13945: Blanchet: Fw: Haiti: three statements from the organised popular sector (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <MaxBlanchet@worldnet.att.net>
From: <Tttnhm@aol.com>


Haiti: three statements from the organised popular sector -translated from
French by Charles Arthur for the Haiti Support Group

1)  Four non-governmental organisations declare themselves in favour of
Aristide's resignation.

2 December 2002 [AlterPresse] --- Four progressive Haitian non-governmental
organisations associated with the popular sector say the call for the
resignation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is justified, while
remembering the demands made by the democratic and popular movement since
1986.

In a press release, the Institut Culturel Karl Lévêque (ICKL), the  Institut
de Technologie et d'Animation (ITECA), the Programme Alternatif de Justice
(PAJ) and the Société d'Animation en Communication Sociale (SACS), declared
that, "more than any other sector, the popular movement has reason to ask
Aristide to go."

"Since 1990, Lavalas has only betrayed the masses and demobilised the
popular
movement." The signatories claim that Lavalas has "re-established fear and
repression in the heart of the population." Aristide's and Lavalas' only
compass is "impunity and reconciliation with criminals, thieves and drug
traffickers."

The NGOs attribute the murders of journalists Jean Dominique and Brignol
Lindor to Lavalas, which is also responsible for the abuse and persecution
of
a number of citizens who dared "to speak, to organise themselves and make
demands."

The NGOs describe the Lavalas regime as a "corrupt" government which
"traffics in the people's poverty" and which "sells off cheap the State's
assets." They declared, "Lavalas has forgotten the struggle lead by the
popular movement against the IMF and the neo-liberal plan."

"It's the popular masses, through the youth, the schoolchildren and the
students, who are saying that they are fed up to the back teeth with it."
The
NGOs invited all popular sectors to be vigilant, "for not everyone who says
they are against the Lavalas government does so for the same reasons." This
time "we must be determined to continue our struggle in favour of a
sovereign
and prosperous society, founded on freedom, respect and justice for all."

Since 1986, the press release states, "the popular movement has always been
against governments that are under orders from imperialism, governments that
sell off the country; against corrupt governments, and against governments
that run up debts in order to enrich themselves and buy arms with which to
put the people down."


2)  The women's movement denounces Lavalas violence against schoolchildren.

27 November, 2002 [AlterPresse] --- The National Coordinating Committee to
Advocate for Women's Rights has condemned the Lavalas authorities and
Lavalas
militants for their brutal treatment of school pupils in Petit-Goave on 25
November.

"A group of aggressive hooligans - carried away with tyrannical madness -
set
upon a group of schoolchildren after they took part in a demonstration
against the corrupt government," according to the Committee's 27 November
press release.

The Committee, which brings together nine organisations involved in the
women's movement, explained that the aggressors "tore off the pupils
uniforms
and left them in their underwear". The press release continued, "Although
these young people had been brutally stripped, they showed that their
dignity
was enough to clothe them."

The Committee saluted the courage of the young victims, "who didn't hesitate
to denounce the violence to which they had been subjected."

The incident occurred in the context of socio-political agitation during
which government supporters have on several occasions violently broken up
anti-government demonstrations that have included school children in
Petit-Goave  In the last two weeks, the tension has remained high with daily
protest activities against the government that have been met by
counter-demonstrations by government supporters. Apart from Petit-Goave,
these protests have taken place in Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien (North), and
Gonaives (Artibonite).


3)  The GRALIP condemns obstacles in the way of public access to the news.

26 November - The Action and Reflection Group for Press Freedom (Le Groupe
de
Réflexion et d'Action pour la Liberté de la Presse -GRALIP) has vehemently
condemned recent attempts by the government authorities and their supporters
to hinder the public's access to information about the events that have
taken
place in Haiti over the last two weeks.

The GRALIP denounces the slurs repeated by the Lavalas regime and its
supporters in response to the population's legitimate demands for a better
life.  In order to cover its failings, the regime has no hesitation in
coming
out against the independent media which it tries to link to a supposed
destabilisation campaign orchestrated by "foreign hands."

For the GRALIP, death threats against journalists and violence against the
media, such as the harassment of journalists in Cap-Haïtien and Gonaïves,
and
the arson attempt on Gonaïves' Radio Etincelle on the night of 24 November
2002, indicate a deliberate attempt to hide the truth from the public, in
the
same way that happened following the attack on the National Palace on 17
December 2001. It is in this context that the GRALIP observes the seven
journalists in Gonaïves who have been forced to go into hiding so as to
avoid
falling foul of the zealots and loyalists grouped in the Cannibal Army.

Regarding the Métayer affair, the GRALIP considers that the Lavalas regime
has begun a process of legitimising institutionalised gangsterism.

The GRALIP condemns the relevant authorities' indifference in relation to
the
persecution carried out by known groups and individuals against journalists
and the media. The GRALIP strenuously denounces the criminalisation of
political life which only worsens the serious threat to journalists who are
trying to inform the population of the many facts that are currently a
source
of trouble in the country.


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