Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti

Judge Dismisses Political Violence Charges
Against Jean-Claude Duvalier, Fight Not Over !!

Please go to “Haiti Action And Updates” at http://lindadorcenaforry.org/haiti-action-updates/ and add your name and support by clicking on the word “petition” a few lines down or on “Add My Name Now!” at the bottom of the page right after the letter!

Democrats and Republicans, editorial boards and city governments, Haitian Americans and all who care to save lives, help Haiti recover, and secure fair treatment are urging the White House to instruct DHS to create a Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program.

Sup­port­ers include Mass­a­chu­setts Gov­er­nor Deval Patrick, at least eleven U.S.Senators includ­ing all four from Massachusetts and Florida; at least 90 U.S.Representatives; ten major edi­to­ri­al boards; the U.S. Con­fer­ence of Mayors, Philadelphia’s City Coun­cil, etc.

Massachusetts State Representative Linda Dorcena Forry, who led the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus in urging this relief, now has created this excellent petition to the President on which she and we hope to obtain at least 5,000 signatures!

Please join this effort by adding your name to the petition and broadly distributing the link to all of your contacts and friends nationwide urging them to do the same!

It takes a minute and will send a pow­er­ful mes­sage to the White House that this is some­thing to do NOW!

Thanks in advance for helping Haiti and saving lives by quickly reuniting families!

For more infor­ma­tion con­tact IJDH Immi­gra­tion Pol­icy Coor­di­na­tor Steve Forester at steveforester@aol.com .

Click here for State Representative Dorcena Forry’s e-mail urging your help in securing the broadest possible signing and dissemination of this excellent petition!

Click here to examine the extensive nationwide support for this goal!

 

By Editorial Board, The Washington Post

HAITI’S JUSTICE SYSTEM, long an instrument of official impunity for the rich, powerful and well-connected, is busy whitewashing the human rights crimes committed under the country’s former dictator and “president for life,” Jean-Claude Duvalier.

On Monday, a Haitian magistrate cleared Mr. Duvalier, known as Baby Doc, of well-documented violations, including extra-judicial killings, torture and disappearances, during his bloody reign from 1971 to 1986. The magistrate, Carves Jean, said the statute of limitations blocked prosecution of the human rights crimes, and he ruled that Mr. Duvalier should face trial only on corruption charges.

The decision is a judicial travesty. It is a fist in the face of thousands of Haitian victims and a statement of contempt for international standards of justice, under which the country had a clear obligation to hold Mr. Duvalier to account. It makes clear that Haitian justice remains what it has been for decades: an oxymoron.

The ruling was made with the apparent blessing of President Michel Martelly, the former pop star who has traded his raunchy carnival act for dark suits and the formal bearing of public office.

A number of Mr. Martelly’s allies and ministers have close ties to the Duvalier dictatorship, and the president has devoted himself to airbrushing the old tyrant’s misdeeds since Mr. Duvalier, 60, surprised the world by returning to Haiti a year ago, after a 25-year exile in France. Mr. Martelly has included Mr. Duvalier at official functions, allowed him to ignore an order of house arrest and minimized the horrific crimes of the past. “It is part of the past,” Mr. Martelly told The Post’s William Booth last month. “We need to learn our lessons and move forward.”

In fact, by sweeping the Duvalier-era crimes under the rug, Haiti is assuring that they will fester, further polarizing a country profoundly, and often violently, divided by class, wealth and race.

It also blatantly ignores decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, to which Haiti is bound, which has repeatedly held that gross human rights violations are not covered by any statute of limitations or amnesty. As Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch has pointed out, Argentina, Chile, Peru and other countries continue to pursue equally old human rights cases — and in cases involving disappearances, the crime is ongoing since the victims’ fates are unknown.

The victims include hundreds of political prisoners tortured and sometimes lost in Fort Dimanche and two other notorious prisons collectively known as “the triangle of death.” They include those beaten and exiled for crossing Mr. Duvalier and his henchmen. And they include countless others subjected to arbitrary arrests, prolonged jailings and murders at the hands of security forces and shadowy militias loyal to Mr. Duvalier.

To excuse all that is to desecrate Haiti’s history and its people. Other governments — starting with the Obama administration, which has spoken meekly on Mr. Duvalier’s case — should demand justice.

See The Original Post :
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/duvaliers-exoneration-in-haiti-is-a-judicial-travesty/2012/01/31/gIQAeP6ziQ_story.html

If you would like more information about Jean-Claude Duvalier Prosecutions, please visit http://ijdh.org/projects/jean-claude-duvalier#News Articles

Published By. UN News Centre

The United Nations today voiced its concern at reports that former Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier may not face charges relating to the serious human rights violations that took place during his 15-year rule, while stressing that justice must be ensured for the victims.

Serious human rights violations, including torture, rape, and extrajudicial killings have been extensively documented by Haitian and international human rights organizations to have occurred in the country during his reign, stated a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

“The High Commissioner has consistently reminded Haiti of its absolute obligation to investigate these well-documented serious human rights violations and to prosecute those responsible for them,” Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva.

Human rights groups have long called for Mr. Duvalier to be arrested in relation to rights abuses carried out during his rule. The former president made a surprise return to Haiti in January 2011, after 25 years of exile in France and amidst a political crisis in his country.

Soon after Mr. Duvalier’s return, OHCHR offered Haitian authorities technical assistance for prosecuting crimes committed from 1971 to 1986 when he was in power.

Mr. Colville voiced concern about a string of reports quoting Haitian judicial officials as saying that Mr. Duvalier may only face charges of financial corruption rather than ones relating to human rights abuses during his time in power.

“We are extremely disappointed at reports that Mr. Duvalier may not be charged with any human rights crimes, despite numerous complaints by victims to the prosecutor,” he stated.

“It is clear under international law that there is no statute of limitations for such crimes, and the UN human rights office has provided technical assistance and legal advice stressing this point.”

Mr. Colville added that impunity for such serious crimes cannot be allowed to prevail.

“We urge the relevant authorities to ensure that justice is, belatedly, delivered to the many victims of human rights abuses committed under the government of Mr. Duvalier. There can be no true reconciliation and forgiveness without justice.”

Photo is taken By. Victoria Hazou
– Crowds outside the Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince after elections in 2011.
See The Original Post :  http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41082&Cr=&Cr1=

Published By Amnesty International

Haiti’s judicial authorities have dealt yet another blow to the victims of former leader Jean-Claude Duvalier, Amnesty International said today after the criminal case against the former “president-for-life” for grave human rights violations was dropped.

An investigating judge in Port-au-Prince yesterday announced that Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier will not stand trial for alleged crimes against humanity – including torture, disappearances and extrajudicial executions – but only for embezzlement of public funds committed during his rule between 1971 and 1986. The text of the judge’s decision has not been made public.

Jean-Claude Duvalier has been under investigation in Haiti since he returned from exile in France in January 2011, after a group of victims filed complaints accusing him of crimes against humanity as well as corruption and theft.

The victims can appeal the judge’s decision and Amnesty International has vowed to continue supporting their search for justice. from exile in France in January 2011, after a group of victims filed complaints accusing him of crimes against humanity as well as corruption and theft.

“The conclusion of the sham investigation into Duvalier is a disgrace and will further entrench impunity in Haiti. No serious effort was made to determine the truth despite the multiple complaints and abundant evidence about the crimes committed and the victims,” said Javier Zúñiga, Special Adviser at Amnesty International who researched the crimes of Jean-Claude Duvalier in the 1980s.

“The handful of victims that have been interviewed had been subjected to intimidation by Duvalier supporters and his lawyers. It is clear that the investigating judge left out invaluable evidence and decided not to interview all the victims that filed complaints. This is a dark day for Haiti and for justice.”

