Category: Haiti Post-Coup

Just looking at the May 25, 2004 Haiti Human Rights report from Let Haiti Live. You can get a copy of the report by writing to haitihumanrights@yahoo.com. Between the firing on the Lavalas demonstration, the brutal arrest and imprisonment of Annette August, internal displacement, executions, rape, and massacre, what is clear is that the Canadian, US, and French soldiers are doing exactly what they went there to do: overseeing the destruction of the remnants of a popular and independent political force and ensuring that the Haitian people are terrorized into silence.

And for all this, there are signs that worse is to come. Despite having a substantial number of its own troops there to guarantee ‘security’, the US is citing ‘insecurity’ as a reason to issue a travel advisory, telling Americans not to go there. ‘Insecurity’ was also cited as a reason for the coup. Such vicious lies. The US military specializes in destroying the security and aspirations of people all over the world. Another signal: the new ‘president’, Latortue, himself showing no signs of malnutrition but who deigned to suggest to the people over whom he has been installed that they eat less, says the big problem is thousands of armed Lavalas people who have to be disarmed. I guess this will be the job for the third-world armies that take over the occupation from the Americans. Let the Haitians eat gruel and let the poor people kill each other.

Has anyone paused to ask, if there are so many well-armed and ruthless Lavalas people running around, how the hell was it so easy for the US-armed paramilitaries to take over the country? I can’t help but think that if Aristide and Lavalas were what people said they were (ruthless, armed, etc.) they would probably still be in power now. But no lie is too blatant, no logic too convoluted, when it comes to justifying smashing helpless black people.

The Haiti Information Project reports that Haitian police opened fire on a Lavalas demonstration, killing 9 people, while US Marines, supposedly there to guarantee the ‘security’ of the population of Haiti, watched. Can’t verify the story but it certainly fits with everything else reported to be going on in Haiti, particularly with the attacks on Lavalas members. This is not long after the Marines blew up the gates of a grandmother’s house, handcuffed her and her 5-year old granddaughter and others, and arrested her.

I am including below a report from Marguerite Laurent of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network. It is a rush translation and I can’t verify its accuracy. But it falls well within the realm of the entirely plausible, so I include it for readers to decide for themselves.

“So Ann”, a Haitian activist with Lavalas and grandmother, was ‘arrested’ last night. The manner of her arrest seems to follow standard US military doctrine. I will include this excerpt from the report. It includes handcuffing a 5-year old baby girl and blowing the gates off of a house for no good reason. I suppose we should be marveling at the restraint shown by the US soldiers. They could, after all, have simply carpet-bombed the house or handed the child a cluster bomb that looked like a food packet. Anyway here’s the excerpt:

Last night, May 10, 2004, on or about 12:30 am, a strong contingent of U.S. soldiers, from the Multinational Interim Force in Haiti apparently decided to forego Haitian and international law and practice warfare games on this elderly grandmother’s unarmed household.

Instead of knocking at the door, providing proof of charges and making a legal arrest, at a reasonable and Constitutionally approved hour for arrests, the U.S. soldiers, armed with the world’s most sophisticated war instruments, threw a grenade and blew up this elderly Haitian woman gates and forcibly entered her home.

All the people in her house, some 11 people, including her 5-year old grand daughter, Shashou, where forced to the ground and were handcuffed by U.S., soldiers armed in heavy artillery.

The full report:

On or about 12:30 on May 10, 2004, the U.S. military, acting as the Multinational Interim Force in Haiti violently gained entrance to the home of Annette Auguste, aka as “So Anne.”

No Haitian police were present at the time of the forcible entry, at the time of interrogations or during the arrests. The Us. soldiers are said to have blown up the gate where So Anne was living and accused her of making threats against the MIF.

Freedom of speech is no longer a civil rights for Haitians, especially Lavalas progressives.

