24685: Esser (action alert): Help Haiti's Silenced Majority Be Heard

[sak-pase@bimini.ws]

From: D. Esser <torx@joimail.com>


Haiti Action Alert: Help Haiti's Silenced Majority Be Heard
Urgent Action Alert, April 5, 2005

The United Nations Security Council is sending a mission to Haiti
from April 13-16, 2005.  This is an excellent opportunity for top
decisonmakers to hear the voices of Haiti's silenced majority,
especially women, the poor and victims of human rights violations
under the current government.

But the Security Council will not hear from Haiti's majority unless
it hears from us first.  The Council's agenda is already full with
meetings with: 1) officials of the unconstitutional Interim
Government; 2) groups that called for the overthrow of the elected
government a year ago; and 3) officials of foreign governments that
supported the overthrow, or officials of programs financed by these
governments.

All of these groups have a vested interest in the current illegal
regime, and cannot effectively represent the vast majority of
Haitians who opposed the February 2004 coup d'etat, and are suffering
its consequences .  We need to make sure that the Security Council
meets directly with poor women, grassroots groups and victims of
human rights violations.

We have an opportunity to be heard.  On Friday, April 8, the Security
Council will meet with Non-Governmental Organizations in New York to
prepare for the Mission.  We will present the attached sign-on
letter, with all signatures that arrive by Thursday night, April 7. 
To sign, simply email your name and/or the name of your organization,
with postal and email addresses, to info@ijdh.org.  For more
information, see www.ijdh.org.

Brian Concannon Jr.
Institute for Justice& Democracy in Haiti
www.ijdh.org
_________________________________


April 8, 2005


Dear Members of the United Nations Security Council:

We are encouraged by the UN Security Council's decision to send a
mission to Haiti from April 13-16, 2005.  The visit will provide the
Council an opportunity to assess the situation on the ground in Haiti.

As reflected in the Council's Terms of Reference, there are deep
social divisions in Haiti that require dialogue, reconciliation, and
protection of the country's most vulnerable.  We are writing to urge
you to take advantage of your presence in Haiti to hear the voices of
the country's disenfranchised, that are seldom heard despite
representing a majority of Haiti's population.  Thus, we request that
you speak directly to poor women, grassroots groups, victims of human
rights violations and supporters of the Fanmi Lavalas political
movement, rather than through organizations that claim to represent
their interests.

The Commission for Women Victims for Victims (KOFAVIV), a group of
poor women victims of violence, and a delegation of victims of human
rights violations from Haiti's grassroots movement have asked Adama
Guindo, the UNDP Resident Coordinator, for a meeting with the
Council.  We urge that you find time to meet with these groups as
well as other organizations whose leadership and membership comes
from Haiti's poor majority.

We will follow up with our Haitian colleagues on their meetings with
the Council. We hope that the perspectives of these organizations are
adequately reflected in the Council's report on its mission to Haiti.


Sincerely,


Name                       Address                             Email









*Send completed signatures to info@ijdh.org


Brian Concannon Jr.
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
www.ijdh.org