ckaihatsu
20th August 2011, 19:10
HAITI URGENT -- Please add your name to Open Letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urging the UN to receive ICI-H delegation
Guadeloupe-Haiti Tour USA
52 St. Nicholas Place #23
New York, N.Y. 10031
Tel. 267-231-0030
[email protected]
http://www.africana1.com
--------------------
Dear supporters of self-determination and democracy for the Haitian people,
Despite all our efforts to secure a meeting between a delegation of the International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti (ICI-H) and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, or with a person designated by him, our U.S. sponsoring committee has been given the runaround. All our calls -- and even the calls from prominent Brazilian elected officials -- are met with a similar reply: "We are working on it, and we'll get back to you."
Indeed, this has been the response of the UN ever since the ICI-H was convened in 2009 and called upon the UN to respond to its findings. This is unacceptable. The ICI-H has a firm mandate from representative organizations in Haiti to present its findings to the UN and to demand a response from from the UN -- and the Commission is determined to fulfill this mandate.
This is why we are calling upon you to add your name to this Open Letter below urging UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to receive this delegation.
Our goal is to send this letter to the UN Secretary General late in the afternoon of Monday, August 22 via overnight registered mail. We hope to gather endorsements of this letter over the weekend -- so please forward this appeal widely to all your friends, colleagues, and co-workers.
We need to receive your endorsements by 12 noon New York time on Monday so that we can compile the endorsements and get the letter in the post before closing time.
We thank you in advance for your support,
Colia Clark and Alan Benjamin
Co-coordinators
Guadeloupe-Haiti USA Tour Committee
* * * * * * * * * *
Open Letter to UN Secretary-General:
"We Call Upon You to Receive the ICI-H Delegation on Haiti!"
Monday, Aug. 22, 2011
Ban Ki-Moon
First Avenue and 46th Street
New York, NY 10017
United States
Mr. Secretary-General,
We call upon you to reply positively to the request sent to you more than six weeks ago by the International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti (ICI-H) for a meeting with you -- or with a person you designate for this purpose -- to discuss the findings of the ICI-H regarding the UN role in Haiti.
On July 5, the ICI-H coordinators sent you a letter requesting a meeting at the UN on August 25. This request was pursuant to the mandate entrusted to this commission by many grassroots, political, cultural and labor organizations in Haiti. [See original letter below.]
Hearing no response, the ICI-H asked a number of elected officials in Brazil who have worked closely with the ICI-H and championed the cause of self-determination for the Haitian people to step in and assist in setting up a meeting with your office. After many calls, the Brazilian elected officials were told that your office had received the request for a meeting and that the appropriate body to contact would be the UN Peacekeeping Department.
The ICI-H organizers contacted the Peacekeeping Department repeatedly and were told that no meeting had yet been scheduled. They were then referred to the Haiti desk at the UN. In a word, they were given the runaround.
Meanwhile the situation continues to deteriorate in Haiti.
Cholera, which MINUSTAH troops spread throughout Haiti, continues to wreak havoc. Nearly one million Haitians are still living in tents in the most inhumane conditions.
This explains the growing protests against this situation: On July 28, 2011, the anniversary of the first U.S. occupation of Haiti in 1915, thousands of people marched in Port-au-Prince in response to a call by a wide range of organizations to demand an end to the UN-MINUSTAH occupation of Haiti.
Also on August 5, echoing the movement in the streets of Haiti, thousands of labor and community activists marched to the United Nations headquarters in New York City to demand the immediate withdrawal of UN occupation UN troops from Haiti and the payment of reparations to the families of the 6,000 Haitians who have now been killed by the cholera epidemic.
Yet despite this situation, according to your own recent report on the MINUSTAH mission in Haiti, you are about to apply for a renewal of the mandate to maintain the "UN's peacekeeping operation in Haiti."
We, the undersigned, affirm that what the people of Haiti require is their full sovereignty -- which means the immediate withdrawal of all UN/MINUSTAH troops from Haiti. They require doctors, engineers, and nurses -- not occupation forces. They require reparations!
