26884: Haiti Progres: (news) This Week In Haiti 23:40 12/14/2005 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Haïti Progrès <editor@haiti-progres.com>

"This Week in Haiti" is the English section of HAITI PROGRES
newsweekly. For the complete edition with other news in French
and Creole, please contact the paper at (tel) 718-434-8100,
(fax) 718-434-5551 or e-mail at editor@haitiprogres.com.
Also visit our website at <www.haitiprogres.com>.

                    HAITI PROGRES
        "Le journal qui offre une alternative"

                 * THIS WEEK IN HAITI *

               December 14 - 20, 2005
                    Vol. 23, No. 40

MIAMI:
THOUSANDS MARCH FOR JEAN-JUSTE'S FREEDOM

On Saturday, Dec. 10, some 4000 demonstrators, of many nationalities,
marched through the streets of Miami to demand the immediate liberation
of Father Gérard Jean-Juste, a political prisoner held without charges
in the National Penitentiary's annex since July.

Bearing photos of the priest on giant posters and T-shirts, the
demonstrators assembled at the "Torch of Friendship" near Bayside in
downtown Miami on Biscayne Boulevard. From there, they marched to Miami'
s Federal Building on Flagler Road. After a brief rally there, the
multitude returned to the "Torch of Freedom" to rally again.

Under the direction of several community leaders such as Farah Juste,
MarlPne Bastien and Lavarice Gaudin, as well as some North American
supporters like Jack Lieberman, dozens of speakers denounced the illegal
regime of Gérard Latortue and Washington's role in orchestrating the
imprisonment of Jean-Juste, well-known for his activism for the poor in
Delmas and for the Lavalas cause in general. The spirit and the message
of the demonstration were very militant and anti-imperialist.

Father Jean-Juste is in very poor health. A North American doctor, John
Carroll, who examined him two weeks ago, fears that Jean-Juste has
cancer or an infectious disease (see HaVti ProgrPs, Vol. 23, No. 39,
12/7/2005). He called for the imprisoned priest to receive immediate
medical attention.

Among the demonstrators were many prominent personalities, such as
former Miami consul general Gabriel Augustin, singer Manno Charlemagne
and lawyer Ira Kurzban.



ROCKS AND JEERS GREET DOMINICAN PRESIDENT ON VISIT TO HAITI

Thousands of protestors cut short Dominican President Lionel Fernandez's
one day visit to Haiti, condemning him for mob violence and repression
in the Dominican Republic which has left several Haitians dead. The
demonstrators also decried Fernandez's recent remarks that Haiti is a
"failed state."

Haitian policemen used truncheons and tear-gas to subdue the enraged
Haitian demonstrators, leaving four wounded.

The demonstrations were a response to the recent wave of repression
against Haitians in the Dominican Republic. Violence flared on Dec. 4 in
El Encantado de Villa Trina in the Montecristi province in northern
Dominican Republic, after a Dominican, Apolinar Lopez Rodriguez, was
murdered. The crime was blamed, without evidence, on a group of
Haitians. Shortly after the victim's burial on the morning of Dec. 5,
the Dominican inhabitants of the communities of El Encantado, El Catarei
and Cumbre, began to round up many Haitians.

A 20-year-old Haitian man was lynched. According to a local police
report, he was the only person killed in the violence. But other
reports, as yet unconfirmed, say that there were several other killings
and about 30 wounded.

Mobs burned more than 35 houses occupied by Haitians. Rather than
stopping the aggressors, Dominican authorities arrested about 30
Haitians. Several dozen Haitian families fled across the
Haitian/Dominican border to escape the violence.

On Dec. 6, the representatives of several Dominican towns assembled to
give Dominican authorities a 48 hour ultimatum to simply expel all
Haitians without distinction. "We will fight against winds and tides so
that [the Haitians] do not return here," said a certain Nelson German,
who chaired the meeting. "For this reason, we have asked the [factory
and plantation] owners not to return more with them [as laborers],
because this is a conflict between us and them."


The Dominican Commission on Human Rights, in a Dec. 10 report, called
for investigations into the violent incidents in the Dominican Republic'
s north. This request came after residents of the town of Trina Villa
testified that at least ten Haitians had been killed, their remains
taken to unknown burial spots. The president of the Brigade for the
Defense of the Human Rights, Elias Dominguez, described the situation in
his country as "grave" and called for an exhaustive investigation into
the events.

Human rights groups also criticized the Haitian de facto authorities.
The Haitian diplomatic mission in Santo Domingo was ineffective and
mute. The human rights groups also denounced the Dominican government's
policy of tolerating, if not encouraging, the xenophobes. In light of
these events, it was dumb-founding when Haiti's de facto president
Boniface Alexandre invited his Dominican counterpart, Leonel Fernandez,
for a "friendship" visit to Haiti. But Fernandez insulted Haitians and
even Haitian de facto authorities just before his arrival.

"When we exercise our right to carry out repatriations, they try to
demonize us throughout the world, as if we are a country which practices
racism and xenophobia," Fernandez said in a Dec. 9 interview, only three
days before his visit to Haiti. "The drugs which arrive from Colombia
find fertile ground in Haiti because of the presence of corrupt
authorities, authorities which are completely indifferent to the
national interest (...) The case of Haiti endangers the national
security of the Dominican Republic, the United States and the world
(...) The international community cannot be indifferent to the Haitian
problem. One cannot be indifferent to that, not for a philanthropic or
humanistic reason, but to ensure the defense of one's own interests. As
long as Haiti will remain a failed state, it will continue to affect the
national security of all the other countries."

On his arrival in Haiti on Monday, Dec. 12, Leonel Fernandez was met by
demonstrations which began at the international airport and grew in size
and vigor around the National Palace. Thousands of demonstrators,
largely students and popular organization members, massed around the
Palace, chanting angrily. The protesters burned photographs of the
Dominican president.


Despite a massive security force composed of the specialized units of
the Haitian national police and UN occupation troops, the situation
degenerated around 3:15 p.m. when Fernandez's presidential procession
left the Palace. Demonstrators threw stones at him, damaging a vehicle.
Police officers then launched tear gas grenades to disperse the
demonstrators. Shooting lasted several minutes. At least four people
were wounded. A Dominican helicopter fired on Haitian demonstrators,
Radio Kiskeya reported. Fernandez's visit was hastily and prematurely
cut short around 3:30 p.m..

Fernandez had to cancel a planned meeting at the Dominican Embassy in
Pétion-ville with several waiting Haitian presidential candidates, such
as René Préval of the "Lespwa" (Hope) alliance, Marc Bazin of the rump
Lavalas Family/MIDH "Union," René Julien of the Democratic Action to
Build Haiti (ADEBAH), Rigaud Duplan of the Justice and Peace Platform
for National Development (IPDN), Reynold George of Alliance for the
Liberation and Advancement of Haiti (ALLAH) and the disqualified
candidate Samir Mourra.

In an interview on Radio Métropole on the evening of the tumultuous day,
Jose Serulle Ramia, the Dominican ambassador in Port-with-Prince, called
for an apology from Haiti. "December 12 was to be a great day of
friendship between the two peoples sharing the island," he said.
"President Fernandez had come as a friend. At the National Palace, he
publicly recognized that errors were made and that rectifications were
being made within the framework of joint initiatives by the two
governments."

Meanwhile, UN occupation chief Juan Gabriel Valdes requested logistical
support from the Pentagon for upcoming Haitian elections during a visit
to Washington on Dec. 1 and 2, the Dec. 12 Miami Herald reports. He
asked among other things for 10 helicopters, supposedly to ferry ballots
to remote parts of Haiti. According to the Herald, the Honduras-based
helicopters "would have to be disassembled and then flown to Haiti
aboard transport planes, and any such deployment would likely require
U.S. combat troops to provide security for aircraft and crews."

"If Washington turns them down, U.N. representatives in Port-au-Prince
planned to make the same request to the neighboring Dominican Republic
this week, the officials added," the Herald reports.



FREE FILM SCREENING & COMMUNITY DISCUSSION ON HAITIANS IN THE DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC

Saturday, December 17, 2005
from 3 - 4:30pm

at the
Queens Museum of Art
NYC Bldg, Flushing Meadows Park
Corona, NY 11368-3398

Under the Sun (Miriam Neptune, 2005, 22 min)

In May 2004, after a flood ravaged the town of Jimani, Dominican
Republic, an entire community of Haitians and Haitian-Dominicans were
displaced and forced to relocate. 19 year old Daniel and his neighbors
talk about how they were excluded from the government's flood relief,
and what they will do next.

The Birthright Crisis (2005, 15 min)

Over 10,000 Haitians and Haitian Dominicans have been deported from the
Dominican Republic this year, many of them children. This video includes
testimonies from deportees, and calls to action from Haitian and
Dominican activists.


About the Presenter

Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees (HWHR) was founded in 1992 to help
Haitian refugees resettled in the Brooklyn/New York area to effectively
navigate immigration bureaucracy, organize the Haitian community to
advocate for itself, and work to obtain legal permanent residency for
Haitian refugees. HWHR is one of the few community-based organizations
by and for Haitian immigrants, which educates and organizes Haitian
immigrants of the working class to understand their rights as workers
and immigrants by providing comprehensive and culturally sensitive
programs that include popular education and adult literacy, to counter
worker exploitation and anti-immigrant policy. HWHR works closely with
other organizations who are committed to a broader social justice
movement both locally and globally.

Directions: 7 Train to Willets Point/Shea Stadium and follow the yellow
signs on a ten-minute walk through the park to the museum, which is
located next to the Unisphere. Driving Directions available at
www.queensmuseum.org.

The Museum's hours are: Wednesday - Friday: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm;
Saturday - Sunday: 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Admission to the Museum is by
suggested donation: $5 for adults, $2.50 for seniors, students and
children, and free for member and children under 5.

For more information: 718.592.9700 x222 or www.queensmuseum.org

Public Events at the Queens Museum of Art are supported by funds from
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, The Independence Community
Foundation, The Institute of Museum & Library Services, and the Ford
Foundation.

All articles copyrighted Haiti Progres, Inc. REPRINTS ENCOURAGED.
Please credit Haiti Progres.

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