As investigative reporter Greg Palast (Project Censored #10 for this year) showed in his two-part series for the BBC, vulture funds and the inability of poor governments to properly fund social programs for their citizenry are inextricably linked.
Vulture funds, as Meirion Jones observes, are defined by the IMF as companies which buy up the "debt of poor nations cheaply when it is about to be written off and then sue for the full value of the debt plus interest - which might be ten times what they paid for it". But similar types of predatory practices are not favored only by private companies such as Debt Advisory International (DAI), they have been utilized by the IFIs themselves - the IDB, IMF and World Bank - to destabilize out of power poor governments that engage in economically sovereign policies.
In the case of Haiti we can trace a murky history of IFIs slowing and speeding up financial aid, often dependent on the willingness of the government in place to engage in neo-liberal reforms. Between 2001 and 2004 the government of Haiti was virtually cut off from all of the donor money that the country had depended upon in the preceding years, around what should have been at least half (possibly more) of the Haitian government's national budget for that period.
Following the foreign donor backed 2004 overthrow of Haiti's constitutionally elected government, the floodgates of aid opened. As a Bush Administration backed interim government immediately instituted steps towards privatization, with mass civil sector layoffs and the creation of the donor backed Cadre de Cooperation Interimaire (CCI), hundreds of millions in donor aid came into the country to hold up the unelected regime. If aid had never been cut off in the first place, forcing the Haitian government into a slow paralysis for vultures to feed upon, then the country would undoubtedly be in a much better place today.
Showing posts with label Haiti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Haiti. Show all posts
Monday, 19 November 2007
Thursday, 1 November 2007
Singing For The Poor: The Arcade Fire and Partners In Health in Haiti
I have a new piece up on the Inter Press Service. Some photos should be up soon on HaitiAnalysis.
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
We Miss You Lovinsky!
Haitian Human Rights leader Pierre-Antoine Lovinsky has gone missing now for nearly two months and is believed kidnapped. All of my thoughts right now are with his wife and children. We all miss you Lovinsky! Here is a photo I snapped of him with demonstrators in front of the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C. back in July 2005.
Wednesday, 3 October 2007
Economic Justice for Haiti
I will have published a rather long blog entry on the Jubilee USA blog for October 4th. They have titled the piece, "Haiti: Digging Through A History of Economic Violence." It is timed with the last day of Jubilee USA's fast as well as their long campaign to get Haiti's debt dropped.
Sunday, 30 September 2007
The Constituent Assembly: Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador
In recent years a popular-based apparatus of governance, named the Constituent Assembly, has taken shape in Venezuela, in Bolivia and soon in Ecuador. In Bolivia it has faced the most opposition by the countries USAID-NED-CIDA-EU-united elite civil society and parties. Here is a brief overview of how the Constituent Assemblies are playing out:
-In Ecuador voters will elect a 130-member body from 3,200 candidates this Sunday. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa is depending on the constitutional assembly to push for the reforms that are needed to shift Ecuador's government away from the model of corrupt-elite democracy to a more popular based model that could back partial nationalizations as well as numerous programs aimed at the countries poor majority. In April 2007 eighty two percent of the population voted in favor of forming the assembly. Ecuador's President has said that they are in favor of "non-renewable resources to be owned by the state or by public enterprises" and has advocated the seizure of the Occidental oil fields in Ecuador because of their breaking their contract with Ecuador on fifty-two different occasions. Referring to Occidental, Correa said "
they believe we are still a colony". He argues, like Morales and Chavez, that for far to long too much of the profits from his nations oil fields have gone to foreign corporations when the majority of his country lives in such deep poverty.
