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| Our most recent columns: Haiti's tyrant Aristide, the great terrain robbery for foreign aid money /For democracy to prosper, Haiti's Aristide must be dealt with |
Posted at 1:25 p.m., Monday, September 30, 2002
| HEARINGS |
| OCTOBER 1, 2002 |
| "The Detention and Treatment of Haitian Asylum Seekers" |
| Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration |
DATE: October 1, 2002 TIME: 02:15 PM ROOM: SD-226 OFFICIAL HEARING NOTICE / WITNESS LIST:
September 24, 2002
NOTICE OF SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING
The Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, October 1, 2002 at 2:15 p.m. in Room 226
of the Senate Dirksen Office Building on "The Detention and Treatment of Haitian Asylum Seekers."
Senator Kennedy will preside.
By order of the Chairman TESTIMONY MEMBER STATEMENTS
Haiti Justice Minister resigned citing obstacles to his reforms
By Michael Deibert, Reuters Writer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Haiti Justice Minister Jean Baptiste Brown, citing obstacles to his reforms, resigned on Sunday, becoming the second member of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government to step down this month.
"I arrived in this position with a plan of action, and I was not given the means to implement that plan," Baptiste Brown said in an interview with private Radio Metropole.
"I found myself unable to substantively address serious issues such as professionalization of the Haitian police and fighting against impunity."
The government did not immediately offer comment on Baptiste Brown's resignation.
Haiti's justice ministry has come under fire in recent years for what critics charge is a lack of conviction in pursuing many high-profile crimes, including the April 2000 murder of Haiti's most prominent journalist, Jean Dominique, director of independent Radio Haiti Inter.
The investigation into Dominique's murder has been fraught with violence and intimidation, including the murder of two material witnesses and the resignation of two investigating judges amid what they characterized as threats and collusion by officials in Aristide's government.
Aristide began his second term in January 2001. He has since been locked in a dispute with the Democratic Convergence opposition coalition over May 2000 legislative elections that his opponents contend were biased to favor Aristide's Lavalas Family party.
The man charged with resolving the impasse, minister without portfolio Marc Bazin, resigned on Sept. 20, citing a self-imposed deadline and a series of frustrations with government policy.
Posted at 12: 49 a.m., Wednesday, September 25, 2002
Tyrant Aristide gangsters stole U.S.$200,000 after kidnapped man
By Yves A. Isidor, wehaitians.com executive editor
The grand robbery ever in Haiti, involving more than U.S.$200 million, in a co-operative scheme by brutal dictator Jean-Bertrand Aristide and partners in crimes, which also include killings, and brutally so, recently was only the continuation.
Last week, a man was kidnapped at gunpoint by a dictator's Aristide high police commander and colleagues minutes after he arrived in Haiti from the U.S., and his U.S.$200,000 (cash) disappeared seconds thereafter to have never been recovered.
In another development, Rosemond Jean, a Haitian national who on Aug. 9th held a press conference, when he said Aristide and his de facto government were both plotting to take him out of the circulation because he continued to demand that he be reimbursed money lost in the co-operative scheme, was arrested yesterday after police officers, according to eyewitnesses, planted guns inside the twice a victim's Port-au-Prince residence.
More are citizens from many towns and cities who continue to take the streets calling for rapacious Aristide's resignation from the office of the presidency he has long illegally occupied.
"You Aristide, you are a thief. "Down with Aristide!" they chant. "The notorious criminal must not be allowed to depart Haiti with our money, but be jailed rather," unpleasant words, according to Aristide, that prompted his crowd control police unit, or CIMO, to open fire on unarmed protesters, killing several and severely wounded many others.
Posted at 12:10 a.m., Tuesday, September 24, 2002
Protests rock Haiti slum
By Reuters
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters), Sept. 23 -- Riot police fired tear gas at hundreds of demonstrators on Saturday as they protested over the disappearance of a popular community leader in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, witnesses said.
The disturbance, which centered in the southern Port-au-Prince slum of Martissant, was sparked by the disappearance on Thursday of Felix Bien-Aime, former director of the Port-au-Prince cemetery and a political activist affiliated with the Lavalas Family party of Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Neighborhood residents said that Haitian National Police officers arrested Bien-Aime after he had a traffic dispute with government officials.
Police spokesman Jean-Dady Simeon denied on Friday that Bien-Aime was in police custody. Bien-Aime's car was found abandoned in an area outside the capital that once served as a favored dumping ground for the bodies of the victims of Haiti's dictatorships.
Protesters burned tires along Route Nationale 2, a major artery that connects the capital with the country's southwest and hurled rocks and bottles at police as they tried to intervene, witnesses said.
"Traffic is completely blocked and there are flames all across the road," said local resident Blanchard Leroy via telephone from the district. "No cars are being allowed to pass."
There were no immediate reports of casualties. Haiti's Aristide began his second term as President in this impoverished Caribbean nation of 8 million in January 2001. He has since been locked in a two-year dispute with the Democratic Convergence opposition coalition over May 2000 legislative elections that his opponents contend were biased to favor Aristide's party.
The deadlock has resulted in the suspension of more than $500 million in international aid.
In a resolution passed earlier this month, the Organization of American States called for a restoration of aid to the country, as well as calling for disarmament of political militants and the arrests of those responsible for violence.
The disturbance Saturday was reminiscent of an incident that occurred in August in the provincial city of Gonaives.
There, a jailbreak by another imprisoned former government supporter, Amiot Metayer, resulted in the escape of more than 150 prisoners, the burning of several government buildings and three days of rioting as demonstrators called for Aristide's resignation.
Copyright 2002 Reuters
Posted at 1:08 p.m., Monday, September 23, 2002
| On eve of trial, ex-officer agrees to perjury term in Louima case |
| Belgium confronts its heart of darkness |
Posted at 4:47 p.m., Friday, September 20, 2002
Brutal dictator Aristide forcefully bans popular musical band highly critical of him
By Reuters
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 19 - Riot police halted a concert by one of Haiti's most popular musical groups when the band began playing a song viewed as critical of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Radio Caraibes FM reported on Thursday.
The Wednesday night concert by the band Boukman Eksperyans took place on the Champs de Mars, a large plaza near the presidential palace in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
As the band launched into its song "Revolution," which lists the country's ills and contains the line "Mr. Aristide, I'm talking to you," officers from the Haitian National Police's crowd-control division appeared on stage and told the band its performance was finished.
