of the
Haitian government, members of the political sector, civil society,
representatives of non-governmental organizations and any other person whom
the mission might judge it necessary to meet while doing its work.//
[Goudou] This first visit will last two weeks. It should be understood that
the mission will need to travel between Haiti and overseas within the
framework of the investigation into the 17 December events only. A new OAS
team should arrive in Haiti either the end of this week or the beginning of
next week to work on another aspect of the Haitian crisis. Sergio Romero
Cuevas [representative of the OAS secretary-general in Haiti] explains as
follows:
[Cuevas] This mission has come to investigate the 17 December events only.
The other mission will be doing other things. If you read Resolution 806 you
will see all the other areas where the other mission will work, which are
human rights, governance, security and justice.
[Goudou] The international phase regarding the 17 December events and other
aspects of the Haitian crisis has just begun. On the Haitian side, the
investigation that is being led by the government is making no progress.
Judge Bernard Sainvil, who is responsible for the investigation, had
promised to give his final report by 31 March but nothing has been done.
BBC Monitoring/ ¸ BBC
/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC.