Demand a Stop to the killings in Site Soley, Bel Air, Martissant, Solino - stop killing of Haitian people by UN Troops
*

(Please send out appeals immediately. Ask that the UN stop their "Iron Fist Operations" on innocent civilians in Haiti. Haiti doesn't need heavy tanks, weaponry or war artillery but engineers, technicians - builders not destroyers. See our original Action Alert with Sample Letters & contact info.

HLLN Note - November, 2005: Experience these last 18-months and Haitian history with the US/Euro officials has proven that the UN, France, Canada and US officials are not responding because Haiti has none of Western powers as reliable allies (military, diplomatic or humanistic), so please, don't bother sending appeals only to the UN, their proxy or to US/Canada/France officials or US Embassy, please send appeals directly to human rights organizations and the people of these coup d'etat countries (People-to-People) and PRIMARILY to your media to help HLLN mobilize a people-to-people effort to stop the genocide and brutal occupation of Haiti. Flood your local, national and international media and human rights organization with your concerns about the re-enslavement of the people of Site Soley and Haiti. See, Media contact information. (For further info, See also, Join HLLN's People-to-People campaign to expose the lies of the International Community about Haiti, its people and resources: Demand the International coup d'etat supporting countries and enforcers, not President Rene Preval, set the political prisoners free, end the UN occupation, return Haitian assets.)

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UPDATED BACKGROUND INFO:

- Remembering July 6, 2005 and the UN massacre of innocent civilians from Site soley: Demand UN soldiers stop killing innocent Haitian civilians and brutalizing the Haitian public, Demand Justive for the UN Victims from Site Soley (also Apèl Pou Aksyon in Kreyol) by Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, Haitian Perspectives, June 28, 2006

- Brazilian general denies accusations of human rights violations in Haiti

- UN peacekeepers mount new anti-gang operation in capital , November, 2005
and Two Faced in Haiti by Justin Podur (defining UN as proxy force for US imperialism under guise of "peacekeeping" but conducting "anti-gang" operations originally defined as "disarmament" but solely on neighborhoods asking for return of US-oustered Constitutional government)*
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- Eyewitnesses Describe Massacre by UN Troops on Haitian People (Transcript - Democracy Now, July 11, 2005)

- Respected Community Leader, Drèd Wilme reported slaughtered by UN on July 6, 2005, Also Emmanuel Drèd Wilme, A Hero for the 21st Centurty go to:

-
- Haiti Action Committee condems UN massacre in Haiti, demands an end to the killing | July 10, 2005 | http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HAC/7_10_5.html

- Cite Soleil Community Turns Out En Masse For Funeral of Dread Wilme
Credible Estimates of Civilian Casualties during July 6th UN Military
Operation in Cite Soleil Continue to Mount | US Labor and Human Rights
Delegation July 9th, Port-au-Prince

- MINUSTHA is under fire from critics after the July 6th operation in Cite Soleil , AHP News | July 11, 2005

- The funeral of Dread Wilmé: there will always be more Wilmés as long as there is misery and exclusion, according to the participants | AHP News - July 11, 2005

- Carli Demands explanations from MINUSTHA and the Haitian Police regarding the July 6, 2005 operation in Cite Soleil |AHP - July 11 2005

- Labor delegation reports massacre in Port-au-Prince By G. Dunkel, Workers World - July 12, 2005

- Evidence mounts of a UN massacre in Haiti espected HIP, July 12, 2005 | For Photos go to: UN "peacekeepers" in Haiti accused of massacre, July 13, 2005

- Violence intensifies in Port au Prince, Haiti , July 13, 2005

- Final Delegation Report of UN Massacre at Cite Soleil - Growing Evidence of a Massacre by UN occupation forces in Port-au-Prince Neighborhood of Cite Soleil, July 12, 2005

- 5,000 in Haiti protest UN massacre in Cite Soleil, Kevin Pina interviews Georges Honorat
Flashpoints Radio July 14, 2005|

- HLLN's Open Letter Demanding a Stop to UN slaughter of Haitian civilians in Site soley , Haiti
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Eyewitnesses Describe Massacre by UN Troops on Haitian People

Please send appeals out immediately!
July 11, 2005

Drèd Wilme reported Killed, A Hero for the 21st century, go to:)
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Eyewitnesses Describe Massacre by UN Troops in Haiti
by Democracy Now! | July 11, 2005
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/11/1351253
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Eyewitnesses Describe Massacre by UN Troops in Haitian Slum
Download Show [mp3]: http://tinyurl.com/dnthq

Watch 128k stream: http://tinyurl.com/adfoe

Purchase Video/CD:
https://store.democracynow.org/?pid=10&show=2005-07-11 , or, call 1 (888) 999-3877.

*

In Haiti, UN troops launched a pre-dawn raid on Cite Soleil, one of the most economically-depressed neighborhoods of Port au Prince. Local residents say it might have been the deadliest attack carried out by UN troops since they were stationed in the country last year. On Saturday hundreds of Haitians gatherer for the funeral of Emmanuel "Dread" Wilme -- a popular community leader who lives in Cite Soleil, one of the most economically-depressed neighborhoods of Port au Prince. Wilme was killed last Wednesday when UN troops attacked the neighborhood in a pre-dawn raid.

