25280: Esser: Re: 25277: Leiderman: (discuss) Re: 25253: Giving the finger to Haitian voters (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

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



Re: Cogent Systems Awarded $2.5 Million Contract for AFIS to Support
Haiti's Electoral Process


Haiti a country that under the current circumstances can not feed
it's population, spends millions on "voter-registration", the
contract of which conveniently goes to a company in the country from
which the original occupying force hails.

In light of the fact that Haiti, under President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, has managed to hold credible elections that were certified
as such by outside observers (with considerably less financial
effort), the question is: what are the real motives of this system?

For sure it would provide the U.S. and it's dictatorial puppet regime
with far better data on who and where democracy activists are.

A brave new world that entirely disregards the very fact that under
the current climate of repression with impunity and massive human
rights violations by Haiti's police, the notion of "elections" is all
but an illusion. It is the futile attempt by powers behind the
occupation, foremost the United States, to coat the suppression and
attempted starvation of the popular will with a thin veneer of U.S.
style democracy.

Just as this is apparently not workable in Iraq, the Haitian people
know well on whose behest the path to democracy was interrupted and
will not buy into this attempt at continued rule by proxy.

While most of the main-stream media is busy manufacturing consent,
the suppression of information is increasingly unsuccessful in this
time of networked communications. Even if these elections are finally
held, the ecvidence of this mockery of any true democracy is already
in the hands of the people.

As recent developments show, the conditions in Haiti are much worse
under the U.S. pro-consul Latortue, than they were at any point
during the democratic reign of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Unless the
United States has a plan superior to that of electioneering in
Afghanistan and Iraq, this will be just a prelude to a  massive and
rapid disintegration of society in Haiti, which is liable to also
impact it's Caribbean neighbors.

Collecting fingerprints and photographs of "fighting age" populations
won't contribute any more to peace and stability in Port-au-Prince,
than it has in Fallujah.

D. Esser

--

SOUTH PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 31, 2005--Cogent Systems
(Nasdaq:COGT - News) today announced it has been awarded a $2.5
million contract for its Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems
(AFIS) solution to be used by the Provisional Electoral Council of
Haiti.

...The new order for Cogent's AFIS solution will be utilized in Haiti
to capture voters' fingerprints, create a database and match the
fingerprints to authenticate voters' identities and prevent duplicate
registration.