Haiti minister resigns, criticizes government Aristide administration's record on human rights, corruption
By Michael Deibert, Reuters Writer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Haiti's minister in charge of bridging the 2-year-old electoral impasse between the government and opposition parties announced his resignation on Friday, citing frustrations with government policy.
Marc Bazin, a former prime minister who served as a minister without portfolio, said he had delivered letters of resignation to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Prime Minister Yvon Neptune on Wednesday.
"When I took this job, I gave myself a deadline of seven months to show substantive progress in the negotiations and, while we have had some small successes, the difficulties between the government and the opposition remain," Bazin told Reuters.
Aristide began his second term as president in January 2001 and his ruling Lavalas Family party has since been locked in dispute with the opposition coalition Democratic Convergence over May 2000 legislative elections that his opponents contend were biased to favor Aristide's party.
The deadlock has stalled more than $500 million in international aid. The Organization of American States called this month for restoration of aid to avert a "humanitarian disaster" in this impoverish Caribbean country of 8 million people.
A former World Bank official and finance minister for deposed Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, Bazin was defeated by Aristide for the presidency in 1990. He served briefly as prime minister under the military government that deposed Aristide in 1991.
After serving as Aristide's Minister of Planning last year, Bazin assumed the negotiator's role in Neptune's government in March. He succeeded in getting Aristide and opposition leaders to sit down together only once, at the papal nuncio's Port-au-Prince residence in June.
The government had no immediate comment on Bazin's resignation.
Bazin faulted the Aristide administration's record on human rights, corruption, economic policy and privatization of Haiti's notoriously inefficient state industries.
"We've seen a 16 percent rise in inflation, the gourde (Haitian currency) has lost 32 percent of value in a year and the government's economic policy, if you can call it that, has been absurd," the former economist said.
"We need to privatize state industries to make them competitive and change the system we have now, which is one of no transparency and no accountability. Corruption is a system and the entire system needs to be reformed."
Bazin said he would concentrate on reviving his own political party, the Movement for the Installation of Democracy in Haiti.
"There is an electoral year coming, which our party is fully prepared to enter," Bazin said, referring to a possible round of legislative elections that could begin in November. "We will push for maximum security for those elections, improvements in human rights, and a real economic policy."
Posted at 11:22 p.m., Thursday, September 19, 2002
Students march in Protest in Haiti
By Michael Norton, Associated Press Writer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP), Sept. 19 - University students and their supporters marched through the streets of the capital Thursday, protesting the removal of the state university's director. (photos)
Some 200 demonstrators called for the immediate reinstatement of the administrative board, including Professor Pierre Marie Paquiot's restoration as head of Haiti State University.
The government removed Paquiot from his post in July, saying Paquiot's mandate was up, and appointed a three-member interim board until new university elections were held.
The students have accused the government of interfering in university business, and demanded Paquiot run the school until the elections.
"The only remaining independent institution is the university and now they want to take it over," said Pierrot Exama, a member of the Haitian Federation of Students.
As the protesters inched their way toward the National Palace, about 20 pro-Aristide supporters along the route shouted "Aristide or death." Several spray-painted the words "Aristide for 50 years" on the street.
Elections for a new university director are expected in the coming months. A first election, in which Paquiot did not run, ended with no candidate winning a necessary majority. Paquiot has said he would run in the next election, which will be decided by students and faculty votes.
Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press.
Posted at 9:30 p.m., Tuesday, September 17, 2002
Critics blame Aristide for rise of guns and gangs; Haitian leadership fights allegations of ties to armed groups
By Letta Tayler, Newsday Latin America correspondent
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 16 - The willowy, fleet-footed gang leader says he got the call to defend his government one night last December after a mysterious group of armed men stormed the presidential palace. "
We have a coup d'etat! Come by the palace," a police official ordered.
When the gang arrived at the battle with 9-mm handguns, the official eyed them disparagingly and said, "'Those are too small. Go get big weapons,'" the gang leader recounted. "We came back with M-14 and M-1 automatics. We exchanged gunfire with a car driving out of the palace. Rata-tat-tat."
The account by the gang leader, who didn't want his name used for fear of reprisals from the palace, underscores a growing concern among Western diplomats and human rights groups that the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is using armed groups to quash opposition.
For more than a century, Haitian autocrats have created personal armies in the slums to retain power. But many Haiti watchers find Aristide's apparent links to gangs a galling signal that the president, a former parish priest, is unwilling or unable to fulfill his pledge to bring democracy to the hemisphere's poorest nation.
Some gangs are starting to question or oppose the president, further destabilizing a nation that teeters on chaos, Western diplomats and human rights experts said. By supporting armed groups with an appetite for power, "Aristide has created a monster," one Western diplomat said.
Government officials adamantly deny any links to gangs and contend their accusers want to unseat Aristide, whom the United States restored to power three years after he was ousted in a 1991 coup. "If there are some vested interests who are arming popular groups in Haiti, it's not the government," said Prime Minister Yvon Neptune.
Aristide, who was elected on a platform of combatting poverty and corruption, has repeatedly deplored Haiti's violence and has launched a nationwide disarmament campaign, a spokeswoman said.
Haiti experts agree that Aristide's foes, including the main opposition bloc, the Democratic Convergence, exaggerate his collusion with gangs. They say some Democratic Convergence leaders also have armed thugs and note that violence here is fueled by many factors, including drug trafficking and the existence of Haitian army weapons that U.S. troops failed to seize when they disbanded the force in 1995.
Questions about the president's links to armed militants came to a head last month, when a gang known as the Cannibal Army freed its jailed leader, Amiot Metayer, during an anti-Aristide rampage in the western city of Gonaives.
The Cannibal Army had supported Aristide until July, when the government jailed Metayer on charges of murdering an opposition politician's aide. Once freed, Metayer declared that government officials had previously given him arms and money and ordered him to attack the opposition. A few days later, Metayer retracted those statements, but many observers say they believe the president had bought back the gang leader's loyalty.
Human rights experts fear similar uprisings as splits widen within Aristide's party, the Lavalas Family. "In the worst-case scenario, there are enough arms circulating out there for this to become a situation similar to Colombia," where dozens of armed groups are waging civil war, said Merrie Archer of the New York-based National Coalition for Haitian Rights.