Although the raid has received little attention, local residents say it might have been the deadliest attack carried out by UN troops since they were stationed in the country last year.

According to residents the UN troops entered the area at about three in the morning and opened fire. Eyewitnesses reported the UN troops used helicopters, tanks, machine guns and tear gas in the operation. The UN has admitted that its troops killed at least five people. UN military spokesman Colonel Elouafi Boulbars told Agence France Presse, "The bandits tried to fight our men. They suffered serious losses and we found five bodies in what was left of a house." Local residents put the figure at no less than 20. Some estimates are even higher. Witnesses said innocent civilians were among the victims.

• Witnesses in Cite Soleil describe the UN raid.

Another local resident lost her husband in the raid. She described what happened on Wednesday.

• Cite Soleil resident describes her husband's death.

The United Nations has defended the operation by describing it as a necessary move to wipe out violent gang activity. Both the United Nations and the interim Haitian government have described the slain Dread Wilme as one of the country's top gang leaders. Cite Soleil is comprised largely of supporters of the Lavalas Party and ousted Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide who was overthrown in a U.S.-backed coup 18 months ago. To local residents Dread Wilme was a community leader and the attacks were seen as politically motivated.

• Cite Soleil residents talk about Emmanuel "Dread" Wilme.

We are joined in our studio by Seth Donnelly. He visited Cite Soleil hours after the killings and interviewed survivors. On Saturday he attended Dread Wilme's funeral. Seth Donnelly was in Haiti as part of
a human rights delegation sponsored by the San Francisco Labor Council.

• Seth Donnelly, San Francisco Labor Council.
http://www.sflaborcouncil.org/To purchase an audio or video copy of this entire program, call 1 (888) 999-3877.

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_________________________________________________________________________
RUSH TRANSCRIPT

AMY GOODMAN: Witnesses said innocent civilians were among the victims.

RESIDENT OF CITE SOLEIL: A lot of innocent civilians were killed and there are even some people that they kill and just take them with them. One of the worst things that happened is that they killed like a mom with two of her children, and they are still -- the bodies are still there.

AMY GOODMAN: Another local resident lost her husband in the raid. She described what happened on Wednesday.

RESIDENT OF CITE SOLEIL: I'm working at night, so when I was back in the morning, so at noon when I was back from my work, I found him just in his blood. He was the only one here. And my three children are in the countryside because I have them in countryside. And he is a very old guy. So they just get inside and pulled him out under the bed and killed him.

AMY GOODMAN: The United Nations has defended the operation by describing it as a necessary move to wipe out violent gang activity. Both the United Nations and the interim Haitian government have described the slain Dread Wilme as one of the countries top gang leaders. Cite Soleil is comprised largely of supporters of Lavalas and ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide overthrown in the coup 18 months ago, February 29, 2004, the President, Aristide, has described as a U.S.-supported coup. He said he was kidnapped in the service of a coup backed by the United States. To local residents, Dread Wilme of Cite Soleil was a community leader. The attacks were seen as politically motivated.

RESIDENT OF CITE SOLEIL: So Dread Wilme grew up with us. So, Dread Wilme is one of the guys who grow up in the community and who wanted to work for peace, who wanted to have, like, an improvement for the community, and he had, like -- he had developed a good relationship with all the people in the neighborhood as a professional. So Dread Wilme was a protector for us; he was like our dad. So they keep saying that Dread Wilme was like a gang and he was involved in the killings, but we never see this. We in the community, we have seen him as a peaceful guy but never as someone who was involved in killings of people. So, we want to say thank you to [inaudible] because he was the one who make this happen.

AMY GOODMAN: We are now joined in our studio by Seth Donnelly, who went to Cite Soleil a day after the killings last Wednesday. He interviewed survivors. On Saturday, he attended Dread Wilme's funeral. Seth Donnelly was in Haiti as part of a human rights delegation that was sponsored by the San Francisco Labor Council. We welcome you to Democracy Now!

SETH DONNELLY: It is good to be here. Thank you, Amy.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, talk about what you learned, what you understand happened, what is the U.N.'s version of events. We tried to get the U.N. on. They did not respond to our calls.

SETH DONNELLY: Yeah. I'd like to start with the official version, and then we'll look at what the evidence of the massacre that contradicts the official version. I interviewed the top military command of the U.N. on Friday, July 8, with some Haitian colleagues, human rights workers. And Lieutenant General Augusto Heleno and Colonel Morano claimed that the operation was a success. They did state that about 300 U.N. troops led by a Jordanian contingent, surrounded Cite Soleil, which as you mentioned is one of the largest ghettos in Port-au-Prince. It’s one of the poorest neighborhoods in the world. And it has, even before this operation, it has been sealed off. According to locals, the U.N. had put shipping freight containers blocking various entrances into the community because it's been a hotbed of support for President Aristide. It is a Lavalas base of support, and there has been ongoing conflicts with U.N. and police in that community. So, the community was already relatively sealed off. But then the 300 troops came around 3:00 a.m. July 6, and then also according to U.N. high military command, they had 18 to 20 armed personal - armored personal carriers, which are basically like tanks without treads. They have cannons. And they had those choking off entrances and exits to and from the ghetto.