At a press briefing today, MIF CJTF Pub. Affairs officer Col. David Lapan reportedly said, in sum, when asked why such force was used to make this arrest, that in operations of this type it is necessary to use violence in order to show the individuals who are the objects of the operation that the MIF means business. (See French report below.) Haitian who had any doubt as to the current status of Haitian sovereignty need no longer ask. The U.S. military, through Colonel David Lapan, have clearly implied, that Haiti is under occupation, and war rules known only to U.S. officers. Although the curfew have been lifted, by this action last night, it is reasonable to say, Haiti is under U.S. martial law while Ambassador Foley puts every word that comes out of U.S. puppet head, Mr. Latorture.

Annette Auguste (aka, “So Anne) is an elderly Haitian woman, whose life has been dedicated to the Lavalas Movement for democracy and development in Haiti. As a well-respected elder and community leader, her house is a meeting ground, as is the normal Haitian custom, for people to come and eat, gather, share news and solidarity. The Haitian Constitution guarantees Haitian citizens the right, not to be arrested or terrorized without due cause, especially it outlines no arrest warrants may be excised between 6pm and 6 am at night.

Yet, last night, May 10, 2004, on or about 12:30 am, a strong contingent of U.S. soldiers, from the Multinational Interim Force in Haiti apparently decided to forego Haitian and international law and practice warfare games on this elderly grandmother’s unarmed household.

Instead of knocking at the door, providing proof of charges and making a legal arrest, at a reasonable and Constitutionally approved hour for arrests, the U.S. soldiers, armed with the world’s most sophisticated war instruments, threw a grenade and blew up this elderly Haitian woman gates and forcibly entered her home.

All the people in her house, some 11 people, including her 5-year old grand daughter, Shashou, where forced to the ground and were handcuffed by U.S., soldiers armed in heavy artillery.

Let’s reiterate, a 5-year old Haitian baby girl, handcuffed by the world’s most powerful soldiers at midnight in her grandmother’s home!

This is the sort of “law and order” and democracy Haitians are subjected to after their Constitutionally elected President was, himself, forced out of Haiti by U.S. and French soldiers at gunpoint.

This is the sort of “law” “order” and “democracy” the Bush Administration is bringing to the world, while Secretary of State, Colin Powell, ushers the illegitimate U.S. replacement, Mr. Latorture, to shrimp and lobster dinners at the Harvard Club in New York today.

After, the U.S. soldiers, with grenades, blew up the gates at So Anne’s house, they then shot, with powerful automatic weapons, the hapless defenseless yard dogs and children pets who were barking in the yard at the rude entry in the dead of night.

Photos taken of So Anne’s house show that a lot of damage was done. Also from news reports, it the U.S. admitted, through Col. Lapan press conference, that there was no evidence of any weapons at So Anne’s house. Thus, the use of such excessive force and the hour of the operation is rendered even more illegal and clearly a violation of the Haitian Constitutional, Haitian sovereignty and international treaties, not to mention the OAS and UN charter.

Moreover, in the context of the U.S. citizenry current concerns over treatment of individuals in US custody in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, this May 10, 2004, excessive force and handcuffing, terrorizing at past midnight of Haitian civilians, who where then not accused of any crime is especially egregious.

All 11 people at So Anne’s house where transported to the U.S. barracks at the Medical University the U.S. shut down upon arriving in Haiti, a country without doctors, and interrogated. None where charged. No apologies given. They were release, except that Lavalas militant, So Anne, was then delivered, after U.S. interrogation, to the Haitian National Penitentiary. No official charges have been cited. Presumably, the Interim Multinational Force has the authority, by virtual of what law? to use military force against a Haitian citizen, without even the presence of Haitian authorities or any Haitians whatsoever?

Haitian children, even 5-year old baby girls in Haiti, needed to be handcuffed by grown U.S. soldiers in the dead of night.

Thus, it is clear, our malnourished and defenseless Haitian children no longer have to get on overloaded Haitian boats, face shark infested open seas and reach Miami to be terrorized by U.S. guards. Now in Haiti itself they don’t have sanctuary. Even at their very own grandmother’s houses.