“Duvalier benefited from a safe haven in France for 25 years until he returned to Haiti, where the authorities have failed to hold him to account for the crimes under international law perpetrated by his subordinates while he was in power.”

In January 2011, Amnesty International submitted extensive documentation on the grave human rights violations committed under Duvalier, none of which was considered by the magistrate.

Under international law, torture, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and arbitrary arrests are considered crimes against humanity when committed as part of a systematic or widespread attack against the civilian population.

No statute of limitations may apply to crimes against humanity and the alleged perpetrators cannot benefit from amnesties, even in the case of former heads of state.

Amnesty International has expressed concern that the current Haitian government lacks the will to bring Duvalier to justice.

“Recent public statements from President Martelly hinted at pardoning Duvalier. This could amount to unacceptable pressure and interference with the investigation. Inviting Jean-Claude Duvalier to take part in public official ceremonies clearly showed that the government wanted to rehabilitate Duvalier instead of holding him to account,” said Javier Zúñiga.

“Haiti has failed to live up to its international obligations to investigate all allegations of crimes against humanity and bring their perpetrators to justice. Victims have been awaiting justice for more than 25 years, and today’s decision is a major setback to them and all Haitians. But this is not the end of the road – we will continue to support the victims at the appeal stage and in international instances if necessary.”

See the Original Post :
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/haiti-dropping-jean-claude-duvalier-case-disgrace-2012–01-31
If you would like more information about Jean-Claude Duvalier Prosecutions, please visit : http://ijdh.org/projects/jean-claude-duvalier#News Articles

Published By Human Rights Watch

(Washington, DC) – A Haitian judge’s decision to dismiss the case against former president-for-life Jean-Claude Duvalier for grave human rights violations ignores Haiti’s international obligation to prosecute such crimes, Human Rights Watch said today.

According to press reports, Investigative Judge Carvés Jean, following the recommendation of Haiti’s state prosecutor, ruled on January 30, 2012, that Duvalier should not stand trial for murder, assassination, and torture, or for extreme corruption under his rule. Jean ruled, however, that Duvalier could stand trial for misappropriation of public funds. Duvalier, who ruled Haiti from 1971 to 1986 and was known as Baby Doc, returned to the country on January 16, 2011, after nearly 25 years in exile. Within days of his return, he was charged with financial and human rights crimes.

“This wrong-headed decision, if upheld on appeal, would entrench Haiti’s culture of impunity by denying justice for Duvalier’s thousands of victims,” said Reed Brody, special counsel for Human Rights Watch. “Haiti has an obligation to its people to investigate and prosecute the grave violations of human rights under Duvalier’s rule.”

During Duvalier’s era, Haiti was marked by systematic human rights violations. Hundreds of political prisoners held in a network of prisons known as the “triangle of death” died from mistreatment or were victims of extrajudicial killings. Duvalier’s government repeatedly closed independent newspapers and radio stations. Journalists were beaten, in some cases tortured, jailed, and forced to leave the country.

Duvalier is also alleged to have embezzled between $300 million and $800 million of assets during his presidency.

A Human Rights Watch report, “Haiti’s Rendezvous With History: The Case of Jean-Claude Duvalier,”examined the legal and practical questions surrounding the case and concluded that Haiti had an obligation under international law to investigate and prosecute the grave violations of human rights under Duvalier’s rule. The report, published in April 2011, also addressed Haiti’s capacity to carry out the trial, the question of the statute of limitations, and Duvalier’s personal involvement in alleged criminal acts.

According to media reports, the order issued by Jean found that the statute of limitations could be invoked to prevent the case from going to trial. This ruling contravenes the decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, by whose judgments Haiti is legally bound. That court has held repeatedly that in light of states’ obligations to investigate and prosecute serious violations under the American Convention on Human Rights, neither statutes of limitations nor amnesty can be applied to gross human rights violations proscribed by international law.

Historical evidence reviewed by Human Rights Watch and included in its April 2011 report establishes that the crimes committed during Duvalier’s rule were within the context of a generalized or systematic attack against the civil population and should be recognized as grave violations of human rights under the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court for Human Rights. The victims’ lawyers are expected to appeal Jean’s ruling.

“The Duvalier trial could be the most important criminal case in Haitian history,” Brody said. “This ruling is another reminder that Haiti’s justice system has almost always been on the side of the powerful, no matter how gruesome or destructive their crimes. We hope that it will be overturned on appeal.”

See The Original Post : http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/31/haiti-duvalier-ruling-disappoints-justice
If you would like more information about Jean-Duvalier Prosecutions, please visit :
http://ijdh.org/projects/jean-claude-duvalier#News Articles

By Trenton Daniel, Associated Press 

Human rights groups harshly criticized a Haitian judge Monday after he recommended former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier face trial only on corruption charges — and not for rights abuses during his brutal 15-year rule.The organizations, both Haitian and foreign, said Investigative Magistrate Carves Jean ignored critical testimony that would’ve given weight to a prosecution of the once-feared ruler known as “Baby Doc” for crimes that include torture, false imprisonment and murder.

“The Haitian people deserve their day in court to prove Duvalier’s culpability, which is an essential part of any meaningful reconciliation process,” said William O’Neill, director of the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum.

Mario Joseph, a lawyer whose Haitian-run firm is representing some of the Duvalier regime’s victims, said the judge “made so many errors” that they compromised his pre-trial investigation. He said the judge disregarded testimony from eight people who wanted to file complaints alleging torture and false imprisonment.

Jean decided that Duvalier should go before a special court that handles relatively minor crimes. Duvalier, the former “president for life” who has been free to roam about the capital since his surprise return from exile last year, would face no more than five years in prison if convicted in that court.

Jean said the statute of limitations has run out on any human rights crimes committed during Duvalier’s 1971–86 regime but not on accusations of misappropriation of public funds. He did not explain his reasoning, although Duvalier is widely thought to have used money from the Haitian treasury to finance his life in exile.The judge declined to give reporters a copy of the 20-page order that he held in his hands in his office at the courthouse. The decision, based on a yearlong investigation, must first be reviewed by the attorney general as well as by Duvalier and the victims of his regime who filed complaints against the former leader, Jean said.

Duvalier’s lawyer, Reynold Georges, had argued that all charges should be dismissed, and he said he would appeal Jean’s finding as soon as he received the paperwork.

“We’re going to appeal that decision … and throw it in the garbage can,” Georges told The Associated Press. “I’m very sorry he did that — everybody will condemn this decision.”

Human Rights Watch, which has helped push for a trial, also called for an appeal — to overturn the judge’s decision against a trial on abuse charges.

“Those who were tortured under Duvalier, those whose loved ones were killed or simply disappeared, deserve better than this,” Reed Brody, counsel for Human Rights Watch, wrote in an e-mail. “This wrong-headed ruling must be overturned on appeal if Haitians are to believe that their justice system can work to investigate the worst crimes.”

Brody and O’Neill both argued the statute of limitations hasn’t expired on alleged rights violations because they wouldn’t take effect until the victims’ whereabouts or people who disappeared under the regime were identified.

O’Neill added that if the decision isn’t appealed, he hopes to see the case taken to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Last May, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights urged Haiti’s government to “investigate and punish those responsible for the numerous violations of the right to life and physical security.”

Amnesty International researcher Gerardo Ducos said he was puzzled by the judge’s findings, saying the “investigation was a sham and its conclusion a disgrace.” He said that only a handful of victims were interviewed and that there was no effort to collect testimony from victims and witnesses outside Haiti.

Others said Haiti has an obligation under international law to put Duvalier on trial.

“Just as courts in Chile and Argent in a have addressed past atrocities by their former military  dictators, Haiti’s courts are fully capable of bringing Duvalier to trial, and of seeking international support to do so, if needed,” said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative.