-In Venezuela the constituent assembly has pushed through some of the most democratic and poor-based reforms in the western hemisphere to date, a process made easier due in large part to the opposition boycotting of recent elections. This has some similarity with what occurred in Haiti 2000-2004 when foreign aid agencies actually suggested to elite political parties/civil societies that since they could not win (as 70 percent of the people were behind Aristide/Lavalas), then they should instead boycott in order to discredit the entire process. In Haiti the strategy worked for the elites because of the governments huge dependence on foreign aid (and legitimacy provided by foreign 'experts' who can hold up the aid). The Aristide government lost somewhere between 40 and 60 percent of its national budget immediately upon entering office- this was all money the Haitian government had long depended on (i.e. road construction, healthcare, aids programs). But in Venezuela the USAID-elite plan has really backfired. The Chavista program remains uber popular and flush with petro-dollars, not to say there is no room for criticism. The PopDem manifests itself in the votes and popular organizing/pressure from the social movements and poor, so in that respect we should move on to Bolivia, probably the most grassroots and democratic example of them all:
-In Bolivia the MAS movement and President Morales' government have partially succeeded with the Constituent Assembly model, although according to the Democracy Center "the Assembly has been suspended since early September, when violent protests over a proposal to move the seat of the executive and legislative branches from La Paz to Sucre ground its sessions to a halt." This last Thursday members of the assembly agreed to get back into session but it is unlikely that the problems will cease. According to numerous press reports, the Bolivian government is complaining about USAID programs that have been working heavily to derail the constituent assembly and other Bolivian government measures; all the while keeping reportedly 70% of their budget undisclosed. Here is a result graph of the constituent assembly vote from Bolivia:
-In Ecuador voters will elect a 130-member body from 3,200 candidates this Sunday. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa is depending on the constitutional assembly to push for the reforms that are needed to shift Ecuador's government away from the model of corrupt-elite democracy to a more popular based model that could back partial nationalizations as well as numerous programs aimed at the countries poor majority. In April 2007 eighty two percent of the population voted in favor of forming the assembly. Ecuador's President has said that they are in favor of "non-renewable resources to be owned by the state or by public enterprises" and has advocated the seizure of the Occidental oil fields in Ecuador because of their breaking their contract with Ecuador on fifty-two different occasions. Referring to Occidental, Correa said "
they believe we are still a colony". He argues, like Morales and Chavez, that for far to long too much of the profits from his nations oil fields have gone to foreign corporations when the majority of his country lives in such deep poverty.
-In Venezuela the constituent assembly has pushed through some of the most democratic and poor-based reforms in the western hemisphere to date, a process made easier due in large part to the opposition boycotting of recent elections. This has some similarity with what occurred in Haiti 2000-2004 when foreign aid agencies actually suggested to elite political parties/civil societies that since they could not win (as 70 percent of the people were behind Aristide/Lavalas), then they should instead boycott in order to discredit the entire process. In Haiti the strategy worked for the elites because of the governments huge dependence on foreign aid (and legitimacy provided by foreign 'experts' who can hold up the aid). The Aristide government lost somewhere between 40 and 60 percent of its national budget immediately upon entering office- this was all money the Haitian government had long depended on (i.e. road construction, healthcare, aids programs). But in Venezuela the USAID-elite plan has really backfired. The Chavista program remains uber popular and flush with petro-dollars, not to say there is no room for criticism. The PopDem manifests itself in the votes and popular organizing/pressure from the social movements and poor, so in that respect we should move on to Bolivia, probably the most grassroots and democratic example of them all:
-In Bolivia the MAS movement and President Morales' government have partially succeeded with the Constituent Assembly model, although according to the Democracy Center "the Assembly has been suspended since early September, when violent protests over a proposal to move the seat of the executive and legislative branches from La Paz to Sucre ground its sessions to a halt." This last Thursday members of the assembly agreed to get back into session but it is unlikely that the problems will cease. According to numerous press reports, the Bolivian government is complaining about USAID programs that have been working heavily to derail the constituent assembly and other Bolivian government measures; all the while keeping reportedly 70% of their budget undisclosed. Here is a result graph of the constituent assembly vote from Bolivia:
Sunday, 16 September 2007
NED Publishes 2007 Grants and Experts Go Wild for US-Corpo-Democracy
The NED has published
its new 'best of' 2007 list of groups or programs that it is financing across the western hemisphere.
The most fascinating thing with the NED is how they are able to employee the language of popular and participatory democracy - when the model they are based on, US Democracy, is just the opposite.
In regards to Venezuela, American-Venezuelan attorney Eva Golinger writes, "many groups now being funded appear to be trying to "break" into the Chávez camp to counteract or sabotage social programs or advances, such as the community councils (NED proposes "citizen councils"), and to impose the US-NED view of "democracy"."