And then around 5:00 a.m., they launched the attack. They tried to locate Dread Wilme and capture him. They claimed he was killed. The community is acknowledging that he was killed. But the top level military command said they were unaware of any civilian casualties during the operation. So that was sort of – and they also mentioned that there was a helicopter that flew 3,000 feet overhead just for observation purposes, but it did not shoot down into the community.

What we found actually when we went into the community the day after the operation was widespread evidence that the troops had carried out a massacre. We found homes, which when we say homes, we are talking basically shacks of wood and tin, in many cases, riddled with machine gun blasts as well as tank fire. The holes in a lot of these homes were too large just to be bullets. They must have been tank-type shells penetrating the homes. We saw a church and a school completely riddled with machine gun blasts. And then the community came out.

Once we had passed through, and we were -- the community understood who we were, women, children, old and young, came out en masse and started to give us their testimony. They clearly were not being coerced by (quote/unquote) “gang leaders” or “gang elements.” They took us into their homes. They showed us bodies that still remained. They gave us very emotional testimony. People were hysterical still. And they all claimed that the U.N. forces had fired into their homes, had fired into their community, and people were saying at a minimum 20, if not more, people were killed.

Then there's a Haitian human rights worker who was actually on the scene when the operation occurred and has video footage that unfortunately we cannot yet release, but there is a plan at some point for that to be released to the public, that shows people being killed during the operation quite graphically.

Thirdly, we went to the local hospital that serves people from Cite Soleil. There's one hospital in Port-au-Prince, it's Medicine Without Borders, that doesn't charge a fee so very poor people can go to that hospital. And we asked them if they would share with us their records, which they did. And we got the impression that nobody from the U.N. had spoken to them. Perhaps they did but we felt like we were the first human rights workers making contact with the hospital after the operation. And sure enough, their records show an influx of civilian casualties.

Starting at 11:00 a.m July 6, there is 26 people alone from Cite Soleil that came in suffering mostly from gunshot wounds. Out of that 26, 20 were women and children. One pregnant woman lost her child. And 50% of those 26 people had serious gunshot wounds to the stomach and had to go into major surgery right away.

Now, if the U.N. was committed to finding out the (quote/unquote) “collateral damage” of their operation, they would simply need to make a phone call or do what we did, which was to go to the one hospital in Port-au-Prince that serves the people of Cite Soleil or they could have spoken to the Red Cross in Cite Soleil, which admitted that they had transported 15 people out of there on tap-taps into the hospital. So the other --

AMY GOODMAN: Those are local buses? Local buses, tap-taps?

SETH DONNELLY: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: What did the U.N. military commander say when you were questioning him about your -- the eyewitness accounts that you heard?

SETH DONNELLY: Well, the Lieutenant General Augusto Heleno initially challenged us, our delegation, as to why were we concerned about the rights of the (quote/unquote) “outlaws,” the term that he used, and not the (quote/unquote) “legal force.” He seemed to write off community testimony as being part of community hostility and part of these (quote/unquote) “gang attacks” on U.N. forces. In that sense, I felt like he was sort of -- the subtext of what he was saying was that the community itself was an outlaw community, that the gang would presumably include all of these folks that came out to talk to us. Another -- the other military commander present suggested that some of the bodies that were shown to us were actually killed by (quote/unquote) “gangs,” and that we should try to have ballistics tests done on the bodies. I would be all for having ballistics tests done on those bodies, as well as getting more comprehensive forensic evidence from medical professionals.

AMY GOODMAN: Seth, you were also at the funeral of Dread Wilme on Saturday. Fears that there would be another U.N. attack?

SETH DONNELLY: Yeah. Hundreds turned out. Inside of Cite Soleil, I kept feeling like we were – it was sort of like a South African township during the apartheid days, cut off. And hundreds of people came out for this funeral. The way the community spoke about Dread Wilme – again, not just youth who, you know, often worked with Dread Wilme, but also the entire community, women and children, referred to him as a father figure or a protector. But there was twice during this funeral service where a rumor hit the crowd that U.N. troops were coming back.

There was U.N. -- some APCs in the distance in Cite Soleil holding off checkpoints. And twice the rumor hit that they were about to roll on the crowd, and people fled in terror, including myself. It was a stampede running with the crowd, because you didn't know what was going to happen. That also was an indicator that something was very -- when you have hundreds of people fleeing in terror, it would indicate that something very wrong happened on July 6.