Duvalier has posed a challenge to Haiti since his return from 25 years in exile in France. Haiti has a weak judicial system, with little history of successfully prosecuting even simple crimes, and the government is preoccupied with reconstruction from the devastating January 2010 earthquake.

A majority of Haitians are now too young to have lived under Duvalier, who was only 19-years-old when he was tapped by his feared father, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvaler, to assume the presidency. But many still remember his government’s nightmarish prisons and violent special militia, known as the Tonton Macoute, which killed and tortured political opponents with impunity.

More than 20 victims filed complaints shortly after Duvalier’s return. Some were prominent Haitians, including Robert Duval, a former soccer star who said he was beaten and starved during his 17 months of captivity in the dreaded Fort Dimanche prison.On Monday, Duval said he was stunned when he was notified about the judge’s decision.

“I don’t understand how he could’ve done that,” Duval said by telephone. “If that’s the case, that’s an outrageous decision.”

Since its inception, the case has stumbled along. Prosecutors have been fired and the defendant has made few court appearances, despite pressure from advocacy groups saying a successful prosecution would mark a turning point for Haiti’s weak judiciary.

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Haiti said it was eager to see the case go to trial, but Western embassies in Port-au-Prince, including the United States, remained largely mum on the matter, saying it was up to the Haitian government.

Haitian President Michel Martelly gave mixed signals. Last week, the first-time politician recanted a suggestion from a day earlier that he might be open to a pardon for Duvalier, citing a need to end internal strife that has long dogged the country. Presidential adviser Damian Merlo said, “A Duvalier pardon is not part of the agenda.”

On Monday, Merlo declined to comment. Presidential spokesman Lucien Jura didn’t answer his cellphone.

The Martelly administration has made Duvalier critics uneasy by filling its ranks with former officials from the Duvalier era and grown children of members of the former dictator’s inner circle.

Since his return, Duvalier has traveled around the capital and countryside, hobnobbing with friends, dining at high-end restaurants and even attending a memorial service for the victims of the 2010 earthquake. Jean, the investigating magistrate, had threatened to arrest Duvalier this month because he was allegedly violating the terms of his release.

See The Original Post :
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/haiti-dictator-receive-judges-ruling-15472598 Photos are taken By. Ramon Espinosa

What:
The New England book launch of Tectonic Shifts: Haiti Since the Earthquake.  This new release offers a new narrative on Haiti — with over 40 essays by the voices of Haiti themselves – scholars, journalists and activists.
New England is also well-represented in this collection, including two essays from Boston Haitian Reporter editors — see Boston Globe piece.

WHO :
Manolia Charlotin, 
    Editor & Business Manager, Boston Haitian Reporter
Brian Concannon,  
    Director of the Institute of Justice & Democracy in Haiti
Valerie Kaussen, 
    Associate Professor, University of Missouri
Jane Regan, 
    Multimedia Journalist currently teaching journalism in Haiti
Mark Schuller, 
    Assistant Professor, York College (CUNY)
Patrick Sylvain, 
    Haitian Language & Culture Instructor, Brown University

When: Friday, February 3rd 6:30pm

Where: Starr Auditorium | Harvard Kennedy School of Government 79 John F. Kennedy Street (2nd floor of the Belfer Building — enter from Eliot st) Cambridge, MA 02138

RSVP: Visit Facebook or Email HGSEforHaiti@gmail.com
Download event Flyer (pdf): TectonicShifts_Boston_flyer 

 

By. New Internationalist Blog, newint.org, Featuring Nyan Storey,

Our current issue takes a look at Haiti two years after the 2010 earthquake. Phillip Wearne, author of its leading article, argues that Haiti’s disastrous humanitarian situation– and any solutions that we find to its problems– can only be understood in the context of its fascinating history. He argues that since Haiti’s revolution made it the first free country in the Americas, it has been the victim of a calculated and concerted effort by colonial powers to undermine the economy and impose foreign domination and that this effort continues today and needs to be stopped before any true progress can be made.

In part one of this special edition of the Radio NI podcast, Phillip joins Mario Joseph, Haiti’s leading civil and human rights lawyer, and Anne McConnell, coordinator of the Haiti Support Group. They will be talking to Nyan Storey about the historical context and root causes of the deprivation we see in Haiti today, and how they should be taken into account in the search for solutions. (In part two, they discuss the problems facing Haiti today, and the solutions available.)

Mario Joseph is the head of the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, Haiti’s leading organisation of Civil and Human Rights Lawyers. He was the chief prosecutor in the Raboteau Massacre trial in 2000, which led to the conviction of fifty-seven defendants, including the top military and paramilitary leadership of Haiti’s 1991–1994 de facto dictatorship. Mario and the BAI are now involved in litigation involving hundreds of cases of human rights abuses by powerful vested interests against poor and vulnerable people in Haiti.

This podcast will also be an opportunity for listeners to hear the rich and beautiful Haitian language, which is an oft-forgotten achievement of Haiti’s people, and just one part of the identity they forged as they became independent from colonising nations. This will give ordinary Haitians the opportunity to understand the podcast.

This Podcast was made possible by the Haiti Support Group, a leading international advocacy group for Haiti based in London, who have been fighting for the rights of the Haitian People for many years, and will continue to do so. To learn more about the HSG, go tohttp://www.haitisupportgroup.org/.

Download The Podcast: http://www.newint.org/blog/radio-ni/2012/01/27/haiti-historical-context-earthquake/podcast.mp3

See The Original Post:http://www.newint.org/blog/radio-ni/2012/01/27/haiti-historical-context-earthquake/

 

By. John A. Carroll, MD, pjstar.com

(Author’s Note: This article was very hard for me to write. My goal was to describe challenges on the ground “fighting the war on cholera” in rural Haiti. I also wanted to emphasize that to “win this war” we have to identify and try to minimize the political agendas regarding cholera. Cholera is much more than identifying dirty water sources, passing out aquatabs, providing oral rehydration solution, tents, and IV fluids. Only if transparency and honesty at all levels are added to traditional modern cholera care, do the poor Haitians in the mountains have a chance against this disease. It is up to us. jc)

When I studied cholera in medical school I didn’t think I would ever take care of anyone with this disease. The black and white photos in medical books of cholera patients always seemed to show some poor soul from Asia or somewhere faraway with his gaunt cheeks and sunken eyes staring nowhere.

And the medical books back then did not link cholera and the roles of social injustice and structural violence back then. And I doubt they do now.

But during the last 15 months I have seen more cholera than I would ever want to and I know now that my old medical books were not exaggerating what cholera does to a person.

Cholera kills lots of people around the world. The cholera bacteria makes a toxin that produces a secretory diarrhea that causes patients to lose incredible amounts of intestinal fluid and slip into shock. They lie in their vomit and stool and die unless they get intravenous rehydration quickly.

And now cholera is very close to home. It’s not in some far away place any more. Cholera is in Haiti.

Haiti has more cholera per capita than any country in the world. Since October, 2010 cholera has sickened 700,000 people and killed 7,000 of them. And these are only the cases we know about. Many more have died uncounted in the mountains of Haiti where about 60% of Haitians live.

Cholera is much more than just a toxic diarrhea that is killing people in all of Haiti’s 10 departments. There is much more involved.

Haiti’s geography is challenging, communication is poor, superstition is high, and corruption is great. Pledged money from the international community during the last two years is all too often never making it to the communities in Haiti with the greatest risk of cholera. It is stolen or is not being used properly to employ Haitians and help Haitians who need it the most.

To control cholera in Haiti there needs to be a multifaceted approach set up by experts but engaging local citizens to carry out some of the most important life-critical functions. Cholera has to be attacked from all sides. Expert knowledge, organization, money, and transparency are all needed. And from what I have seen here on the ground, there is a long ways to go.