So here we are: the 2002 coup did not work, USAID-NED-STATE have not been able to successfully undermine Chavez in the polls, obviously they have been unable to murder him, and he remains hugely popular- all this while the Venezuelan media (in the hands of a few wealthy buisnessmen) remains %90 against the elected government. So, the NED realizes they need to deepen their strategy, infiltrate "left talking, right walking" groups into the chavista cohort.
In countries such as Bolivia and Haiti the NED has become an expert at such strategies, sponsoring "grassroots organizations" and backing "particpatory local initiatives". In Haiti alone the NED are backing a number of both new and old faces, such as the Centre de Formation Citoyenne et d'Appui au Développement (Center for Citizen Training and Development Support) (CEFCAD), Comite d'Initiatives de la 3eme section du Limbé (Initiative Committee of the Third Section of Limbé), Coordination Nationale des Organisations de Base (National Coordination for Grassroots Organizations) (CONOB), Fondation Espoir (Hope Foundation),Grand Front National des Etudiants Haïtiens (National Grand Front of Haitian Students) GRAFNEH), and the Rassemblement National des Citoyens Organisés pour le Développement d'Haïti (National Assembly of Citizens Organized for the Development of Haiti) (RANCODHA).
US-Democracy advocate Dr Thomas Carothers should be able to aptly explain all of this during hiscoaching moderating of an
upcoming talk with IRI Prez Lorne W. Craner and NDI Prez Kenneth Wollack.
Oh..and how can we forget the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) published awacky and misleading expert report on Haiti. Narco News could just not help themselves with this one. The Sun Sentinel did much better.
its new 'best of' 2007 list of groups or programs that it is financing across the western hemisphere.
The most fascinating thing with the NED is how they are able to employee the language of popular and participatory democracy - when the model they are based on, US Democracy, is just the opposite.
In regards to Venezuela, American-Venezuelan attorney Eva Golinger writes, "many groups now being funded appear to be trying to "break" into the Chávez camp to counteract or sabotage social programs or advances, such as the community councils (NED proposes "citizen councils"), and to impose the US-NED view of "democracy"."
So here we are: the 2002 coup did not work, USAID-NED-STATE have not been able to successfully undermine Chavez in the polls, obviously they have been unable to murder him, and he remains hugely popular- all this while the Venezuelan media (in the hands of a few wealthy buisnessmen) remains %90 against the elected government. So, the NED realizes they need to deepen their strategy, infiltrate "left talking, right walking" groups into the chavista cohort.
In countries such as Bolivia and Haiti the NED has become an expert at such strategies, sponsoring "grassroots organizations" and backing "particpatory local initiatives". In Haiti alone the NED are backing a number of both new and old faces, such as the Centre de Formation Citoyenne et d'Appui au Développement (Center for Citizen Training and Development Support) (CEFCAD), Comite d'Initiatives de la 3eme section du Limbé (Initiative Committee of the Third Section of Limbé), Coordination Nationale des Organisations de Base (National Coordination for Grassroots Organizations) (CONOB), Fondation Espoir (Hope Foundation),Grand Front National des Etudiants Haïtiens (National Grand Front of Haitian Students) GRAFNEH), and the Rassemblement National des Citoyens Organisés pour le Développement d'Haïti (National Assembly of Citizens Organized for the Development of Haiti) (RANCODHA).
US-Democracy advocate Dr Thomas Carothers should be able to aptly explain all of this during his
upcoming talk with IRI Prez Lorne W. Craner and NDI Prez Kenneth Wollack.
Oh..and how can we forget the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) published a
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
AUMOHD Human Rights Reports
AUMOHD has posted a new report looking at ex-military led violence in the Central Plateau: Mirebalais-Lascaobas-Belladère.
As readers may know, AUMOHD has also (along with the Grand Ravine Community Human Rights Council - CHRC-GR) been highly active in one of the most impoverished areas in Port-au-Prince, Gran Ravine and Martissant. Their reports have constantly pointed to the driving force of violence being a group known as Lame Ti Manchet. Even some other groups less active in the area have begun acknowledging Lame Ti Manchets involvement. Not to worry though, Michael Deibert still believes hisblame-it-all-on-Aristide carefully crafted article is the true and "definitive" source on violence in these communities. He actually wrote recently that to the best of his knowledge his article is "the only authoritative English-language reporting on the conflict there." He must have never taken the time to read the translated
reports of actual Haitian human rights workers that are in the communities daily. Earlier this year an organizer of HURAH gave him an ear full.