This situation is more than illegal, It’s barbaric. Haitians are flesh and blood human beings with heart beats, pains, dreams, desires for beauty and peace.

Why are they so persecuted by the most powerful of peoples? And dare we quote President Bush in reference to a statement made about the U.S. soldier’s torture of Iraqi prisoners in U.S. custody, and say, the handcuffing and arrest of a 5-year old baby-girl at midnight on May 10, 2004; even the killing of defenseless pets in the yard of a grandmother in Haiti awaken by U.S. grenades, not too mention the arrest of So Ann and her entire household, one of Haiti’s most tireless pro-democracy activists, is simply too naked and revolting a lawlessness; and, for those who still believe in the untainted goodness of the U.S. government: it’s simply “un-American” to borrow that recent phrase used by President George W. Bush.

It is reported this U.S. orchestrated show of force is to further pressure, intimidate and otherwise stop other such Lavalas activists requesting the return of democracy to Haiti from holding a demonstration intended for May 18, 2004, Haiti’s flag day.

*

More than 3,000 Haitians, mostly young Haitian men associated or rumored to be associated with the Lavalas party have been killed in Haiti since the U.S. deposed President Aristide itself on February 29, 2004. In a bare two months, this bloodbath and killing of 3,000 Haitians represents more than half the number of Haitians that were killed during the entire three years of the first Coup D’etat. More than 3,000 defenseless Haitians have been killed since U.S. soldiers landed in Haiti for this 2nd Coup d’etat against Haitian development and democracy. Yet, the reason given by Colin Powell for the MIF and forcing out of President Aristide was “to avoid a bloodbath.”

According to current reports, as of April 26, 2004 – less than two months after U.S. and French soldiers forced Haiti’s Constitutionally elected President unto a U.S. aircraft – this Bush Administration’s illegal interdiction policy towards Haitian asylum seekers has resulted in Washington returning 1,948 Haitians to Haiti in 2004, already an increase, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, over the 1,490 intercepted at sea for the entire 2003 year. And yet, the State Department’s propaganda to destabilize the Constitutional government, had promised the Haitian people a better human rights record than that of the previous two Lavalas voted-in governments?

There is now a strong dossier of the 14-year destabilization campaign against Haitian democracy and development by the powerful Western Nations, led by the U.S. The violent arrest of So Ann, her 5-year old granddaughter and 10 other people at her house at midnight on May 10, 2004 and similar brutal conduct by the U.S. military against Lavalas — the party whom State Department propaganda insisted, before the Coup D’etat, no longer supported President Aristide is too blatant to need deeper investigation.

The U.S. Marines did not leave So Anne’s house until around 2 or 2:30 a.m. on May 10, 2004. The house of this well-known Haitian woman and Lavalas activists was brutally ransacked and all the occupants, including, as we have noted above, small children as young as 5-year old, where taken in custody, in the dead of night and transported to the Medical University at Tabarre. Some of the detainees report they were interrogated about their role under the Constitutional government, including questioned regarding whether they knew “Danny Toussaint was a drug trafficker?” and what where they planning at the house so late at night, et.

It is reported, by these eyewitnesses and detainees, that excessive force was used in putting them into custody. They had no warning and some still are trembling from the encounter and that they were terrorized during the interrogations by U.S. soldiers. No one can say what this how this trauma will damage the children involved, not to mentioned the adults who were already managing the U.S./France metered out Coup D’etat’s post traumatic stress syndrome. Imagine waking up and all that you have worked for your entire life has been trashed and defiled while the duly elected President is kidnapped to parts unknown. The trauma is tremendous for the majority of Haitians who do not support dictatorship and wanted to move from elections to elections, not from Coup d’etat to dictatorship and the rule of the old status quo Duvalieriest and their FRAPH and Haitian army soldiers.

No charges where pressed against any of the twelve Haitian detainees taken from So Anne’s house, including the small children. Except that So Anne was arrested and transferred to the National Penitentiary after having been interrogated all night. Just as with the kidnapping of President Aristide and his wife, this operations was conducted without any Haitian present other than the foreign soldiers.