Already, "armed gangs supporting political activists or locally elected officials have been allowed to consolidate their presence and now constitute a serious challenge to the rule of law in the country," Amnesty International warned in a new report on Haiti.
In the Port-au-Prince slum of Cité Soleil, some gang members said they voluntarily defend Aristide. "When Convergence wants to gather or give press conferences, we go stop them," one said. But the gang leader who helped defend the palace on Dec. 17 said the government has compensated his group with no-show jobs and cash payments totalling $5,000.
The government calls the Dec. 17 attack a coup attempt. An Organization of American States report in July found no evidence of a coup plot, but said local officials and police had helped gangs in reprisal attacks that day on opposition buildings. "Arms were distributed by some government and party officials," the report said. "The attackers were transported in official vehicles and threatened to kill leaders of the political opposition parties."
The Cité Soleil gang leader said he still backs Aristide and shares the president's dream of helping Haiti's poor. However, he added bitterly, "When the government needs us, they send for us to put pressure on the street. But we don't get the support we need to improve the neighborhood."
A tour of the slum packed with 200,000 people illustrated his frustration. Tin hovels teetered on the banks of a river of stinking sewage and glowing chemical runoff. Children swam alongside pigs in garbage-strewn water off the wharf. Young, unemployed men idled near defaced murals of Aristide.
"People are losing hope. In my view, the militants who are still vocally supporting the government are in a minority," said another Cité Soleil gang member.
"We have the power to raise the population of Cité Soleil," the gang leader said. "And if Cité Soleil goes against Aristide, so will the other slums."
This news article appeared in Newsday, September 17, 2002.
Posted at 3:31 p.m., Monday, September 16, 2002
Accused longtime-rapist nearly endorses Massachusetts Democratic governational candidate, say many Boston's Haitian-Americans
By wehaitians.com Cambridge, Massachusetts, Sept.16 - If you can judge a candidate for public office by the person who endorses him or her, what would that say about Massachusetts governatorial candidate, Shannon P. O'Brien, who many in the Boston's Haitian-American community said was about to be endorsed by Frantz Kebreau, a self-declared Haitian community activist who during a recent political rally, in Mattapan (a section of Boston), was seen shaking hands with her - and, proudly so. Forget about Mr. Kebreau's endorsement during this governatorial campaign. Not even four years from now, when there will soon be another election for governor, in the State of Massachusetts.(special report)
Sadly, in the eyes of many Boston's Haitian-Americans, Mr. Kebreau, who always wears either a blue or black suit, apparently convincing many American politicians that he is the prominent community leader that he has long claimed to be, is now perceived to be more than a pariah that the belief is no candidates, including those running for local public offices, will ever want to be associated, either directly or indirectly, with him. There is a reason the for this. Mr. Kebreau was arrested by Lynn Police, on Sept. 5th, after his oldest daughter,17, told that city's law enforcement department "after raping me for several years he not long ago attempted to rape me at gunpoint after finally saying a big 'NO' to him."
A second reason why Mr. Kebreau's long anticipated arrest matters to many Boston's Haitian-Americans, according to the contents of relevant discussions in many Boston's Haitian restaurants and corner stores, is that he has also raped a younger daughter who recently moved in with him.
Mr. Kebreau, a 300-pound or so dark skinned man who heads an organization called "Haitian American Council Foundation," which address is 633 Washington Street, in the Boston's section of Dorchester, has long been known to Lynn Police. He has been held under secured lock and key at the Middleton jail since he was taken out of the circulation.
Mr. Kebreau's $2 million original bail has been ultimately reduced to $150,000, and some Haitian supporters who in the aftermath of his arrest quickly organized a fundraising failed to raise the cash needed to help him regain his liberty - at least temporarily. Why? if he is found to be guilty of the charges against him after a yet-not-to-be-scheduled-trial he will certainly thereafter be sentenced and ultimately confined in a penitentiary for a very, very longtime.
Too bad this news article about Mr. Kebreau has to be of this nature - yet, he is accused of raping his own daughters. A family tragedy. A Boston's Haitian-American tragedy. Our wish is that something like this does not recur in the hard working Boston Haitian-American community. The Lynn Items, a community newspaper no longer be afforded the opportunity to write about "Haitian father arrested for raping daughters."
| Peace Corps a haven for dot-com refugees |
| Bay Area recruits educated, idealistic, at turning point |
| By Joelle Tessler, Mercury News |
With an economic rebound nowhere in sight, some veterans of the dot-com bubble are abandoning the Bay Area for places as far afield as Haiti, Honduras and Ghana.
Their road to the Next Big Thing is the same one taken by a previous generation of idealistic young Americans: the Peace Corps. For some, the decision to serve is a rejection of the excesses of the Internet boom, a search for something more meaningful and profound.
For others, it's a personal response to last year's terrorist attacks, an attempt to build bridges to the developing world.
No matter what the reason, the Peace Corps is seeing a significant increase in applicants in the Bay Area -- many of them tech sector refugees. The Peace Corps received 379 applications from Bay Area residents for the 2002 fiscal year, ending this month. That's up nearly 12 percent from 339 applications in the 2000 fiscal year. Nationwide, applications this fiscal year are at 8,843, up 6 percent from 8,355 in fiscal 2000.
``Some of the applicants may be out of work and some may not, but these are people in transition,'' said Dennis McMahon, public affairs specialist in the Peace Corps' San Francisco office. ``So they are in a good place in their lives to do something like this.''
Tracey Lake is typical of the new Bay Area recruits: educated, idealistic and at a turning point. Lake, who holds an MBA from the University of Virginia, moved here from Philadelphia in late 1999 to head up marketing and sales for The Serious Collector, an online marketplace for art.
Nearly three years later, the company, which she co-founded with a business school classmate, is dead and Lake is out $100,000. Now, at age 40, she is making plans to rent out her house in Oakland, put her belongings in storage and sell her car. Lake will spend the next two years helping local officials in Honduras manage everything from garbage collection and sanitation to taxation and budgeting.
SIMPLIFYING LIFE
``I so much want to simplify my life,'' Lake said. ``When we pulled the plug on the company, it was very difficult for me. This was one of those great experiences in the school of life. I think of it as tuition and I have no regrets. But I'm tired of everything being at the inflated level it is.''
