19446: Bellegarde-Smith: US House Members to Bush, Powell: Don't Usurp Aristide (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: P D Bellegarde-Smith <pbs@csd.uwm.edu>

>
>1 US House Members to Bush, Powell: Don't Usurp Aristide's Powers
>
>2 US Committee on Refugees: Bush Speaks Truth about Haitians
>
>US House Members to Bush, Powell:
>Don't Usurp Aristide's Powers
><http://www.blackcommentator.com/79/79_haiti_house.html>
>
>Representatives Maxine Waters (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-
>IL), Barbara Lee (D-CA), and John Conyers (D-MI) held a
>press conference in Washington, February 25, to announce
>they had delivered a letter on Haiti policy to Secretary
>of State Colin Powell. Later, 18 members of the
>Congressional Black Caucus visited the White House to
>press President Bush to assist Haitian President Jean-
>Bertrand Aristide's besieged government. CBC Chairman
>Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said: 'We made it very clear to
>the president, many may disagree with the way Mr.
>Aristide has run the country, but the fact is, we in
>this country have gone all around the world to protect
>democracies, and here we have one 650 miles away, a
>leader who was elected by a democratic process, and that
>we must stand up."
>
>Secretary Powell and National Security Advisor
>Condoleezza Rice were also at the White House during the
>Caucus visit.
>
>The following is the Waters, Schakowsky, Lee, Conyers
>letter to Secretary Powell:
>
>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
>
>
>===
>
><
>http://www.refugees.org/news/press_releases/2004/022604.cfm>
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>For Further Information
>Contact: Gregory Chen
>Tel: (202) 347-3507
>
>President Bush Finally Speaks the Truth
>about America's Unlawful Treatment of Haitian Refugees
>
>Washington, DC, February 26, 2004-On Wednesday, making
>his first public comments on the crisis in Haiti,
>President Bush announced: "We will turn back any refugee
>that attempts to reach our shore, and that message needs
>to be very clear as well to the Haitian people." The
>President's statement constituted the first time in more
>than 50 years that the U.S. has flagrantly rejected the
>legal and ethical obligation to protect refugees.
>
>"Our President has finally spoken the truth about
>American practice toward Haitian refugees," stated
>Lavinia Limón, Director of USCR. "For years we have
>witnessed the unfair, discriminatory treatment of
>Haitian refugees, but now the President is publicly
>admitting that the U.S. does not obey international
>law."
>
>The forcible repatriation of refugees directly violates
>Article 33 of the 1951 UN Convention on refugees, which
>proclaims that no "State shall expel or return a refugee
>in any manner whatsoever . . . where his life or freedom
>would be threatened . . ." Moreover, this principle-
>known as non-refoulement-had acquired the status of
>customary international law, i.e., a fundamental norm
>that no state claims the right to violate. "With a
>single phrase, the President has rolled back more than
>50 years of American refugee law and practice," said
>Limón. "He is sending a signal to the rest of the world
>that it is okay to turn a blind eye to persecution and
>to force refugees back into harm."
>
>Only days before issuing his statement, the President
>evacuated all non-essential personnel from the island
>country and deployed 50 marines to guard the American
>Embassy. Yet even as the United States government took
>these extraordinary protective measures, it continued to
>interdict Haitians at sea and deport Haitian asylum
>seekers, including a man whose case is being reviewed by
>the Supreme Court.
>
>USCR is deeply concerned about the impact President
>Bush's statement will have on other nations. "The
>President has weakened the United States' moral
>authority to hold accountable those countries that
>regularly violate human rights," said Limón.
>
>Also see: United States | Haiti
>
>The U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) is a public
>information and advocacy program of Immigration and
>Refugee Services of America (IRSA), a nongovernmental,
>non-profit organization. Since 1958, USCR has defended
>the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and internally
>displaced persons worldwide.
>
>
>
>
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