The rainy season is approaching quickly. And that means clean water will mix with dirty water and the incidence of cholera will increase.

Since January 1, 2012 in the Pestel Commune of southern Haiti we have documented 126 people with cholera who we treated in small cholera tents or buildings set up in four mountain villages.

But Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) health officials who recently came to Pestel, said that there was not a problem with cholera in Pestel.

Denial and bad statistics do not help “put the lid” on this horrible cholera epidemic. You see cholera is a “political disease” here and obfuscation and lack of transparency are all part of the problem.

And can you imagine trying to keep a person alive who is losing almost all his body fluids in a tent that is over 100 degrees F inside? I know we are not offering them good basic clinical care in our make shift cholera tents. But it is all the rural Haitians have and it is the best we can do right now.

And we all like to place the “blame of cholera” on someone else.

The UN soldiers (MINUSTAH) unknowingly brought cholera to Haiti in October, 2010. And with the help of Haitian Sanco Company, the soldiers dumped their human waste into a little river that flowed into the central river in Haiti’s breadbasket, the Artibonite Valley.

Cholera was unleashed and started to kill people quickly as they stumbled or were carried to the hospital. Many patients did not make it to the hospital and died on the road.

Like any big organization, the UN denied that they could have been the culprits. Who would want to admit they were responsible for introducing a disease that would kill thousands of Haitians? The UN was supposed to be protecting Haitians.

Haitians are very afraid of cholera and are very angry that cholera is here to stay.

In December 2010 there were 45 murders here in southern Haiti of natural Haitian healers who the people presumed were practicing cholera-linked witchcraft. They were blamed and summarily stoned and hacked to death before their bodies were burned in the streets.

And poor Haitians are blamed all the time for using bad hygiene and “not washing their hands” or using latrines. But the problem is they often don’t have access to either.

During the last several weeks I have lived with very poor Haitians in the mountains of Pestel and I felt filthy. I didn’t take a real shower in 10 days. But I had fairly clean water to drink…which is a luxury that tens of thousands of Haitians surrounding me in the mountains do not have.

And if all of this doesn’t sound bad enough, some of the Haitian nurses staffing cholera treatment units in Pestel had not received a salary from the Haitian government since September, 2011. I would not think that would encourage their spirits. But these nurses came to work anyway. Taking good care of a sick cholera patient is difficult nursing work.

And these Haitian nurses make a grand total of 300 dollars US per month. Why were they not paid? The Haitian doctor in charge of the whole Pestel Commune was pleading that his nurses get paid.

And so we went to bat for the Haitian nurses at a “high level” and the salaries they were owed for the last three months were paid to them almost immediately. I wonder what the problem was?

And how about the Haitian hospital in the village of Pestel? It is a Haitian government hospital. And it is absolutely horrible. It is an embarrassment. There are five broken down beds serving about 80,000 people in the Pestel area. There are a couple of Haitian doctors and one Cuban doctor that staff the outpatient clinic at the hospital. The head doctor shook his head and showed me the ancient rusty green oxygen tanks that don’t function in the corner of the room where our newly admitted 58-year-old lady in florid heart failure died in front of us.

And the cholera tent is despicable at the Pestel hospital. I don’t have adequate words to describe its filth and the misery inside of it.

And even if I had “adequate words” to describe the misery on the ground in Pestel, I started to have uninvited visitors at night asking me where my documented permission was that stated I could work in Pestel. And I was told my posts on the internet needed to be read by the powers that be BEFORE I posted them. And I was told NOT to take more photographs.

So along with the poor Haitians who don’t wash their hands in clean water, the messenger in the mountains became a problem too.

With cholera in Haiti, someone always needs to be blamed.

Photo is taken By.  John Carroll — Eighty year old Cholera Patient, Pestel, Haiti.
See The Original Post : http://blogs.pjstar.com/haiti/2012/01/27/cholera-and-blame-in-rural-haiti/
If you want to learn more about the author, please visit : http://www.haitianhearts.org/index.html

By. Trenton Daviel, Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian President Michel Martelly on Friday backed off a suggestion from an interview a day earlier that he might be open to a pardon for former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. He said he meant only that he wanted an end to the internal conflict that has long afflicted his country.

Martelly, speaking in a radio interview in Dublin, said that “I never proposed to pardon” the dictator known as “Baby Doc,” who is under a judicial investigation for crimes committed during his brutal 15-year rule in the 1970s and 1980s. The judge is expected to rule soon on whether Duvalier will face trial on corruption and human rights charges.

A day earlier, The Associated Press interviewed Martelly on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and asked about the former dictator and the pending decision. The president suggested he had little appetite for a trial, saying reconciliation for his nation is more important than punishing Duvalier.

“My way of thinking is to create a situation where we rally everyone together and create peace and pardon people, to not forget about the past — because we need to learn from it — but to mainly think about the future,” he said.

Martelly added that any decision on a possible pardon would come only with “a consensus among all leaders, all political parties.“In the Friday interview with Ireland’s Newstalk FM, Martelly was asked by the host why he would pardon Duvalier. The president said he was misunderstood by the AP.

“When I mentioned reconciliation it has nothing to do with Duvalier,” he said. “Duvalier is a case where only the justice (system) can decide on it.”

He said that years of often violent struggle among the various factions in Haitian society have left the country in shambles and that the conflict has to end for there to be any progress in Haiti.

“The problem is the Haitian people fighting among themselves. So I mentioned my will to reconcile the Haitian people, not pardon Duvalier,” he said.

After the AP interview was broadcast and published, Martelly presidential adviser Damian Merlo faulted its tone but not the content, saying in an email that he “just wish you would have focused on the positive aspects of the interview and not make such a big deal about Duvalier.”

Asked about the issue Friday, Merlo responded in an email from Dublin: “A Duvalier pardon is not part of the agenda.”

Duvalier has posed a challenge to Haiti since his surprise return home in 2011 after 25 years in exile.

The country has a weak judicial system, with little history of successfully prosecuting even simple crimes, and the government is preoccupied with reconstruction from the devastating January 2010 earthquake. A majority of Haitians are now too young to have lived under Duvalier but many still remember his government’s nightmarish prisons and violent special militia, known as the Tonton Macoute, which killed and tortured political opponents with impunity.

Human rights groups have faulted the Haitian government for appearing to delay a decision in the Duvalier case and many older Haitians and Martelly opponents have expressed alarm that his government includes several people who worked in the administration of the former dictator.

Duvalier’s lawyers have argued that the statute of limitations for the crimes alleged against the former leader has expired and say their client can’t be charged for alleged crimes committed while he held office.

Martelly traveled to Dublin on Friday to attend “Irish Haiti Week,” an event organized by the Irish charity Haven, which is trying to raise money for earthquake recovery efforts. He also met with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny to discuss ways to build ties between Haiti and Ireland.

IJDH and BAI leverage our front-line human rights work by informing broader policy discussions that impact human rights in Haiti. Our writing brings the lessons we learn on the streets and in the courts of Haiti to the U.S. Congress, academia, activist and solidarity communities, the internet and the media.