Mr. Secretary-General: The ICI-H delegation is on its way to New York and the UN to report on its findings and to deliver the message entrusted to them by representative grassroots and labor organizations across Haiti. There is still time for you to schedule a meeting through Ms. Colia Clark, the ICI-H representative in the United States. We call upon you to set a specific time for this meeting -- again, if not with you, then with someone you designate for this purpose.
We cannot accept anything less.
Sincerely,
(follows list of international signatories)
* * * * * * * * * * *
ENDORSEMENT COUPON
[ ] Add my name to the list of signatories urging UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to meet with the ICI-H delegation at the UN on August 25, 2011
Name
Union/Org
Title (list if for id. only)
City
State
Country
(please fill out and return to <[email protected]> and to <[email protected]>. The Guadeloupe-Haiti USA Tour Committee will compile all the names and send the letter overnight registered mail on Monday, Aug. 22 to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon)
* * * * * * * * * * *
APPENDIX
Letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon
Lawond a Travayè é Pèp an Karayib'la /
Association des Travailleurs et des Peuples de la Caraïbe
25, rue Clara Bourgarel
97139 Abymes, Guadeloupe
Mail: [email protected]
Tel: 590 690 62 94 79
----------
Pointe a Pitre (Guadeloupe)
New York (USA)
Sao Paulo (Brazil)
July 4, 2011
Mr. Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary General, United Nations
1st Ave. and 46th St.
New York, NY, 10017 USA
Mr. Secretary General,
The International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti (ICI-H) -- which was held on September 16-20, 2009 in Port au Prince, Haiti, at the request of many Haiti associations, grassroots organizations, cultural groups and trade unions -- has mandated us to write this letter to request a meeting with you.
We wish to let you know that the members who made up this International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti came from Algeria, Brazil, the United States, Guadeloupe and Martinique. They carried out the following three objectives, namely:
1) To investigate the situation in Haiti, especially concerning the situation of the working class and the abuses of power by the UN occupation force (MINUSTAH).
2) To produce a report on this situation and to expose it nationally and internationally.
3) To prove that the MINUSTAH force is an occupation force, which, as a result, must leave the country immediately.
The International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti has conducted its work based on documents and materials provided by a Haitian Preparatory Committee, then by a Continuations Committee, and finally from field visits.
It heard from individuals, associations, trade unions and political organizations across Haiti.
It examined newspapers (Haiti Liberté, Le Nouvelliste), photographs, and various reports.
Also examined were the "Agreement between the UN and the Haitian government on the status of the United Nation's operation in Haiti of July 9, 2004" and the documents adopted by the 3rd Conference of the Association of Workers and Peoples of the Caribbean (ATPC in its French acronym).
Members of the International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti also met with Major General Floriano Peixoto Vieira Neto, commander of the MINUSTAH forces in Haiti, as well as with Colonel Toro, second-in-command, and Gerard Le Chevalier, advisor for political affairs.
The International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti reached the conclusion, based on all these observations and analyses, that the country's social, economic and political reality is rapidly degenerating:
There is a growing discontent, which is being expressed through the questioning of the military intervention. Testimonies presented to the International Commission of Inquiry only confirmed this assessment -- in its various social, economic and political aspects.
The situation after the earthquake and after the cholera outbreak in Haiti in 2010, as well as other supporting testimonials, strengthen our assessment of the situation.
Accordingly, we have been mandated to ask you to please receive a delegation of the International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti on Thursday, August 25, 2011, at a time that best suits you in order to present to you the report produced by our Commission as well as complementary documents gathered since our last meeting.
Ms. Colia Clark and Mr. Victor Fabert, on behalf of ICI-H, are charged with monitoring this request for you to receive our delegation.
Ms. Clark can be reached at:
Email: [email protected]
Cell phone: 646-657-7207
Mr. Fabert can be reached at:
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 001-590-690-62-94-79
We thank you in advance for your prompt reply to our request for this meeting, which we will hope be answered favorably.
