13914: stanley honorat re: current situation in haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: stanley honorat honorat <shonorat@hotmail.com>

for all of the apologists and the defenders of aristide, i have one question
(or rather, a scenario that you may help with).  let's assume that i agree
with you that, no matter what faults we may attribute to mr aristide, he
should complete his 5 year term and so on...  secondly, lets assume that the
vast majority of people disagree with me and that (to quote mr aristide)
"only 2 people are protesting against him while 10,000 are supporting him"
(for the record, i am one of those 2).  thirdly, let's assume that i will
not utter a word about the current government, but will instead spend my
time trying to live my life with my family.  now, what am i (and all those
who would agree with me) to do if i feel that my life is in danger with this
man as president?  what am i to do if i am not free to live my life?  i feel
that at any moment he may choose to have some of his hired goons attack and
kill me (if she were alive, i'd say we could ask mireille durocher bertin if
this is plausible) or possibly imprison me indefinitely, irregardless of
what the judicial system may say (ask prosper avril if this is plausible).
i cannot go to the police, because the police is at his beck and call or
maybe decide to throw me in prison.  i cannot go to the court system because
i will not be heard.  i cannot sit and wait for the next elections because i
may not live that long...
now, for the argument, let's postulate a few things:
1-i am a haitian citizen living in haiti, and choosing to continue to do
so...
2-the universal declaration of human rights guarantees my right to life,
liberty, etc...
3-my apprehension is genuine...
4-this scenario is absolutely true...
5-i choose, as is my right, not to aide this president in his efforts...
am i to die, or accept whatever may hapen to me in the name of a "budding
democracy"?  am i to disappear?
in all this discussion about democracy and the stages it is in (ie- infancy,
childhood, etc) we must remember that the primary focus is that there are
human lives at stake.
for those of you who are adamant about the fact that, no matter what, he
must complete his term, i would be more inclined to listen to the argument
if we were merely having a theoretical discussion.  this, however, is not
the case.  we are talking about human lives.  what would you say in three
years if dead bodies number 1000s or 10s of thousands?





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