Peace Corps recruiters nationwide have noticed a jump in applications since President Bush called on Americans to volunteer in his State of the Union Address in January. But in the Bay Area, inquiries began to pick up back in spring 2001, coinciding with the dot-com collapse.
Applicants are searching for something more than just an escape from a grim job market, though. ``This is usually not the first time that they have thought about Peace Corps,'' noted Mona Nyandoro, a regional recruiter. During the boom years of the '90s, however, many jumped straight into the work world because the job opportunities were there. Now, the downturn has given them the flexibility to reclaim some of their youthful idealism -- and do something more meaningful with their lives.
For Jessica Hsu, who arrived in Haiti in March, joining the Peace Corps was a chance to escape all that was wrong with the dot-coms. Hsu, 27, spent 2 1/2 years at i-traffic, an online advertising firm bought by Agency.com in 1999. By the time she left her job as a project manager in the creative department in i-traffic's San Francisco office in early 2001, Hsu had become disillusioned with the industry. `
`I was very turned off from the world of dot-coms,'' she said. ``You had 23-year-olds making over six figures and there were three to four parties a night with open bars and tchotchkes galore. It was excessive. What we did seemed insignificant. I wanted to do something I felt passionate about.''
The Peace Corps covers housing, living and medical expenses for volunteers and provides a modest stipend. Still, it is a world away from the comforts of corporate America.
Today Hsu is living in Belladere, a town about 60 miles -- and a 4 1/2-hour drive -- from Port-au-Prince. Her current accommodations lack running water, a phone and reliable electricity. Hsu is working with a women's group on small business projects. She hopes to help the group market organic peanut butter.
The Peace Corps has been targeting disaffected tech workers such as Hsu, running ads in alternative newspapers and on the sides of buses with messages such as ``Upgrade your memories, download the world'' and ``Dot-com dot gone? Now it's time to network with the real world.''
CREATIVITY, FLEXIBILITY
McMahon explained that the organization is looking for applicants who can innovate and be flexible -- skills many dot-commers learned on the job. ``They are coming from a unique work setting, where creativity and the ability to think outside the box are at a premium,'' he said. ``We need creativity to think of new solutions to age-old problems.''
McMahon said that while the Peace Corps is best known for its low-tech work -- teaching farming methods or setting up schools -- it also seeks applicants with business experience, computer skills and other technical expertise.
Chris Pemberton, who at one time ran an Internet consulting firm, used his Peace Corps stint in the Kyrgyz Republic to help a local handicrafts cooperative set up shop online. Pemberton taught the group how to build a Web-based catalog -- at www.kyrgyzstyle.kg -- to display the wool rugs, wall hangings, slippers and other products made by its members. He then helped the cooperative sell the products through Eziba.com, an online handicraft store.
`The community learned how the Internet can be used for economic development,'' said Pemberton, 29, who returned to the United States in late 2000 and is now finishing an MBA at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.
Although many countries request Peace Corps volunteers with technical expertise, Nyandoro cautioned that applicants should be prepared to use their skills in more rudimentary ways than they do back home -- to set up a computer lab, help a small businesses digitize its files or simply teach people how to use the Internet, for instance.
Carl Strolle, who lives in San Francisco's Sunset district, wants to build on his experience to bring modern technology to an unwired part of the world. Strolle, 34, spent six years doing desktop publishing and Web site development for IDG, publisher of magazines such as Computerworld, before joining a friend's start-up in fall 1999. That start-up, eFrames.com, an online photo site, eventually merged with a Florida company and Strolle left in April.
Today, he is applying to the Peace Corps. Strolle hopes to go to West Africa, probably next summer. Among the projects that interest him: helping non-profit groups update their computer systems, working with a business to set up a Web site and teaching computer classes.
``Even if I'm just teaching people how to browse the Web, that's good enough,'' Strolle said. ``I don't need to be knee-deep in code.''
Contact Joelle Tessler at jtessler@sjmercury.com or (408) 920-5490.
This news article appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, September 16, 2002.
OAS resolution may not be solution
By Jane Regan, Latin America Press
Aid to Haiti is unfrozen, but corruption, protests and chaos remain.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 14 - After two years of political impasse that led to what Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide called an "aid embargo," on Sept. 4 the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) issued Resolution 822, giving the green light for 2003 elections and the resumption of foreign aid to the hemisphere's poorest nation.
The move came just days after another OAS body, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), condemned the Aristide government and expressed "profound concern" over the lack of respect for freedom of expression, the "fragility of the rule of law" and tolerance of armed "parallel structures."
Daily demonstrations indicate that Aristide's 19-month-old government has never been more fragile.
On the day of the OAS council vote, Haitian police killed about 40 goats and half a dozen cows belonging to peasants who had in closed down the southern town of Miragoâne with three days of anti-government protests during which police also shot and injured five people. Peasants were demanding water and that the national highway, which looks more like a riverbed, be repaired.
Six anti-government demonstrators were shot by government supporters in Gonaïves the same day.
Despite the IACHR's statement, the Permanent Council, citing a "potential humanitarian catastrophe," asked foreign donors to unblock the estimated US$500 million in loans and aid held up since questionable elections in May 2000, which pitted the governing Lavalas Family party against the Democratic Convergence coalition (LP, July 31, 2000). Since then, OAS Assistant Secretary General Luigi Einaudi and other officials have led more than 20 missions to Haiti, chaired hundreds of meetings and authored scores of draft accords.
Lavalas quickly applauded the OAS resolution and predicted a "relaunch" of the economy.
"It is a victory for Haiti, a victory for the Haitian people," Prime Minister Yvon Neptune said.
Most observers, however, see OAS Resolution 822 as anything but a solution. The 14-point document calls for a new, broad-based Provisional Electoral Council to be established within the next 60 days * which is likely to be difficult, when two years of negotiations have rarely gotten Lavalas and Convergence representatives into the same room * and a list of measures to "encourage confidence."
The list is long and could easily be too costly, both financially and politically. While the measures are not overtly quid pro quo, it appears that the aid and OAS approval for elections will only come after what Roger Noriega, the United States' OAS ambassador, called "concretizations." The European Union announced that its $350 million in aid will remain frozen until Lavalas fulfills all the obligations listed in the resolution.
