26635: Esser (news): Response to the civil action filed by the de facto regime of Haiti against President Aristide (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

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


Response to the civil action filed by the de facto regime of Haiti
against President Aristide


Pretoria, South Africa

November 20, 2005

In response to patently false and politically motivated allegations
by Haiti’s de facto regime, legal experts, headed by attorney Ira
Kurzban, have denounced the claims’ veracity and legal viability.
This position was strengthened when last Friday, November 18,
hundreds of thousands of Haitians peacefully demonstrated in
Port-au-Prince to continue their call for the return of their elected
President through the restoration of constitutional order. It
confirms once again that we stand for truth while the de facto regime
stands for lies. Clearly these lies are intended to divert world
attention from the corruption and repression that characterize the
coup regime.
_______________________________________________

Statement by Ira Kurzban
Counsel to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide

November 18, 2005

· “The lawsuit is a political document more than a legal one based on
a highly charged political investigation that occurred in Haiti where
both the methodology and the factual findings have been seriously
questioned.”

· “There are a lot of patently false statements in there. For
example, they say that the percentage of drug transshipments
increased by 20% under Aristide. That is just false. In fact it
decreased to about 8% in the last year that President Aristide served
before the coup, at which point the U.S. Ambassador said that you
really can't rely on those statistics.”

· “The United States has had Treasury Department, FBI, DEA and other
government officials investigating President Aristide day and night.
The illegal Haitian government has also had a large number of people
since the coup working around the clock to find the money that the
President supposedly took. But, it's now obvious, there is none.
There are no Swiss bank accounts, no yachts, no Trump Tower
apartments, all of which there were with Duvalier.”

The following statement was issued by Mr. Kurzban in response to the
civil action filed by the de facto regime of Haiti against President
Aristide:

“The lawsuit is a political document more than a legal one. It's
based on a highly charged political investigation that occurred in
Haiti by the de facto government's so-called Central Unit on
Financial Information (UCREF). The de facto government published a
report in July through a commission headed by a current presidential
candidate of a rabidly-anti-Aristide political party.

“None of these reports have ever said that money was taken for some
illicit purpose. The United States government is also spending
millions of dollars investigating President Aristide including a
battery of FBI, DEA, and Treasury agents as well as a staff of people
at the United States Attorneys Office in the Southern District of
Florida. Despite these efforts, initiated by Bush and Cheney after
directing the coup against the President, no wrongdoing, of any kind,
has been found. Although they and scores of Haitians directed by the
illegal coup government have been working day and night to find the
money that the President supposedly took, it's now obvious, there is
none.”

“There are no Swiss bank accounts, no yachts, no Trump Tower
apartments, all of which there were with Duvalier. There are none of
the things that one classically identifies with the claim that a
president has abused his authority and stolen money for his own
benefit.”

“None of these reports have suggested that Aristide ever took money
for his own benefit. There is a very fine line here from violating
what is known in the Federal Rules on Civil Procedure as "Rule 11,"
which may impose sanctions against both the attorneys and the
plaintiffs for making claims that they cannot substantiate. In this
case, the UCREF report in Haiti makes claims that money was
misappropriated, but they never say, as far as I know, that it was
for anybody's personal use.”

“For example, this complaint alleges that the government gave money
to a corporation to purchase a sound system, and that somebody
received a commission on that. There is nothing illegal about that
under Haitian law or under U.S. law. There is no evidence that there
was any wrongdoing by anybody to either purchase a sound system for
the Haitian government or to get a commission on the purchase of a
sound system. If that were the logic, then every U.S. corporation
doing business anywhere in the world would be guilty of a RICO
violation, which is what they have alleged here. [The Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, passed by the U.S.
Congress in 1970, is what the plaintiffs base most of their charges
on.]”

“If you look further in this complaint, they make claims, for
example, that money was given to purchase rice. Even if what they are
saying is accurate, the government had every legitimate right to
purchase rice at a lower price to provide for its citizens. They
could do that any time they wanted to. Governments do that all the
time.”

“There are allegations here that money was "diverted" to give to an
NGO [non-governmental organization] like the Aristide Foundation. The
U.S. government gives to NGOs all the time in Haiti. The Haitian
government has the right to give money to NGOs in Haiti. There is
nothing illegal about that.”

“There are a lot of patently false statements in the complaint. For
example, they say that the percentage of drug transshipments
increased by 20% under Aristide. That is just false. In fact it
decreased to about 8% in the last year that President Aristide served
before the coup, at which point the U.S. Ambassador said that you
really can't rely on those statistics.”

“People should understand that this is a civil case, not a criminal
case. There are no criminal charges involved. It's a civil lawsuit to
recover money on a claim that money was improperly appropriated. When
you make claims like this, you are going to have to back them up. The
de facto regime in Haiti cannot just show the UCREF report, which
itself is a political document, and claim that it is the basis for
the lawsuit. They are going to have to show facts and figures.”

“With the prospect of upcoming elections, the de fact prime minister,
Latortue and the others panicked. If free, fair and democratic
elections go forward in Haiti, their own game of corruption that has
been going on in Haiti since the coup is going to end. They also see
the possibility of [former Haitian president and now presidential
candidate] René Préval winning the election. If Préval wins, the base
of Lavalas, which is apparently now supporting him and have made
demands for the return of President Aristide, may get their way and
the President may be back.”

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