12540: Peasants still detained - Latinamerica Press 15 July 2002 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

HAITI: Peasants detained in dispute – Latinamerica Press Vol. 34, No. 14, July 15, 2002, by Jane Regan.
Despite protests from human rights, labor and other organizations, Haitian authorities have refused to release nine people arrested May 27 during an altercation on an orange plantation near the northern town of St. Raphael, in which two peasants were brutally murdered.

Eleven people were beaten and arrested on the plantation, owned by Produits Agricole Guacimal, then illegally transferred by helicopter to Port-au-Prince prisons. None has been formally charged. Two — both journalists — were released on June 8 as a result of local and international pressure.

The arrests came when several dozen peasant families attempted to begin planting the land beneath the orange trees. Guacimal, which produces orange extract mainly for European beverage and liqueur companies, bought most of the land from their ancestors in 1957 and 1958. Until last year, they had permission to plant crops under the trees between orange harvest seasons.

Last year, the company refused to give the families access to the land because many were part of a union that was pressuring the company to raise orange pickers’ pay to a living wage and respect Haitian labor law. As a result of the conflict, the French Rémy Cointreau company, formerly a main buyer, cut off its relations with Guacimal (LP, Feb. 11, 2002).

On May 27, the peasant family delegation, which was accompanied by members of the Batay Ouvriye union and two journalists, was met by local officials and their henchmen, some of who were armed. The peasants were attacked when they entered the property. Two peasants were killed with machete blows, while one official received a gunshot wound. The Haitian government has refused to respond to the protests of human rights organizations and has referred to the peasants as “heavily armed ... terrorists.”


forwarded by the Haiti Support Group
www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org