Most potentially explosive is the call for the arrest of "authors or accomplices" of mob violence last Dec. 17 that led to the murder of a Convergence member and the looting and burning of Convergence party headquarters and two cultural institutions (LP, Dec. 31, 2001). A recent OAS report implicated a number of Lavalas party members and elected officials in the events (LP, Aug. 12, 2002).
So far, authorities have arrested only one person, Aristide supporter Amiot Métayer, who was liberated on Aug. 2 by his armed gang, known as the Cannibal Army (LP, Aug. 26, 2002). Métayer is now reported to be meeting with lawyers at a hideout about two blocks from a police station.
Most observers doubt that Aristide has the political strength to arrest him or other henchmen and officials.
Resolution 822 also calls for a disarmament program (although two previous "disarmaments" have had no effect), "a climate of security" and millions of dollars in reparations for victims of the Dec. 17 violence, a provision that David Lee, OAS special representative to Haiti, called "very important."
In addition, Aristide promised in July to reimburse tens of thousands of poor and middle-class Haitians who lost an estimated $200 million in a credit union pyramid scheme. State coffers fall far short, however, and the early September deadline passed with no payments made.
The pyramid crisis came after hundreds of "12-percent banks" * so called because they promised to pay interest of between 10 and 15 percent * sprang up last year after an anti-money laundering law went into effect and Aristide pronounced Haiti "a nation of cooperatives." For a time, depositors enjoyed high interest rates from the banks, which are suspected of having laundered drug money. The pyramid collapsed earlier this year, however, and many banks closed their doors or froze deposits.
Angry passbook holders have been demonstrating throughout the country. In the first week of September alone, they shut down the Léogane port, marched in Jérémie and Cap Haïtien, burned barricades on the island of La Gonâve, smashed windows of credit union vehicles and demonstrated at the US Embassy.
Most foreign aid money is in targeted loans. Even if it were not, however, it would not be enough to reimburse the victims of the pyramid scheme and the Dec. 17 attacks. And once the dollars start to flow, observers say, Aristide will no longer be able to pin the country's ills on the aid embargo.
Callers to radio shows also doubt that the money will improve the country's worsening social and economic situation, especially since the administration has been mired in corruption scandals since it took office. A recent Transparency International study ranked Haiti among the world's 20 most corrupt governments.
"The country is sliding into chaos," said Gérard Pierre-Charles, a Convergence leader and former Aristide ally. He and other politicians are skeptical that fair elections can be held or that Lavalas will fulfill the requirements of OAS Resolution 822.
"The fundamental crisis here has not been touched by the OAS resolution," said Elifet St. Pierre, general secretary of a coalition of Haitian human rights organizations.
The causes of government corruption and repression and the country's worsening social and economic situations have not been addressed, he said, adding that elections could not be held under such conditions.
"How will you reestablish a climate of confidence?" he asked. "People are more and more afraid of expressing themselves, of showing they disagree with Lavalas. And we have a totally discredited government. To accomplish everything in the resolution during the next 60 days, you need to have a certain amount of legitimacy."
* From Port-au-Prince, Jane Regan
Posted at 11:36 p.m., Saturday, September 14, 2002
| Haitian visitors discuss police-civilian relations in Miami |
| By Jenniffer Maloney |
| jmaloney@herald.com |
How do you punish a police officer who tortures a prisoner? How do you prevent police from holding a suspect longer than the law allows? How do you ensure that police enforce the law evenly in different ethnic neighborhoods?
These were among the questions that Haitian dignitaries asked Friday of people who will nominate members of the new Civilian Investigative Panel, which will act as a watchdog for the Miami Police Department.
The discussion focused on police-civilian relations.
''What we know of American police, we know from the movies,'' said Patrick Michel, who oversees negotiations between Haiti's government and its political opposition. ``So, being a movie man, I am an expert.''
It was a moment of levity in a serious discussion.
The Haitian representatives, who have spent the past three weeks touring the United States to learn about nonviolent conflict resolution, said they hope to implement the strategies they have learned to help their troubled nation.
''A trip like this gives me the opportunity to see how the life of people can be changed by what they want, how the state can change according to the will of the people,'' Michel said. ``That has enlightened my views of how a real democratic country functions.''
He and his colleagues -- including lawyers, judges, civil rights activists, journalists and teachers -- grilled panelists on the logistics of the Civilian Investigative Panel. The panel, which will investigate allegations of police misconduct, is being established in response to criticism of police shootings.
Police Major Carolyn Clarke responded to the question about police torturing suspects.
''Torture is not a part of our training,'' she said. ''Sometimes, when neutralizing a suspect, an officer might be a bit abusive'' -- but the officer could face consequences such as counseling sessions or criminal charges, she said.
The group's Miami itinerary included a visit to the elections department as it struggled to account for votes cast in Tuesday's election.
''They came at the wrong time,'' quipped Rosa O'Neill of the Miami Council for International Visitors, who helped organize the trip. ``But it's a good lesson for them to see that there is a system in place to solve these things.''
The delegates said their impression of the United States was not marred by the election controversy.
''I am particularly impressed by participation of citizens of the United States in all things that concern their country and their community,'' said Luc Dominique, a project manager for Catholic Relief Service.
Marie Nadia Charles, a human rights activist, said she is optimistic she and her colleagues can empower their people to resolve conflicts without violence.
''Human rights are violated daily in Haiti,'' she said. ``The government fails, the police fails. So we must count on civil society.''
''We have a saying,'' Charles added. ''Quand on vie, il y a d'espoir.''
``When we live, there is hope.'' Copyrigt The Miami Herald 2002. This news article appeared in the Miami Herald of September 14, 2002.
Posted at 6:12 p.m., Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Posted at 12:38 p.m., Friday 6, 2002 Haiti is urged to pay victims OAS spells out terms for aid
| By Nancy San Martin, The Miami Herald |
| sanmartin@herald.com |
PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Representatives of the Organization of American States on Thursday pressed Haiti's government to compensate victims of politically motivated attacks and to lay the groundwork for new elections. These steps are seen as keys to releasing international aid that could help lift the country out of an economic and political sinkhole. (Photograph)
''It will be very important for the government to pay reparations as fast as possible,'' OAS representative David Lee said during a news conference. ``This is a very big opportunity for the country.''
