HAITI ACTION ALERT - August 10, 2004 Help Ensure Haitians' Right to Demonstrate - August 12-14!
This week, in the North of Haiti - in Cap-Haitien and the town of Milot - demonstrators will be leading a "Caravan of Justice". People will place candles at the sites of military attacks and human rights violations committed by anti-Aristide forces supporting the coup government of Gerard Latortue. This cycle of protest will conclude with non-violent marches in both Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince on August 14, 2004.
FAX OR CALL Ambassador James Foley and UN Officials in Haiti!
Demand that Haitians are protected in their right to demonstrate in Milot, Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince! [Numbers listed below.]
Democracy was taken away from Haitians on February 29th when their democratically elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forcibly removed from office by United States officials in a US supported coup d'etat. However, the Haitian people continue to demand a return to democracy. This week marks the beginning of several important demonstrations in Haiti and in support of Haiti.
August 14 marks the historical day in 1791 that began the Haitian Revolution against slavery and French rule. Normally, this day is a day of celebration in Haiti. However, this year once again, it has become a day to remember that Haitian freedom is once again at stake.
Not only are people around the world supporting this movement to protest the current government; there are also delegations of international human rights observers on the ground in Haiti to monitor the demonstrations all this week. They will be there to help insure that the people of Haiti are able to exercise their democratic right to speak out and protest. They will be our eyes and ears in Haiti; it's up to us at home to pour the pressure on officials in Haiti and our own government in Washington.
Support these peaceful protests and the right of the Haitian people to speak out against injustice. Send a strong message to the UN "peacekeeping forces" and the US Embassy in Haiti that violence or intimidation against these demonstrators will not be tolerated. We are all watching.
FAX OR CALL Ambassador James Foley and UN Officials in Haiti! Demand that Haitians are protected in their right to demonstrate in Milot, Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince!
a.. U.S. Ambassador to Haiti: James B. Foley
PHONE: 011.222.0200 OR 011.222.0354
FAX: 011.509.223-9038 OR 011.509.223.1641b.. UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
PHONE: 011.509.244.9650.9660
FAX: 011.509.244.9366/67
Kofi Annan's Special UN Envoy to Haiti: Mr. Juan Gabriel Valdes UN Military Commander in Haiti: Lt. General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro PereiraUN Commissioner for Human Rights in Haiti: Mahamane Cisse-Gouro Please Fax the MINUSTAH office Attention to the 3 listed above. Better yet, send 3 separate letters addressing them individually.
Contact Haiti Action http://www.haitiaction.net or Global Exchange http://www.globalexchange.org/tours/haiti/index.html for more information.
PRESS RELEASE --
For Immediate Release - August 10, 2004
ACTIVISTS ACROSS U.S. LAUNCH WEEK OF SUPPORT FOR NON-VIOLENT DEMONSTRATIONS IN HAITI
Beginning a week of non-violent demonstrations in the United States, representatives of the Bay Area-based Haiti Action Committee today called for people of conscience to support the Haitian people's ongoing struggle for basic freedoms. The U.S. actions are in support of peaceful protests being staged under dire conditions in Haiti.
The Haiti demonstrations will be held in the area of Cap-Haitien and Milot in the North of Haiti from August 12 ADto August 14. That region has seen brutal crackdowns on the popular mass movement Lavalas by paramilitary forces. Meanwhile, candlelight vigils, pickets and teach-ins are planned in various U.S. cities in solidarity with Haiti.
Robert Roth, a San Francisco educator who just returned from visiting Milot with a human rights delegation to Haiti, said, "The democratically-elected mayor of Milot, Jean-Charles Moise, is now in hiding after soldiers stormed his home in the middle of the night on June 14 (in violation of the constitution, which forbids late-night raids of this kind)."
In 1998, Mayor Moise visited California, where he was received by the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County and the mayors and City Council members of Oakland, Berkeley and Davis. These cities proclaimed a day in Mayor Moise's honor, recognizing his extraordinary contribution to the Haitian peopleB9s struggle for justice and democracy.
A candlelight march to demand an end to the persecution of Mayor Moise and other Lavalas members, and the return of President Aristide, will take place at 9 pm on Friday August 13, starting from the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists at the corner of Cedar and Bonita in North Berkeley. A public forum, featuring Haitian community leader Pierre Labossiere and media activist Maria Gilardin, will precede the vigil at 7 pm at the church.
Actions in Cap-Haitien and Milot will include a Caravan of Justice, in which people will place candles at sites of military attacks on civilians. This cycle of protest will conclude with a march on August 14, commemorating the beginning of the Haitian Revolution in 1791. Due to the extreme repression in the region, international human rights observers will monitor the protests and help insure safety of participants. . Pierre Labossiere of the Haiti Action Committee called on U.S. residents to pressure their Representatives to support H.R. 3919, The Responsibility to Uncover the Truth About Haiti, or T.R.U.T.H. Act. Introduced by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the bill calls for an independent bipartisan commission to investigate the Bush Administration's involvement in the February 29, 2004 coup d'etat in Haiti.
Background:
On February 29 representatives of the Bush Administration kidnapped the democratically elected president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and flew him to the Central African Republic. President Aristide now lives in involuntary exile in South Africa. The Haitian people overwhelmingly elected him twice, only to see both terms of office brutally interrupted by military coups.
President AristideB9s ouster was the culmination of a U.S.-led destabilization campaign which included withholding of loans, funding of political opposition groups, and arming and training of former military officials and death squad leaders.
Since the military insurgency began in late January, militias have murdered thousands of people, burned hundreds of homes, and forced tens of thousands of activists in President Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas Party to flee for their lives. Food prices have skyrocketed, with the price of rice doubling, creating an unspeakably horrible situation for the overwhelming majority of Haitians.
An occupation force led by the United States, France, Canada, and Chile replaced Haiti's legal government and installed as President a Haitian exile, Gerard Latortue, a resident of Florida who had not set foot in Haiti for 15 years. UN "peacekeepers" lend undeserved legitimacy to the coup government. Former military officials currently control the police, while formerly exiled and jailed death squad leaders again spread terror.
The U.S.-engineered coup in Haiti is in clear violation of U.S. and international law. The Caribbean CARICOM countries and Africa Union have repeatedly condemned this removal of HaitiB9s democratically elected President.
For further information, visit www.haitiaction.net
Contact: Pierre Labossiere pierre@haitiaction.net
Robert Roth 415-297-7869, mirk1@mindspring.com
Leslie Fleming 510-558-0371, lesliefleming@mindspring.com
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