26646: McCalla (comments) Most Expensive Haitian Elections To Date May Yield Little Benefit (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Jocelyn McCalla <info@nchr.org>

Haiti: The Most Expensive Elections To Date May Yield Little
Benefit

New York, November 21, 2005 -- Haiti is lurching towards
national elections that may cost the impoverished country as
much as $100 million. "These elections may be the most
expensive Haitian vote to date," says Jocelyn McCalla, Executive
Director of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR),
"but conditions for stable democratic progress barely exist.
Consequently, electoral democracy may not trigger the functional
democracy that Haitians yearn for."

In a report released today entitled Haiti: Lurching Towards
2006, the NCHR notes that Haiti suffers from several important
institutional deficiencies that hamper the establishment of a
rights-respecting regime. These include a small, corrupt and
unwieldy police force whose effective size remains a relative
mystery since it collapsed before rebel advances in 2004.
Corruption, abuse and maladministration are the defining
features of the Haitian legal and penal system. "In Haiti,
justice is for sale," says Mr. McCalla, "they just don't bother
putting up the 'for sale' sign."

"It's great that the international community has poured so much
money into Haiti's elections. This should be seen however as a
down payment. Bringing Haiti back from the brink of state
collapse will require more than an electoral exercise. Political
and socio-economic stability will be achieved only if the state
institutions that anchor a modern democratic nation get
substantial and substantive investment."

According to the NCHR, this means significantly reforming,
strengthening and expanding the police force and the judiciary.
But even then these institutions will remain years away from
being able to fulfill responsibly and independently their
mission. Therefore the UN presence in Haiti should be extended
for several more years, and adjusted yearly in accordance with
verifiable progress towards the establishment of the rule of
law. Haiti and the UN should share equal responsibility for
state failure or progress. In addition to investing
substantively in infrastructure, health and education, Haiti
must tap the Haitian Diaspora's wealth of skills and resources
for public sector reforms and economic development. Finally
Haiti's northern and Caribbean neighbors should adopt and
implement temporary migration measures that give Haiti the time
and space needed to provide a decent and sustaining environment
for all Haitians.

The eight-page report is available as an Acrobat Reader file at
http://nchr.org/reports/lurching2006.pdf .

Please bear in mind that influencing US policy towards Haitian
refugees and immigrants, building social, economic and political
capacity among Haitians, and promoting meaningful human rights
policies and praxis is not easy. But it's eminently possible if
you step forward together with us, support our campaigns and we
keep marching in lockstep.

To invest in NCHR, please consider donating online now. For
instructions on how to do so, please visit
http://www.nchr.org/mnd/giving.htm .

Thank you in advance for your generosity,

Jocelyn McCalla
Executive Director
--------------------------------------------------

The movement for a non-violent, rights-respecting and prosperous
Haiti takes off with the inclusion of friends, relatives and
associates who, like you, care about the well-being of their
next door neighbor. Please click on the link below to tell them
about the National Coalition for Haitian Rights and urge them to
join the movement.

http://ga4.org/join-forward.html?domain=nchr&r=GpasIKn1XXjL

If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for
National Coalition for Haitian Rights at:

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