Lee warned that the broadened role of the OAS's 5-month-old ''Special Mission to Strengthen Democracy in Haiti'' will be to ''assist, keep an eye on and report'' on any progress made or setbacks that could again hamper the flow of international funds.
The OAS statement came a day after the 34 member states of the organization's Permanent Council approved a resolution that could lead to the release of hundreds of millions of dollars in economic aid. Haiti will get the money if it keeps promises to provide security, hold free and fair elections and allow political opponents a role in government.
Several critics of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have been the targets of mob attacks that have ended in at least 10 deaths and millions of dollars in property damage in various parts of the country.
Lee said the government's apparent willingness to compensate victims was not a recognition that it was at fault for the violent outbursts but ``simply an indication that the government needs to contribute to the establishment of serenity and security.''
Members of opposition groups remain unconvinced that a settlement is close at hand. They cite ineffective or nonexistent prosecution of lawbreakers, an absence of attempts to repair damage to homes or other property caused by mobs loyal to Aristide and an ensuing campaign of harassment and threats that has forced opponents, journalists and others to flee the country or go into hiding.
Although Lee said that two years of negotiations, more than 20 visits and several reports from the OAS have produced little, if any, movement in the political stalemate, he said international leaders hope the OAS resolution will prompt definitive results.
The 16-point resolution gives Aristide's government several specific stipulations, including the completion of a thorough inquiry into all politically motivated crimes and the compilation within two months of a report outlining action taken against suspects involved in a wave of violence following a Dec. 17 attack on the National Palace.
The resolution also calls for the ''formation of an autonomous, independent, credible and neutral'' electoral council within the next three months to monitor elections that are to take place next year.
The new elections are intended to rectify the disputed May 2000 election, which was swept by Aristide's Lavalas Family party and led to the current political deadlock.
A formula previously endorsed by the government and opposition would include at least five representatives from various political parties, including Lavalas and a multiparty opposition alliance, as well as a representative from the Conference of Bishops and the Protestant Federation of Haiti. (More news this week)
Posted at 12:08 a.m., Friday, September 6, 2002
20 dead, 100 injured in Haiti slum gang war
By Reuters
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters), Sept. 5 - At least 20 people were killed and up to 100 injured in a week of fighting between rival gangs in the Cite Soleil slum in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, private Radio Metropole reported on Thursday.
Haitian National Police officials were not available for comment, but residents confirmed the death toll and said dozens had been hurt in the violence.
The fighting began last week when a gang leader named Valentine was killed by rival gang members in a dispute over stolen firearms, residents said.
Hundreds of houses were set on fire and rival gangs engaged in battles with automatic weapons, residents said. Police fired tear gas and ammunition to quell the fighting over the weekend, but retreated when they were unable to stem the violence.
By Thursday, the disturbances had largely quieted in the sprawling seaside shantytown that houses some 200,000 people. But residents remained fearful.
"I love my life, and living like this is terrible," said 22-year-old resident Benson Louis. "We need to have peace and not so much fighting."
Gangs of young men have often been used by the government of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the opposition Democratic Convergence coalition as paid mobs to demonstrate and burn tires in the streets in times of political tension.
Aristide and the opposition have been locked in a two-year dispute over May 2000 legislative elections that his opponents contend were biased in favor of Aristide's party.
Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limitited
Haiti Repress Rights
By James Morisson, The Washington Times
Washington, Sept. 5 - Haiti is failing to meet its international obligations to protect free speech and guarantee an independent judiciary to investigate the murder of journalists, according to the Organization of American States.
Haitian reporters have accused supporters of authoritarian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of killing and harassing any journalist who investigates charges of government corruption.
"Freedom of expression means not only being able to express ideas and opinions but also the ability to do so without suffering arbitrary consequences or acts of intimidation," Eduardo A. Bertoni, an OAS human rights investigator, said in a report released this week.
The OAS yesterday also adopted a "strong message" that calls on Haiti to ensure free and fair elections next year.
In his report, Mr. Bertoni said he inquired into the cases of journalists Jean Dominique, killed in April 2000, and Brignol Lindor, murdered in December 2001.
Mr. Bertoni, special rapporteur for freedom of expression of the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, also investigated charges of intimidation against judges handling the murder cases.
"It is disturbing that those whose freedom of expression is curtailed cannot always rely on effective judicial protection to detect those responsible, put a stop to intimidation and ensure reparation for the damage done," Mr. Bertoni said.
He also reminded Mr. Aristide of his obligations under the American Convention on Human Rights to guarantee free speech and other civil liberties.
The OAS resolution expands the group's role in monitoring the political crisis in Haiti and calls on Mr. Aristide to guarantee a free and fair election.
"We have sent a strong message to the people of Haiti and to the international community that the [OAS] remains vitally engaged in promoting democracy, the rule of law and the prospect of a better life in Haiti," said Roger F. Noriega, U.S. ambassador to the OAS and chairman of the OAS Permanent Council.
"The resolution calls on the government of Haiti to fully comply with past OAS resolutions and to take further steps to ensure free and fair elections, end impunity and strengthen democracy."
Peter DeShazo, the deputy U.S. ambassador, announced that the United States will contribute an additional $500,000 to help fund the OAS Special Mission to Haiti because the organization must back up its words with action.
"Adopting this resolution does not resolve the political crisis in Haiti. Words can never do that," he said.
"Only concrete actions taken to implement the commitments and mandates set forth in this resolution can help resolve the crisis and put the country on the path to strengthening democracy." Copyright 2002 The WashingtonTimes
OAS Urges Haiti aid Resumption
By Michael Norton, Associated Press Writer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP), Sept. 5 - The Organization of American States has urged the resumption of blocked aid to Haiti, saying member countries are concerned about a possible "humanitarian disaster" in the hemisphere's poorest nation.
In a resolution approved by the OAS in Washington on Wednesday, the diplomatic organization backed the "normalization of economic cooperation between the government of Haiti and the international financial institutions" that froze hundreds of millions of dollars in aid after disputed 2000 elections.
"This is great news," Haitian Finance Minister Faubert Gustave said in the capital of Port-au-Prince, adding that he hopes international donors "will follow through."
The aid amounts to about $500 million, and includes about $150 million in low-interest loans from the Inter-American Development Bank, officials said.
The international community, including the United States and European countries, blocked aid to the government after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's party swept more than 80 percent of legislative and local seats in 2000 elections. The opposition charged the elections were rigged.
