HAITI LIBERTE
"Justice. Verite. Independence."
* THIS WEEK IN HAITI *
September 5-11, 2007
Vol. 1, No. 7
ANOTHER OCCUPATION EXTENSION LOOMS
by Kim Ives
The United Nations Security Council mandate for the UN's military occupation of Haiti runs out on October 15, 2007. Now the UN has cranked up its public relations machinery, generating a flurry of conferences, declarations, and appointments, all aimed at selling the longest possible mandate extension to the Haitian and world public.
The campaign to prolong the occupation was kicked off by none other than Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General, during a visit to Haiti on Aug. 2 (see Haiti Liberte, Vol. 1, No. 3, Aug. 8, 2007). During his visit, he declared that the United Nations Mission to Stabilize Haiti (MINUSTAH) "will not leave until Haiti's future is assured," saying that would require "at least another year."

BBC Worldwide Monitoring
October 7, 2004, Thursday
Haiti: Minustah head announces changes in its composition, requests patience
Radio Metropole, Port-au-Prince, in French 1700 gmt 6 Oct 04
Text of report from the "Midday News" broadcast by Haitian Metropole radio on 6 October

The commander of the Minustah UN Mission for Stabilization in Haiti troops has issued a call for the Haitian people to show patience in the face of the acts of violence that are affecting people in the metropolitan area.

AHP News March 12, 2006, http://www.ahphaiti.org
English translation (Unofficial)
Preval discusses Haiti's economic and social situation with Condoleezza Rice: the secreatry of state fears new tensions due to the overlong delay for the investiture
Santiago, Chile, March 12, 2006- (AHP)- American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared Saturday that she is worried about the risks that too much time between the first round of Haitian presidential elections (February 7th) and the investiture of the new president (now postponed to the beginning of May) may stimulate troubles in Haiti.
The American head of diplomacy expressed these concerns when she met the Haitian elected President Rene Preval, after they had participated to the ceremony of investiture of socialist President Michelle Bachelet.

MST agrees, “Haiti does not need a military intervention”
Friends of the MST
January 09, 2006
While the United Nations (UN) insists that the soldiers of peace -- known as MINUSTAH -- are securing their objective of social and economic stability in Haiti, a number of social movements disagree with this view.
According to the Mission of Investigation and Solidarity with the Haitian People, Haiti's problem is not a military problem. As such, there is no reason for the ongoing occupation of Haiti by foreign military forces. The Mission of Investigation and Solidarity with the Haitian people is led by Noble Peace Prize winner, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, and includes a number of representatives from social movements. In Brazil, the MST is of the same opinion. The Landless Workers' Movement demands the immediate withdrawal of Brazilian troops, who currently lead the MINUSTAH forces.

Haiti's Deadly Class Divide:
Class war takes on a new meaning in Cite Soley
by Leslie Bagg and Aaron Lakoff
Port-au-Prince, January 10/06 - Driving into Cite Soley on January 8th, the day Haitians were supposed to go to the polls in a presidential election, there is no mistaking the fact that we are entering an occupied zone. The streets are almost deserted, the atmosphere tense, and UN armored personnel carriers patrol the streets.
Cite Soley, one of Port-au-Prince's poorest neighborhoods, is home to around 500,000 people living in abject poverty. According to Jean-Joseph Joel, the Secretary General of the local branch of Fanmi Lavalas, the area's residents are virtual prisoners, and their movements restricted by armed police at checkpoints. Vilified as bandits or chimeres by the elite-run press, he says they face persecution if they do manage to escape the neighborhood. There is no work and signs of malnutrition are obvious in the children.

UN commander dead in Haiti amid pressure from elite:
General Bacellar's death exposes contradictions of UN mission

Haiti Information Project - HIP-Haiti - Amid tremendous controversy over Haiti's security situation and the on-again, off-again elections, the military commander of UN forces in this beleaguered nation apparently took his own life early Saturday morning. After having assumed command of the UN military mission less then four months ago, the body of Brazilian officer Lt. Gen. Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar was found sprawled out on the balcony of the Hotel Montana, the apparent victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. According to several sources in the Haitian press, Bacellar had participated in a tense meeting with the president of Haiti's Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Reginald Boulos, and Group 184 leader Andy Apaid the night before.

Thursday, November 10, 2005
http://www.flashpoints.net
Flashpints Radio's Nora Barrows-Friedman interviews Dave Welsh, Haiti Action Committee
Flashpoints: The paltry coverage of the situation in Haiti these days mainly consists of speculation and U.S. response to the upcoming elections, which many people ion Haiti believe will be a total and complete sham. Meanwhile, vicious attacks on Haitians continue unabated by the United Nations forces and the death squads. Two days ago the Cite Soleil neighborhood in Port au Prince was attacked by the UN forces. Joining us to talk about this is Dave Welsh. Welsh, an activist with the Haiti Action Committee, just returned from a fact-finding delegation [to] Haiti. Dave Welsh, welcome back to Flashpoints.
Welsh: It's good to be here.
Flashpoints: First of all, tell us what happened in Cite Soleil two days ago, talk about these attacks by the UN so-called "peacekeeping" forces.

Cite Soleil Community Turns Out En Masse For Funeral of Dread Wilme
Credible Estimates of Civilian Casualties during July 6th UN Military Operation in Cite Soleil Continue to Mount
US Labor and Human Rights Delegation
July 9th, Port-au-Prince
For further information, contact Delegation Member Seth Donnelly: 650-814-8495
Hundreds of people of all ages turned out for the funeral of Dread Wilme, a leader of the Cite Soleil community in Port-au-Prince. Wilme was reportedly killed in a UN military operation in Cite Soleil during the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 6th. The funeral ceremony was held in the street and involved speeches by community activists, music, dancing, and carrying a coffin to the people. White banners were draped up and down one of the main streets in the community. Media, mostly Haitian, were present. Speakers expressed respect for Wilme as someone who embodied the hopes of the community, someone who attempted to stand up for and protect his community. They vowed to continue the struggle for the rights of the poor in Haiti to healthcare, education, and democracy. In this spirit, they also vowed to fight for the return of President Aristide.

Haiti Information Project (HIP)
Monday, May 9, 2005
UN accommodates human rights abuses by police in Haiti

(HIP)Port au Prince-The images of the killings by the U.S.-armed and
U.N.-trained Police Nationale de Haiti (PNH) are stark and undeniable.
Peaceful demonstrators slaughtered in cold-blood as the U.N.
pontificates and postures to justify its role in legitimizing the coup
in February 2004 against the democratically elected government of
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
On February 28, 2005, the first anniversary of the coup against the
constitutional government, the PNH fired at unarmed demonstrators as
the U.N. stood by. Video footage and photographs from that day show the
U.N. was close enough to see the police open fire on peaceful
demonstrators, yet unexplainably, not close enough to do anything about
it.

Gunfire Kills 5 in Haiti Demonstration
Thursday April 28, 2005 3:31 AM

AP Photo PAP101

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Police fired on protesters demanding the release of detainees loyal to Haiti's ousted president Wednesday, killing at least five demonstrators, U.N. officials and witnesses said.