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30703: Forrest (reply) RE: 30701: Fofoye (reply) Re: 30676: Loccm (reply) Re: 30652: Lorsbach (reply) Re: 30648: Durban ... (fwd)
From fmooy@tulane.edu
It's funny, at first I thought FOFOYE was describing the Louisiana State court
system instead of that of Haiti. The anecdote sounds familiar to some I've
heard in New Orleans. Anecdotes aside (hallelujah Selby for finally pointing
out some actual data, I'll definitely take a look) I wonder where your hope for
the future is.
FOFOYE, you attack those of us with hope for Haiti as being superficial, but at
the same time you describe Haiti in such superficial terms yourself. You say
that Haiti has:
"...no infrastructure..."
But everyday I see crews out cleaning and fixing the streets, I see lights on
(for a few hours at least) in neighborhoods where there are clearly no
generators or inverters, I drive on newly graded and vastly improving roads
like the one connecting PAP to Miragoane. These may be small signs of
infrastructure development, but the are, nonetheless, real.
"...no laws; no attorneys; no courts; no judges; no justice..."
but everyday I deal with Haiti's laws and some outstanding Haitian legal minds.
It is true that there is a lot of corruption and bureaucracy here, the same is
true in other places. In spite of that, many good people and organizations are
using the Haitian legal system to their advantage in bringing about positive
change. I have nothing but sympathy for your particular experience dealing with
the Haitian legal system. You clearly feel that you were mistreated. At the
same time, I would point out that Haitian renter's laws are incredibly pro
renter. Without in anyway questioning your version of events, I have to say
that I doubt very much that a similarly situated landlord could obtain judgment
against a tenant before 5 years time had elapsed. That's not corruption or
bureaucracy, that's just the law here. You may not like it; You may, like me,
scratch your head and wonder how, in a country were everything else is so
clearly stacked against the poor masses, such progressive renter's laws could
develop, but that's the law.
"...no jails..."
but in reality there are plenty of jails in Haiti. They're just full of so many
innocent people, there's no room for crooks.
"...no real "education"..."
but I've never meet a people so hungry for learning. It is true that formal
public education system here is a joke and millions can't read or write, but
the same was true in the United States early in its history. That didn't
prevent the US from developing. Anecdotally, I might also add that I am always
surprised when I travel to small towns in the provinces here, like Boucankare
or Milo, to find how many multilingual people there are among the illiterate
crowd.
"...no honesty [&] no conscience..."
but I would argue that it is the land owning elite in the country that are
dishonest and without conscience, who represent a small fraction of the Haitian
population. The millions swinging hoes in the countryside have don't seem to be
in any position to cheat anyone and, in fact, seem to me to be generally honest
and God fearing people.
You say that Haiti is not yet ready, it's not yet mature, its people are not
yet grown up; When will it be ready? Who will show the country the way? How can
things advance except by small steps (tipa tipa as the proverb goes)? If we
don't talk about security and acknowledge the small, incremental, positive
changes, how can we ever expect progress. You may be ready to throw up your
hands and abandon hope, but there are millions who are not.
Forrest Mooy
Fonkoze S.A. Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Juris Doctor Candidate, May 2009
Tulane University Law School
email: fmooy@tulane.edu