The MIF apparently transferred So Anne to the custody of the PNH without charging her with any crime. But, it has been reported, after the arrest, and before any formal charges have been brought that NCHR – a human rights organization with strong ties to USAID, the U.S. Embassy, the right wing Haiti Democracy Project and the opposition to President Aristide and the Lavalas party- has accused So Anne of “some connection” to the December 5th violent incidents at the University. However, these innuendoes are not supported by NCHR by any facts as of yet.

Moreover, other Haitian popular organizational leaders, currently in hiding for fear of similar U.S. reprisals, have opined that they suspect this arrest is a pretext to prevent So Anne from taking part in a demonstration demanding the return of the rule of law and President Aristide planned for May 18, 2004 – Haiti’s Flag Day.

Also, grassroots organizers and pro-democracy leaders in the U.S. who are against this U.S. sponsored dictatorship with Latorture and who also support the call for return of law and democracy to Haiti say this latest U.S. military operation against Haitian democracy is an effort to forestall a pro-Aristide demonstration intended for Flag Day, May 18, 2004.

So Ann is an elderly woman on medication and has yet to be charged or to see a judge in accordance with the 48 hour rule under the 1987 Haitian Constitution.

The dead on night timing, the brutal targeted reprisal against this well known Haitian woman, and pro-democracy activist – So Ann – by U.S. forces, the arbitrary nature, all, call for immediate investigation by international human rights organizations, the international media, U.S. congresspersons, Secretary Powell and the State Department.

Haitian children, even 5-year old baby girls in Haiti, need to be handcuffed by grown U.S. soldiers in the dead of night.

Our Haitian children no longer have to get on overloaded Haitian boats, face shark infested open seas and reach Miami to be terrorized by U.S. guards.

Now, in Haiti itself, they don’t have sanctuary.

Even more poignant, our Haitian children, don’t, in this 200 year of our ancestor’s greatest feat against enslavement and colonialism, have asylum, justice, sanctuary at their own grandmother’s houses on Haitian soil.

This situation is more than illegal, it’s barbaric, untenable. And dare we quote President Bush in reference to the U.S. soldier’s torture of Iraqi prisoners, and say, the handcuffing and arrest of a 5-year old baby-girl at midnight on May 10, 2004; even the killing of defenseless dogs in the yard of a grandmother in Haiti awaken by U.S. grenades, not too mention the arrest of So Ann and her entire household, one of Haiti’s most tireless pro-democracy activists, is simply too naked and revolting a lawlessness. It’s “un-American” to borrow that recent phrase used by President George W. Bush.

It is reported this U.S. orchestrated show of force is to pressure, intimidate and otherwise stop other such Lavalas activists requesting the return of democracy to Haiti from holding a demonstration intended for May 18, 2004, Haiti’s flag day.

This is an urgent call to action. Please contact the State Department, Defense Secretary Colin Powell, your local congressperson, the Congressional Black Caucus and media, to denounce the arrest of So Anne; the systematic terror campaign against Lavalas demonstrators, and the treatment of Haitians, like So Anne, and especially her 5-year old granddaughter, Shashou, by U.S. command with the Multinational Interim Force in Haiti.

Marguerite Laurent, JD, Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network (dedicated to protecting the civil, human and cultural rights of Haitians at home and abroad) May 10, 2004

The Inter Press Service reports that CARICOM has agreed to turn the ‘investigation’ of Aristide’s ‘ouster’ (let’s be polite for once) over to the Organization of American States (OAS, which Che Guevara called ‘the department of colonies’) instead of the United Nations. CARICOM has been under tremendous pressure from the US and Canada to accept the coup and stop asking questions, and this can probably be viewed as the first sign that the pressure is working. Evidence is circumstantial, but it’s likely that the OAS played a hand in the coup in the first place: a member of the OAS apparently said, before the coup, that: “the trouble is the international community is so screwed up that you have Haiti being run by Haitians”…