As readers may know, AUMOHD has also (along with the Grand Ravine Community Human Rights Council - CHRC-GR) been highly active in one of the most impoverished areas in Port-au-Prince, Gran Ravine and Martissant. Their reports have constantly pointed to the driving force of violence being a group known as Lame Ti Manchet. Even some other groups less active in the area have begun acknowledging Lame Ti Manchets involvement. Not to worry though, Michael Deibert still believes his
reports of actual Haitian human rights workers that are in the communities daily. Earlier this year an organizer of HURAH gave him an ear full.
Saturday, 1 September 2007
USA Talks
Listen to WBAI's Haiti: The Struggle Continues for updates on Lovinsky and ongoing discussion on Haiti. I was just on WBAI and will be speaking again tomorrow (September 2nd) at 6:30 (east coast time) on 94.7 SCA Radyo Pa Nou; listen live to Popular Dialogue. And on Tuesday, September 4th listen to KPFK's Sonali Kolhatkar's show, in the studio. Most of the discussion will be centered around privatization and human rights in Haiti.
Saturday, 18 August 2007
MINUSTAH Hospitality
Wednesday/15 August 2007.
It is always amazing to see how hospitable and warm the Haitian people are, no matter where I go I am reminded of this. The people whose concrete apartment I am staying at now are so poor but they go out of their way continuously to make me feel at home. And I do. But today I received just the opposite impression from a Brazilian squad of MINUSTAH, the UN force garrisoned here in Haiti since 2004.
At about 12 in the afternoon I went down with a friend from Delmas street to the National Palace, in downtown Port-au-Prince, to cover a demonstration called for by the Fondasyon 30 Septamn (the September 30th Foundation). The group was founded by
Lovinsky Pierre Antoinne, a leading human rights and Fanmi Lavalas activist, who has gone missing and believed to be kidnapped. Lovinsky is a vocal advocate for the victims of both the 1991 and 2004 coups, both of which ousted Haiti's twice democratically elected
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A couple hundred members of the group were present. Many were lying on the ground and were visibly sad, others were standing crying out for the return of the deeply loved founder of their human rights organization.
When we arrived at the National Palace we saw a dozen blue helmeted MINUSTAH soldiers standing in front, nearly all with machine guns drawn, along with two parked jeeps and one large tall APC with a mounted machine gun. Another large jeep showed up carrying four MINUSTAH soldiers, three wielding large machine guns.
I first snapped photos of the demonstration, then proceeded to snap photos of the heavily armed MINUSTAH contingent.
After standing nearby the troops for a few seconds fiddling with my camera, I saw one motion to the others and I was immediately surrounded by three of the Brazilian blue helmets. In threatening tones and postures they demanded to know what I was doing in Port-au-Prince. I explained that I was a university student and that I was working as a journalist for the Inter Press Service (IPS) trying to cover the demonstration. One of the MINUSTAH troops then yanked down on the large press badge around my neck, inspecting it thoroughly. It was a press badge for IPS. Twice more I told them I was a member of the press.
They then called over a fourth soldier with a camera. I protested. Next one of the soldiers, also holding a machine gun, swatted off my cap onto the ground. I repeated that this was a violation of my human rights. Two others put their arms on my shoulders and held me still near one of their vehicles. The 4th soldier meanwhile placed the camera close to my face and snapped a close up photo. They placed my press badge so my name would show clearly in the photo. The whole incident must have happened within a matter of fifteen seconds but it obviously felt intimidating.
The captain of the Brazilian MINUSTAH squad who directed the others to grab me had a walkie talkie in his vest, along with a headset and some sort of camera or night vision device mounted on his helmet. Evel Fanfan (a committed and well known human rights organizer of AUMOHD who has been threatened on numerous occasions) was nearby. He observed that this was a common practice for the UN troops. MINUSTAH regularly harasses Haitian journalists and poor people, forcing them to allow a MINUSTAH soldier with a camera to take a close-up photo of their face, a form of data collection for UNOPS intelligence, he explained. Two young Haitian journalists from Cité Soleil told me that MINUSTAH tightly censors those journalists they allow into UN gatherings in Port-au-Prince.
