26640: Bellegarde-Smith: Resolution on Haiti by IADL (International Association of Democratic Lawyers) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: P D Bellegarde-Smith <pbs@csd.uwm.edu>


Resolution on Haiti by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers
(IADL), November 5, 2005, Sofia, Bulgaria

Considering that the Assembly General of the International Association of
Democratic Lawyers, during its 16th Congress in Paris, made on June 10,
2005 a resolution regarding the situation in Haiti by demanding that the
interim government of Haiti and of the United Nations Mission for the
Stabilization of Haiti (MINUSTAH) take the necessary measures in order to
ensure the security of the Reverend Father Gérard Jean Juste, to free
every person detained without charges and to stop persecution against
their opponents;

Considering that Fr. Gérard Jean Juste was arrested a second time on July
21, 2005, kept in prison until now and declared a prisoner of conscience
by Amnesty International;

Considering that since the installation of the interim Haitian government
supported by the United States, Canada and France in March 2004, people
aligned with the Lavalas Family movement have been systematically
terrorized, killed, arrested and incarcerated in Haitian prisons without
due process or even charges;

Considering that MINUSTAH, manipulated by the U.S., has not fulfilled its
role as a peace mission as described in the U.N. Charter by failing to
guarantee against political repression and murderous raids in the
working-class neighborhoods and illegal arrests, and by supporting the
illegal operations of the police and paramilitaries (comprised of escapees
from prison and former military members);

Considering that the human rights section of MINUSTAH declared the human
rights situation in Haiti "CATASTROPHIC";

Considering that the judicial system in Haiti has become a machine of
political repression where Lavalas members or supporters are kept in
prison without any legal justification, and those who have been convicted
of grave human rights violations are freed outside of the judicial norms;

Considering that the countries of CARICOM and the African Union (AU) have
condemned the February 29, 2004 coup d'état in Haiti and demanded an
investigation;

Considering that the U.N., instead of heeding CARICOM and the AU's
demands, have instead reinforced the illegal action by sending a purported
peace mission to Haiti, to support a dictatorial regime that terrorizes
its opponents and systematically and deliberately violates human rights;

As a result, the IADL, meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria on November 5 and 6,
2005, reiterates the resolution of the IADL at the 16th Congress in Paris,
which is, the freedom of all persons detained without charges or prisoners
of conscience pursuant to Amnesty International, and the halt of political
persecutions against opponents, and demands that an investigation be
brought by the U.N. regarding the events that overtook Haiti on February
29, 2004.

Sofia, Bulgaria, November 5, 2005