AMY GOODMAN: You're saying a lot of the eyewitnesses saw this as a political attack, Cite Soleil, long seen as a stronghold --

SETH DONNELLY: Oh, absolutely, the community is highly politicized, it is highly -- the community views itself locked in a long-term struggle for the restoration of President Aristide and for the removal of occupation forces from Haiti, and it views -- people view these attacks as part of the ongoing post-coup war on the poor majority that is occurring in Haiti, which, by the way, our delegation outside of this event in Cite Soleil found comprehensive evidence of an ongoing war on the poor majority on different levels that is being conducted by the coup regime itself, the interim government of Latortue

AMY GOODMAN: In other news from Haiti, paramilitary leader, Guy Philippe announced last week he plans to run in the upcoming Haitian presidential elections. Last year, he played a key role in the ouster of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the president. Philippe, a former police chief who was trained by U.S. special forces in Ecuador in the late 1990s, involved with and has been accused of the masterminding of deadly attacks in Haiti. We're talking to Seth Donnelly. Last comments, Seth, as we wrap up right now about the significance of what happened in Cite Soleil last Wednesday.

SETH DONNELLY: Right, I certainly want to say that it’s one thing to describe this in words, but when a person actually enters Cite Soleil, and you see the open sewage streams, you see the shacks that -- how people are living, and then you think about 18 to 20 armored personnel carriers with tank-type cannons and you think about 300 troops with machine guns and a helicopter, by the way, which community people are saying fired down on them, and we did see what appears to be bullet holes in the roofs. It seems to me that this really was a Warsaw Ghetto-type attack on an impoverished community. And I do think this is emblematic of the ongoing war on the poor majority that is occurring in Haiti today, and it requires people in the United States to stand in solidarity with the people of Cite Soleil.

AMY GOODMAN: The U.S. has not sent military weapons to Haiti under the democratically elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide, but was documented sending hundreds, if not a thousand rifles under the leadership, if you could call it that, of Latortue.

SETH DONNELLY: Sure, and then they froze aid to Aristide, but now the Latortue government is, you know, receiving all sorts of money from the U.S. Then you have the -- you have the issue with what is the U.N. role here. The U.N. role, they’re in all of the very -- they're in fancy bourgeois hotels. They drive around in these fancy SUVs. they have resources but I don't see schools being built. I think it could arguably be stated that Cuban doctors sent by the Cuban government have done more for the people of Haiti than the entire administer of the U.N. mission in Haiti since the coup.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you very much for being with us, Seth Donnelly a member of the U.S. labor human rights delegation who has just returned from Haiti, reporting to us on what happened last Wednesday, a pre-raid dawn by U.N. forces in a very poor area of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, Cite Soleil, long seen as a Lavalas stronghold, stronghold of the supporters of the democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It looks like at least 20 dead, according to the reports on the ground.

SETH DONNELLY: Estimates from the community are getting much higher. Yeah. The person who was on the scene has given the estimate of 30, at least 25 confirmed dead as he sees it.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you very much, Seth, as we wrap up the show. Thank you.

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Emmanuel Dread Wilme Reported killled by UN troops
July 6, 2005
(See Democracy Now!: Eyewitness report below)
*
Demand a Stop to the killings in Cite Soleil
Please send appeals immediately
See Urgent Action Alert

Drèd Wilme was reported assassinated by the UN occupation forces in Haiti on Wednesday, July 7, 2005. But he's been falsely reported dead before. Haitians with faith still know that long after the hired triggermen who are shooting the people of Cite Soleil and even at Wilme, are dust in the wind, Drèd Wilme's deeds, the people of Haiti's resistance to tyranny, will live on, in all Haitians, for all peoples on this globe, who resist Euro/US-led greed, racism and tyranny against the poor and African on this planet.

The Haitian resistance against the Western bicentennial re-colonization of Haiti lives on. Below, we bring again the voice of Drèd Wilme, speaking a few days after the Apaid-hired-gun, Labanye, was killed and the UN occupation troops themselves had entered Site Soleil to continue the Haitian extermination campaign begun when the U.S. Marines kidnapped President Aristide and exiled him from his country. Drèd Wilme was announced dead on July 7, 2005, the same day that US CIA asset and the real killer and Haitian bandit, Guy Phillipe, announced his candidacy for President of Haiti. Guy Phillipe is a terrorists to the majority of Haitians thus, naturally he's a "freedom fighter" for Roger Noreiga, James Foley, Haiti Democracy Project, NED, IRI and their Group 184 lackeys.

Drèd Wilme represent(ed) Haiti's manhood, its courage and commitment to liberty. He stood, as a lone fighter, a father to the Haitians in Site Soleil without defenders against the most powerfully armed nations on earth. Wilme lasted without resources for more than 16months evading the biggest manhunt in the Western Hemisphere led against Haitian self-determination by the alien and foreign occupying forces. But because Dred Wilme could not, like Guy Phillipe be bought off by a U.S. dollar, he was a terrorist for the aims of U.S. Ambassador Foley and right wing Cuban-American hater of indigenous self-rule, Roger Noreiga. Haitians throughout Haiti and the Diaspora embrace Wilme as they do Kapwa Lamò and Charlemagne Peralte. None of those calling Drèd Wilme "bandit" have ever shown he traveled outside his community to
attack either the foreigner who came to kill him in his own home, nor the morally repugnant Haitian bourgeoisie who paid assassins to destroy his community, his nation. In contrast to the bi-centennial Coup D'etat traitors, Drèd Wilme is known to the people in his community as a defender of the defenseless and poor. Again, we say, as we did last April, Wilme covered himself in glory because he added value in his own community, and if, in fact, he lives no more, he joins the line going back to that first Neg and Negès Ginen who can only - depi lan Guinen - live free or die. That unborn spirit, that Haitian soul, cannot die. It's rising.