Poor Haitian journalists never paint the amiable picture of MINUSTAH that we hear so often from embedded journalists writing for many of the major US or European media outlets, who more common than one would expect wear-two-hats, working simultaneously for US government funded outlets like the Voice of America (VOA). One can easily be reminded by looking back at the
photographs and documentation of human rights reports of what impoverished Haitians have had to endure since Feb 2004.
The Brazilian army has a long and shady history. Early on it was used as a violent apparatus for repressing slave revolts. During the 20th century the army utilized
terror campaigns to stamp out leftist and landless peasant movements.
19 September 2007 Update: Over one month later and Lovinsky Pierre Antoine is still missing. Back in December 2006 Lovinsky appeared on Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now.
It is always amazing to see how hospitable and warm the Haitian people are, no matter where I go I am reminded of this. The people whose concrete apartment I am staying at now are so poor but they go out of their way continuously to make me feel at home. And I do. But today I received just the opposite impression from a Brazilian squad of MINUSTAH, the UN force garrisoned here in Haiti since 2004.
At about 12 in the afternoon I went down with a friend from Delmas street to the National Palace, in downtown Port-au-Prince, to cover a demonstration called for by the Fondasyon 30 Septamn (the September 30th Foundation). The group was founded by
Lovinsky Pierre Antoinne, a leading human rights and Fanmi Lavalas activist, who has gone missing and believed to be kidnapped. Lovinsky is a vocal advocate for the victims of both the 1991 and 2004 coups, both of which ousted Haiti's twice democratically elected
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A couple hundred members of the group were present. Many were lying on the ground and were visibly sad, others were standing crying out for the return of the deeply loved founder of their human rights organization.
When we arrived at the National Palace we saw a dozen blue helmeted MINUSTAH soldiers standing in front, nearly all with machine guns drawn, along with two parked jeeps and one large tall APC with a mounted machine gun. Another large jeep showed up carrying four MINUSTAH soldiers, three wielding large machine guns.
I first snapped photos of the demonstration, then proceeded to snap photos of the heavily armed MINUSTAH contingent.
After standing nearby the troops for a few seconds fiddling with my camera, I saw one motion to the others and I was immediately surrounded by three of the Brazilian blue helmets. In threatening tones and postures they demanded to know what I was doing in Port-au-Prince. I explained that I was a university student and that I was working as a journalist for the Inter Press Service (IPS) trying to cover the demonstration. One of the MINUSTAH troops then yanked down on the large press badge around my neck, inspecting it thoroughly. It was a press badge for IPS. Twice more I told them I was a member of the press.
They then called over a fourth soldier with a camera. I protested. Next one of the soldiers, also holding a machine gun, swatted off my cap onto the ground. I repeated that this was a violation of my human rights. Two others put their arms on my shoulders and held me still near one of their vehicles. The 4th soldier meanwhile placed the camera close to my face and snapped a close up photo. They placed my press badge so my name would show clearly in the photo. The whole incident must have happened within a matter of fifteen seconds but it obviously felt intimidating.
The captain of the Brazilian MINUSTAH squad who directed the others to grab me had a walkie talkie in his vest, along with a headset and some sort of camera or night vision device mounted on his helmet. Evel Fanfan (a committed and well known human rights organizer of AUMOHD who has been threatened on numerous occasions) was nearby. He observed that this was a common practice for the UN troops. MINUSTAH regularly harasses Haitian journalists and poor people, forcing them to allow a MINUSTAH soldier with a camera to take a close-up photo of their face, a form of data collection for UNOPS intelligence, he explained. Two young Haitian journalists from Cité Soleil told me that MINUSTAH tightly censors those journalists they allow into UN gatherings in Port-au-Prince.
Poor Haitian journalists never paint the amiable picture of MINUSTAH that we hear so often from embedded journalists writing for many of the major US or European media outlets, who more common than one would expect wear-two-hats, working simultaneously for US government funded outlets like the Voice of America (VOA). One can easily be reminded by looking back at the
photographs and documentation of human rights reports of what impoverished Haitians have had to endure since Feb 2004.
