23437: Esser: Report of Pax Christi USA Human Rights Mission to Haiti (Part I of II) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. E s s e r <torx@joimail.com>
Pax Christi
http://www.paxchristiusa.org/

October 2004

Report of Pax Christi USA Human Rights Mission to Haiti (Part I of II)

For questions about how to contact members of the delegation contact
Bill Quigley, quigley@loyno.edu or 504-861-5590 or fax 504-861-5440
or mail 7214 St. Charles Avenue, Box 902, New Orleans, LA 70118.

Contents:
- Delegation Members
- Summary
- People and Places Visited
- Criteria Used
- Observations
- Conclusions and Suggestions for Action
- Sources for Additional Information

Delegation Members

This delegation visited Haiti on a human rights mission on behalf of
Pax Christi USA, a section of Pax Christi International, the Catholic
peace movement. The members of the delegation were:

- Johanna Berrigan, House of Grace Catholic Worker, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
- Kathleen Boylan, Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, Washington, DC
- Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of
Detroit Michigan
- Bill Quigley, Loyola University New Orleans School of Law
- Bob DellaValle-Rauth, Pax Christi USA Haiti Task Force, Virginia

Summary

Human rights conditions are worse in Haiti now then they have been in
years.

We agree with the Haitian people that the forced exile of President
Aristide by the U.S. was effectively a coup that eliminated the
elected government of the people and replaced it with an illegally
appointed government of the minority with economic and military
power, supported by the U.S., France and Canada.

Many of the democratically elected government leaders and their
supporters are in prison and thousands have been made into refugees
in their own country while former military, gangs and rebels
affiliated with those in power are often allowed to do as they
please. We are very concerned about the widespread re-emergence of
the previously dissolved military, which has historically been a
challenge to and oppressive to an independent civil society. The
military has also often served as an avenue through which the U.S.
has exerted power over Haiti.

The delegation strongly believes that the rule of law is being
disregarded in the exile, arrest, beatings, executions, and detention
of the people who were democratically chosen by the people of Haiti
to govern. People affiliated with the elected government and those
concerned about human rights have been beaten and arrested and homes
burned and run off to live in hiding. The Haitian constitution and
international law are being openly violated. We agree with the people
that the rule of law must be reinstated.

The international community must start by restoring the elected
representatives of the people. This means explicitly the return of
President Aristide and the release of all political prisoners. It
must also begin disarming the rebels, terrorists, former military,
and anyone else threatening life. The U.S. should also stop selling
M-16s to the Dominican Republic and to Haiti.

Human rights in Haiti needs immediate international attention.
Current people in power have said publicly that local human rights
organizations are stirring up troubles - a threatening warning to
stop human rights investigations. International human rights groups
must step up monitoring human rights.

We challenge the role of the international community, particularly
the U.S. in Haiti. The primary concern of recent US policy in Haiti
has not been for democracy, human rights, or fairness to the poor and
powerless. It must be. All Americans must insist that our policy help
protect democracy, the rule of law, the Constitution of Haiti, human
rights and the protection of the poor.

We call for journalists and media to stop the misinformation about
what has happened and what is happening in Haiti. Help stop the fear
and protect the people, especially the poor and powerless who always
suffer the most.

The situation of the poor in Haiti is worsening. The poor are being
victimized by economic forces and again by human rights abuses. The
basics of life cost two to three times more than before the coup.
There are increasing numbers of people who are internal refugees from
political violence in their own country. People have lost family
members and all their possessions. They have been uprooted from their
communities. The plight of workers is deteriorating. Inflation is
rising and the minimum wage is declining. The exile of President
Aristide has resulted in increased power for business and decreased
the bargaining power of individual workers and independent labor
unions. Education is at a standstill. The people of the countryside
(the majority of the population of Haiti) are under control of the
rebels and former military who have created a reign of terror - house
burnings, random arrests, brutal killings, and confiscation of
property. The military are reorganizing in Petit Goave, Jacmel,
Hinche and planning to do so in all departments.

We call for action. Action to restore the elected government of
President Aristide. Legislative action to assist the people and
institutions of Haiti. Direct action to assist those seeking justice
in these very challenging times. Some groups whose support for
President Aristide decreased in recent years are now calling for his
return. Many poor people told us “We want Aristide back. He is our
President. We need him more than ever. We have no one now.”

We call for prayers for the people of Haiti. They are our sisters and
brothers and they are in crisis. We must remember them in our
churches and in our prayers.

We call for increased solidarity with the people of Haiti. We applaud
the good works being done by the many religious, educational and
human rights groups in Haiti. But much more needs to be done. We
especially encourage schools, churches and human rights groups to
visit Haiti and meet the people directly and study and see the social
and political conditions of the country for themselves. When they do,
we are confident they will be moved to join them in solidarity in
their quest for just and basic human dignity.

