From: Florence Steele <fs%uva.pcmail.Virginia.EDU@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
Subject: Re: Haiti: Carter says US Policy is Racist
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Resent-From: "Rich Winkel" <MATHRICH@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 20:31:42 GMT

I WOULD LIKE TO SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING REPORT THAT I WROTE FOLLOWING A TRIP TO
HAITI AS A CIVILIAN OBSERVER THIS MONTH.  THANK YOU.
                 December 6, 1992

I travelled to Haiti on November 27th, 1992 as a member of a
Coalition for Civilian Observers delegation.  This is a report of
my activities during the six day period that I was in Haiti.  The
information contained in this preliminary report will be integrated
into the final report of the delegation.

The sun was shining brightly as we disembarked from the airplane in
Port-au-Prince and crossed the tarmac toward the terminal building.
A three piece band was playing Christmas carols to the beat of a
tropical drum.  The VIP's who arrived with us, including
Representative Stephen Solarz of New York were quickly whisked
through customs.

We were five white North Americans in the midst of a group of
mostly light-skinned middle class Haitians awaiting our turn behind
the yellow line of the customs checkpoint.  Twenty minutes later we
entered the terminal.  We were besieged by uniformed employees
offering to tote our bags through the terminal and out to the
parking lot.  I followed behind the man who had picked up my
suitcase.  We emerged from the terminal into the white heat of the
parking lot where we were greeted by a young man holding up a sign
with the name of our guesthouse hand-lettered on it.

The street was teeming with people and vehicles. I noticed a
colorfully decorated pickup truck especially adapted to carry
passengers.  The inside of the vehicle was tightly packed with
people and others were hanging precariously to the outside as it
careened down the road, dodging potholes.

We converged on the van belonging to the guesthouse.  The men who
had assisted with our bags waited in the company of a dozen others
who would have assisted and there been more bags to carry.  I
peeled off a one dollar bill from a stack that I had brought for
this purpose and gave it to the man who had carried my bag.
Immediately another man requested payment.  I thought that I had
seen him carrying the luggage of another member of our delegation,
so I gave him a dollar.  The first man grabbed for the bill as I
passed it to the second man.  Shouting and shoving followed.  I
became frightened and retreated to the relative safety of the van.
An extremely thin woman tapped on the window near where I was
sitting.  it was impossible to tell how old she was.  I tried to
ignore her but she kept tapping.  As we pulled away someone else
opened the window and gave her a dollar.

There are very few fat people in Haiti.  Almost everyone has a
gaunt, guarded look as they go about their daily chores.  As we
sped through the city streets, many women were carrying plastic
tubs filled with various goods on their heads.  There were wooden
carts filled with sugar cane and men laboring to pull heavy loads
of charcoal.  A few heavily-laden donkeys mingled in the dusty
streets dominated by humanity and motor vehicles.

The guesthouse appeared like an oasis at the top of a hill.  Its
wide courtyard and broad verandas were in sharp contrast the
crowded, dusty streets outside the barred gate.  Our host greeted
us and showed us to our rooms.  From my room, I could see a wide
panorama of the city, ending in the blue, shimmering sea.  A few
hours later, the golden light of sunset gave a surrealistic glow to
the entire scene.

The evening of our first day our delegation met with a visitor who
oriented us to the political situation in Haiti today.  Fifteen
months after a military coup overthrew President Jean-Betrand
Aristide, an atmosphere of uneasy tension prevails in the capital.
The situation still has not "normalized".  In a tradition of armed
insurrection against slaveholders known as "maroonage", the people
await an opportunity, then attack and retreat.  They are resisting
a military dictatorship and are demanding the return of their
democratically-elected president.  Out of a population of 7
million, 5,000 have been killed, with some reports as high as
10,000. There are reportedly 400,000 refugees in hiding within
their own island nation.

Students are a specific target of repression by the military
government.  Formerly, up to 25,000 graduated from high school or
"baccalaureate" each year.  Last year 40 students graduated.  The
young people who supported "lavalas" the cleansing reforms that
brought Aristide to power, no longer have hope for the future.
Religious and community leaders fear that retaliation, when it
comes, will be uncontrollable.