The OAS determined that winners were wrongly declared in seven Senate races that should have gone to a second round, and said aid would be frozen until the government and opposition agreed on new elections. OAS officials tried more than 20 times to broker an agreement, but failed. Haiti's chronically depressed economy, meanwhile, further declined.
The 34 members of the OAS Permanent Council unanimously backed the resolution, in which they urged Haiti and foreign donors to "resolve the technical and financial obstacles" to the restoration of aid.
They cited "the continuing deterioration of the socio-economic situation in Haiti ... and its potential for humanitarian disaster."
The OAS also urged the holding of new elections next year, and called for "the restoration of a climate of security."
Aristide's Lavalas Family party and the opposition alliance Convergence broke off talks on the holding of new elections after a Dec. 17 armed attack on the National Palace. At least 10 people were killed in the attack and subsequent violence.
U.S. representative Peter DeShazo said the U.S. government "reserves the right to make decisions on international financial institution projects in Haiti on the merits of each individual proposal."
This year's $55 million U.S. aid package to Haiti is being channeled through non-governmental organizations. The European Union has promised a five-year, $350 million aid package if the government and opposition agree on new elections.
"Lavalas and Convergence, as fellow Haitians, will continue their dialogue with mutual respect," Aristide said Wednesday after returning from the World Summit in South Africa.
He did not comment on the OAS resolution, but urged the opposition to resume talks.
Convergence refuses to negotiate with the government until Aristide supporters are disarmed and those accused of political violence are brought to justice.
"We never asked the OAS to block aid to Haiti," said Convergence spokesman Mischa Gaillard. "Let's hope the money from resumed aid will serve the people and not be diverted into the pockets of our corrupt rulers."
Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press.
Posted at 5:41 p.m., Wednesday, September 4, 2002 Organization of American State reports on tyrant Aristide and troubled Haiti
DEEPLY CONCERNED by the continuing political crisis in Haiti resulting from the elections of May 21, 2000; (An unusual photograph of tyrant Aristide)
HAVING CONSIDERED the extensive efforts by the OAS and CARICOM to contribute to resolution of that crisis and the numerous missions that these two organizations have dispatched to Haiti to facilitate agreement on a political accord, without having reached a satisfactory solution;
HAVING SEEN the Sixth Report of the Mission of the Organization of American States to Haiti on the OAS-CARICOM mission to Haiti from July 5 to 10, 2002 (CP/doc. 3625/02 corr. 3), headed by the Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Luigi Einaudi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saint Lucia, the Honorable Julian Hunte, in his capacity as CARICOM representative, and the Report of the Secretary General In Response to CP/INF. 4724/02 (CP/doc.3643/02 corr. 1);
HAVING NOTED in those documents the respective positions of the Government of Haiti and Convergence Democratique with regard to the Draft Initial Accord submitted by the OAS and CARICOM negotiators on June 12, 2002;
RECOGNIZING that Fanmi Lavalas and Convergence Democratique have agreed on the need for elections in 2003 and on the formation of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), as well as on its composition and on arrangements for appointment of its members, as set forth in the OAS Draft Initial Accord (Rev. 9) of June 12, 2002;
RECALLING resolutions CP/RES. 772 (1247/02) of August 4, 2000; CP/RES. 786 (1267/01) corr. 2, of March 19, 2001; AG/RES. 1831 (XXXI-O/01) of June 5, 2001; CP/RES. 806 (1303/02), corr. 1, of January 15, 2002; and AG/RES. 1841 (XXXII-O/01), of June 4, 2002;
TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION the steps the Government of Haiti has taken to comply with these resolutions, as stated in the Report of the Secretary General In Response to CP/INF. 4724/02 (CP/doc.3643/02 corr. 1);
BEARING IN MIND:
That the Special Mission of the Organization of American States to Strengthen Democracy in Haiti has been deployed and is pursuing its activities in accordance with resolution CP/RES. 806 (1303/02) corr. 1;
That the independent Commission of Inquiry has submitted its report on the events of December 17, 2001, and that the Government of Haiti has committed to implement the recommendations made in this report;
That on July 10, 2002, the Government of Haiti and the victims of the events of December 17, 2001, signed a protocol of agreement on the payment of reparations and that the Government of Haiti has committed itself to make payment to each victim based on procedures established by the OAS Advisory Council on Reparations;
That the Government of Haiti has proposed that free, fair and technically feasible legislative and local elections be held in the first half of 2003;
CONVINCED:
Of the need to normalize the functioning of democratic institutions in Haiti and to strengthen them, in keeping with the spirit and principles of the Charter of the OAS and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and that for this purpose the OAS will continue to use its good offices and resources;
That preparations must begin soon for free, fair and technically feasible legislative and local elections in 2003;
That dialogue and consensus-building measures are necessary to help guarantee a peaceful and democratic solution to the political crisis in Haiti;
REAFFIRMING:
That the Inter-American Democratic Charter proclaims that “the peoples of the Americas have a right to democracy and that their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it;” and that “essential elements of representative democracy include, inter alia, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, access to and the exercise of power in accordance with the rule of law, the holding of periodic, free, and fair elections based on secret balloting and universal suffrage as an expression of the sovereignty of the people, the pluralistic system of political parties and organizations, and the separation of powers and independence of the branches of government”;
That the Inter-American Democratic Charter also states that “democracy and social and economic development are interdependent and are mutually reinforcing” and that the “promotion and observance of economic, social, and cultural rights are inherently linked to integral development, equitable economic growth, and to the consolidation of democracy in the states of the Hemisphere”; and
DEEPLY CONCERNED by the continuing deterioration of the socioeconomic situation in Haiti, the ongoing suffering of the people, and its potential for humanitarian disaster and convinced that efforts must be made, as a matter of urgency, to alleviate these conditions;
RESOLVES:
1. To take note of the Sixth Report of the Mission of the Organization of American States to Haiti (CP/doc. 3625/02 corr. 3) concerning the joint OAS/CARICOM efforts to facilitate a solution to the political crisis in Haiti, and to thank the OAS Secretary General, the Assistant Secretary General and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saint Lucia in his capacity as Representative of CARICOM for their initiatives in this regard.