Odd, because it isn’t as if the United Nations wasn’t helpful to the US/France/Canada in allowing the coup to happen… but no doubt the OAS is even easier to control and more predictable. Think of the headaches caused by a Hans Blix, a Dennis Halliday, or a Hans von Sponeck for the US in Iraq. Little risk of such a person coming up through the OAS…

It’s not clear how much evidence it would take to convince people about what is going on in Haiti. But on the assumption that more evidence is better, here is the preliminary press release of a 9-member delegation of unionists who visited Haiti to look at the problems Haiti is facing under its new democratatorship/occupation. Some notes:

-Lavalas can’t have demonstrations or open political action. They’ve been driven underground by massacres and repression.
-Living conditions are worse than before the coup; basic food prices have skyrocketed.
-Unions are under attack. The transport workers report a hundred attacks on their buses.
-Sweatshop lord Andre Apaid is one of the coup-makers and is being rewarded now.

More details below. Also, the “Let Haiti Live” Coalition has prepared a human rights report, dated April 30. You can get a copy by writing to haitihumanrights@yahoo.com.

An Initial Statement on the Current Situation of Workers, the Labor Movement, and Human Rights in Haiti – Tuesday, May 4th, 2004

From: The International Labor/Religious/Community Fact-Finding Delegation to Haiti (April 26-May 2nd) organized by the San Francisco Labor Council

A nine-member international labor/religious/community fact-finding delegation has just returned from a week spent in Haiti. Its objective was to assess and report on the current situation of Haitian workers, the Haitian labor movement, and the state of human rights in that country. Within this mandate, particular attention was given to understanding the new realities following the coup d’etat that deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on 29 February 2004. The brief statement, which follows, is an initial report on our findings.

The delegation’s work focused on interviews with Haitian trade unionists and workers, as well as political leaders and activists. Part of this time was spent attending the National Congress of the CTH (the Confederation of Haitian Workers), the largest labor federation in Haiti composed of 11 different union federations. Based on these interviews and discussions, we can report that in the labor movement is in significant crisis, brought on in large part by the decade-long economic and political destabilization campaign orchestrated in Washington. The crisis has become much worse since 29 February, with the campaign of violence by the US-backed opposition that preceded and followed the coup. Facing a massive problem of unemployment (estimated at some 70% in the formal economy), the turmoil and economic difficulties of recent years has only been worsened with the change of government.

The coup regime was formed by a coalition of the unelected political opposition; the governments of France and the United States; former Haitian military and paramilitary death squads (FRAPH); and the Haitian business elite – particularly the “Group 184”, led by Andre Apaid. Mr. Apaid, a US citizen who is known by Haitian workers as the single most notorious owner of Haitian sweatshop factories, has been a virulent opponent of unions organizing in his factories. The delegation heard reports of extremely dire working conditions in the Apaid-owned sweatshops, with little or no access to safe drinking water, and wages at the legal minimum of 70 Haitian gourdes (approximately US$1.80) per day – or less. Those workers courageous enough to attempt the organization of trade unions face dismissal. Clearly, Mr. Apaid and his clique are no supporters of Haiti’s workers or their labor movement.

The coup also led to serious attacks on Haiti’s trade unions. The delegation heard reports from one union, the FTPH (Federation of Public Transport Workers of Haiti), of criminal attacks on over 100 of the buses that they had purchased for use in the bus cooperative operated by the union. These attacks involved the torching and destruction of the union co-op’s buses, yet went unreported in the North American media, despite having taken place in the days immediately following the 29 February coup d’etat (the peak period of international media presence). Given their timing, and the fact that the union bus cooperative’s success had been viewed as a positive symbol of social advances under the Aristide government, such attacks were seen by the union as acts of political reprisal by supporters of the coup. No arrests have been made in association with these attacks.