It was arranged that our delegation would travel to Cap Haitien, in
the Northern sector of Haiti on the following day.  Our mission
would be to observe the conditions there, and to hear testimony
from the community leaders and if possible, the victims of
political repression in the countryside.

Our visitor explained to us that Cap Haitien had been the scene of
severe repression.  There is a feeling of isolation in living under
a military dictatorship.  Houses have been burned and looted by the
army.  To avoid jail and torture people have to pay "fines" of $100
or $200, a fortune in Haiti.  To raise the money families often
have to sell their single cow or pig, their only means of support.

We were asked to question people in the countryside about receiving
"humanitarian aid", which the United States government claimed it
was sending.  The alleged supplies of food and medicine were
supposedly being administered by non-governmental organizations.

That afternoon we borrowed the van and drove to Cite Soleil, Port-
au-Prince's notorious urban ghetto.  The area is surrounded by the
sea on one side, an immense pile of refuse several blocks long on
the other, and bisected by open sewer canals and rubble strewn
streets.  Dwellings are constructed of insubstantial materials and
crowded into every available space.  A stench of human and animal
waste permeates the air.  There is no breeze in mid-morning.  The
sun is relentless.  Many of the children wore no clothing.  Within
moments of arrival our group was surrounded by scores of children.
One of them told me he was hungry.

Our second excursion that day was into  Petionville, a hillside
enclave of Haiti's elite urbanites.  The contrast to Cite Soleil
was disturbing.  White, terraced homes with cool green courtyards
appeared along the tree-lined road as we ascended the hill.  There
were houses under construction.  The streets were deserted, except
for an occasional Mercedes or BMW.  At the summit of the hill the
entire city lay spread out below us.  The slums and the dump were
visible, but the air was fragrant.

The next day we began our journey to Cap Haitien in the north.  In
a borrowed vehicle, we navigated through the city, past the
suburbs, into a countryside that was surprisingly green and lush.
As daylight faded, rice paddies and shining lakes appeared.
Between villages, people walked along the sides of the road
carrying market goods or driving cattle.  Two or three times we
stopped at military roadblocks, produced vehicle registration
papers and were allowed to continue. In darkness, we crossed a fog-
shrouded mountain range just before arriving at our destination.

Our hosts in Cap Haitien welcomed us warmly.  To protect them from
suspicion of harboring subversives, we were accommodated in two
separate locations.  Reunited after breakfast the next morning, we
were eager to begin our meetings with people from the surrounding
villages who had agreed to tell us their experiences.
The first meeting took place in a rural community building.  A
group of ten or twelve greeted us when we arrived and two others
arrived after the meeting had begun.  No photographs were taken. An
organizer of the meeting asked us to please be aware of the danger
involved for the Haitian participants.  The only other person
present was an interpreter.  We were seated facing each other in a
large circle, and alternating speakers related incidents to us.  A
summary of the testimony given, to the best of my memory and my
notes, follows.

"Two people were recently killed in Port-au-Prince.  Justin is the
name of one and Aleana is the mother of the other but his name is
not known.  (Note: I later learned that the victims names are
Justin Brezil and Wesner Luc.)  They are from the village of
Camcoq, 25 kilometers from Cap Haitien.  These were young men and
students studying philosophy.  They were members of a political
party that supports President Aristide.  The party is called
Konakom (the National Congress of Democratic Movements).  The two
men were seen getting into an unmarked car in Port-au-Prince.  They
were not seen again after that."

"People in the countryside are in hiding.  They cannot come out
right now.  They need much courage and it is hard to relate the
gospel to reality.  The military has the right of life and death
over the people.  We use the gospel for solidarity and we need
action by the international community right now.  Since the coup
there have been beatings, robberies, disappearances, and shootings.
Families cannot question the military."

"In a village called Ti Book Au Boin in the district of Margo, 120
houses were burned in August.  In September, in the same zone, 23
additional houses were burned by soldiers and the Section Chiefs.
Many people can't return to the village because they will be
arrested.  People there don't sleep in their houses at night
anymore.  They sleep outdoors."