The Brazilian army has a long and shady history. Early on it was used as a violent apparatus for repressing slave revolts. During the 20th century the army utilized
terror campaigns to stamp out leftist and landless peasant movements.
19 September 2007 Update: Over one month later and Lovinsky Pierre Antoine is still missing. Back in December 2006 Lovinsky appeared on Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now.
Monday, 13 August 2007
Where is Lovinsky?
The radio here in Port-au-Prince is reporting that Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, a long time human rights activist and lavalas organizer, has disapeared. His car was found this morning and a police report has been filed.
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
Thursday, 19 July 2007
Expert Think Tankers ≠ Democracy
The George-Soros-financed Crisis Group actually has the cojones to suggest Haiti should "redraw territorial boundaries". They'd also like to see more vetting of the police force; how about vetting out all the CIA opperatives that the US embassy has been systematically inculcating in Haiti's police force for ummm, decades. Maybe that would decrease the chances of coup d'etats and allowing a man like this getting into the force. GOH officials from the 94-04 period say that the US embassy was constantly undermining nearly all the police appointees they had (subliminal message to other poor governments, let the US Embassy choose your police chiefs!).
On Venezuela, the Criss group has stepped in to offer its expert advice again, this time on what it deems democracy. Unbeknownst to the CG think tankers, Venezuelans are living in what most of the Venezuelan poor view as the most participatory democracy in the history of their country. Like one author recently asked, "Is Washington loosing Latin America to Democracy?" My question: are the folks over at the Crisis group just nerds or did they drink the kool-aid?
On Venezuela, the Criss group has stepped in to offer its expert advice again, this time on what it deems democracy. Unbeknownst to the CG think tankers, Venezuelans are living in what most of the Venezuelan poor view as the most participatory democracy in the history of their country. Like one author recently asked, "Is Washington loosing Latin America to Democracy?" My question: are the folks over at the Crisis group just nerds or did they drink the kool-aid?
Sunday, 15 July 2007
Crowds in Port-au-Prince march for return of Aristide
Thousands marched
down the streets of Port-au-Prince today
calling for the return of exiled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide was elected in 2000 and then thrown out of office in a 2004 coup d'etat backed by Haitian elites and the Bush administration. Combat-ready troops from the UN force (MINUSTAH) patrolled nearby the demonstrations.
down the streets of Port-au-Prince today
calling for the return of exiled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide was elected in 2000 and then thrown out of office in a 2004 coup d'etat backed by Haitian elites and the Bush administration. Combat-ready troops from the UN force (MINUSTAH) patrolled nearby the demonstrations.
Thursday, 12 July 2007
Fuel Prices and Government Measurese Prompt Transport Strike
Wadner and I have up a new article on the June 12th & 13th transport worker strike in Haiti. See IPS story HAITI: Pain at the Pump Spurs Strike Actions
By Jeb Sprague and Wadner Pierre.
By Jeb Sprague and Wadner Pierre.
Monday, 9 July 2007
Confédération des travailleurs haitiens
CTH has launched a website and a speaking tour of Canada. They were the primary trade union targeted and persecuted following the 2004 coup in Haiti. Check it out!
Wednesday, 30 May 2007
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Partners in Health in Rwanda
Partners in Health (PIH) is still doing excellent work in Haiti and now in Rwanda. They have launched a major new program
in Rwanda, helping to upgrade and improve health care programs across the country. I am told that the skills and experiences they have gained in Haiti have played a major role in how they are developing the projects in Rwanda. Also, view the newest edition of Uses of Haiti, in which Dr. Farmer has some description on the 2001-2004 embargo on aid to Haiti's government and its harmful effects on the countries health care infrastructure.
in Rwanda, helping to upgrade and improve health care programs across the country. I am told that the skills and experiences they have gained in Haiti have played a major role in how they are developing the projects in Rwanda. Also, view the newest edition of Uses of Haiti, in which Dr. Farmer has some description on the 2001-2004 embargo on aid to Haiti's government and its harmful effects on the countries health care infrastructure.
Friday, 9 March 2007
IPS article on Cite Soleil
Wadner Pierre and myself published a new article, Haiti: Poor Residents of Capital Describe a State of Siege, with the Inter Press Service (IPS). It is also up on CommonDreams.org.
