22842: radtimes: Continuing Repression by Coup Government (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: radtimes <resist@best.com>

Forwarded message:

PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY

For Immediate Release
Contact: Leslie Fleming 510-558-0371, <lesliefleming@mindspring.com>
Robert Roth 415-297-7869, <mirk1@mindspring.com>
Laura Flynn 612-202-0356

Human Rights Monitors Release New Report Describing Widescale Grassroots
Haitian Resistance and Continuing Repression by Coup Government

July 29 ­ In a report just issued by the Haiti Accompaniment Project, Bay
Area human rights activists decried "a new wave of repression by the de
facto Haitian authorities against supporters of the elected government of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the Fanmi Lavalas Party."

Leslie Fleming, a coordinator of the Haiti Accompaniment Project, noted, "
this is a horrific situation in our backyard…one that Washington bears a
great responsibility for." Fleming teaches anthropology at Merritt College
in Oakland, California, and has traveled to Haiti on several previous human
rights delegations.

On July 28, mass demonstrations were held throughout Haiti, on the
anniversary of the first arrival of U.S. Marines in 1915. Laura Flynn,
co-writer of the Accompaniment Project report, said, "independent observers
described thousands of demonstrators braving incredible risk to voice
opposition to the continuation of coup rule. The protests stressed the
importance of President Aristide's safe return."

These demonstrations followed on the heels of July 15 protests, when
thousands of people marched from the Belair neighborhood in Port-au-Prince
to celebrate President Aristide's 51st birthday and to call for his return
from exile in South Africa.

Robert Roth, a San Francisco educator and founding member of the Haiti
Action Committee who was part of the recent delegation to Haiti, noted, "One
of the most striking findings from our trip was that despite stepped-up
repression, many groups throughout the country were preparing for ongoing
long-term mobilizations to call for the return of democracy to Haiti. These
courageous non-violent actions are going forward in spite of heightened
crackdowns by coup authorities," Roth continued.

"There was widespread agreement from those we spoke with that repercussions
from this coup are even worse than the aftermath of the brutal 1991-1994
coup. Convicted death squad leaders responsible for massacres of Lavalas
supporters in the 1990's have been freed and are now extracting revenge on
those who testified against them."

Fleming added, "Rape and other forms of terror are being used to repress
dissent. Lavalas people associated with the overthrown government have lost
jobs, had their homes burned, and been forced to leave their communities and
families."

Two members of the delegation visited Lavalas-affiliated Prime Minister
Yvonne Neptune, now being held at the National Penitentiary.  The report
notes, " Mr. Neptune was calm, articulate and dignified as he described the
circumstances surrounding his case.  He felt that he had good legal
representation, but insisted that the case would be decided politically, not
legally, since there is no legal basis to hold him.  He considers himself a
political prisoner."

Background:

On February 29 representatives of the Bush Administration kidnapped the
democratically elected president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and flew
him to the Central African Republic. President Aristide now lives in
involuntary exile in South Africa. The Haitian people overwhelmingly elected
him twice, only to see both terms of office brutally interrupted by military
coups.

President Aristide's ouster was the culmination of a U.S.-led
destabilization campaign which included withholding of loans, funding of
political opposition groups, and arming and training of former military
officials and death squad leaders.

Since the military insurgency began in late January, militias have murdered
hundreds of people, burned hundreds of homes, and forced tens of thousands
of activists in President Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas Party to flee for their
lives. Food prices have skyrocketed, with the price of rice doubling,
creating an unspeakably horrible situation for the overwhelming majority of
Haitians.

An occupation force led by the United States, France, Canada, and Chile
replaced Haiti's legal government and installed as President a Haitian
exile, Gerard Latortue, who had not set foot in Haiti for 15 years. UN
"peacekeepers" lend undeserved legitimacy to the coup government. Former
military officials currently control the police, while formerly exiled and
jailed death squad leaders again spread terror.

The U.S.-engineered coup in Haiti is in clear violation of international and
federal laws. The Caribbean CARICOM countries and Africa Union have
repeatedly condemned this removal of Haiti's democratically elected
president.

For further information: www.haitiaction.net

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