A member of our delegation asked why that particular village was
chosen to be destroyed.

"The people there (Ti Book Au Boin) were highly organized.  They
had a coffee growers cooperative.  The Section Chief used to demand
money.  The people's cooperative refused to pay him.  Soldiers were
brought from a bigger town to destroy the village.  Jean Marie
Voltaire is the Section Chief responsible for burning the homes.
He is from Margo."

"Since the coup, base community leaders cannot meet.  They are in
hiding.  People must go to places were they are not known.  The
people in Ti Eglise (the people's church) are called communists."

"In the village of Limbe, a woman names Jocelyn Caje, a
representative for a base community, spent fourteen days in prison.
Then the soldiers made her go to other church members' houses to
identify them so they could be arrested.  She is now in hiding and
cannot return to Limbe."

"No one stays outside after dark.  When it's dark the military beat
people on the streets.  They beat people in the prison in Cap
Haitien and give them no food and no water.  When they have died or
are near death they put them in a sack and throw them out at the
foot of the mountain."

"First there was the coup against Aristide.  Then there was a coup
against the people who wanted change.  After he (Aristide) left,
they rounded up all his supporters in the parish."

We asked if the witness could give the names of the soldiers
involved.

"We don't know the names of the military.  They keep rotating them
from one place to another.  Haitians become a family so it is
necessary to rotate the military.  We are an occupied country with
the army against the people."

We asked if there were any cases of people leaving their villages
due to poverty.

"Most people leave because their lives are in danger, not due to
poverty.  No one left during the seven months that Aristide was in
power.  Politics is making this a poor country.  We need leaders
who can make the decisions to help the situation of poverty."

"In the village of Plaisance the military was responsible for
burning 60 houses.  They looked for the parish priest of that
village so they could kill him.  They wanted to kill him because he
sided with the people.  He is now in hiding.  There is a Macoute
(former member of Duvalier's secret police) in Limbe called
Matthieu who paid the military to arrest or shoot the priest, but
another military man who was a friend helped the priest to escape
just after the coup."

"They arrested a priest in Bas Limbe.  They tied his hands behind
his back and put him in prison for two days.  Another priest in Don
was stopped from saying mass and the army shot at his house.  Pere
Pascal in Baron was arrested and driven to prison.  He was released
several hours later.  Pere Marcel (a Belgian priest) was arrested
and later released."

Delegation: Are these people charged with any crime when they are
arrested?

"No."

Delegation: What would you like us to do to help you?

"Our people are resisting, but they can't act publicly.  We are
counting on pressure from your country.  Tell the newspapers what
is happening here.  Write to Clinton and tell him that if Aristide
is not brought back there will be a civil war.  The embargo is
causing people to suffer and there are holes in it."

Delegation: Should we work on strengthening the embargo or not?

"Yes.  And we don't want humanitarian aid because all humanitarian
aid is military aid.  It is aid to the military government.  You
(the United States) should try to stop people from being killed.
That is humanitarian aid."

At this time, the meeting ended and we left.

Later that afternoon we travelled to a another village.  A meeting
had been arranged at the site of a school. When we arrived classes
were momentarily disrupted for hundreds of uniformed school
children who crowded around us.  They enjoyed a brief, impromptu
school holiday before being sternly lectured and herded back to
class by their teacher.

A woman who is a community leader and lives near the village told
us her story.

"The young people here are not free to talk.  They must meet at 2AM
in a deserted area."

"Recently there was a parade in Cap Haitien of all the former
Macoutes and supporters of the government.  I was there and I saw
many people from this village in the parade.  They were ashamed
that I had seen them."

"There is an agricultural implements store that recently opened.
It is run by the government and sells items that were donated to
the people for humanitarian relief."

"The former Macoutes have all come back now. The church made a
mistake in preaching reconciliation after Duvalier left.  If they
had just preached justice instead, the Macoutes would not be back
now."