We have had several important pieces published in the last month, including:

Op-Ed type advocacy pieces, such as:

• “Haiti Earthquake 2 Years Later: Homeland Security Has Failed Haitian Families” by IJDH Attorney Steve Forester; and

• “Nunca Mas, Never Again: U.S. and Latin America Should Support Prosecution of Haiti’s Duvalier” by Former BAI International Attorney, Jeena Shah; published online by the Americas Program of the Center for International Policy; and

Academic blog pieces, such as:

• “Two years after the earthquake, members of Haitian civil societywant human rights respected” by IJDH Attorney Nicole Phillips and collaborator Sara Paoletti of UPenn Law School in IntLawGrrls;

Law Review Articles, such as:

• “A Rights-Based Approach to Lawyering: Legal Empowerment as an Alternative to Legal Aid in Post-Disaster Haiti” by BAI/IJDH lawyers Meena Jagannath, Nicole Phillips and Jeena Shah, published in the Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights;

And book chapters, notably contributions by BAI/IJDH lawyers Mario Joseph, Jeena Shah and Nicole Phillips in the recently released:

• “Tectonic Shifts: What Haiti’s Massive Earthquake Exposed About the Country’s Past–and Tells Us About the Present.”

By. NYU Law, law.nyu.edu

High levels of sexual violence against women and girls in Haiti’s tent camps correlate with their inability to find adequatefood, clean water, and sanitation, according to a new report released today by NYU Law’sCenter for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) and Global Justice Clinic (GJC). Published just weeks after the two-year anniversary of the January 12, 2010 earthquake, the report reveals that in an alarming 14 percent of camp households surveyed, at least one person had been a victim of rape or sexual assault since the earthquake. (IDPs are “internally displaced persons” who were forced to flee their homes because of conflict or disaster but haven’t crossed international borders.) Fully 70 percent said they were more fearful of sexual violence since the earthquake.

The report, which is entitled “Yon Je Louvri: Reducing Vulnerability to Sexual Violence in Haiti’s IDP Camps,” was co-authored by Professor Margaret Satterthwaite ’99, a faculty director at CHRGJ; Justin Simeone, a scholar in residence at CHRGJ; Farrell Brody ’12; and Nikki Reisch ’12. “Our report proves what Haitian women’s groups have been saying since shortly after the earthquake: that women who have difficulty accessing the basic necessities of life, such as clean water, functioning latrines, and adequate food, are especially vulnerable to sexual violence,” said Satterthwaite. “Humanitarian best practices for preventing and responding to sexual violence need to be implemented immediately in Haiti’s remaining IDP camps. Simple measures like installing lighting in camps and locks in latrines must be coupled with long-term strategies for women’s economic empowerment.”

The study suggests that those most vulnerable to sexual violence are likely to be young and female, to reside in a household with three or fewer members, to have limited access to food, water, and sanitation, and to live in a camp without participatory and responsive governance structures.  “Many women and girls lost the family and community protections they had before the earthquake,” said Nikki Reisch ’12. Alongside this “Victim Profile,” the study presents a set of concrete recommendations about how the government of Haiti, the international community, and organizations providing relief and development assistance can reduce the vulnerabilities of those fitting the profile. Specifically, the study calls on the government of Haiti and its partners to provide IDPs who have been sexually assaulted in camps with free and immediate access to alternative shelter, medical services, and legal assistance; expand security patrols in and around camps and install lighting and locks in sanitation facilities in camps; prioritize creation of income-generating activities for women; ensure all IDPs have access to free or affordable clean water; and stop forced evictions of IDPs.

Satterthwaite is testifying on the study today before the Congressional Black Caucus. An article on the study has also been published in the new book Tectonic Shifts: Haiti Since the Earthquake, a collection of pieces about the political, social, and economic realities of post-earthquake Haiti.

See The Original Post: http://www.law.nyu.edu/news/SATTERTHWAITE_MARGARET_CHRGJ_GJC_HAITI_REPORT

 

Contacts:
Barbara Fallon, barbarafallonpr@gmail.com, (703) 489‑0880 or
Patricia Brooks, ActionAid, patricia.brooks@actionaid.org, (202) 351‑1757

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On Heels of Two-Year Commemoration of Haiti’s Earthquake,
U.S. Representatives, Haitian Delegation and NGOs Focus on Reconstruction,
U.S. Aid Efforts Jan. 23–25
Briefings to Examine Land and Housing, Cholera, Women, Accountability and a Just Reconstruction in Haiti

Washington, D.C. (Jan. 20, 2012) – The Haiti Advocacy Working Group (HAWG), comprised of leading U.S. organizations devoted to a fair and more effective reconstruction process in Haiti, is promoting a “Haiti Advocacy Week” Jan. 23–25 on Capitol Hill. The status of U.S. aid to Haiti will be fully examined as will signs of progress in the poorest country in the hemisphere. The Haitian government estimates that 316,000 people were lost in the Jan. 2010 earthquake.

Haitians, Haitian-Americans and Haitian development and human rights experts will bring their voice to Washington next week for the three days of briefings. They will be in sessions with HAWG members and government officials, sponsored by five Members of Congress: Representatives Yvette Clarke (NY), Barbara Lee (CA), Donald Payne (NJ), Maxine Waters (CA) and Frederica Wilson (FL). Additionally, there will be a reception in the Capitol Building (House Visitors Center 215), sponsored by HAWG, where Members of Congress, Haitian grassroots, civil society and Diaspora leaders will convene at 6:00 p.m. Monday.

“Haiti’s reconstruction process will only be a success when the Haitian government and international donors begin to listen to the real needs of the Haitian people,” said Pierre DouDou, National Coordinator of RENHASSA (Network for Food Sovereignty and Food Security), who works closely with ActionAid as a member of the growing “Je nan Je” or “Eye to Eye” land and housing rights platform. “Expert farmers must be involved in the reconstruction. Women’s groups. Poor people living in the camps. Only then will we start to see sustainable results.”

The briefings will include candid looks at gender-based violence, the cholera epidemic, aid accountability, land and housing, and democracy in Haiti. (Briefing schedule on pgs. 3–4.)

The delegation from Haiti will include 10 political and civil rights leaders, such as Antonal Mortime, director of the Haitian Human Rights Platform (POHDH) a coalition of nine Haitian human rights organizations advocating for victims in Port-au-Prince’s 1,300-plus refugee camps. Also in attendance will be Marie Ange Noel, coordinator of Women Decide (“Fanm Deside”), a Haitian NGO based in the southern city of Jacmel with more than 20 years experience in women’s health and human rights. Former Justice Minister Rene Magloire will also be part of the Haitian delegation.

More than two years after the devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010, conditions in Haiti remain dire. Today there are still over half a million displaced Haitians and the lack of food, clean water, and other necessities is an ongoing crisis throughout the country.  Cholera has claimed the lives of more than 6,700 Haitians and hospitalized more than a quarter of a million others. The ongoing plight of Haitians, their spirit of perseverance, and how Haitian grassroots and other civil society leaders are striving to create a more equitable Haiti will be examined at the briefings.

“The U.S. government has taken important steps in prioritizing the recovery and reconstruction process in Haiti, such as setting a clear housing strategy with quantifiable goals. Now, it must fully honor those commitments by meeting its number targets and supporting the Haitian government in its land reform and housing development efforts. Most importantly, this must be done through direct consultation with Haiti’s grassroots and civil society groups, listening to the people living in the camps, women’s groups and peasant movements in decentralized areas,” said Elise Young, Senior Policy Analyst, ActionAid USA.

HAWG has identified action items for all facets of the U.S. government that would help set a better course for U.S. involvement in Haiti, including:

• Secretary of State Clinton should publicly state her support for resolving Haiti’s many critical land issues in a way that prioritize the needs of vulnerable populations, and she should clearly oppose forced evictions.
• Support passage of the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act, S.1576, in the Senate, introduced by Sen. Mary Landrieu.
• Set and report on specific targets for each USAID Haiti project, to make sure a certain percentage of funds are used for local contracting and subcontracting and for Haitian labor.
• Expedite disbursement of the nearly $1.2 billion in approved but mostly undisbursed post-earthquake multi-lateral grants, prioritizing aid that benefits the most vulnerable. (The World Bank is Trustee of the multi-donor Haiti Reconstruction Fund).
• Co-sponsor and support passage of a Congressional House Resolution on Gender-Based Violence in Haiti, to be introduced by Rep. Frederica Wilson of Miami, FL, on January 23, 2012.