Monday, 26 February 2007
Unmarked graves where flowers grow
This wonderful band The Arcade Fire (from Canada) spoke out against the 2004 coup and right now they are raising money for Partners in Health (PIH). Arcade Fire’s lead singer Régine Chassagne was born in Haiti, but her family emigrated to Canada to escape the terror of the Duvalier regime. Here they are performing their hit-song "Haiti":
Haïti, mon pays,
wounded mother I'll never see.
Ma famille set me free.
Throw my ashes into the sea.
Mes cousins jamais nés
hantent les nuits de Duvalier.
Rien n'arrete nos esprits.
Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see.
In the forest we are hiding,
unmarked graves where flowers grow.
Hear the soldiers angry yelling,
in the river we will go.
Tous les morts-nés forment une armée,
soon we will reclaim the earth.
All the tears and all the bodies
bring about our second birth.
Haïti, never free,
n'aie pas peur de sonner l'alarme.
Tes enfants sont partis,
In those days their blood was still warm
See this http://www.youtube.com/v/RuBLzbzwsYc
Haïti, mon pays,
wounded mother I'll never see.
Ma famille set me free.
Throw my ashes into the sea.
Mes cousins jamais nés
hantent les nuits de Duvalier.
Rien n'arrete nos esprits.
Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see.
In the forest we are hiding,
unmarked graves where flowers grow.
Hear the soldiers angry yelling,
in the river we will go.
Tous les morts-nés forment une armée,
soon we will reclaim the earth.
All the tears and all the bodies
bring about our second birth.
Haïti, never free,
n'aie pas peur de sonner l'alarme.
Tes enfants sont partis,
In those days their blood was still warm
See this http://www.youtube.com/v/RuBLzbzwsYc
Wednesday, 14 February 2007
Manipulating Death in Martissant and Gran Ravine
A freelance photojournalist Jean Rémy Badiau was killed on January 19 2007 in the Port-au-Prince district of Martissant. AHP interviewed family and friends that claimed his murder was connected to the vigilante group Lame Ti Manchet. The Haitian newspaper Nouvelliste made a similar report on February 13.
In an earlier report the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontières placed equal blame for violence in Martissant on another group known as Baz Gran Ravine. The report provided no proof to back up the statement. A recent article for AlterPresse by Michael Deibert states that Badio was "murdered in his home, evidently by gang-affiliated gunmen from the area, last month". The article made no mention of the widespread charges against Lame Ti Manchet for having involvement in the killing of Badio and scores of other people in Martissant.
A previous article (August 2 2006) by Deibert on the violence in Martissant also ignored the numerous documented attacks and killings carried out by the group, acknowledging only the charges that "a former police official" was accused of "financing and organizing a gang known as Lamè Ti Machet". He makes no mention of the numerous and well recorded Lame Ti Manchet attacks.
>
According to human rights workers active consistently in Martissant, such as those within AUMOHD and the Community Human Rights Councils (CHRC), it is the Lame Ti Manchet that has been responsible for the vast amount of reported attacks over the last few years and is the driving force behind violence in the area. Also the Komisyon Episkopal Nasyonal Jistis ak Lapè has gathered statistics over the last few years that also show the Lame Ti Manchet was the main perpetrator of violence in the area. This does not mean that Baz Gran Ravine and armed groups committed no violence, but it does mean that according to human rights workers and community groups in Martissant the vigilante group known as Lame Ti Manchet conducted the huge majority of recorded violence and was really a driving force for killings in the area. Disturbingly Lame Ti Manchest was also documented to have had connections with the police force during the interim government.
AUMOHD observed that the 2006 massacre conducted by Lame Ti Manchèt "was meant as a smoke screen to provoke Baz Gran Ravine into a retaliation and thereby distract from the push to get police and civilians involved with Lame Ti Manchèt into jail. AUMOHD'S community human rights council (CHRC) coordinator, Esterne Bruner, was assassinated by Lame Ti Manchèt 9/21/06. But there has not been any retaliation reported. Instead the CHRC, non-violent and non-partisan, continues to prosecute all the killings".
