#824: Campagne pour le retour des Documents FRAPH/FADH (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:Avokahaiti@aol.com

October 28, 1999
Hello Everyone:

    We have two urgent requests for action from the Campaign for the Return 
of the FRAPH/FADH Documents.  If you can, come to the demonstration on 
November 4, 1999 in front of the UN.  If you cannot, please contact your 
foreign ministry by telephone, fax or letter, and ask them to support the 
initiative of Adama Dieng in calling for the return of the Documents at the 
U.N. General Assembly.
    
DEMONSTRATION AT UN IN NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 4

    The demonstration, organized by the Center for Constitutional Rights, 
will take place in front of the UN, beginning at 11AM.  So far we have 
support from, among others, Konbit Vigilans, Witness for Peace, students from 
Columbia and Fordham Universities, but we need more.  Haitian media in New 
York have reported the demonstration widely, including Haiti Progres, Haiti 
en Marche, Radio Soleil, Radio Eclair, Radio Samba, Horizon 2000 Plus and 
Perspectives Haitiennes.  For more information, call Ron Daniels at CCR at 
212-614-6464 ext. 468.

PRESS RELEASES

    Several organizations are planning to issue press releases for the 4th.  
If your organization can do so, please fax it to Ron in advance at 
212-614-6499.

LOBBY YOUR GOVERNMENT

    If you cannot come to the demonstration, please contact your government 
(including the U.S.) by phone, fax or letter, and: 1) tell it that you 
believe the return of the FRAPH/FADH Documents is important for establishing 
justice in Haiti, and 2) ask it to support Adama Dieng's resolution, by 
assuring that it gets to the General Assembly for a vote, then voting for it. 
 Send us an email if you need contact information for your foreign ministry.  
This does not have to be done by the 4th, but should be done by November 15, 
when General Assembly resolutions on Haiti will be set.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

    The Campaign for the Return of the FRAPH/FADH Documents was launched by 
Haitian grassroots organizations, with supporters in over 30 countries to 
demand the return of approximately 160,000 pages of documents (including 
"trophy photos" of human rights victims with their torturers, as well as 
video and audiocassettes) removed from Haitian military and paramilitary 
offices by U.S. troops in 1994.  These documents are the legal property of 
Haiti under national and international law.  They are important for Haitians 
to establish the truth about the 1991-94 military dictatorship, and to 
prepare cases against those responsible for the regime's human rights 
violations.

    On November 4, the U.N. Human Rights Commission Special Expert on Haiti, 
Adama Dieng, will deliver his report to the U.N. General Assembly.  We expect 
Mr. Dieng, as he has at previous General Assembly and Human Rights Commission 
sessions, to propose a resolution calling for the Documents' return (excerpts 
from M. Dieng's advance text in French available on the UN website, our 
website, or by email).  We expect the U.S. delegation, as previously, to 
maneouver to prevent the delegates from voting on this resolution.

    For more information on the Campaign, contact the website, 
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~advocacy or, in Europe:  Haiti Support 
Group, London, phone/fax: 44-181-201-9878, email: haitisupport@gn.apc.org; in 
Haiti: Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, 168 Avenue John Brown, 
Port-au-Prince, phone: 509-245-8550, fax 509-245-0371, email: 
avokahaiti@aol.com; Everywhere else: Haiti Advocacy: 1309 Independence Ave. 
SE, DC 20003, phone 202-544-9084, fax: 202-547-2952, email: 
advocacy@bellatlantic.net.

  Kenbe fem,  Brian Concannon Jr.