According to advocates, including Haitian women in the rebuilding process is very important. Another problem is unfair trade and agriculture restrictions, which have created severe food insecurity in Haiti. HAWG members are requesting that the U.S. government consult with and meet the needs of peasant farmers in the overall plans. They are also calling for the U.S. to support more aid accountability and prioritization in land and housing development.

“The Haiti Advocacy Working Group (HAWG) has sought to build relationships with Haitian organizations and ensure their voice reaches the halls of power in Washington,” said Ian Schwab, Associate Director, Advocacy at American Jewish World Service. “Through greater dialogue and partnership, the U.S. can ensure resources are maximized and their plans fit the needs of the Haitian people. The range of perspectives that will be presented this week only occurs when a diversity of people and organizations are committed to working together.”

The Haiti Action Working Group includes: ActionAid USA, Alternative Change/Chans Altenativ, American Jewish World Service, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Center for Gender and Refugee Studies-University of California Hasting College of Law, Church World Service, Environmental Justice Initiative for Haiti, Fonkoze USA, Gender Action, Grassroots International, Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, International Rescue Committee, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, Latin America Working Group, Li, Li, Li, Read, MADRE, Mennonite Central Committee U.S.-Washington Office, National Lawyers Guild-Environmental Justice Center, Oxfam America, Partners in Health, The Andora Project, The Haiti Fund at the Boston Foundation, TransAfrica Forum, United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, University of Miami School of Law-Human Rights Clinic.

Schedule & Panelists for Haiti Earthquake 2-Year Public Briefings
Jan. 23–25, 2012

Monday, January 23

4-6pm, House Rayburn Building — B-369 Briefing: Gender-Based Violence
Sponsors: Reps. Frederica Wilson, Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters.
Panelists: Marie Ange Noel, Fanm Deside
Emmania Duchard, Commission of Women Victims for Victims (KOFAVIV)
Marguerite Salomon, GCFV
Margaret L. Satterthwaite, NYU
Ambassador Melanie Verveer, State Dept (invited)

6-8pm, Capitol House Visitor Center — 215: Haiti Reception, sponsored by HAWG.

Tuesday, January 24

9am-10:30am, House Rayburn Gold Room Briefing: Cholera
Sponsors: Reps. Barbara Lee, Yvette Clarke, Donald Payne, Frederica Wilson,
Maxine Waters.
Panelists: Dr. Louise Ivers, Senior Health and Policy Advisor, Partners In Health
Ralph Ternier, Director, Community Health, Zanmi Lasante/Partners In Health
Jordon Tappero, Director, Health Systems, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
Dr. Mirta Roses, Director, Pan American Health Organization

Noon-2pm, House Rayburn – 2103 Briefing/Documentary: ‘Where did the money go?’
Sponsors: Reps. Yvette Clarke, Barbara Lee, Donald Payne.
Panelists: Mark Schuller, CUNY
Manolia Charlotin, Boston Haitian Reporter
Ben Smilowitz, Disaster Accountability Project
Michele Mitchell, News at 11
Mark Weisbrot, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
Nicole Lee, TransAfrica Forum

2-4pm, House Rayburn – 2103
Briefing: Land and Housing Rights
Sponsors: Reps. Barbara Lee, Frederica Wilson, Yvette Clarke, Donald Payne,
Maxine Waters.
Panelists: Pierre DouDou, Network for Food Sovereignty & Food Security (RENHASSA)
Colette Lespinasse, Support Group for Refugees and Repatriated Persons (GARR)
Atonal Mortime, , Haitian Human Rights Platform (POHDH)
Brian Concannon, Institute for Justice and Democracy (IJDH)
Dominique Toussaint, Mobilize for Haiti
Michelle Karshan, Li, Li, Li, Read

6:30–8:30pm: TransAfrica Forum and CEPR hosting book event for “Tectonics Shift: Haiti Since the Earthquake, at Busboys and Poets, 14th and V St NW

Wednesday, January 25

9:00am-10:30am, House Rayburn – 2103
Media room for interviews with Members, Haitian delegation, HAWG members.
Sponsors: Reps. Barbara Lee, Frederica Wilson, Yvette Clarke, Donald Payne,
Maxine Waters.

10:30am to 12:30pm, House Rayburn – 2456
Briefing: Who Runs Haiti? Governance, Political Power, and Democracy in Haiti
Sponsors: Reps. Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee.
Panelists: Thomas C. Adams, Haiti Special Coordinator, U.S. Department of State
Rene Magloire, USIPS, Previous Haitian Justice Minister
Brian Concannon, Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)
Mark Weisbrot, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
Peter Sollis, Inter-American Development Bank
Marguerite Salomon, Groupe Concertation des Femmes Victimes (GCFV)

For more info or to RSVP for the reception, email: hawgtwoyear@yahoo.com

To arrange an interview, please contact Barbara Fallon, (703) 489‑0880, barbarafallonpr@gmail.com

###

download original document: Haiti.mainPRESS RELEASE.FINAL.1.21.12.pdf

Published by. Zoelando.com

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) – Two leaders of human rights organizations have denounced pressure that is being put on justice officials handling the case of former President Jean-Claude Duvalier. The organizations say that those in power are trying to protect the former dictator who is accused of crimes against humanity by preventing the normal outcome of the investigation of his case.

The Executive Director of the National Network of Human Rights (RNDDH), Pierre Esperance, on Saturday denounced the pressure on the court by those in power to prevent the natural outcome of the investigation of the former dictator Jean Claude Duvalier’s case. The head of the RNDDH expresses doubts about the will of President Michel Martelly, to establish the rule of law in Haiti.

To Esperance, the very proof is that since his accession to the presidency, Martelly has strengthened the protection of the former dictator. In addition, the president invited Duvalier to official ceremonies, as he did for the January 12 commemoration of the second anniversary of the earthquake of January 12, 2010, “with the clear intention to rehabilitate him in the eyes of victims of the dictatorship.”

Mr. Esperance claims to have found that the President Martelly does not respect his promises made to fight impunity during the election campaign.

At last, the executive director of RNDDH is surprised that only since January 20, after many trips by the dictator throughout the country, that the investigating judge, Carves Jean, has decided to remind him of his house arrest.

On his side, the Head of the Platform of Haitian Organizations in Human Rights (POHDH), Anthonal Mortime, agrees with Mr. Esperance. Denouncing the fact that the deadline for issuance of the order of the judge is well over, he stressed that the protection given to the former dictator by the Martelly team has clearly impacted the work of Judge Jean.

Back in Haiti since January 16, 2011, Duvalier has since been placed on house arrest.

During his recent visit to Jacmel (Southeast), he even thanked the people for submitting to him some grievances, promising soon to meet their expectations.

See The Original Post :
http://www.zoelando.com/news/articles/community/2536-haiti-pressure-on-justice-by-power-to-protect-duvalier

By. Swoan Parker, Port-au-Prince Envoyé spécial, REUTERS

Une enfant haïtienne atteinte du choléra traitée dans un centre de soins de Médecins sans frontières (MSF), à Port-au-Prince, fin novembre 2011.

Probablement importée par des casques bleus népalais, la maladie a fait plus de 7 000 morts et infecté 520 000 personnes sur l’île d’Hispaniola

Environ 7 000 décès et plus de 520 000 personnes infectées en Haïti, plus de 360 morts en République dominicaine : apparue en octobre 2010, neuf mois après le tremblement de terre qui a dévasté Haïti, l’épidémie de choléra poursuit ses ravages sur l’île d’Hispaniola. Deux plaintes ont été déposées contre les Nations unies, accusées d’y avoir introduit la maladie.

