21971: This Week in Haiti 22:10 05/19/2004 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

"This Week in Haiti" is the English section of HAITI PROGRES
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                           HAITI PROGRES
              "Le journal qui offre une alternative"

                      * THIS WEEK IN HAITI *

                        May 19 - 25, 2004
                         Vol. 22, No. 10

FLAG DAY 2004:
TENS OF THOUSANDS DEFY POLICE AND U.S. MARINES

Tens of thousands of Haitians took to the streets on May 18 to
call for the return of democratically elected President Jean-
Bertrand Aristide and for an end to the country's foreign
military occupation.

Haitian police units backed up by U.S. Marines fired in the air
and into crowds, killing at least one demonstrator. Saintus
"Titus" Simpson, 23, of Delmas 33 was shot in the head, spilling
his brain, as demonstrators approached the central Champ de Mars
square.

Marguerite Laurent of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership cited
sources saying that at least four people died. "One Haitian woman
seized the fourth body that fell next to her and refused to give
it to the Marines," Laurent reported. "She removed all her
clothes to show she had no weapons while Marines surrounded her
at gunpoint. She cursed in Kreyol, calling on the revolutionary
ancestors and shouting "Liberte ou lamo!" (Liberty or death!) She
picked up the body herself and put it on her bare back, daring
the Marines to kill her also while she carried it away."

Radio Ginen reported that it had unconfirmed reports of at least
nine people killed. Radio Solidarité reported that people were
wounded in La Saline.

The march began in front of the Perpetual Church in Belair around
9:45 a.m.. It traveled only a few blocks to Rue Montalais, when,
at about 10:20 a.m., the police's Company for Intervention to
Maintain Order (CIMO) fired tear-gas and shots in the air to
disperse the crowd.

But within an hour, demonstrators had regrouped in Belair,
Solino, Fort National and Lalue and restarted their march toward
the National Palace. When they arrived in the vicinity of the
Cathedral, the police began firing wildly into crowds. By 12:40
p.m., the march was over, never having reached its destination,
Constitution Square on the Champs de Mars.

U.S. and Haitian de facto authorities did their best to
discourage the giant turn-out. Police spokesman Jean Yonel Trecil
claimed that the demonstration was illegal because the police had
received no notice of the demonstration 48 hours beforehand. He
was apparently unaware that Police Capt. James Altidor had signed
a May 12 receipt for a letter from popular organizations
informing the police of the May 18 march.

The May 10 arrest of Lavalas leader Annette "So Anne" Auguste was
also aimed at discouraging demonstrators, pro-democracy popular
organizations said.

The night before the march, U.S. helicopters flew and hovered low
all over the city, Washington's now common form of psychological
warfare in Haiti. Armored vehicles and ambulances were massed
around the Palace on the morning of the march.

There were many arrests during the day. A Haïti Progrès
journalist observed the CIMO arrest three unarmed young men who
had done nothing illegal. They were driven away in a pick-up.
On the 201st anniversary of the Haitian flag, the central theme
of the demonstration was "After 200 years, the struggle continues
to hoist the flag of dignity and democracy." Demonstrators also
denounced the deteriorating living conditions in Haiti since
Aristide's Feb. 29 departure and the violence of government,
"rebel" and occupation forces.

Meanwhile, in Gonaïves on May 18, Butteur Métayer and Guy
Philippe, two mercurial leaders of the "rebellion" against
Aristide, denounced the presence of French troops in Haiti,
according to Agence France Presse. "The French whites are
humiliating us," Métayer said. "They search our homes and our
cars."

"Two hundred years after independence, we are under occupation,"
Philippe echoed.
The two "rebels" made the remarks at a ceremony to form their new
political party, the National Reconstruction Front.

Other forces which invited and facilitated Aristide's overthrow
and Haiti's occupation have also been striking an "anti-
occupation" stance as popular rage grows. About 100 students of
the GNB (Grenn nan Bounda), junior partners of the Haitian
bourgeoisie's Group of 184 alliance, also marched Tuesday in
Port-au-Prince to call for foreign troops to pull out. But, the
Haitian people distrust such new-found nationalism as phony, just
like that of Métayer and Philippe.

ELMONT, NY:
HAITIAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS PUNISHED FOR FLAG DAY PRIDE

Haitian-American students in Elmont, NY say they were not allowed
to wear the Haitian flag in their highschool on May 18, Haiti's
Flag Day.

School authorities stopped Haitian-American students as they
entered Elmont Memorial High School and confiscated the Haitian
flags that many carried or wrapped around their head or neck.
Students who wore clothing emblazoned with the Haitian bicolor
were forced to either change their clothes or wear a jacket to
cover the flag. Those who did not or could not comply were placed
in a room under "In School Suspension" or ISS. Despite the
testimony of many students about the flag interdiction, the
school's principal and superintendent deny that flags were
systematically seized.

"As I came into school, I had my Haitian flag in my pants' pocket
and an assistant principal grabbed it from me," said Britney
Vincent, 13, a 7th grader. "He said that no one was going to be
wearing the flag that day. He was taking it from everybody who
had one. He gave no reason."

Elmont, which lies in Long Island's Nassau County just east of
the border with Queens, has a large Haitian population. The
majority of the school's 2000 students are of Haitian ancestry.

About a dozen students who could not remove the flag from their
clothing were herded into the ISS room. One of them was 13-year-
old Tasha Joseph, another 7th grader, who wore a dress which said
"Haiti" on top and had a flag on the bottom.

"It was a beautiful outfit," said Paula Joseph, Tasha's mother.
Paula was leaving for work when an assistant principal called her
to request that she bring her daughter replacement clothes.

In a school bathroom, Paula watched as Tasha changed outfits.
"Other students came in and asked us 'Why do they treat the
Haitians like this?;" Paula said. "I felt terrible."

Afterwards, Paula asked the assistant principal why he was
carrying out this policy. "He didn't answer me," she said. "I
left because I felt so humiliated and I didn't want him to see me
cry." Paula was late for work.

Patricia Louis, 12, briefly resisted when her 7th grade teacher
demanded that she hand over the flag that he saw in her pocket.
"At first I said no, but then he just took it," she said. As
punishment, she was sent to ISS from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.

"I hid my flag under my shirt so they wouldn't take it," said
Edwin Pierre-Louis, 15, another 7th grader. "But I was mad that
they treated us like that on our national day."

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Please credit Haiti Progres.

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