Sincerely,
For the International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti,
- Victor Fabert, coordinator
- Colia L. Clark, U.S. coordinator, based in New York
- Jose Candido de Souza (PT/SP), Deputy of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Adriano Diogo (PT/SP), Deputy of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil
* * * * * * * * *
Guadeloupe-Haiti Tour USA
52 St. Nicholas Place #23
New York, N.Y. 10031
Tel. 267-231-0030
[email protected]
http://www.africana1.com
--------------------
Dear supporters of self-determination and democracy for the Haitian people,
Despite all our efforts to secure a meeting between a delegation of the International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti (ICI-H) and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, or with a person designated by him, our U.S. sponsoring committee has been given the runaround. All our calls -- and even the calls from prominent Brazilian elected officials -- are met with a similar reply: "We are working on it, and we'll get back to you."
Indeed, this has been the response of the UN ever since the ICI-H was convened in 2009 and called upon the UN to respond to its findings. This is unacceptable. The ICI-H has a firm mandate from representative organizations in Haiti to present its findings to the UN and to demand a response from from the UN -- and the Commission is determined to fulfill this mandate.
This is why we are calling upon you to add your name to this Open Letter below urging UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to receive this delegation.
Our goal is to send this letter to the UN Secretary General late in the afternoon of Monday, August 22 via overnight registered mail. We hope to gather endorsements of this letter over the weekend -- so please forward this appeal widely to all your friends, colleagues, and co-workers.
We need to receive your endorsements by 12 noon New York time on Monday so that we can compile the endorsements and get the letter in the post before closing time.
We thank you in advance for your support,
Colia Clark and Alan Benjamin
Co-coordinators
Guadeloupe-Haiti USA Tour Committee
* * * * * * * * * *
Open Letter to UN Secretary-General:
"We Call Upon You to Receive the ICI-H Delegation on Haiti!"
Monday, Aug. 22, 2011
Ban Ki-Moon
First Avenue and 46th Street
New York, NY 10017
United States
Mr. Secretary-General,
We call upon you to reply positively to the request sent to you more than six weeks ago by the International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti (ICI-H) for a meeting with you -- or with a person you designate for this purpose -- to discuss the findings of the ICI-H regarding the UN role in Haiti.
On July 5, the ICI-H coordinators sent you a letter requesting a meeting at the UN on August 25. This request was pursuant to the mandate entrusted to this commission by many grassroots, political, cultural and labor organizations in Haiti. [See original letter below.]
Hearing no response, the ICI-H asked a number of elected officials in Brazil who have worked closely with the ICI-H and championed the cause of self-determination for the Haitian people to step in and assist in setting up a meeting with your office. After many calls, the Brazilian elected officials were told that your office had received the request for a meeting and that the appropriate body to contact would be the UN Peacekeeping Department.
The ICI-H organizers contacted the Peacekeeping Department repeatedly and were told that no meeting had yet been scheduled. They were then referred to the Haiti desk at the UN. In a word, they were given the runaround.
Meanwhile the situation continues to deteriorate in Haiti.
Cholera, which MINUSTAH troops spread throughout Haiti, continues to wreak havoc. Nearly one million Haitians are still living in tents in the most inhumane conditions.
This explains the growing protests against this situation: On July 28, 2011, the anniversary of the first U.S. occupation of Haiti in 1915, thousands of people marched in Port-au-Prince in response to a call by a wide range of organizations to demand an end to the UN-MINUSTAH occupation of Haiti.
Also on August 5, echoing the movement in the streets of Haiti, thousands of labor and community activists marched to the United Nations headquarters in New York City to demand the immediate withdrawal of UN occupation UN troops from Haiti and the payment of reparations to the families of the 6,000 Haitians who have now been killed by the cholera epidemic.
Yet despite this situation, according to your own recent report on the MINUSTAH mission in Haiti, you are about to apply for a renewal of the mandate to maintain the "UN's peacekeeping operation in Haiti."
We, the undersigned, affirm that what the people of Haiti require is their full sovereignty -- which means the immediate withdrawal of all UN/MINUSTAH troops from Haiti. They require doctors, engineers, and nurses -- not occupation forces. They require reparations!