Ezili Danto
Li led li la
July 8, 2005
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Haiti Action Committee
http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HAC/7_10_5.html
July 10, 2005

Haiti Action Committee condemns UN massacre in Haiti, demands an end to the killing

The Haiti Action Committee today condemned a July 6 massacre of Haitian civilians in Cite Soleil, Port-au-Prince carried out by UN "peacekeepers".

Dave Welsh, a delegate with the San Francisco Labor Council who was in Haiti as part of a labor/human rights delegation, said, "This full-blown military attack on a densely-populated neighborhood, which multiple sources confirm killed at least 23 people, is a crime." Published estimates indicate that upwards of 50 may have been killed and an indeterminate number wounded, and that more than 300 heavily armed UN troops took part in the assault on the neighborhood. The attack took place in Cite Soleil, an extremely poor area that is staunchly supportive of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide was forced from office by the U.S. embassy in collusion with U.S.-backed paramilitaries on February 29, 2004 and is now in exile in South Africa.

Seth Donnelly, a California teacher with the same delegation, visited the scene of the massacre and spoke to traumatized survivors of the attack. "This operation started early Wednesday morning at 3am, with Jordanian and other troops on foot and in tanks and helicopters with
machine gun turrets. It was a full-scale attack. Survivors told us that when they saw UN troops they felt that, unlike Haitian police, they would not fire on civilians, but that the 'peacekeepers' soon began shooting into houses and at civilians. "

The Labor/Human Rights Delegation from the United States, sponsored by the San Francisco Labor Council, had been in Haiti since late June to attend the Congress of the Confederation of Haitian Workers (CTH), the country's largest labor organization, and met with hundreds of
Haitian workers, farmers and professionals, interviewing scores of them about the current labor and human rights crisis in Haiti. Pierre Labossiere of the Haiti Action Committee noted, "MINUSTAH [The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti] apologized to the Haitian police for its delayed arrival on the scene of an incident where two Haitian police officers were killed on May 22, but it has never once apologized for any of the many documented instances where
UN troops killed Haitian civilians. This latest attack, in which people in their homes and on the way to work were killed for no reason, is beyond the pale. Such atrocities must not be accepted by the international community. Those responsible for these killings of civilians must be brought to trial."

Labossiere concluded that the U.S.Embassy should immediately refrain from more statements which provide a "green light" for slaughter of civilians. "By recently calling grassroots activists 'gang members' and 'terrorists', U.S. Ambassador James Foley sent a signal that it's open season on civilians. This is especially Orwellian, since the real terrorists in Haiti are the UN troops, the Haitian police and the paramilitaries who are killing civilians. Under its most recent
mandate, the UN has supervision of the Haitian police. But instead of stopping the killing of civilians, the UN is stepping up the slaughter," said Labossiere.

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Cite Soleil Community Turns Out En Masse For Funeral of Dread Wilme

Credible Estimates of Civilian Casualties during July 6th UN Military Operation in Cite Soleil Continue to Mount

US Labor and Human Rights Delegation
July 9th, Port-au-Prince

For further information, contact Delegation Member Seth Donnelly: 650-814-8495

Hundreds of people of all ages turned out for the funeral of Dread Wilme, a leader of the Cite Soleil community in Port-au-Prince. Wilme was reportedly killed in a UN military operation in Cite Soleil during the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 6th. The funeral ceremony was held in the street and involved speeches by community activists, music, dancing, and carrying a coffin to the people. White banners were draped up and down one of the main streets in the community. Media, mostly Haitian, were present.

Speakers expressed respect for Wilme as someone who embodied the hopes of the community, someone who attempted to stand up for and protect his community. They vowed to continue the struggle for the rights of the poor in Haiti to healthcare, education, and democracy. In this spirit, they also vowed to fight for the return of President Aristide. One young female speaker stirred the crowd with her words affirming the dignity of the people of Cite Soleil and their rights to be treated as human beings.

Another speaker addressed the issue of kidnappings in Haiti, claiming that they were being used by the coup regime to scapegoat poor communities like Cite Soleil. Armed young men seemed to provide security for the ceremony.

At least twice during the service, people began to urgently run away, turning into a collective stampede, when rumors circulated that MINUSTAH forces were coming. MINUSTAH APCs (tanks) were stationed at several checkpoints in the neighborhood. People appeared to be terrified of MINUSTAH forces.

One older, Haitian-American woman who recently moved to Cite Soleil one month ago to practice her ministry gave an interview to a US human rights delegation and Haitian journalists, stating that the youth of Cite Soleil are not animals or "chimeres", but intelligent human beings who are struggling to deal with the most harsh oppression.