Les deux plaintes s’appuient sur une étude de l’épidémiologiste français Renaud Piarroux, ” suggérant fortement ” que des casques bleus népalais ont introduit le choléra en Haïti. La première a été présentée par l’Institut pour la justice et la démocratie en Haïti et le Bureau des avocats internationaux, au nom de plus de 5 000 Haïtiens victimes de la maladie.

Ces ONG accusent l’ONU ” de multiples manquements, de négligence et d’indifférence “et réclament une indemnisation de 50 000 dollars (environ

39 000 euros) par malade et 100 000 dollars pour les familles des personnes décédées. Les avocats demandent des excuses publiques aux Nations unies, ainsi que le financement d’un programme d’assainissement, d’accès à l’eau potable et de soins médicaux.

” Nous avons déjà reçu plus de 3 000 personnes demandant des certificats médicaux attestant qu’elles ont été soignées pour le choléra “, calcule le chef de mission de MSF.” Nous avons le devoir éthique et juridique de les délivrer “, ajoute-t-il.

L’autre plainte a été déposée par la faculté de droit de l’université brésilienne de Santa Maria (Fadisma) auprès de la Commission interaméricaine des droits de l’homme. Elle demande à celle-ci de reconnaître la responsabilité de l’ONU ” pour la maladie et la mort de milliers d’Haïtiens et de Dominicains contaminés par la bactérie introduite en Haïti par les soldats népalais “.

Evoquant ” un génocide involontaire “, la Fadisma demande la création d’un fonds d’au moins 500 millions de dollars pour financer la santé publique en Haïti et l’évaluation, par des experts indépendants, ” du montant des réparations pour les dommages morauxet matériels en Haïti et en République dominicaine “.

” Les Nations unies ne peuvent échapper à leur responsabilité morale “, souligne Cristine Koehler Zanella, professeur de droit international à la Fadisma. ” Il est inacceptable qu’elles nient leur culpabilité en invoquant “une convergence de circonstances” “, ajoute-t-elle.

La première plainte a été transmise au service juridique de l’ONU. Quatre experts nommés par le secrétaire général des Nations unies ont conclu, en mai 2011, que l’épidémie avait été causée ” par la confluence de plusieurs circonstances et n’était pas due à l’action délibérée d’un groupe ou d’un individu “.

Sur le terrain, ” le choléra est à peu près sous contrôle en ce moment, mais nous craignons une reprise de l’épidémie avec la saison des pluies, à partir de mai “, prévient Romain Gitenet, chef de mission de Médecins sans frontières (MSF-France). Avec la brigade cubaine, forte de 800 médecins et infirmières, MSF a été en première ligne dans la lutte contre le choléra dès son apparition, dans la région de l’Artibonite.

Au cours des premiers mois, l’organisation non gouvernementale a pris en charge près de la moitié des malades et créé 90 centres de traitement du choléra (CTC) — médicalisés — et unités de traitement du choléra (UTC) — des structures plus légères — dans tout le pays. ” On a été surpris par la forte reprise de l’épidémie l’été dernier. Il était difficile de trouver des expatriés, alors en vacances ou mobilisés par les crises dans le monde arabe “, se souvient le chef de mission de MSF-France.

La plupart des CTC et UTC créés par MSF sont désormais gérés par le ministère haïtien de la santé et leur personnel rémunéré par la Banque interaméricaine de développement (BID). D’autres centres, comme celui de Tabarre (banlieue de la capitale, Port-au-Prince), qui compte 330 lits, sont en sommeil. ” Les équipements et les médicaments sont prépositionnés, nous sommes prêts à reprendre en cas de nouveau pic “, assure M. Gitenet.

Les zones rurales, difficiles d’accès, sont les plus vulnérables. ” Il faut parfois cinq heures de marche pour atteindre un centre de soins et, dans certaines localités du nord et du nord-ouest, le taux de létalité est monté jusqu’à 11 %, contre 1,4 % au plan national et 0,87 % dans les structures MSF “, souligne-t-il. Maladie bactérienne très contagieuse se manifestant par de violentes diarrhées et des vomissements, le choléra provoque une forte déshydratation qui peut tuer en quelques heures, si le patient n’est pas soumis à un traitement simple, à base de réhydratation et d’antibiotiques.

Des investissements massifs dans l’accès à l’eau potable et l’assainissement sont nécessaires pour éradiquer le choléra de l’île d’Hispaniola, a averti Mirta Roses, la directrice de l’Organisation panaméricaine de la santé. Lors d’une téléconférence, le 11 janvier, le montant de ces investissements a été estimé à 1,1 milliard de dollars.

Sinon, ” le choléra restera endémique pendant des décennies “, a mis en garde Kevin de Cock, directeur aux Centres américains pour la prévention et le contrôle des maladies. En attendant, les autorités ont annoncé un projet pilote de vaccination.

Jean-Michel Caroit

© Le Monde

By. Fran Quigley, AlterNet.org

Judging Duvalier has become an opportunity to send a message, but prosecuting old crimes in a neglected justice system has its challenges.

Myrtha Jean-Baptiste was thirteen years old the first time that Jean-Claude Duvalier’s army arrested her. In August, 1979, a special intelligence unit based out of the Casernes Dessalines barracks on the grounds of Haiti’s Presidential Palace burst into Jean-Baptiste’s family home in a Port-au-Prince neighborhood and seized her, along with her mother, sister, three brothers, and a brother-in-law.

The family crime was membership in the Haitian Christian Democrat Party which opposed Duvalier. Jean-Baptiste was interrogated and released, but the rest of her family stayed behind bars. Her brothers were held for over two years without ever going to court, and were beaten and tortured by army jailers until the young men bled from their ears. “When they came back, their bodies were broken,” Jean-Baptiste says. The brothers died within a few months after their release from prison. Jean-Baptiste herself was arrested again at age 15 and brought to the National Penitentiary, where she was held—also without trial—for one year and 21 days.

Stories like Jean-Baptiste’s were common in Haiti during Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier’s presidency from 1971 to 1986. After assuming control of the country at age 19 after the death of his father, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, the son followed in a bloody family tradition.  The Haitian military and the notorious paramilitary tonton macoutes created by the senior Duvalier squelched dissent by jailing, torturing, and killing hundreds of political opponents and journalists. Investigations by groups including Human Rights Watch show Jean-Claude Duvalier was fully aware of and supported the abuses committed under his command.

Newspapers and radio stations that dared to criticize the Duvalier government were shut down, and millions of dollars in government funds were diverted to Duvalier’s personal use. At one point in 1982, Duvalier’s own finance minister reported that $15 million per month in public funds was being directed to “extraordinary expenses,” including deposits to Duvalier’s personal Swiss bank account.  The finance minister was quickly fired, but increasing public outcry finally led to Duvalier fleeing into exile in 1986.

Twenty five years later, Myrtha Jean-Baptiste sits in the office of a human rights organization in Port-au-Prince recounting her memories from the era. Now a woman of 45, she has high cheekbones and wears a white lace blouse, but she is unsmiling and declines to be photographed. Her story gained renewed relevance on January 16, 2011, when Duvalier suddenly returned to Haiti. Although he has been charged with political and financial crimes and is periodically called in for questioning by an investigating judge, Duvalier enjoys a remarkably liberal definition of house arrest, meeting with political leaders and moving about the more expensive restaurants and clubs of Port-au-Prince. Jean-Baptiste is among many Duvalier-era victims who were stunned to learn that the former “President for Life” had dared to return to Haiti, and even more shocked to see that he remains a free man, with no trial set. “There is only one way to stop him,” she says in Creole. “Jije li.”

Judge him.