"Recently they ransacked a priest's house.  They destroyed his
typewriter.  The priest, Father Marcel, a Belgian, was arrested in
July of this year.  They said that he was a terrorist because he
had a starter pistol.  His arrest mobilized the religious
community.  Sixty-four nuns and priests formed a procession on the
sidewalks.  They walked two by two, heads bowed, praying in
silence, armed with rosaries.  They entered the Cathedral and when
they emerged they were greeted by fourteen soldiers armed with
weapons and teargas.  Father Marcel was held for 4 days at the
arsenal and then released to the Bishop who is a Macoute.  During
the past ten years things have become worse and worse in this
country.  And they continue to become worse.  When Aristide was
elected, the people celebrated.  There was joy, there were
decorations in the streets.  Now the people can't breathe."

The next day a very thin young man, 19 years old, who is in hiding,
met with us.  He is from Limbe.  He speaks about his own experience
and that of others in his village.

"The young people are in trouble.  They have been sleeping away
from home since the coup because of the Section Chief in the town.
Thirty-five young people are in hiding.  Life is hard.  We are
poor.  We go entire days without eating.  We are supporters of
Aristide and because of that we were organized in a small, base
community."

"After more than a year, I am still in hiding.  I have been
sleeping away from home, sleeping in the woods.  When I went home
to see my mother and to get clothes, the military beat me.  I was
able to run away and escape them.  Those in power now are thieves
and drug dealers.  All Haitians are people, even though they are
treated like dogs.  The people who are not in power are afraid to
live."

"I have not eaten today.  There are thirty-five others who have not
eaten today."

"The military was hoping that George Bush would win the election in
the United States.  Now they are encouraging people to take boats
to Miami so that Clinton will have trouble."

Delegation:  What happens to the refugees who are intercepted at
sea and returned to Haiti by the US Coast Guard?

"Most of them are in hiding.  They are refugees in their own
country.  500,000 people are in hiding.  Some were killed.  Three
professors that I know and their students are in hiding.  They were
in base communities at Holy Cross College.  The solution is that
Aristide should return."

At the conclusion of the session, we gave the man a gift of cash to
buy food for himself and others who are unable to return to their
homes.

Our next meeting was with a young man who told us about  repression
in the city of Cap Haitien. Like all our preceding meetings, this
one was held clandestinely and at considerable risk to the Haitian
participants.  This man is well known in the community.  He tries
to keep a low profile to avoid arrest.

"Right now there is a fear of the military.  You cannot go outdoors
after 10 or 10:30 at night.  They kill and beat people on the
streets.  Even at 5 AM last week, as I was returning from my job,
they stopped me to ask where I was coming from.  They still find
bodies in the streets here and in Port-au-Prince.  You would think
that with all soldiers on the streets there would be no robberies.
Last week the police were caught stealing from a house, by some
other police when the owner called for help."

"Young people cannot meet, they cannot talk.  If they hear
Aristide's name, people are beaten.  In the spring students at a
local high school spoke out against the director of the school and
against the army.  The school was closed and the police went in and
beat students.  'Long live Aristide and down with the army' was
written on the wall".

"On October 14th at 2 AM the police broke into a local house.  They
beat the occupants of the house who were strong supporters of
Aristide, with clubs."

"At the end of October or beginning of November an airplane flew
overhead and dropped pro-Aristide leaflets on the city.  The police
beat people who were picking up the leaflets."

Our witness then addressed himself to conditions inside the Cap
Haitien prison.

"Last week three prisoners died.  They died of hunger and sickness.
The families were not notified and the prison officials buried the
bodies.  There is a blackboard in front of the building that says
there are 84 prisoners inside, but the real population is about 140
or 150. "

"Last week 10 prisoners who were near death were released.  I saw
them at 11:30 PM that night.  I saw that they were near death.
They were covered with lice, scabies, and boils.  People on the
street gave them food and took them to the hospital."

"The prisoners are not given very much food or any water.  There is
a group outside that takes food to them twice a month and another
group that takes food once a month.  The prison only feeds them
every couple of days.  Last Saturday the prisoners were excited
about getting food from outside on Sunday."