She described Dread Wilme as someone who worked on behalf of these youth, providing them with education and food when the larger society was willing to throw them away.

Credible Estimates of Casualties During the July 6th UN Military Operation in Cite Soleil

Continue to Mount

In contrast to the claim made by the UN high military command in Haiti that they were unaware of any civilian casualties from Cite Soleil during the July 6th operation, the staff at the Medecines Sans Frontieres Hospital in Port-au-Prince reported that they received a wave of wounded civilians from Cite Soleil on July 6th. This is one of the few, if not the only hospitals in Port-au-Prince where people can from Cite Soleil can go because it provides free health care.

Ali Besnaci, "Chef de Mission" of the Medecins Sans Frontieres program and hospital staff member Olivia Gayraud met with a US and Haitian human rights team on July 9th, sharing the hospital registry records with the team. The records indicate that on July 6th, starting at approximately 11 AM, the hospital received a total of 26 wounded people from Cite Soleil who were transported to the facility by Red Cross "tap taps" (local trucks). Of these 26, 20 were women and children and 6 were men. Half of the total number were seriously wounded by abdominal gun shot wounds and were routed into major surgery. One pregnant woman lost her baby. Other victims seem to be in recovery, according to the hospital staff. All reported that they had been wounded by UN military forces during the operation and some spoke of their homes being destroyed.

This number of 26 stands in contrast to the hospital's records of Cite Soleil residents admitted on other days when the figures are much lower, such as 2 people on July 7th and none on July 8th. One Haitian human rights worker present during the meeting with the hospital staff speculated that the number of men from Cite Soleil who were admitted to the hospital was low because many men would fear being arrested by the authorities while in the hospital.

Meanwhile, one Haitian journalist who was an eyewitness to the damages in Cite Soleil on the morning of July 26th claims that he personally saw 20 bodies, and that 5 additional victims were buried by their families, and that 5 families were searching for loved ones who have been missing since the morning of July 6th. Additionally, a Reuters reporter covering Dread Wilme's funeral told a human rights team that he had personally seen and taken pictures of 7 bodies when he entered Cite Soleil at some point after the operation. Moreover, he took video footage of gun shots through roofs in the community, indicating that perhaps there had been helicopter fire from UN forces, as many community members allege. The US human rights team also saw what appeared to be many gun shot holes through the roof of a community school and an adjacent building.

Another estimate on the death toll from one community member who spoke during the funeral ceremony ranges as high as 80 community members killed.
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Agence Haïtienne de Presse - AHP
http://www.ahphaiti.org/
AHP News - July 11, 2005 - English translation (Unofficial)
MINUSTAH is under fire from critics after the July 6th operation in Cité Soleil

Port-au-Prince, July 11, 2005 (AHP)- Images broadcast last week by Haitian television stations showed that the operations conducted last week in Cité Soleil with the intention of capturing local band leader Dread Wilmé seem to have been carried out without any methodology and
in an indiscriminate manner, said several human rights representatives Monday.

The footage showed a large number of homes riddled with bullet holes, roofs of homes pierced from overhead and substantial property damage. Some human rights observers believe that this suggests that the soldiers and police involved in this operation did not have precise targets but rather struck with their eyes shut.

What has been described as the blind nature of the operation might explain the death toll of some ten people put forward by some residents of Cité Soleil who said that not even women and children were spared.

Several different sources have reported that some kidnap victims died during the operation along with young children and women.

For its part, an American organization focusing on human rights, the Labor and Human Rights Delegation, which was in Haiti at the time of the MINUSTAH operation, said that according to witnesses, the attack by MINUSTAH was supported by two helicopters, assault rifles, armored
vehicles and tear gas.

According to the delegation, which was in Haiti to attend the CTH congress, many homes, a church and a school were damaged. Electrical transformers were also damaged.

The Labor and Human Rights Delegation's report cites eyewitnesses describing how residents were killed as they tried to flee. Others were killed inside their homes.

Some corpses were carried off by foreign soldiers, the report indicated. The Labor and Human Rights Delegation believes the death toll may reach 50 or more.

The members of the delegation stressed that women and children were killed as they fled, including a woman who was killed along with her two children.

The Labor and Human Rights Delegation stated that this manner of conducting operations designed to counter violence in the populist districts is revolting and deplorable, especially in light of the fact that at the end of the day the officially declared objective might not have been achieved.

MINUSTAH announced that during the operation only five alleged bandits were killed. However at the same time, a military spokesperson, Colonel Eloifi Boulbars said that many bandits had been killed.

The UN Mission also affirmed that it spent a lot of time preparing for this operation so as to avoid non-combatant casualties. However witness appear to contradict these statements. Many of them have accused MINUSTAH of falling into the trap set by those who are pushing the UN toward indiscriminate repression and changing its mission from peace to war.

