27446: Hermantin(News)Groups request probe of U.S. role (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

lhermantin@hotmail.com

Miami Herald

Posted on Fri, Feb. 03, 2006


ARISTIDE'S DEPARTURE
Groups request probe of U.S. role
A petition accusing the United States of undermining democracy in Haiti was 
filed before the OAS system.
BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com

WASHINGTON - The human rights arm of the Organization of American States was 
asked Thursday to investigate whether the U.S. government helped orchestrate 
the ouster of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide by withholding 
vital aid and blocking a reinforcement of his bodyguard detail.

The 47-page petition was filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human 
Rights by three groups that have supported Aristide -- the TransAfrica Forum, 
the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti and the Haiti-based Bureau des 
Avocats Internationaux -- and the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human 
Rights Clinic at Yale Law School.

Largely repeating allegations made by Aristide supporters in the past, the 
petition also alleges U.S. Marines spirited Aristide out of the country after 
blocking his communications in the final hours of his government and obtained a 
dubious letter of resignation.

It asks the commission to investigate the role of the United States, the 
Dominican Republic and the Haitian government in the armed rebellion in 2004 
that forced Aristide to fly abroad. He now lives in exile in South Africa. U.S. 
officials have repeatedly denied the allegations, saying that Aristide 
voluntarily resigned and asked for U.S. assistance to leave the country, 
fearing for his life if he stayed.

''The U.S. imposed an illegal and immoral development assistance embargo on the 
elected government, while generously supporting the political opposition,'' 
said Brian Concannon Jr., head of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in 
Haiti. ``In the Dominican Republic, former soldiers and paramilitaries trained 
openly, and from time to time crossed the border to attack civilian targets and 
twice launched coup d'etat attempts.''

The petition, presented just days before Haitians go to the polls to elect a 
new president, was filed on behalf of five Haitian citizens whose names have 
been withheld for security reasons.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights can recommend reparations 
payments to victims of human rights violations or refer cases to the Costa 
Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights, whose rulings are binding.