"The prisoners are kept in a small room.  It is so crowded there
that it is impossible to lie down, so they must sleep stacked up.
It is very hot inside that room, about 100 degrees.  There is no
ventilation and only one small window with bars on it.  The
prisoners are covered with sweat.  They never can bathe.  They
never can exercise.  There is a single bucket for a toilet. Two
years ago when a group of volunteers brought them mats and other
gifts, they were allowed to accept them.  Now no one is allowed
inside to see them."

"We need help and a change in this country.  Things have reached a
disastrous point.  We need a better situation for our young people.
I want Haitians to help other Haitians.  I would like Aristide to
come back.  He is for the masses of people."

"There are two prisoners in the Cap Haitien prison who have been
there since the days of Baby Doc Duvalier.  Please contact an
international human rights organization and tell them about this."

On the final morning of our stay in Cap Haitien we had an interview
session with five Haitians.  Two represented the popular movement,
two were students, and one was a journalist.

The journalist spoke first.

"Since the coup the situation has been the same.  Young people are
in hiding in the woods.  Peasants can't go home because of the
Section Chiefs and army commanders.  They are arresting the
peasants and confiscating their goats."

Delegation: Can you give us specific places where this is
happening?

"The 6th section in Derroche, 3rd section in Limbe, Auboin, Port
Margo, and Campcoq."

"The peasants can't go home.  They can't work.  They are blocked
from their lives.  They are being arrested without warrants.
Justice means nothing.  The army is justice.  When they are
arrested they are made to pay $150 to $200, about one year's pay.
They have to sell animals to live.  This is like selling their
investments.  There are informers everywhere."

"In Cap Haitien prison people are sleeping on top of each other.
Forty-two people are ready to die.  We want an international
organization to look at this situation.  The board outside the
prison that tells how many people are inside is a lie.  There are
about 150 people in there."

"We have an expression, 'Pran La Rue' that means 'take to the
streets to fight back against oppression'.  We want to do that now
but we are beaten."

Next to speak were the students in the group.

"I am a student in Port-au-Prince in the Faculty of Communications
and Mass Media.  On the 30th of September, 1991, the coup left our
country in terror.  On November 12, 1991 the army came onto my
campus and arrested 150 students.  They were beaten and the women
were raped.  This year on November 12 we had a day of memory and
reflection and the military came again.  This time they arrested 8
students and 2 journalists.  They threatened a French journalist
but they did not go into a room where diplomats were meeting.
There was also an OAS (Organization of American States-the group
charged with providing civilian observers to monitor the human
rights situation in Haiti) representative in that room.  The army
even comes into our classrooms.  Sometimes they surround the school
and enter to beat students."

Delegation: Can you tell us where this has happened?

"It has happened at the Faculty of Communications and Mass Media
and the Toussaint Lycee, both in Port-au-Prince."

"The military sometimes come into our classes.  We cannot speak out
because they have guns.  Claude Museau, a student at Ecole Normal
(teacher's college), was beaten to death in June.  The people in
the University are fighting for freedom of speech and for the
people's choice in the last election.  It should be respected.  All
demonstrations in the University are to demand the rights of the
students to have free speech.  And so that Aristide and those
elected with him can return to the country.  The students are still
trying to win their rights.  There is no change in the situation.
According to the constitution there is a right to free speech.  We
want the army out of our University.  Please tell the international
community that our rights are not being respected."

A man who represents the popular movement spoke next.  He was
poorly dressed, very thin, and appeared to be about age forty.

"In Pont Hypolite we have a popular organization engaged in
resistance.  There is also a group of vagabonds there who are spies
for the military.  They were former Macoutes under Duvalier.  One
of these Macoutes named Ti Ko Yo patrols the streets at night.  He
comes out each night with a club.  When he sees someone he searches
them.  If you have money he steals it or he beats you.  This is
police sanctioned.  Everyone in the neighborhood has to flee this
'insoportable'.  That is all they can do.  We can't live with this
man.  Since the coup a lot of people have fled.  We need peace and
rest in our neighborhood.  We are asking for an end to this
situation."

