From: hrcoord@igc.apc.org (Human Rights Coordinator)
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Subject: HAITI: OAS MISSION TO MONITOR HUMAN
Date: 13 Sep 92 17:16:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700459:000:4793
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Sep 13 10:16:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: HAITI: OAS MISSION TO MONITOR HUMAN

/* Written 12:10 am  Sep 13, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Human Rights
Title: HAITI: OAS MISSION TO MONITOR HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION


port-au-prince, sep 10 (ips) -- the organization of american
states (oas) is scheduled to station a group of 18 observers in
haiti to monitor the human rights situation and the distribution
of humanitarian aid, sources in the haitian capital reported.

its main tasks will be to ''contribute to curbing the violence
and back the respect of the human rights of all haitians,''
francois benoit, foreign minister in the de facto regime of prime
minister march bazin, told journalists late wednesday.

he did not say when the mission would arrive.

the observers will also have to ''cooperate in the
distribution of humanitarian aid to the haitian people, evaluate
the progress made towards a political solution of the crisis and
study, from then on, the possibilities of modifying the terms of
the embargo,'' according to the foreign minister.

(the oas imposed an embargo on trade and economic relations
with haiti on oct. 8 last, in an effort to force a return to
democratic rule following the sep. 30, 1991 coup which toppled
president jean-bertrand aristide.)

benoit said two members of the group would be stationed in
each of haiti's nine departments (provinces).

there had been some doubt as to whether the mission, which the
oas had agreed to send to haiti months ago, would in fact be
dispatched to the troubled caribbean country, due to the reported
opposition of some sectors, including sections of the army, to
it.

both amnesty international and the u.s.-based lawyers'
committee for human rights had documented numerous cases of human
rights abuses by the haitian army in recent reports.

benoit declined to comment on the position of the army
vis-a-vis the stationing of the mission. responding to a
journalist who asked him a question to this effect, he said ''it
would be better to put that question to the armed forces of
haiti.''

''we are a government which has been given the mission of
negotiating, we are going to carry out this task,'' he added.

bazin's government was the product of an agreement in may
between the army, de facto president joseph nerette and the
speakers of the two houses of haiti's parliament. that agreement
had replaced an earlier oas-sponsored accord between the
parliamentary speakers and the aristide government, opposed by
nerette.

benoit said the haitian government had already agreed in
principle to the oas monitoring mission and that ''its number
could be increased only with the specific agreement of the
parties present in washington on sep. 1 through 4.'' (more)
----


benoit had met with fr. antoine adrien, the head of a
presidential commission formed by aristide to conduct dialogue
with political forces and interest groups, at an oas-brokered
meeting held in the hemispheric organization's washington
headquarters on sep. 1-4.

a member of adrien's commission who requested anonymity told
ips thursday that the monitors would be the first contingent of a
480-member mission that would be stationed throughout the haitian
territory.

benoit said that the oas' move to organize a meeting between
an aristide representative and an official of bazin's government
was a recognition of the political weight of the de facto regime.

''the fact that we were invited by the oas reflects the
perception which people abroad have of us as being one of the
actors on the haitian political scene, one of the actors who can
be reckoned with, who should be reckoned with,'' benoit added.

''the fact, too, that aristide designated someone to hold
talks with us on the country's political future constitutes, in
fact, a recognition of the need that exists for haitians to begin
talking and to come together to find a solution or solutions to
their problems,'' he said.

the de fact foreign minister also highlighted what he
described as ''the will of the parties to find a political
solution to the crisis and especially to exchange points of view
so as to complement each other in the national interest.''

meanwhile, apparently reassured by the prospect of the
presence of oas human rights observers in haiti, the presidential
commission is studing the possibility of organizing a national
congress.

the congress, which would bring together representatives of
all sectors, including the army and political parties, would
discuss a broad range of issues, including the question of human
rights, the commission member said. (end/ips/eo/ic/kb)
----