Other attacks conducted by Lame Ti Manchet which is also ignored by Deibert include a massacre of 21 people, the burning down of 300 homes 7/9/06, and a massacre carried out jointly with the Haitian police at a USAID sponsored soccer tournament 8/20/05. The attempts at transference and manipulation are important to document because they show how scientific human rights studies (Lancet, Miami University Griffin report, etc) and testimony collected by human rights workers (AUMOHD, CHRC, IJDH) from poor victims of violence is ignored. Many of the same authors/groups that ignore the reports coming from Martissant also ignored the half dozen human rights reports that came out during the 04-06 period showing the interim government's role in violence against slum dwellers, such as the extrajudicial killing of young journalist Abdias Jean.
Human rights workers on the ground in Martissant now report that the wife of Rudy Kernizan has been apprehended. Rudy himself - chief of the vigilante Lame Ti Manchet - has escaped reportedly to the Dominican Republic. In early February human rights workers reported that several (3-4) Lame Ti Manchet people were arrested by MINUSTAH and the Haitian police. Another 31 individuals were arrested days ago in Martissant.
Funeral of Jean Rémy Badiau
(Photo: Guyvard Alexis/APH)
Young victim of Lame Ti Manchet (Photo: AUMOHD)
In an earlier report the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontières placed equal blame for violence in Martissant on another group known as Baz Gran Ravine. The report provided no proof to back up the statement. A recent article for AlterPresse by Michael Deibert states that Badio was "murdered in his home, evidently by gang-affiliated gunmen from the area, last month". The article made no mention of the widespread charges against Lame Ti Manchet for having involvement in the killing of Badio and scores of other people in Martissant.
A previous article (August 2 2006) by Deibert on the violence in Martissant also ignored the numerous documented attacks and killings carried out by the group, acknowledging only the charges that "a former police official" was accused of "financing and organizing a gang known as Lamè Ti Machet". He makes no mention of the numerous and well recorded Lame Ti Manchet attacks.
>
According to human rights workers active consistently in Martissant, such as those within AUMOHD and the Community Human Rights Councils (CHRC), it is the Lame Ti Manchet that has been responsible for the vast amount of reported attacks over the last few years and is the driving force behind violence in the area. Also the Komisyon Episkopal Nasyonal Jistis ak Lapè has gathered statistics over the last few years that also show the Lame Ti Manchet was the main perpetrator of violence in the area. This does not mean that Baz Gran Ravine and armed groups committed no violence, but it does mean that according to human rights workers and community groups in Martissant the vigilante group known as Lame Ti Manchet conducted the huge majority of recorded violence and was really a driving force for killings in the area. Disturbingly Lame Ti Manchest was also documented to have had connections with the police force during the interim government.
AUMOHD observed that the 2006 massacre conducted by Lame Ti Manchèt "was meant as a smoke screen to provoke Baz Gran Ravine into a retaliation and thereby distract from the push to get police and civilians involved with Lame Ti Manchèt into jail. AUMOHD'S community human rights council (CHRC) coordinator, Esterne Bruner, was assassinated by Lame Ti Manchèt 9/21/06. But there has not been any retaliation reported. Instead the CHRC, non-violent and non-partisan, continues to prosecute all the killings".
Other attacks conducted by Lame Ti Manchet which is also ignored by Deibert include a massacre of 21 people, the burning down of 300 homes 7/9/06, and a massacre carried out jointly with the Haitian police at a USAID sponsored soccer tournament 8/20/05. The attempts at transference and manipulation are important to document because they show how scientific human rights studies (Lancet, Miami University Griffin report, etc) and testimony collected by human rights workers (AUMOHD, CHRC, IJDH) from poor victims of violence is ignored. Many of the same authors/groups that ignore the reports coming from Martissant also ignored the half dozen human rights reports that came out during the 04-06 period showing the interim government's role in violence against slum dwellers, such as the extrajudicial killing of young journalist Abdias Jean.
Human rights workers on the ground in Martissant now report that the wife of Rudy Kernizan has been apprehended. Rudy himself - chief of the vigilante Lame Ti Manchet - has escaped reportedly to the Dominican Republic. In early February human rights workers reported that several (3-4) Lame Ti Manchet people were arrested by MINUSTAH and the Haitian police. Another 31 individuals were arrested days ago in Martissant.
Funeral of Jean Rémy Badiau
(Photo: Guyvard Alexis/APH)
Young victim of Lame Ti Manchet (Photo: AUMOHD)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