Before the final witness had a chance to speak, the meeting was
interrupted by our host who told us that it was time to go to the
airport for our return to Port-au-Prince.  We said goodbye and
promised to tell international organizations about what is
happening in their communities.

Upon our return to Port-au-Prince we were eager to relate what the
Haitian people had told us regarding political repression and human
rights abuse, to a representative of the Organization of American
States (OAS), a group that is formally charged with monitoring
human rights.  We also sought an audience at the Human Rights
department of the Political Section of the United States Embassy.

We had no trouble obtaining an appointment with the OAS that same
day.  With considerable trouble we found the unmarked, second floor
office.  We were ushered into a room by Probyn Marsh, a Jamaican
who was cordial and told us that he had been a retired diplomat
when he was offered the assignment of Human Rights Observer in
Haiti.  Mr. Marsh suggested that our Haitian driver remain outside
in the hallway while we met, however we insisted that he join us.

We asked how many OAS observers were currently in Haiti.
"Eighteen", was the reply.

"Why only eighteen?", we asked.  The OAS had promised to send four
hundred civilian observers.

"The Haitian government will only permit us to have eighteen",
Marsh responded.

He dutifully noted the details of our report of conditions in Cap
Haitien on a blank sheet of paper.

Marsh told us that President Aristide was deposed because he made
too many political "mistakes" such as publicly firing a general who
was loyal to him.  For this reason, Marsh doubts that a restoration
of Aristide's democratically-elected government is feasible.

Attempting to set up an appointment with the Embassy of the United
States of America was a frustrating exercise.  One member of our
delegation was told that a meeting was impossible.  When I
telephoned later that afternoon and spoke to Lew Nigro in the
Political Section, I requested a meeting the next morning.  Mr.
Nigro refused my request saying that a meeting would be pointless
until we had a written report and he referred us to Ellen Cosgrove
who heads the Human Rights Office.  Ms. Cosgrove listened to my
details of human rights abuses and also advised that we forward a
written report to her.  She said that she was aware of the abuse in
Cap Haitien prison and said that conditions in the National
Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince were worse.

Later that same afternoon, Gary Becker, the member of our
delegation who had called the embassy earlier received a telephone
message advising us to come to the Embassy anytime after 7:30 AM
the following morning.

We arrived at the walled Embassy complex at 8:00 AM.  After being
screened and searched by guards and signing a visitor's book we
were asked to wait behind a barred gate while another guard tried
to locate the person who would meet with us.  After a few moments,
Ellen Cosgrove came out and spoke with us through the gate.  She
said that she was furious at the last "Pax Christi delegation" that
she had spoken with and that they had quoted her "off the record"
remarks in their report.  Consequently, she was refusing to meet
with us.

We left the country several hours later, without having given a
report of the human rights abuses that we had documented from
various parts of Haiti, to the responsible officials at the United
States Embassy.  I must conclude that the Embassy of the United
States of America in Haiti is off limits to its own citizens and
that Embassy personnel do not place a high priority on monitoring
human rights abuse.

As a footnote to the question of humanitarian aid, I note a brief
conversation that I had with a man on a metro train in Washington
DC.  I had first noticed this man in the departure lounge in the
Port-au-Prince airport.

"What did you do in Haiti?", I asked him.

"I work for AID".  (The Agency for International Development).

"And what is AID doing in Haiti?"

"They are distributing humanitarian aid through non-governmental
organizations like Care and Save the Children".

"Did you distribute any food this week?" I asked.

"No", he replied.  "The harbor was full and ships carrying the food
couldn't dock".

"What about the embargo?", I asked, surprised at his answer.

"There is no embargo", he replied with a shrug.







                              Florence Steele

Florence Steele
fs@UVA.PCMAIL.VIRGINIA.EDU
************************************************************************Trying
 to bury the truth is like trying to bury water.  It keeps seeping
out.
                    Jean Bertrand Aristide
**************************************************************************




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