2. To take note of the report of the Commission of Inquiry and to thank the Commission and the Advisory Council on Reparations for their diligent efforts in contributing to a peaceful resolution of the political crisis in Haiti.
3. To welcome the Government of Haiti’s expressed commitment to implement the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry as well as the recommendations of the Advisory Council on Reparations, as reflected in the Accord signed by the Minister of Justice, Claimants and their Representatives on July 9, 2002, and to call on the Government of Haiti to do so as soon as possible.
4. To further welcome the Government of Haiti’s pledge to undertake additional confidence building measures, bearing in mind that some elements can be implemented more expeditiously than others and that additional financial and technical assistance may be necessary. These measures include:
a. To publish within 60 days of receipt of the Commission of Inquiry Report a report by the Minister of Justice on actions taken with respect to persons found to be implicated in the events of December 17, 2001 and subsequent days;
b. To strengthen its disarmament policies and programs and, in this regard, invite the active cooperation of the International Community, through the OAS Special Mission, in the development and implementation of a comprehensive disarmament program;
c. To implement, to the fullest extent of its lawful authority, all the Recommendations on Human Rights and the Press set forth in the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Events of December 17, 2001, and all other Recommendations in the Report that are, in whole or in part, directed to it.
5. To recognize, as noted in the report of the Secretary General of August 20, 2002 (CP/doc. 3643/02 corr. 1), the positive steps that the Government of Haiti has taken to date to implement Permanent Council resolution CP/RES. 806 (1303/02) corr. 1 and to support and urge it to implement fully all pending elements of that resolution as soon as possible, bearing in mind that some elements can be implemented more expeditiously than others and that additional financial and technical assistance may be necessary.
These include in particular:
a. The restoration of a climate of security;
b. The effective prosecution of any person, and dismissal, when appropriate, of any person found to be author of or accomplice in the violence of December 17, 2001, and subsequent days;
c. The completion of a thorough inquiry into all politically-motivated crimes;
d. Prompt reparation for organizations and individuals who suffered damages as a direct result of the violence of December 17, 2001.
6. To urge the Government of Haiti that, with a view to establishing the conditions for elections to be held in 2003, it renew efforts to ensure a climate of security and confidence within the parameters established in operative paragraph 5 of AG/RES. 1841 (XXXII-O/02), bearing in mind the need to strengthen independent police and judicial institutions as part of its renewed efforts to combat impunity as called for in paragraph 6 of AG/RES. 1841 (XXXII-O/02).
7. To reaffirm the importance of holding free, fair, and technically feasible legislative and local elections—on a date in 2003 to be established by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP)--in which all political parties can participate freely and securely. The conduct of these elections shall take into consideration the Government of Haiti’s constitutional electoral prerogatives and shall be in accordance with the process proposed by the OAS in the Draft Initial Accord (Rev. 9) of June 12, 2002, which includes:
a. The formation of an autonomous, independent, credible and neutral CEP) no later than two months after adoption of this resolution;
b. The establishment by the CEP, within the parameters of Haitian law and no later than 30 days after the formation of the CEP, of a Electoral Guarantees Commission (CGE), which shall be comprised of, inter alia, representatives of a national coordination body formed on the basis of experience of coordinating electoral observation in Haiti and of civil society organizations, and witnessed by representatives of electoral observation missions and the OAS Special Mission to Strengthen Democracy in Haiti ;
c. The monitoring by the CEP of the activities of the police in connection with the electoral process.
8. To further recognize the urgency of forming the CEP, in accordance with the process proposed by the OAS in the Draft Initial Accord (Rev. 9) of June 12, 2002, no later than two months after adoption of this resolution.
9. To offer the Government of Haiti, political parties, and civil society the support and technical assistance of the Organization of American States that is required to facilitate the process of forming the CEP and preparing for and holding these elections.
10. To encourage all Haitian parties to participate in all relevant aspects of those elections and in the electoral process leading up to it.
11. To support normalization of economic cooperation between the Government of Haiti and the international financial institutions and urge those parties to resolve the technical and financial obstacles that preclude such normalization.
12. To reaffirm the mandates of the Secretary General and the OAS Special Mission in accordance with AG/RES. 1841 (XXXII-O/02), AG/RES. 1831 (XXXI-O/01), and CP/RES. 806 (1303/02 corr. 1) and to instruct the Secretary General to strengthen further the Special OAS Mission to Haiti in order for it to support, monitor, and report on implementation of this and all other pertinent OAS resolutions and on commitments of the Government of Haiti, as set forth in these resolutions and in accordance with the agreement between the Government of Haiti and the OAS on the Special Mission to Strengthen Democracy in Haiti. These commitments include:
a. Strengthening of democratic institutions, including political parties, in order to guarantee a pluralistic political party system;
b. Formation of a new Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), in accordance with the process proposed by the OAS in the Draft Initial Accord (Rev. 9) of June 12, 2002, and all of the CEP’s activities;
c. Establishment by the CEP of an Electoral Guarantees Commission (CGE);
d. Development and implementation of a comprehensive disarmament program;
e. Promotion of a National Dialogue and Consensus Building between the Government of Haiti, all political parties, and Haitian civil society;
f. Professional development of an independent police institution, development of a security plan and creation of a climate of security for the 2003 elections;
13. The OAS Special Mission will also:
a. Support, monitor, and report on provision by the international community and the OAS of technical electoral assistance prior to and following the 2003 elections and on deployment of an electoral observation mission to observe all aspects of the electoral process;
b. Coordinate efforts of the international community to provide technical and financial electoral assistance, including electoral planning, technical assistance, security, and observation of the elections in 2003.
14. To call on the Secretary General to remain engaged in efforts to resolve the political crisis in Haiti, to follow the evolution of the situation, and to submit to the Permanent Council every two months detailed reports regarding the implementation of the present resolution.
15. To call on the international community to provide as a matter of urgency additional funds to the OAS Special Mission in order to help finance its economic, social and institutional strengthening programs for Haiti, with a view to discharging its additional responsibilities under this resolution.
16. To further call on the international community to provide technical and financial support for the elections in 2003, particularly by observing the pre-electoral formation and operation of the CEP and post-electoral operations, as well as the elections themselves. CP10180E01.DOC
Posted at 12:26 a.m., Wenesday, September 4, 2002
Tyrant Aristide's 'grand thievery' and Osama bin Laden's type terror
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