The general living conditions of Haitian workers and the general population have drastically worsened since the coup of 29 February. The delegation heard that the price of rice has jumped dramatically, as much as doubling. Other vital foodstuffs have seen even more serious price inflation. Several witnesses testified that whereas before the coup, Haitians were able to eat at least once per day, the cost of food has reduced this to as little as 3 meals per week. Even those Haitians fortunate enough to have a job are barely subsisting.

As for human rights, things are even more serious. The coup which deposed President Aristide has led to a serious wave of attacks and persecutions of supporters of President Aristide and his Fanmi Lavalas Party. The delegation heard testimony from an elected member of Parliament for the Fanmi Lavalas who is living in hiding, having been driven out of his town under gunfire. Other political leaders and known activists have also been forced into hiding, living underground, fearing the death threats and violence directed at supporters of the ousted government. Despite its obvious popularity, the Fanmi Lavalas movement is not currently able to have political demonstrations or otherwise take open political action due to the threat of attack. The coup regime, supported by an international military coalition led by the US, France and Canada, has not provided security for those currently most at risk. The names of Lavalas supporters – and even those suspected of being Lavalas supporters – are being read off on right-wing radio stations as an implicit threat. Neither the coup regime nor its international backers have taken action to contain what many Haitians refer to as an anti-Lavalas “witch hunt” that continues to this day.

Based on six days of interviews, meetings, recorded testimony, and on-site examinations, the International Labor/Religious/Community Fact-Finding Delegation has collected extensive material to compile and report. We wanted to provide this brief summary as soon as possible for immediate use. A more detailed written report will soon be published and circulated which will contain a more detailed overview of our findings.
Participants
* Reverend Dr. Kwame O. Abayomi, is the Baltimore City Council 6th District Representative and Senior Minister of Unity United Methodist Church in Baltimore.
* Dave Welsh, a San Francisco Labor Council delegate, was for many years Executive Vice President of Golden Gate Branch #214 of the Letter Carriers Union. He has been active in Haiti support work since 1991, and speaks French. He was part of a Pastors for Peace delegation to Haiti in 1997.
* Johnnie Stevens is an activist with the International Action Center. He represented Ramsey Clark on a recent delegation that met with Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the Central African Republic, where the Haitian President had been taken after his abduction. Their meeting paved the way for press interviews with Aristide, and his return to the Caribbean region. He also attended the World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, and is a co-founder of Labor for Reparations.
* Sharon Black Ceci, a Registered Nurse, is Labor Coordinator for the Haiti Commission of Inquiry. She is a shop steward with United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local #27, and was a founding member of the All Peoples Congress, a community organization in the Baltimore area.
* Charlie Hinton is a member of the Printers Union (GCIU) and a member of a worker-owned cooperative, the union printing company Inkworks in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a long-time solidarity movement activist and member of the Haiti Action Committee.
* Sister Maureen Duignan, is a Franciscan nun who runs the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, which has a long history (as does Sr. Maureen) of solidarity and sanctuary work with Central American and other refugees, from the 1980s to the present. Sister Maureen has been to Haiti a number of times and speaks French.
* Michael Zinzun is director of the Los Angeles-based Coalition Against Police Abuse (CAPA), which he co-founded in 1975. He was also a founding member of Police Watch and Communities in Support of the Gang Truce, and recently attended Haiti’s Bicentennial celebrations in Port-au-Prince. As a result of his activism around police issues, he suffered a police beating which left him blind in one eye.
* Kevin Skerrett is Research Officer for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Canada’s largest union. He has done significant research on the international trade union movement, and speaks French.
* Dr. Adrianne Aron is a clinical psychologist who works with victims of political repression. She has worked in the solidarity movement for many years, and served as an election monitor in Haiti during the 2000 elections there.

And we can thank the US, France, Canada and especially the Haitian Armed Forces for making it happen.