That is precisely the aim of the Haitian human rights organization Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, known as BAI. Along with its U.S.-based partner, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, BAI represents Jean-Baptiste and a group of other Duvalier-era victims who call themselves the Citizens Coalition for Prosecuting Duvalier. Employing the partie civile mechanism in the Haitian justice system, which allows crime victims to actively participate in the prosecution of an alleged criminal, the lawyers have filed several individual claims on behalf of Duvalier’s victims, and provided the investigating judge with piles of evidence of financial and political crimes.  “A Duvalier process and trial would mean so much for Haiti,” says attorney Mario Joseph, director of BAI. “It will help people believe in the system of justice if they see a defendant held accountable who stole our country’s money and killed and imprisoned people.”

Yet many within Haiti and in the international community believe Jean-Claude Duvalier will never be put on trial. Haiti’s president, Michel Martelly, elected in April of 2011, is on record supporting amnesty for Duvalier and has several former “Duvalierists” in his administration and circle of aides, including the former president’s 28-year-old son, Francois Nicolas Duvalier. Most Haitians alive today are too young to remember much about the Duvalier era, and some even look back nostalgically at a time when the desperately poor country may have seemed a little less poor. In a few spots around Port-au-Prince, one can see graffiti spray-painted on concrete walls: “JC Duvalier. Nou tann pou ou”—we are waiting for you. The message is one of welcome, not vengeance.

If not quite as welcoming, the Obama administration’s reaction to Duvalier’s return to Haiti contains no note of disapproval, despite the U.S. record of vigorous support for prosecution of human rights violators from Slobodan Milosevic to Saddam Hussein. While the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have called on Haiti to prosecute Duvalier, the U.S., which provided significant financial support to Duvalier during the Cold War, has remained silent. When Duvalier returned to Haiti, State Department spokesperson P.J. Crowley said “As to his [Duvalier’s] status in the country and what happens, this is a matter for the government of Haiti and the people of Haiti.”

One Capitol Hill official who agrees with the State Department stance defends the U.S. position. “People in Haiti need food, they need clean water, they need houses to live in,” the official said. “The new President needs a chance to succeed and our support in doing so. Wouldn’t you rather put U.S. pressure and resources into those essentials rather than a very difficult and complicated prosecution of someone who has not been in power for a quarter century?”

Brian Concannon, director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, says this view is short-sighted. “If you look at the long term, Haiti is never going to become a successful and prosperous country until we have the kind of accountability that the Duvalier trial would allow us to have.” Concannon says. “It is accountability for political violence crimes, and perhaps even more important, it is accountability for stealing the Haitian people’s money. And if the lesson is that Duvalier, who did not even try to hide how he stole government funds, is allowed to be going around to the fancy restaurants and clubs in Petionville (the wealthy suburb of Port-au-Prince where Duvalier now lives), that is a lesson to current officials that there are no consequences to stealing money.”

Human Rights Watch’s Reed Brody acknowledges the difficulty in prosecuting crimes that occurred decades ago, especially when that prosecution would be brought in a Haitian justice system weakened by neglect, underfunding, and the 2010 earthquake that destroyed so much infrastructure. But a Duvalier prosecution can be done, Brody insists, pointing to a previous Haiti prosecution also spurred by the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux that established a precedent for a leader to be held accountable for human rights abuses committed by others under his command. Plus, Brody says, there is plenty of international precedent for bringing a country leader to justice many years after the repression and corruption occurred. “Countries from Argentina to Uruguay to Bangladesh to Cambodia are prosecuting human rights crimes from decades ago,” he says. “There is no reason why Haiti cannot do the same.”

Raymond Davius hopes that is true. A broad-shouldered 55 year-old with a round face and receding gray hair, he leans out of his chair to mimic his hands being tied behind his ankles and a stick pushed between his legs and arms so that he is drawn into a ball, the preferred position for Duvalier’s army when they would beat him with a baton gayak, a two-foot long rod.  A former Haitian army officer, Davius left the forces in 1978 to join the same Christian Democrat party to which Myrtha Jean-Baptiste’s family belonged. He was seized by government officials soon after, the first in a series of arrests that would total seventeen in all, including imprisonment in the notorious Casernes Dessalines barracks and National Penitentiary. Davius was eventually able to escape to asylum in Venezuela. Now, he has some scars on his head from the beatings, but the deepest wounds are harder to see. “The effects of this are inside me all the time,” he says. The large man’s eyes fill as he talks about family and job troubles. “My comportment is not normal compared to other people, and I have problems in my life. People think I am crazy.”

He pauses to collect himself. “The problem is not as much about Duvalier himself as it is what he represents. If Haiti does not judge Duvalier, we have lost the opportunity to send a message to Haitian leaders who think they can kill whoever they want and steal whatever they want, and not be judged.

“We have a proverb in Creole: Si pa gen sitire pa ka gen vole.”

Translation: If there is no tolerance there would be no thieves.

See The Original Post :
http://www.alternet.org/world/153828/will_jean-claude_duvalier_ever_stand_trial_for_his_crimes_against_haiti_?page=entire
Photo Credit : Abirdie on Flicker

Filmed and Edited by. Nick Stratton, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) Intern

December 9, 2011

On Friday, December 9, 2011, victims of the cholera that United Nations (UN) troops introduced to Haiti demonstrated at the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) base in St. Marc to demand that the UN respond justly to the cholera epidemic.

The demonstration coincides with Human Rights Day 2011, the 63rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR enshrines people’s basic human rights, including the rights to life, health, and a just remedy for violations of these rights. The UDHR declares that these rights are “universal.” Cholera victims remind the UN that “universal” human rights belong to Haitians too.

See the original Youtube video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIjJeNhS8Bk
For more information, please visit: http://ijdh.org/cholera-litigation

By. O’Neill Institute, Oneillinstituteblog.org

In response to the second anniversary of Haiti’s January 12, 2010 earthquake, this post is the second in a four-part weekly series examining the implications of ongoing efforts to establish U.N. accountability for allegedly causing Haiti’s deadly cholera epidemic in the months following the events of January 12, 2010. This post was authored by O’Neill Institute Research Associate, J.P. Shuster, with support from O’Neill Institute Law Fellow, Ana Ayala.

Two years ago today, Haiti’s 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, as well as numerous cities across the impoverished Caribbean nation, and tragically redefined mass suffering in the Western Hemisphere. The quake – the largest trembler to hit the island of Hispaniola in over 200 years – caused the deaths of an estimated 100,000 to 230,000 people. It physically destroyed Haiti’s Presidential Palace, its Parliament, law courts, most of its ministerial and public administration buildings, and 50 hospitals and health centers. In total, the event directly affected the lives of 1.5 million people, or fifteen percent of the country’s population.

See The Full Text Of The Post: http://www.oneillinstituteblog.org/a-call-for-u-n-accountability-for-cholera-in-post-earthquake-haiti-part-ii-the-challenge-of-u-n-immunity/

Interview with Randall Robinson, Democracy Now!

On the second anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that killed roughly 300,000 people and left more than 1.5 million homeless, we speak with Randall Robinson, author of “An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President.” The United Nations estimates international donors gave Haiti over $1.6 billion in relief aid since the earthquake and more than $2 billion in recovery aid over the last two years. But critics say little of the funding made it directly to the Haitian people, instead going to international non-governmental organizations and private companies involved in the relief effort. “I’m not surprised that the reconstruction efforts are not going well,” Robinson says, “because I don’t think the United States, officially, ever wanted anything to go well in Haiti.” [includes rush transcript]

Randall Robinson, founder and past president of TransAfrica and a law professor at Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of several books, including An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President. His most recent book is Makeda, his second novel.

See The Original Post: http://www.democracynow.org/2012/1/13/2_years_after_devastating_earthquake_haitis