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Agence Haïtienne de Presse - AHP
http://www.ahphaiti.org/
July 11, 2005

AHP News - July 11, 2005 - English translation (Unofficial)

The funeral of Dread Wilmé: there will always be more Wilmés as long as there is misery and exclusion, according to the participants

Port-au-Prince, July 11, 2005 (AHP)- Several thousand residents of Cité Soleil took part Saturday in funeral services for the leader of a community band from Bois-Neuf, Emmanuel Wilner, known as Dread Wilmé, who was declared dead on July 6th during a strong-arm
operation conducted by UN soldiers.

The corpse of Dread Wilmé in his coffin covered with the Haitian flag was available for viewing at the public square in Soleil 19.

Thousands of Cité Soleil residents who paid tribute to Dread Wilmé described him as someone who fought for the poor of this shantytown. The organizers of the funeral denounced the military operation that led to the death of their leader as well as the deaths of many innocent people.

They reaffirmed their determination to continue the struggle for the return of constitutional order in the country.

"Dread Wilmé is not dead", declared one of the organizers, such a man can not die, chanted the crowd with one voice.

"As long as there is misery, social exclusion, arbitrariness and violence, there will always be Dread Wilmés", the voices of the crowd insisted.

In order to prevent the UN soldiers from staging an assault on the funeral, area residents cut off and barricaded all streets leading to the place where the ceremony was held.

Amaralh Duclonas, who was presented as the deputy of Dread Wilmé and took part in the funeral services, rejected allegations against Mr. Wilmé and his comrades asserting that they are bandits.

According to Amaralh, Dread Wilmé is dead because he never betrayed the cause in spite of all the offers made to him.

Amaralh said that his colleagues and he himself are ready to continue the struggle on behalf of the poor even after the death of Dread Wilmé, who has been accused of responsibility for most of the violence that has taken place in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.

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‘One will not wait 20 or 30 years, he said, to see men and women write their doctoral dissertations on the life of Dread Wilmé.’
---Ronald St. Jean, Coordinator, Committee to Defend the Rights of Haitians (CPDH)

CARLI DEMANDS EXPLANATIONS FROM MINUSTAH AND THE HAITIAN POLICE REGARDING THE 6TH JULY 2005 OPERATION IN CITE SOLEIL | AHP, July 11, 2005

Port-au-Prince, July 11, 2005 (AHP)- The Haitian human rights organization, CARLI, demanded Monday in the name of the universally recognized right to life, that the Haitian National Police and MINUSTAH provide detailed explanations of the events of Wednesday July 6 in Cité Soleil.

CARLI expressed grave concern at the abusive use of force by the authorities as a means of resolving the violence in Haiti.

"During the operation conducted by the national police and MINUSTAH against Dread Wilmé on Wednesday July 6 in Cité Soleil, several members of the civilian population were killed and dozens of homes of poor families living in the shantytown were riddled with bullets", wrote CARLI in a news release dated July 10, 2005, sent to AHP.

Among the main points of the news release was that many women and the mothers of several children expressed their feelings of utter helplessness and anguish at being compelled to remain in Cité Soleil for lack of any alternative.

According to the human rights organization, it is important to wage a campaign against violence, criminality, banditry and kidnapping, but the abusive use of blind force is to be ruled out.

CARLI considers that weapons can not in any way bring peace to Haiti nor can they facilitate reconciliation between Haitian families.

The organization encouraged the transition government to take into consideration the basic needs of the inhabitants of Cité Soleil and other populist districts of the capital as a sine qua non condition for any lasting peace, any genuine democracy and any sustainable development.
For its part, the Committee to Defend the Rights of Haitians (CPDH) said that the objective of the July 6th operation was to eliminate the poor from the populist districts.

CPDH coordinator Roland St-Jean pointed out to the intellectual elite that they have always viewed those who are fighting for change and the liberation of the Haitian people as bandits and savages.

One will not wait 20 or 30 years, he said, to see men and women write their doctoral dissertations on the life of Dread Wilmé.

Ronald St-Jean said he supports the observations of residents of the Cité who insisted that as long as there is exclusion, discrimination and violence there will always be "Dread Wilmés".
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Workers World
http://www.workers.org/2005/world/haiti-0721/
July 12, 2005
Labor delegation reports massacre in Port-au-Prince
By G. Dunkel

United Nations troops patrolling in Haiti carried out a massacre of Haitians in poor, working-class areas of Port-au-Prince on July 6, according to a visiting labor delegation from the United States. Haitian police carried out another massacre on July 8. The massacres occurred in communities where the support for deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is the strongest.

U.S. Marines had kidnapped Aristide on Feb. 29, 2004, and removed him from office and from Haiti as part of a right-wing coup. The troops of three imperialist countries--the U.S., France and Canada--first occupied Haiti after the kidnapping. They have now been replaced by the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), which was created by the Security Council.

According to the U.S. delegation's report, 350 UN soldiers from Peru and Jordan, using 35 armored personnel carriers and two helicopters, began their assault on Cite Soleil between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on July 6. Once the troops were in position to seal off the alleys of Boisneuf and Projet Drouillard--two neighborhoods inside Cite Soleil--with tanks and troops, they began firing around 4 a.m. It appears that the Haitian National Police (PNH) did not have much of a presence in this operation.

