From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: Americas Watch condemns Haiti Forced Labor
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 02:35:33 GMT

/** reg.carib: 353.0 **/
** Topic: IPS: Rights of Haitians in DR viola **
** Written  6:19 am  Oct 12, 1992 by caribdesk in cdp:reg.carib **
From: Bob Thomson <caribdesk>
Subject: IPS: Rights of Haitians in DR violated

/* Written 12:28 am  Oct  8, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: RIGHTS GROUP DE" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Caribbean; Commodities
Title: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: RIGHTS GROUP DENOUNCES HAITIAN FORCED LABOUR

new york, oct 6 (ips) -- thousands of haitians are subjected to
conditions akin to slavery on sugar plantations in the dominican
republic only to be sent home in miserable conditions when each
sugar harvest ends, ''americas watch'' denounced tuesday.

in a report titled ''a problematic year: haitians in the
dominican republic,'' the u.s.- based human rights watchdog
organization charged that human rights violations continue to be
the norm on dominican sugar plantations.

it stated that, while the situation is not the same in all the
plantations run by the state sugar council (cea), in general
sugar harvesting is done practically with slave labour.

americas watch said that conditions on dominican plantations
underwent a change in 1991 following the military coup against
haitian president jean-bertrand aristide, which obliged thousands
of haitians to flee their country for fear of political
repression and to escape misery.

since the coup the cea no longer needs to send labour
recruiters to haiti at harvest time as it had done in previous
years.

the report, drawn up in collaboration with the committee of
haitian refugees in the united states, pointed out that the
immigrants are deported, at the end of each harvest. the argument
used is that they are not legal residents of the dominican
republic.

but this argument has never prevented the recruitment of
haitians along the border separating the two countries -- which
share the island of hispaniola -- when thousands of workers are
needed to cut sugarcane.

dominicans of haitian origin are also forced to work against
their will as canecutters. they are recruited by the army, which
arrests anyone who, by his colour or his features, looks haitian.

while the majority of haitians are of apparently pure african
origin, most dominicans are europeans or mulattoes and it is
usually easy to differentiate between dominican blacks and
haitians or haitian-dominicans (people born in the dominican
republic of haitian parents).

the report said that in some plantations the abuses are not as
widespread as in previous years. (more)
----


but in others, dominican soldiers and armed cea guards
continue restricting the freedom of movement of the cane
harvesters, either by locking them in the cea's administration
buildings or confiscating their property so as to compel them to
work.

some 6,000 haitians were summarily deported by the dominican
authorities between june and september 1991. these included
haitian-dominicans who, although dominican citizens by law, were
expelled for racial reasons.

americas watch said the u.s. government had refrained from
denouncing the human rights situation in dominican sugar
plantations so as to avoid dropping the dominican republic from
its generalized system of preferences (gsp)

u.s. law prohibits the granting of gsp benefits to countries
which violate workers' rights, for example by using forced
labour.

however, the dominican republic has the highest sugar import
quota on the u.s. market, accounting for 16.7 percent of u.s.
sugar imports.

americas watch admitted that for the 1992 harvest, the
dominican government introduced a few beneficial ''reforms,''
such as declaring child labour in sugar plantations illegal. and
recognizing sugar workers' unions. (end/ips/trd/so/mg-sfi/kb/92)
----


** End of text from cdp:reg.carib **

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