PRC-UTE
25th September 2004, 08:27
Stop Attacks on Labor and Human Rights Activists in Haiti
>A new wave of repression has hit Haiti in response to growing popular
>mobilizations against the U.S.-imposed de facto government of Gerard
>LaTortue. While the
>election campaign in the United States proceeds with no mention of Haiti,
>the grim impact of the U.S.-sponsored coup continues to be felt by the
>Haitian people.
>
>On Thursday, September 16, masked police commandos attacked a union
>meeting at the Confederation of Haitian Workers (CTH) local office in
>Port-au-Prince. They arrested a dozen Haitian citizens, some of whom
>are members of the religious community of St. Jean Bosco. There was no
>police explanation for the arrests. Those arrested are now being held in
>terrible conditions in a tiny cell where they barely have room to sit.
>
>The arrests were immediately denounced by leaders of the CTH, including
>its director, Paul Loulou Chery. Mr. Chery noted that this is yet another
>attack on the right of Haitian workers to organize. Other union
>spokespeople noted that the arrests were clearly political, targeting
>known Lavalas activists.
>
>In a second incident, at 1:00am on Saturday September 18, three heavily
>armed men invaded and ransacked the offices of the Committee for the
>Protection of the
>Rights of the Haitian People (CDPH). CDPH is a human rights organization
>which has taken up the case of many political prisoners in Haiti,
>including Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and Annette Auguste (So Anne). Its
>director, Ronald St. Jean, is a leading critic of the de facto
>government's human rights record. The CDPH office has also been the site
>of recent press
>conferences held by the Group for the Defense of Political Prisoners, a
>newly formed organization made up primarily of family members of those
>being held
>illegally by the de facto government.
>
>The three perpetrators, wearing olive khaki military uniforms and
>brandishing large automatic weapons broke into the office, tied up a night
>watchman, destroyed a
>sound system used for press conferences, and broke open desks and file
>cabinets, scattering papers and literature on the floor.
>
>This attack came a day after the de facto Prime Minister, Gerard Latortue
>complained in an interview with Radio Caraibes that critics of his
>government's human rights record are tarnishing his reputation
>internationally and hampering Haiti's diplomatic relations.
>
>We urge you to send a strong message to U.S. and U.N. authorities and to
>the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. We will not sit in silence
>as union activists and human rights workers in Haiti are
>threatened, attacked and illegally detained.
>
> WHAT YOU CAN DO
>
>FAX OR CALL Ambassador James Foley and UN Officials in Haiti!
>Demand an end to persecution of Haitian labor and Lavalas activists!
>U.S. Ambassador to Haiti: James B. Foley
>PHONE: 011.222.0200 OR 011.222.0354
> FAX: 011.509.223-9038 OR 011.509.223.1641
>UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
ATTN: Mr. Juan Gabriel Valdes UN Special Envoy
Lt. Gen. Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Peireira - UN Military Commander/Haiti
UN Commissioner for Human Rights - Haiti
>PHONE: 011.509.244.9650.9660
>FAX: 011.509.244.9366/67
>Please Fax the MINUSTAH office Attention to the 3 listed above. Better
>yet, send 3 separate letters addressing them individually.
For more information. http://www.haitiaction.net
>A new wave of repression has hit Haiti in response to growing popular
>mobilizations against the U.S.-imposed de facto government of Gerard
>LaTortue. While the
>election campaign in the United States proceeds with no mention of Haiti,
>the grim impact of the U.S.-sponsored coup continues to be felt by the
>Haitian people.
>
>On Thursday, September 16, masked police commandos attacked a union
>meeting at the Confederation of Haitian Workers (CTH) local office in
>Port-au-Prince. They arrested a dozen Haitian citizens, some of whom
>are members of the religious community of St. Jean Bosco. There was no
>police explanation for the arrests. Those arrested are now being held in
>terrible conditions in a tiny cell where they barely have room to sit.
>
>The arrests were immediately denounced by leaders of the CTH, including
>its director, Paul Loulou Chery. Mr. Chery noted that this is yet another
>attack on the right of Haitian workers to organize. Other union
>spokespeople noted that the arrests were clearly political, targeting
>known Lavalas activists.
>
>In a second incident, at 1:00am on Saturday September 18, three heavily
>armed men invaded and ransacked the offices of the Committee for the
>Protection of the
>Rights of the Haitian People (CDPH). CDPH is a human rights organization
>which has taken up the case of many political prisoners in Haiti,
>including Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and Annette Auguste (So Anne). Its
>director, Ronald St. Jean, is a leading critic of the de facto
>government's human rights record. The CDPH office has also been the site
>of recent press
>conferences held by the Group for the Defense of Political Prisoners, a
>newly formed organization made up primarily of family members of those
>being held
>illegally by the de facto government.
>
>The three perpetrators, wearing olive khaki military uniforms and
>brandishing large automatic weapons broke into the office, tied up a night
>watchman, destroyed a
>sound system used for press conferences, and broke open desks and file
>cabinets, scattering papers and literature on the floor.
>
>This attack came a day after the de facto Prime Minister, Gerard Latortue
>complained in an interview with Radio Caraibes that critics of his
>government's human rights record are tarnishing his reputation
>internationally and hampering Haiti's diplomatic relations.
>
>We urge you to send a strong message to U.S. and U.N. authorities and to
>the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. We will not sit in silence
>as union activists and human rights workers in Haiti are
>threatened, attacked and illegally detained.
>
> WHAT YOU CAN DO
>
>FAX OR CALL Ambassador James Foley and UN Officials in Haiti!
>Demand an end to persecution of Haitian labor and Lavalas activists!
>U.S. Ambassador to Haiti: James B. Foley
>PHONE: 011.222.0200 OR 011.222.0354
> FAX: 011.509.223-9038 OR 011.509.223.1641
>UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
ATTN: Mr. Juan Gabriel Valdes UN Special Envoy
Lt. Gen. Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Peireira - UN Military Commander/Haiti
UN Commissioner for Human Rights - Haiti
>PHONE: 011.509.244.9650.9660
>FAX: 011.509.244.9366/67
>Please Fax the MINUSTAH office Attention to the 3 listed above. Better
>yet, send 3 separate letters addressing them individually.
For more information. http://www.haitiaction.net