Fw: Urgent Alert on Behalf of Haiti!!



 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2005 1:34 AM
Subject: Urgent Alert on Behalf of Haiti!!

URGENT ALERT ON BEHALF OF HAITI!!
  • U.S./U.N. Out of Haiti!
  • Stop the Massacres!
  • Free ALL Political Prisoners!
  • Restore Pres. Aristide!
 
Please join our online campaign to demand U.S. / U.N. Get Out of Haiti Now, Stop the Massacres, and Return Democratically elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide to Power, by sending emails to President Bush, your senators, your congressperson, key congressional leaders and the UN telling them you want the U.S., its military and the C.I.A. Out of Haiti NOW!
 
Go to http://www.iacenter.org/haiticampaign.shtml
 
for the following letter to be sent in your name:
 
Sample Text (you will be able to edit it on the website):
 
........................................................
 
President Bush, Senators, Congressional Representatives and Secretary General Kofi Annan:
 
On Feb. 29, 2004, U.S. Marines kidnapped the democratically elected president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, forcing him to fly to the Central African Republic and overthrowing his government (Washington Post, March 16, 2004 - "Aristide Back in Caribbean Heat - Before Arriving in Jamaica, Haitian Details 'Coup' by U.S." - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61549-2004Mar15.html). Since that time, the U.S.-installed and -supported illegitimate government of Haiti has been responsible for the murder of thousands of trade union, community and political activists. It has imprisoned thousands more. It has committed all these crimes with the complete complicity of the Bush administration.
 
The repression of the people of Haiti at the hands of the US/UN occupation forces continues unabated. On July 6, 2005, United Nations forces (MINUSTAH) invaded Cité-Soleil. Over 300 UN/MINUSTAH troops supported by tanks and helicopter gunships carried out this outrageous, criminal attack. Eyewitness accounts, photos and video have documented this all-out military assault against the supporters of President Aristide. UN/MINSUTAH forces firing indiscriminately killed and wounded dozens of women, children and men.
 
On July 14 UN/MINUSTAH forces again attacked Cité-Soleil. This time they were responsible for killing three young children who were asleep in their homes. UN officials have claimed that UN/MINUSTAH was chasing "bandits." It has been well documented, however, that Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega and U.S. Ambassador to Haiti James Foley are in fact calling the shots. The two U.S. officials have demanded that the UN/MINUSTAH take tougher action against Fanmi Lavalas and other popular forces who are organizing against the occupation (The Guardian Unlimited, July 18, 2005 - "6/7: The Massacre of the Poor That the World Ignored" -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1530800,00.html);
 
This must stop and it must stop now!
 
The situation for the thousands of political prisoners in Haiti has become desperate. This is especially true for Prime Minister Yvon Neptune; legendary Fanmi Lavalas activist and singer So-Anne and most recently Father Jean-Juste.
 
Prime Minister Yvon Neptune has been imprisoned for over a year and like many others, has never been charged with a crime. In spite of poor health, Neptune has been on a hunger strike for the past several months demanding that he either be released or formally charged.
 
So-Anne has also been imprisoned for over a year. On May 10, 2004, in the middle of the night, heavily armed U.S. Marines blew open the door to So-Anne's house and arrested nine members of her family including her 5-year-old granddaughter.
 
Father Jean-Juste was arrested on July 21, 2005, while attending the funeral for Haitian journalist, Jacques Roche, a strong supporter of the coup. He was initially charged with the murder of Roche. When it was shown that Father Jean-Juste was in Miami at the time of the killing, the charges were changed to kidnapping. Like many others he has never seen a judge nor has he been formally charged. Fr. Jean-Juste is considered second to Aristide inside the Fanmi Lavalas party.
 
These are just a few of the more famous prisoners being held.
 
In 2000 President Aristide was elected to a second term with 92 percent of the vote. Almost from day one the U.S. government demanded concessions from Aristide and imposed economic sanctions on Haiti, denying food, medicine and other necessities of life to the population. During this same period the U.S. actively supported the so-called "Democratic Convergence," the right-wing opposition, both economically and politically.
 
President Aristide is currently in exile in South Africa. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, impoverished by centuries of slavery and colonial exploitation by France, Canada and the U.S. Since the February 2004 coup, living conditions for the Haitian people have deteriorated significantly. While the wealthy are wining and dining, the vast majority of the people are living on less than $1 a day in spite of the fact that Haiti has coffee, sugar and uranium as well as a deep water port.
 
This is an outrageous injustice!
 
I stand in solidarity with my Haitian sisters and brothers as well as people throughout the world and demand that:
 
ALL political prisoners currently held in Haiti be immediately released and that the violent and systematic repression of trade union, community, Fanmi Lavalas activists and all popular forces end immediately! The U.S. government must stop aiding and arming the terrorist, paramilitary groups that interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue relies on to terrorize the people of Haiti.
 
ALL U.S. and UN/MINUSTAH troops must be withdrawn today!
 
The U.S. government must stop supplying weapons to the illegitimate government of Haiti! These weapons are being used against the people of Haiti who have a right to resist this illegal and criminal occupation.
 
President Aristide must be allowed to return to Haiti and reclaim his position as President of Haiti.
 
Sincerely,

-------

International Action Center
39 West 14th St, Suite 206
New York, NY 10011
212-633-6646
iacenter at iacenter.org
http://www.iacenter.org

Please consider donating to the important work of the IAC at the following link:
http://www.iacenter.org/iacdonate.shtml


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