We believe that if all the people of the world saw what we saw, they
would insist that justice be done for Haiti. We ask the world to look
at the people of Haiti as our sisters and brothers. Recognizing that
our sisters and brothers are in serious trouble, we must all work
together to bring about disarmament and elimination of foreign
(mostly US) weapons in their country and help them bring justice to
their country.

People and Places Visited:

- CTH (Conference of Haitian Workers): women and men union officials
- Haiti National Penitentiary: prisoners and officials
- Independent radio and print journalists
- Institute of Justice and Democracy in Haiti: human rights workers
and victims of political violence
- Pax Christi Haiti: volunteer leaders
- Port au Prince Police Station: male prisoners
- SOPUDEP Cooperative Community School, Petion-Ville: teachers,
administrators, and students
- St. Clare’s Church: children, staff, pastor
- Visitation House: visitors from US Church Twinning Programs, staff
- Women’s Prison, Petion-Ville: local pastor and prisoners

Criteria Used

In evaluating what we observed, we use the principles of Catholic
social thought and teachings: respect for life and the absolute
dignity of every human person; the demand to honor the human rights
of all; a preferential option for the poor which insists we look at
each situation from the perspective of the poor and most vulnerable;
the dignity of work and the rights of workers to decent working
conditions and fair pay; a profound commitment to solidarity with our
sisters and brothers as members of our shared human family; and the
right and duty of all persons to participate in society in seeking
the common good.

Observations

Haiti is in a political, economic, and human rights crisis of immense
proportions. The central political crisis is that the government of
President Jean Bertrand Aristide which was overwhelming elected by
the people of Haiti has been forcibly removed and illegally replaced
by unelected powers. People who supported or participated in the
elected government are being persecuted by armed gangs, arrested by
police without charges, prosecuted by officials of the appointed
government, and kept in jail without seeing a judge for long periods
of time, some as long as five months. As the poorest country in this
hemisphere, the economic crisis of Haiti is well documented. The
human rights crisis is made worse by both the economic and political
difficulties.

The delegation visited the National Penitentiary in Port au Prince.
There were 868 people in the prison, 847 were awaiting trial, only 21
have been convicted. Prison officials advise that most have never
seen a judge and do not know when they will see a judge.

The delegation met with several political prisoners in the National
Penitentiary including the high officials of the government of
President Aristide: Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, Minister of the
Interior Jocelerme Privert, and the former Mayor of Port au Prince.
The rule of law is being blatantly disregarded in their cases. For
example, Minister Privert has been held in the prison for six months
and has yet to see a judge for formal charges, which by law should
happen within 48 hours of arrest. Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, who
was arrested days after giving an interview critical of the
government, has been accused by those now in power of prompting
police killings in fights with rebel groups, and has been in prison
since June 2004. He says the accusations are totally political and he
has no confidence in the current government, but remains strong and
passionate about trying with every fiber of his being to reclaim the
democracy of Haiti. An elected delegate of Parliament, Jacques
Mathlier, was reportedly arrested for arson but after going before a
judge he was ordered to be released on July 12. Instead the Ministry
of Justice ordered him transferred to the National Penitentiary where
he has remained in prison ever since. The former mayor of Port au
Prince was arrested by Haitian police but was transferred, along with
three other members of the Aristide government, into custody of the
US military. They were then taken out to sea in a Haitian boat and
detained in handcuffs for 20 days, while armed military boats of the
US patrolled around the boat were they were imprisoned. For the first
three days they were denied water, food and the use of a bathroom.
After 20 days, they were transferred to the national penitentiary
where Severe now remains.

There have been no reported prosecutions of any invading rebels and
opposition gangs who used force and violence to topple the elected
government.

The delegation also visited the women’s prison in Petionville where
51 women are kept in a poorly lit concrete structure where we met
with Annette Auguste, a 69 year old folk singer also called “So Anne”
who supported President Aristide and is an activist who has been in
prison since May 10, 2004. Ms. Auguste and all of her family of
fifteen, including children as young as 12, 10 and 5 years old, were
arrested in her home by US Marines. The Marines used grenades to
break into the house in the middle of the night, forced black hoods
onto the heads of all inside and bound their arms behind their backs
with plastic handcuffs. While she was arrested and questioned by the
US, she is now being held by the Haitian government and has never
confronted her accusers. She told us “The Americans put me here, I am
waiting for the Americans to set me free.”

Contrast this with the treatment of supporters of the current
occupiers of the government. At the time of the coup, the entire
prison population was released. Among the released were many human
rights abusers, many of whom were, along with other released
prisoners, were recruited by the rebels. There was a criminal trial
in Haiti in August of Louis Jodel-Chamblain, a very high-profile
supporter of the current powers in Haiti, who was found innocent of
participation in a political assassination of Antwon Izmery that
occurred in the prior coup of 1994. This trial was an abbreviated
overnight event which was called a sham by Amnesty International and
other human rights organizations. During the coup of 1991-1994, this
man was second in command of FRAPH, the organization responsible for
the deaths of thousands of supporters of President Aristide.

(continued in part II)
.