Alan Pogue, a documentary photographer, has returned from a delegation to Haiti and his impressions are circulating on some Haiti listservs. Here are some snippets:

“I met with one hundred armed rebels in Cap Haitien who were running
a kidnapping and extortion racket. I met the French forces that denied that the rebels existed. I gave the French the street address of the rebels but they were not interested in doing anything about the problem. Not that I was surprised but it was fun catching them in a lie and showing their complicity with the armed murderers. The U.S. forces in Port-au-Prince have taken over the prison and are holding Haitians there but they won’t give out the names because they officially aren’t supposed to be arresting Haitians without the Haitian police being involved in the arrest. One Haitian police officer, who objected to the arrest of five men who hadn’t done anything, was killed by the Marines. Lavalas officials and supporters are in hiding. Haitian military officers who were in the Cedras government are back in the interim government. The “human rights ” groups CARLI and NCHR are acting as McCarthy-style black listing agencies. They are not interesting in anything other than smearing Lavalas. The idea that they might call for the arrest of Chamblain, Guy Philippe or Jean-Pierre Baptiste brought only laughter. Most Haitians would vote Aristide back in tomorrow if they could.”

“The main thing is that the Cedras and Duvalier people are back and that if they block the Lavalas party from participation in the political process then 90% of the Haitian people, those not part of “civil society” (as they self proclaim themselves), will be shut out of the electoral process. The interim government has two years to hold an election which means two years of harassment for the Lavalas party members. There will be a large meeting of Haitian progressive organizations in Port-au-Price from April 28th through May 1st and it will be important to see if they are allowed to meet and present there program to the interim government. “

“The NLG will continue to send delegations so that they can monitor the ability of true civil society to function, not just the rich and their organizations. The interim government cannot have any legitimacy if it appoints Cedras/junta people.”

Check out this press release from Latortue, Haiti’s new democratically-paramilitary-coup-installed leader who is presiding over a major massacre and occupation right now. It comes from his meeting with Powell and is published (where else?) on the State Department’s website.

“The third thing we discussed is the democratic process and how it is going on in Haiti today. I was happy that last night, I was the first to sign, with the political parties, the civil society groups, a convention, an agreement, in how this process should go on, go forward.”

“Secretary Powell is the first person to whom I explained this, because we just signed this last night. And I spoke to him, too, right after Easter, we will be setting up the Provisional Electoral Council, right after Easter. One of the things we assured the Secretary of State is that whether you were a former official, a minister, a secretary, in the present government, you will not be allowed to participate in the political process coming up.”

That’s why, I suppose, people like Oriel Jean, who worked for Aristide, is now sitting in a cell in Miami (thank the Canadian authorities for that one, as for many illegal actions and atrocities in this coup). Jean is being investigated for ‘drug charges’. But, of course, if you want to know how the drug trade really works, you should check out Al McCoy’s ‘Politics of Heroin’, Cockburn & St. Clari’s ‘Whiteout’, or, on Haiti, this piece from Paul DeRienzo.

In a previous post, I lamented the concept of the ‘Anti-Aristide, Anti-Occupation’ left. My principal argument was that Aristide was really besides the point. He was not the target of the coup: it was the Haitian people, the democratic process, and the population itself that was. But I’ve recently thought of something else.

If the ‘anti-Aristide, anti-occupation’ people were willing to condone a paramilitary terror campaign that slaughtered hundreds of people in order to get rid of Aristide, and are now willing to countenance those very paramilitaries in power, selling what little of the country there is to multinationals at a more rapid rate than before, will they be supporting and/or participating in armed struggle against the US Marines and Canadian soldiers? It seems to me that to be consistent, they would have to.

Meanwhile, an Amnesty International delegation has made a report, having just returned from Haiti. Here is an excerpt on what’s going on, confirming Fenton’s recent report:

“Amnesty International has also received recent reports of killings and kidnappings of persons belonging to pro-Aristide grassroots organizations in poor neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince. Among those allegedly responsible were several escaped prisoners who had been jailed for rapes and other common crimes. These men have reportedly been working together with the Haitian police and MIF forces to identify people associated with the Lavalas regime. “