ACTION ALERT

December 16, 2004

ACTION REQUESTED

Defend the Haitian People's Right to Protest


“We shot them, some of the them fell, others were injured, others ran away.”
-- Interim Prime Minister, Gerard Latortue, September 30, 2004

"The U.S remains committed to your effort ... We are with you all the way."
-- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, meeting with Latortue, December 1, 2004


On Thursday, December 16, supporters of exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide will again take to the streets throughout Haiti in large numbers, risking arrest and even death to commemorate the date Aristide was first elected president in 1990.

Haitians will march in spite of ongoing repression and the murder of several hundred people by authorities since September 30, 2004. On that date, (which marked the anniversary of the 1991 coup against Aristide), police shot into a large crowd of peaceful demonstrators, killing several people and accelerating the latest round of police repression.

On December 1, 2004 -- the very day Colin Powell met with the occupation government -- officers shot into a crowd of prisoners protesting abominable conditions and absence of due process, killing at least seven prisoners (with estimates ranging up to 60 or more).

In Haiti -- like in Iraq -- authorities often disappear bodies and refuse to release the names or numbers of victims, making it impossible to get an accurate count of the people killed.

FAX OR CALL Ambassador James Foley and UN Officials** in Haiti
with the following demands:
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1. Respect the democratic right to free expression. Protect the demonstrators on Thursday, December 16, 2004.

2. Stop the killings. Protest the ongoing repression since September 30 and the murder of unarmed prisoners on December 1, 2004.

3. Restore the constitutional government of President Aristide.

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U.S. Ambassador to Haiti: James B. Foley
PHONE: 011.509.223.4711
FAX: 011.509.223-9038 OR 011.509.223.1641
Or, State Department Haiti Desk, (Washington) - 202.647.2901

UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
PHONE: 011.509.244.9650.9660
FAX: 011.509.244.9366/67
Or, Office of General Secretary (New York) - 212.963.4879

** Kofi Annan's Special UN Envoy to Haiti: Mr. Juan Gabriel Valdes
** UN Military Commander in Haiti: Lt. General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira
** UN Human Rights Office in Haiti: Mahamane Cisse-Guoro

Please Fax the MINUSTAH office Attention to the 3 listed above. Better yet, send 3 separate letters addressing them individually.
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Contact Haiti Action Committee for more information:

www.haitiaction.org
haitiaction@yahoo.com
510.483.7481

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