RESOLUTION in SOLIDARITY WITH the PEOPLE of HAITI
WHEREAS, the Berkeley City Council adopted the Human
Rights Ordinance
in 1990; and
WHEREAS, Chapter 3.68.010 of the Berkeley Municipal
Code found that,
"...The residents of Berkeley have continually
demonstrated their
concern for peace and justice based on equality
among all peoples...";
and
WHEREAS, Berkeley citizens have demonstrated concern
for the people of
Haiti, working with organizations including the
Haiti Action Committee,
the Ecumenical Peace Institute/Clergy & Laity
Concerned, the East Bay
Sanctuary Covenant, the Institute for Justice and
Democracy in Haiti,
TRANSCEND, the Women¹s International League for
Peace and Freedom, and the
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists'
Social Justice Committee;
and
WHEREAS, since the February 29, 2004 coup d'etat
that toppled the
elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in
Haiti, the human rights
of the Haitian people have been violated,
constitutional government has
been dismantled with most of the approximately 7,500
elected government
officials forcibly removed, thousands of Haitian
civilians have been
killed, tens of thousands have been driven into
exile, and prime
minister Yvon Neptune and activists such as Father
Gerard Jean-Juste
and Annette Auguste have been thrown in prison and
subjected to
inhumane conditions without due process*; and
WHEREAS, the Berkeley City Council adopted
Resolution 62,841-N.S.,
submitting The Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute
report, Challenging
U.S. Human Rights Violations Since 9/11, to the
United States State
Department, the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, and
the United Nations Human Rights Committee; and
included in that report
is a section titled, "Bush Charged with
Orchestrating Removal of
President Aristide in Haiti"; and
WHEREAS, as a member of the United Nations, the
United States is
committed not to use ³threat or use of force against
the territorial
integrity or political independence of any
state,...² and is committed
to ³settle ... international disputes by peaceful
means...²
(United Nations. Charter Arts. 2.4 and 2.3); and
WHEREAS, on February 17, 2005 Representative Barbara
Lee re-introduced
H.R. 946, "The Haiti Truth Act" to establish an
independent commission
to investigate the role of the United States
government in the coup
that removed President Jean-Bertand Aristide from
power; and
WHEREAS, on November 4, 2005 the United States House
of Representatives
overwhelmingly approved a foreign aid spending
measure including
Barbara Lee's amendment to ban the sale and transfer
of arms for use by
the Haitian National Police and require a State
Department report on
the involvement of Haitian police in criminal
activity, and she stated,
³The people of Haiti remain targets of political
violence, torture and
in some cases murder, and too often the perpetrators
of this violence
are the Haitian National Police, armed with U.S.
weapons free of
charge...This amendment is necessary in the effort
to restore
democracy.²
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of
the City of Berkeley
request that Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne
Feinstein introduce
legislation similar to H.R. 946 in the Senate, and
support the
amendment included in the FY 2006 Foreign Operations
Appropriations
Conference Report prohibiting arms transfers and
sales.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City
of Berkeley, in
solidarity with the Haitian people in their ongoing
struggle for full
human rights and true democracy, encourage concerned
citizens to
communicate with acquaintances in the following
regions and urge them
to lobby Representatives Henry Hyde, Dan Burton, and
Robert Menendez to
consider H.R. 946 promptly:
1. District 6 of Illinois (including Chicago) -
Representative Henry
Hyde, Chair of the
Committee on International Relations
2. District 5 of Indiana (including Indianapolis) -
Representative Dan
Burton, Chair of the
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
3. District 13 of New Jersey (including Newark) -
Representative Robert
Menendez, Ranking
Member of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City
of Berkeley join
with the Haitian people and human rights advocates
worldwide in urging
the United States government and the United Nations
to change their
current policy towards Haiti and exercise their
influence to:
1. Free all political prisoners including Father
Gerard Jean-Juste,
prime minister Yvon Neptune
and folk singer Annette Auguste;
2. Stop the campaign of political repression
targeting supporters of
President Aristide and other
pro-democracy activists;
3. Stop killings by the Haitian National Police and
death squads in
Haiti; and
4. Support the restoration of constitutional,
democratic government in
Haiti by allowing
President Aristide to finish his elected term before
moving on to
the next round of
elections.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City
of Berkeley direct
the City Manager to send copies of this Resolution
to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise
Arbour, United States
Secretary of State Dr. Condoleeza Rice, Senators
Barbara Boxer and
Dianne Feinstein, and Representatives Barbara Lee,
Henry Hyde, Dan
Burton, and Robert Menendez.
*Sonoma County Democratic Central Committee
Resolution in Support of
Changing US Foreign Policy towards Haiti, adopted
October 11, 2005.
@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@
Peace comes from being able to contribute the best
that we have, and all
that we are, toward creating a world that supports
everyone. But it is also
securing the space for others to contribute the best
that they have and all
that they are.
--Hafsat Abiola, human rights and democracy activist
from Nigeria