22062: erzilidanto: RE: Marines arrest Haitian folksinger (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Erzilidanto@aol.com

Dear Friends,


So Anne is a prisoner of conscience in Haiti arrested for her political

beliefs. Please distribute this generously and for more information on how

to help with the campaign to free this brave and dear soul please see:


http://haitiaction.net/News/hac5_11_4.html


For further background please see:


http://haitiaction.net/News/HIP/5_12_4.html

http://haitiaction.net/News/HIP/5_24_4.html



STATEMENT FROM ANNETTE AUGUSTE (So Anne)



Pétionville Penitentiary, Haiti, 23 rd May 2004


I speak to the world today as a prisoner of conscience in Haiti, held in

detention for my political beliefs and convictions.


I was arrested on May 10th in Delmas, a  suburb of the Haitian capital of

Port-au-Prince, by U.S. Marines who brutally assaulted my home in the middle

of the night with explosives and large arms, terrorizing all within,

especially the small children of my family. The only security we had was our

two small dogs which they killed immediately upon entering the premises,

after using explosives to blast open the front door of our home. I can never

forget nor forgive the trauma these men have caused the youngest and most

vulnerable of our household. Of the three teenagers and young adults who

escaped arrest that night by jumping over the balcony, one suffered serious

wounds that required urgent medical treatment. I think none of us will ever

be able to forget the inhuman treatment we were subjected to in the course

of this violent action undertaken in the name of the Bush government for

what he calls “building democracy” in my homeland.


The real truth is that it is the American government who violently invaded

my home and arrested me and it is only they who hold the keys to my jail

cell. They are pretending to use the Haitian judicial system to cover this

fact. Yet it was only American soldiers who invaded my home, without an

arrest warrant, and forcibly took me away in chains while the Haitian police

sat passively in their cars outside.


The Bush government’s Marines said that they undertook this violent action

against me and my family because I was planning to attack their forces and

undermine security and stability in my homeland.


How can they be so cynical when they know quite well it was they, along with

the French government, who undermined Haiti’s stability by forcibly removing

our constitutional President on February 29, 2004? How can they be so

cynical when they know it is they who undermined our security by training

and unleashing the forces of the former military and death squads in order

to assist them in overthrowing our constitutional government?


It was only afterwards that the U.S. government manipulated their puppet

Latortue, the de facto Prime Minister, and the Haitian judicial system to

charge me falsely with organizing an attack against the so-called “student

opposition” on December 5th, 2003 during their  “demonstration” against the

constitutional government of Aristide and Lavalas.  I was never involved nor

had any knowledge of the events till after they took place on that date.  It

is clear to me that such an accusation is only a small act in this shameful

theater.


The fact remains that it was the Bush administration and his military forces

in Haiti that arrested me and, once again, it is only they who hold the keys

to my jail cell and can give the order to free me. Even if paying an unjust

bribe to some corrupt Haitian official or paying a fine ordered by the

Haitian  judicial system could secure my release, it would  still have to be

approved at the highest political levels of the  Bush administration.


Throughout my imprisonment, the ceaseless campaign of repression and

assassination against the base of the Lavalas political party has continued.

Militants of our movement who are credible and well recognized leaders in

their neighborhoods are being assassinated by the new militarized police

force under the control and direction of the so-called MIF, which is in

reality being directed by the U.S. Marines.  Leaders of our movement are

still being arrested and others forced into hiding in a concerted effort to

break the back of the Lavalas movement which still sees Jean-Bertrand

Aristide as the only legitimate and constitutionally elected President of

Haiti.


While I have been forced to sit in this jail cell I have also seen the

cynicism of some within our party, brought about by this campaign of

repression, intimidation and assassination. I understand their fear as I am

myself a victim of this campaign whose purpose is to destroy our hope and

aspirations for building a Haiti where the poor are not simple tools upon

which to build dreams of personal empire and wealth.


I would remind all those who still consider themselves to represent Lavalas

and the poor majority of Haiti to remember the lesson of the first

occupation of our homeland by the Americans and our great martyr Charlemagne

Peralte.  Peralte made his peace with the Americans in good faith and

disbanded his armed resistance against the occupation only to fall victim to

their lies and ill intentions: he was kidnapped and assassinated. A similar

fate threatens many Haitians today in Lavalas who believe in our national

sovereignty and justice.


>From my cell I am given hope by the many voices being raised against the

injustice the people of Haiti are being forced to suffer today. I am

grateful to Congresswoman Maxine Waters and countless others who have stood

up in solidarity with the Haitian people, in order to stop the bloodletting

and help the outside world to know the truth and reality we are faced with

today.


I send you all my love and gratitude for remaining strong in separating the

lies from the truth in Haiti’s current situation. I send you all my

blessings as a free Haitian woman fighting for the rights of the

impoverished majority in my homeland.


They may imprison my body but they will never imprison the truth I know in

my soul. I will continue to fight for justice and truth in Haiti until I

draw my last breath.



Annette Auguste

Petion-Ville Penitentiary

Haiti


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Forwarded by the Haitian Lawyers Leadership
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"Men anpil chaj pa lou"  is Kreyol for - "Many hands make light a heavy load."

See, The Haitian Leadership Networks'  7 "men anpil chaj pa

lou" campaigns to help restore Haiti's independence, the will of the mass
electorate and the rule of law. See,
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/haitianlawyers.html ; http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaigns.html

and Haitiaction.net

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