18854: Waters-Schakowsky-Lee-Conyers letter to Secr. Powell (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Randall White <raw@haitiaction.org>

The Honorable Colin Powell
Secretary of State
Department of State
2201 C Street, NW, Room 7261
Washington, DC  20520

Dear Secretary Powell:

         Thank you for the time and attention you
have given to Haiti over the past week.  We
appreciate your recent statement that you will
not accept any outcome that is inconsistent with
the Constitution of Haiti or that, in any way,
illegally attempts to remove President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the elected President of
Haiti.  We also commend your efforts to work with
CARICOM, the OAS and the governments of Canada
and France to support the restoration of law and
order in Haiti.

         We urge you to provide assistance to the
Haitian police to enable them to effectively
prevent violence and enforce the rule of law.
This can be accomplished in accordance with OAS
Resolution 822, which supports the
professionalization of the Haitian police force
with the support of the international community.
We believe this is the only way to stop the
tragic violence that is occurring in Haiti.  The
Haitian police force consists of only 5,000
officers for a country of 8 million people.  The
police are poorly trained and poorly equipped.
Training and equipment for Haitian police
officers is essential to enable them to disarm
paramilitary groups and thugs, protect the people
of Haiti and restore domestic tranquility.

         We are deeply concerned about the
potential impact of an international military
force on Haiti's development.  Following the coup
d'etat that overthrew President Aristide in 1991,
a paramilitary death squad called Fraph (the
Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti)
massacred over 5,000 Haitian civilians.
Nevertheless, when U.S. troops intervened in 1994
to allow President Aristide's return, they
treated Fraph as a legitimate opposition group
instead of an armed death squad.

         As you consider whether an international
military force should be deployed in Haiti, it is
essential that President Aristide be consulted
beforehand and that such a force enter Haiti only
upon President Aristide's invitation.  The
purpose of any international force should be to
restore law and order and assist the government
of Haiti by disarming paramilitary groups and
thugs.  Such a force must not be allowed to usurp
the powers of the democratically-elected
government of Haiti.

         We are also concerned about the
suitability of the State Department official who
has been put in charge of leading negotiations
over international efforts to restore law and
order in Haiti.  Ambassador Roger Noriega,
Senator Jesse Helms' former chief of staff, has a
long history of being aligned with the
anti-Aristide business owners in Haiti and
undermining the democratically-elected
governments of Haiti.  Ambassador Noriega is
working closely with the opposition in Haiti.
The Ambassador's statements on the current
political crisis have been extremely one-sided,
showing evidence of a clear bias in favor of the
opposition and against President Aristide.  There
is no chance whatsoever that Ambassador Noriega
will be seen as a fair, neutral mediator in any
discussions involving the Haitian government and
the Haitian opposition.

         We believe that it is appropriate for
Ambassador Noriega to recuse himself from the
Administration's negotiations regarding the
political future of Haiti.  If he is unwilling to
recuse himself, perhaps he should be removed from
these negotiations and a more even-handed and
credible diplomat appointed to handle these
negotiations.

         We urge you to ensure that any and all
international efforts to stabilize Haiti are
carried out in a manner that is consistent with
the Haitian Constitution and does not usurp the
right of the Haitian people to live under the
government that they democratically elected.
Please keep us informed of the status of the
continuing international negotiations to address
the crisis in Haiti.

                                                 Sincerely,



____________________________
____________________________
         Maxine Waters
Jan Schakowsky



____________________________
____________________________
         Barbara Lee
John Conyers



cc:     His Excellency Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations
         His Excellency César Gaviria, the Secretary General of the OAS
         The Honorable Michael Kergin, Ambassador of Canada
         The Honorable Jean-David Levitte, Ambassador of France
         The Ambassadors of CARICOM

The Members of the Congressional Black Caucus

         Rev. Jesse Jackson
         Electronic and print media