Haiti: Large Peaceful Demonstration for Aristide's Return
UN troops publicly guarded businesses' private property from the protesters. Two days before the demonstration, UN and government troops had done nothing while paramilitaries seized Aristide's home.
Moise Jean-Charles, founder of a local peasant movement called Movement of Milot Peasants (MPM) and popular mayor of the town of Milot, quietly joined the crowd to very loud joy as people realized his presence. He has been in hiding since Haitian police and UN troops invaded his home on June 14th. At least 700 political prisoners remain in jail in Haiti, even after the high-profile arrest and release of Father Gerard Jean-Juste. Father Jean-Juste gave a press conference in New York yesterday, December 17, and talked of one prisoner, Harold Severe, as an example of the many who must be reunited with their families. Marguerite Laurent of the Haitian Lawyers' Leadership Network, spoke to Jean-Juste by telephone and reported her conversation in an e-mail that day.
Harold Severe, the second assistant magistrate of Port-au-Prince under the constitutional Aristide/Preval government, was arrested at the Haitian airport on March 14, 2004, and charged with having participated in the events of December 5, 2003 at the University, where anti-Aristide demonstrators were allegedly injured. No formal evidence has been given or put on the record as to whether Harold Severe was present or committed any crimes.
"He is in prison, like many others, because of the official position he held in the overthrown Constitutional government," said Father Jean-Juste.
HIP quoted an unnamed organizer of the demonstration:
"Although we see the UN and the police allowing us to demonstrate peacefully today for the return of our president in Cap Haitien, we have no illusions that their role could turn repressive once again. Even though we are happy for their cooperation today, we cannot forget it was the same UN that stood by and allowed the police to kill unarmed demonstrators in the capital on September 30th. It is the same UN that has allowed the illegal government of Gerard Latortue to fill the prisons with Lavalas and has allowed the former military to return and kill us."
HIP and Haiti Action have pictures and more reporting on the event, which they helped enable by negotiating with the UN to allow the peaceful demonstration.)
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The "mainstream media's" deadly role
Submitted on December 19th, 2004 by George SalzmanThank you Ben for keeping on top of developments in Haiti. I'm all tied up trying to put together a piece tentatively titled, "Beheading America: an open letter to Alberto Giordano on the deadly corporate media" Initially it was to demonstrate the media's continuing attempt to insure the Bush second term by ignoring and/or scoffing at the extent of fraud and of the attempt of theft in the election, but in the meantime Gary Webb gave up the struggle.
So the fucking corporate media has taken his head, and is trying to take the head of the American people. I'm attempting to combine both instances that show the role of the "mainstream media" in one open letter, which is also a reply to Al's anguished piece on Gary Webb.
And then I came across your report here. When I clicked on the link you give to the Haiti Information Project (a very good link to follow), I came upon the following near the end: "Search The Web for any other story — with pictures that show they were actually there to get the real facts, not sittin on the veranda of some overrated hotel — that covered this newsworthy event. All credible reports stated that no other news media was there — even though it was a significant operation for the UN MINUSTAH troops. With all their resources, the corporate media is not providing you with real coverage in Haiti. (emphasis added)
The "mainstream media's" deadly role
Submitted on December 19th, 2004 by George SalzmanPolice killed 40 to 110 rebelling prisoners Dec 1
Submitted on December 20th, 2004 by Benjamin MelançonGeorge Salzman's highlighting that "the corporate media is not providing you with real coverage in Haiti" (see the above comment) is nearly 100 percent accurate. There is one person being published in the corporate media who is providing real coverage: Reed Lindsay, who (we are always quick to brag) is a Narco News J-school graduate and professor.
"Reed Lindsay is the only journalist to get into the Port-au-Prince prison since a riot three weeks ago," the Observer writes above the article, published Sunday, December 19.
Please, read the whole article.
Almost no prisoners have been convicted of a crime
Submitted on December 20th, 2004 by Benjamin MelançonAgain I urge all who have not read Lindsay's article in yesterday's Observer (the weekend edition of the United Kingdom's Guardian) to do so now.
NOTE: There does appear to be an editing error in the second-to-last paragraph, making a sentence nonsense. I e-mailed the Observor to let them know:
Lindsay's Haiti prison report: impact and update
Submitted on December 22nd, 2004 by Benjamin MelançonI do not know of any U.S. papers that have picked up this critical story. Nevertheless, the article is already having an impact. Reed Lindsay's article prodded Amnesty International out of its shamefully muted and infrequent notes regarding Haiti.
The well-established human rights organization issued by e-mail on December 20 an "Amnesty International Alert on Prison Killings," passed to me by Margurite Laurent of the Hatian Lawyers Leadership Council (HLLC). The alert does not appear to be on-line at the Amnesty web site.
The alert is clearly based on Lindsay's article, though it does not credit him. The HLLC did make the connection.
The Amnesty International alert continued with a requested action:
Marguerite Laurent added: