From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 27 Sep 92 09:21 PDT
Subject: HAITI: THE ORDEAL OF ABEL LOIS, A H
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700531:000:6146
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Sep 27 09:21:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: HAITI: THE ORDEAL OF ABEL LOIS, A H

/* Written 12:04 am  Sep 27, 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'.

Title: HAITI: THE ORDEAL OF ABEL LOIS, A HAITIAN REFUGEE //SERIES//


an inter press service feature

by marina gilbert

new york, sep 23 (ips) -- abel lois, a haitian refugee, came to
brooklyn after a long ordeal that brought him face to face with
death more than once. first, he was tortured by the haitian
police. later he fled haiti in a small fragile craft which
drifted aimlessly for days on the high seas.

like 45,000 other haitians, abel was rescued at sea by the
united states navy. but while many of his compatriots were
shipped back to haiti, abel lois ended up in the us military base
in guantanamo, cuba. he now lives in exile in new york along with
his cousins, but feels his life has been torn apart.

abel's troubles began on the morning after haiti's military
coup, on september 30, when president jean bertrand aristide was
overthrown. he recalls thinking ''the army again?'', and
wondering whether history just keeps repeating itself in an
endless cycle.

abel remembers leaving his house and wandering the streets of
port-au-prince trying to find out what had happened.'' i saw how
they killed people, how they shot at the injured who were being
ferried to hospital,'' he recalls.

though life in the haitian capital became a nightmare, abel
continued with his medical studies at the university and worked
as a security guard at the port.

this would-be pediatrician had long been involved in politics.
as a first year university student he participated in the
students' federation and was also a member of the op-17 group,
linked to president aristide.

in the wake of the military coup led by general raoul cedras
the prevailing atmosphere in the haitian capital was one of
menace and terror. the pier manager at the port was forced to go
into hiding because of his links with aristide.

on the night of february 14, abel was on guard duty at the
port when his new supervisor, accompanied by four soldiers,
approached him and began questioning him. ''i was blindfolded and
handcuffed. then they pushed me into a jeep and beat me until i
lay unconscious,'' abel recalls.

''i woke up in a field near the sugar refinery. they had
dumped me there, thinking i was dead. a man approached me and i
naively thought he was going to help me. but instead he took me
to jail where the nightmare continued with more torture.''

abel's political contacts helped him to get out of prison, but
his new-found freedom was no guarantee of safety. a few days
after returning home, he received a message ordering him to
present himself at his workplace urgently. (more/ips)
----


haiti: ordeal (2)

''there was no way out. i knew if i didn't go they would kill
me. when i arrived, the same officer who had blindfolded me
showed me a list of op-17 members, pressuring me to denounce them
and threatening me again.''

''i went over to a pier where a man was unloading something
from a boat. he began talking about trips. i knew people had been
escaping in small boats, but until then it hadn't crossed my mind
to leave haiti because i had a job and was studying.''

abel finally joined 122 other passengers on a rickety boat
into which they were crammed like sardines.

despite being an islander, abel lois had no experience of the
sea and could not swim. when the boat set sail, ''i covered my
face with my shirt so as not to see. because i had a fever i fell
into a deep sleep. i only woke up when the boat started to sink,''
he recalls.

the boat's mast had broken. fortunately, abel and his
companions were spotted by a us navy helicopter which notified
the coastguards. they were eventually picked up and taken to the
us military base in guantanamo, cuba, where they joined 12,000
other haitian refugees.

''the camp was divided into seven sections. i was in section
three, among those who had been accepted as refugees and were
waiting to be taken to miami. section one was full of people who
were going to be repatriated. and section seven was the prison.''

''ill-treatment was the norm at guantanamo. the officers would
rape the women. others would beat us or handcuff us when they
felt like it. nobody was exempt from these abuses, which were
very seldom reported outside the milityary base.''

''i spent a month there. from february 29 to march 31. i
wasn't afraid. the only thing that scared me was the thought of
being sent back to haiti, because i knew there would be reprisals.''

abel had no difficulty proving that he was a political
refugee. his skin was still covered in scars from the police
beating. after a quick interview with us immigration officials
and questions about his home, his family, his job and his
university studies, he was issued with a visa for miami.

it was then that his family discovered he was still alive.
''they thought i'd never return from work that day. and in a way
they were right.''

abel lois reached florida with the sum of 125 dollars given
him by the immigration authorities. although miami has a large
haitian community of half a million, abel headed for new york to
join his cousins who gave him welcome moral support. (more/ips)
----


haiti: ordeal (3)

''i'm forced to live here,'' abel says in creole. he has been
in the us for five months but speaks no english. however, this
corner of brooklyn has become like a district of port-au-prince
with its 200,000-strong haitian community.

''the community welcomed me with open arms,'' abel explains in
the church of st francis of assisi, where a haitian couple has
just been married, according to the rites and traditions of their
homeland.

but at times he feels homesick for his small island, far away
from the united states. (ends/ips/trd/sp or en/mg/oh/cg/92)
----

//attn editors: the above is part of a series of articles being
run by ips on the first anniversary of the military coup in haiti
last september 30//
----