|
SIGN, CIRCULATE and RETURN Open letter to Latin American governments which are part of the UN mission in Haiti
FOR THE SAFE RETURN OF HAITIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST LOVINSKY PIERRE–ANTOINE AND TO END VIOLENCE AND REPRESSION AGAINST THE HAITIAN PEOPLE.
We the undersigned residents of Latin America call upon our governments to urge UN and other security forces in Haiti to find and return Haitian human rights activist Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, abducted on 12 August 2007.
Further, we ask our governments not to participate in the UN occupation of Haiti and in this way help end the resulting violence and repression against the Haitian people. Their successful revolution in 1804 opened the way for the liberation of those enslaved throughout the Americas and directly aided South American Liberator Simón Bolivar by twice giving him refuge, and sending him home with ships and fighters. It is time to pay our debt.
NAME COUNTRY ORGANIZATION EMAIL
Write, call, email, fax your government asking them to account for their actions in Haiti and for what they are doing to find Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine.
In early 2005, Lieutenant-General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, commander of the UN Stabilization Forces in Haiti (MINUSTAH), testified at a congressional commission in Brazil that "we are under extreme pressure from the international community to use violence,” citing Canada, France and the United States.1
27 May 2008 Dear Friends,
On 12 August 2007, our dear friend and colleague Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine was abducted. He has not been seen since but we have good reason to believe that he is still alive, and we urge you to help us press for his safe return.
Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine is an advocate of those with least, especially single mothers and street children. He co-founded Fondasyon Trant Septanm for victims of the 1991 and 2004 coups against Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s first democratically elected president, beloved by the poor majority. Lovinsky is a member of Lavalas, the movement and party of President Aristide. Lovinsky was abducted after meeting with a US-Canadian human rights delegation visiting Haiti.
President Aristide (now exiled in South Africa) recently said of Lovinsky that if he were free today “his deep and bellowing voice would echo the demands of Haitians and the world’s poor for respect of the fundamental and human right to food and freedom from hunger.” US Congresswoman Maxine Waters said: “Lovinsky’s continued disappearance is, of course, a great personal tragedy, but it is also a great tragedy for the people of Haiti.”
Following the 2004 US coup against President Aristide (backed by Canada and France) the UN agreed to send troops into Haiti, legitimizing the coup and making themselves responsible for law and order there. Brazil heads MINUSTAH, the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti. While most international media and NGOs have praised their actions, residents of Haiti’s most impoverished areas as well as independent journalists have reported massacres and rapes committed with impunity by these very UN forces which claim to be protecting them. They say that the neighbourhoods, community churches and organizations, which were key to defeating the infamous Duvalier dictatorship and bringing Aristide to power, have been targeted. While some troops have been sent home following rape reports, none as far as we know have been prosecuted for their crimes. See: Kevin Pina’s film “We Must Kill the Bandits” www.teledyol.net, the Haiti Action Committee’s “What’s Going on in Haiti?” www.haitisolidarity.net, and articles in the Sunday Times Online Sri Lanka and Washington Post.
Brazil is not the only country taking part in this shameful and violent occupation. Countries contributing military personnel to the UN forces: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Jordan, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Spain, Sri Lanka, United States and Uruguay. Countries contributing police/civilian personnel: Argentina, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, DR Congo, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Grenada, Guinea, Jordan, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Senegal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Togo, Turkey, United States and Uruguay.2
It is mainly Latin American, African and Asian countries which have been drawn into this occupation. Even countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Spain and Uruguay whose governments have said they champion human rights are taking part. The Caribbean countries, with the exception of Grenada, are not involved – Venezuela and the Caricom countries refused to recognise the “provisional government” installed by the US after the coup, and Cuba has helped with doctors rather than soldiers.
The world owes a huge debt to the Haitian people. Their 1804 revolution was the first to overthrow slavery, making way for emancipation throughout the Americas and strengthening liberation movements everywhere. Haiti directly aided South American Liberator Simón Bolivar by twice giving him refuge, and sending him home with ships and fighters. The Haitians asked only that he worked to abolish slavery. (Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez acknowledged this when he visited Haiti in March 2007 after René Préval was elected president. Lovinsky was involved in organizing the visit and Chávez was enthusiastically received by the residents of Cité Soleil and other poor neighbourhoods.)
In 1825 France imposed a crippling debt, forcing Haiti to pay for its loss of slaves and costs incurred from the Haitian Revolution – these payments continued until after WWII. The US imposed coups, invasions and dictators. They killed thousands and forced many others into exile. A tiny Haitian elite has profited from sweatshops which exploit an impoverished population, and from the destruction of local farming to make way for imported US rice. With food price increases many now face starvation.
The people of Haiti have been betrayed by the governments of the countries they helped create. We cannot let them get away with this betrayal.
We have been holding a weekly vigil at the Brazilian embassy in London for five months asking for any information they may have about Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine. So far we have met a stony wall of silence and worse. Brazil clearly wants to wash its hands of this matter despite its prominent role in Haiti. Their human rights officer told us we were barking up the wrong tree and should ask the IMF or World Bank to put resources into reconstructing Haiti to prevent such things from happening again. Another officer told us that it was not up to them, they were “just doing their job”.
Vigils and other protests have also taken place in the US and in the Caribbean Region. Amnesty International has issued two urgent reports, over 2,100 people from around the world have signed a petition, and a growing list of prominent people worldwide have been calling for Lovinsky’s safe return, including: British Member of Parliament John McDonnell, US Congresswoman Maxine Waters, acclaimed actors Danny Glover, Vanessa Redgrave and Martin Sheen, Pax Christi International.
But the people of Haiti have never given up. Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, beloved father and community organiser, personifies their revolutionary resistance and determination. It is time to pay our debt.
We have been asking: “Brazil, why are you in Haiti?” Latin American trade unions, journalists and others are pressing their governments to withdraw their troops. Add your voice to ours. Protest about your government involvement in Haiti. Sign the statement above.
Issued by: Global Women Strike, Women of Colour in the Global Women’s Strike, Haiti Action Committee and Red Thread (Guyana)
More information from: www.globalwomenstrike.net www.haitisolidarity.net
NOTE 1. In early 2005, MINUSTAH force commander Lieutenant-General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira testified at a congressional commission in Brazil that "we are under extreme pressure from the international community to use violence,” citing Canada, France, and the United States. Later in the year, he resigned, and on 1 September 2005, was replaced by General Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar as force commander of MINUSTAH. On 7 January 2006, Bacellar was found dead in his hotel room. His interim replacement, Chilean General Eduardo Aldunate Hermann has been criticized for having been trained at the School of the Americas, and for having served in the brutal forces of Augusto Pinochet. In October 2005, the lawyer of the family of Carmelo Soria, a Spanish diplomat assassinated in 1976, lodged a request with the Chilean judicial system demanding that the General Eduardo Aldunate Herman be heard in the Soria case. According to former DINA agent Carlos Labarca Sanhueza's judicial testimony, General Herman was part of the Brigada Mulchén special DINA unit involved in Soria's assassination [33]. According to Carmelo Soria's daughter, General Herman was also involved in the assassination of DINA biochemist Eugenio Berrios, found dead in 1995. |