Mr. Secretary-General: The ICI-H delegation is on its way to New York and the UN to report on its findings and to deliver the message entrusted to them by representative grassroots and labor organizations across Haiti. There is still time for you to schedule a meeting through Ms. Colia Clark, the ICI-H representative in the United States. We call upon you to set a specific time for this meeting -- again, if not with you, then with someone you designate for this purpose.
We cannot accept anything less.
Sincerely,
(follows list of international signatories)
* * * * * * * * * * *
ENDORSEMENT COUPON
[ ] Add my name to the list of signatories urging UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to meet with the ICI-H delegation at the UN on August 25, 2011
Name
Union/Org
Title (list if for id. only)
City
State
Country
(please fill out and return to <[email protected]> and to <[email protected]>. The Guadeloupe-Haiti USA Tour Committee will compile all the names and send the letter overnight registered mail on Monday, Aug. 22 to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon)
* * * * * * * * * * *
APPENDIX
Letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon
Lawond a Travayè é Pèp an Karayib'la /
Association des Travailleurs et des Peuples de la Caraïbe
25, rue Clara Bourgarel
97139 Abymes, Guadeloupe
Mail: [email protected]
Tel: 590 690 62 94 79
----------
Pointe a Pitre (Guadeloupe)
New York (USA)
Sao Paulo (Brazil)
July 4, 2011
Mr. Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary General, United Nations
1st Ave. and 46th St.
New York, NY, 10017 USA
Mr. Secretary General,
The International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti (ICI-H) -- which was held on September 16-20, 2009 in Port au Prince, Haiti, at the request of many Haiti associations, grassroots organizations, cultural groups and trade unions -- has mandated us to write this letter to request a meeting with you.
We wish to let you know that the members who made up this International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti came from Algeria, Brazil, the United States, Guadeloupe and Martinique. They carried out the following three objectives, namely:
1) To investigate the situation in Haiti, especially concerning the situation of the working class and the abuses of power by the UN occupation force (MINUSTAH).
2) To produce a report on this situation and to expose it nationally and internationally.
3) To prove that the MINUSTAH force is an occupation force, which, as a result, must leave the country immediately.
The International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti has conducted its work based on documents and materials provided by a Haitian Preparatory Committee, then by a Continuations Committee, and finally from field visits.
It heard from individuals, associations, trade unions and political organizations across Haiti.
It examined newspapers (Haiti Liberté, Le Nouvelliste), photographs, and various reports.
Also examined were the "Agreement between the UN and the Haitian government on the status of the United Nation's operation in Haiti of July 9, 2004" and the documents adopted by the 3rd Conference of the Association of Workers and Peoples of the Caribbean (ATPC in its French acronym).
Members of the International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti also met with Major General Floriano Peixoto Vieira Neto, commander of the MINUSTAH forces in Haiti, as well as with Colonel Toro, second-in-command, and Gerard Le Chevalier, advisor for political affairs.
The International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti reached the conclusion, based on all these observations and analyses, that the country's social, economic and political reality is rapidly degenerating:
There is a growing discontent, which is being expressed through the questioning of the military intervention. Testimonies presented to the International Commission of Inquiry only confirmed this assessment -- in its various social, economic and political aspects.
The situation after the earthquake and after the cholera outbreak in Haiti in 2010, as well as other supporting testimonials, strengthen our assessment of the situation.
Accordingly, we have been mandated to ask you to please receive a delegation of the International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti on Thursday, August 25, 2011, at a time that best suits you in order to present to you the report produced by our Commission as well as complementary documents gathered since our last meeting.
Ms. Colia Clark and Mr. Victor Fabert, on behalf of ICI-H, are charged with monitoring this request for you to receive our delegation.
Ms. Clark can be reached at:
Email: [email protected]
Cell phone: 646-657-7207
Mr. Fabert can be reached at:
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 001-590-690-62-94-79
We thank you in advance for your prompt reply to our request for this meeting, which we will hope be answered favorably.
Sincerely,
For the International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti,
- Victor Fabert, coordinator
- Colia L. Clark, U.S. coordinator, based in New York
- Jose Candido de Souza (PT/SP), Deputy of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Adriano Diogo (PT/SP), Deputy of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil
* * * * * * * * *