This massacre was only lightly reported in the imperialist media. AP carried a story of 440 words, UPI used 67 words. Five or six Canadian newspapers picked it up, and about the same number of U.S. papers. One British paper, the Independent, ran a longer story. But, unfortunately for the UN forces, which claimed that only two to six people were killed, a labor/civil rights delegation was in Port-au-Prince at the time. Dave Welch, a member of the San Francisco Central Labor Council, had organized a delegation to a congress of the Confederation of Haitian Workers.

Welch told Workers World, "One member of our delegation, Seth Donnelly, who belongs to the California Teachers Association, went to Cite Soleil 24 hours after the UN attacked. He personally counted 23 bodies lying in pools of blood in the streets."

The delegation interviewed scores of people and videoed where the attack took place. According to Welch, their footage shows "the homes--in some cases made of tin and cardboard--that had been riddled by bullets, tank fire and helicopter ammunition."

He continued, "The team also filmed a church and a school that had been riddled by ammunition. Some community members allowed the team to interview them, but not to film their faces for fear of their lives. People were traumatized."'Systematic firing on civilians.' The press release from the delegation goes a bit further: "'There was systematic firing on civilians,' said one eyewitness to the killing.

'All exits were cut off. The community was choked off, surrounded--facing tanks coming from different angles, and overhead, helicopters with machine guns fired down on the people. The citizens were under attack from all sides and from the air. It was war on a community.'"

The chief target of the UN attack on Cite Soleil appears to have been a popular leader of Fanmi Lavalas, Emmanuel (Dread) Wilme, who had organized a number of mass protests for the restoration of democracy, the return of Aristide and the overturn of the interim government.

He, his wife and one of his children were killed and his house destroyed.

The head of the police, Leon Charles, was quite definite that Dread Wilme had been killed, even though his body had not been recovered.

Many people in Cite Soleil--young and old, men and women--spoke highly of Dread Wilme, referring to him as their "protector" or "father." Earlier this year in April, Dread Wilme had been a target of a UN attack and was wounded. He gave an interview to Radio Lakou, a Kreyol station out of New York. Some of its broadcasts are also available on the Internet.

At that time, Wilme said, "Well, the situation is very serious, not just in Cite Soleil but all over Haiti. ... The way things are in the country today, journalists are being killed, school children are being killed, business people are being killed. Many people who would have been useful to the country are being killed. As Lavalas militants throughout all parts of the country, ... we are standing up to defend our rights, to demand that President Aristide return to the country and for us to live in peace, because without President Aristide there can be no peace."

Police shoot into houses According to the Haitian Press Agency (AHP), an independent press service headquartered in Port-au-Prince, a dozen people, most in their own homes, were killed on July 8 in the district of the capital called Bel Air by Haitian cops driving in a red Nissan patrol car. As the Nissan drove up and down the streets, the cops fired blindly into houses. AHP reported that six cadavers lay in a pool of blood on Macajoux Street until the end of the afternoon.

The UN forces' mandate states that every operation of the PNH has to be approved by the commander of MINUSTAH, Brazilian Gen. Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira. He in turn answers to the UN Security Council, which is dominated by the imperialists.

Family and friends of the victims denounced these summary executions, but said the killings would not shake their determination to keep on demonstrating until democracy was restored with the return of President Aristide.

The day before the attack on Bel Air, the leader of Fanmi Lavalas there, Samba Boukman, denounced the assassination of Dread Wilme as "brutal and indiscriminate."

The same day as the police attack on Bel Air, dozens of people who work for the city of Port-au-Prince demonstrated in front of the Ministry of the Interior. They hadn't been paid for 18 months and accused the mayor of Port-au-Prince, Carline Simon, of acting against the interests of the poor and working people of the city.

This article is copyright © under a Creative Commons License.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

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Haiti Information Project
http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/7_12_5.html
July 12, 2005
Evidence mounts of a UN massacre in Haiti

Port au Prince, Haiti (HIP) - In the early morning hours of July 6, more than 350 UN troops stormed the seaside shantytown of Cite Soleil in a military operation with the stated purpose of halting violence in Haiti. The successful goal of the mission was to assassinate a 31 year-old man and his lieutenants that Haiti's rightwing media and reactionary business community had labeled a bandit and armed of supporter of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. According to residents, Emmanuel "Dread" Wilmer and four others were felled in a hail of gunfire that came from all directions including a circling helicopter. According to the Associated Press, a military spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, Colonel Eloufi Boulbars stated, "Armed bandits who had tried to resist were either killed or wounded."

On July 6 in Cite Soleil, a weeping Fredi Romelus, recounted how UN troops lobbed a red smoke grenade into his house and then opened fire killing his wife and two children. "They surrounded our house this morning and I ran thinking my wife and the children were behind me.

They couldn't get out and the blan [UN] fired into the house." Exclusive video footage from a HIP reporter captured the interview as well as the images of the three victims. Lying in blood on the floor of the modest home were Mr. Romelus's wife, 22 year-old Sonia Romelus who was killed by the same bullet that passed through the body of her 1 year-old infant son Nelson. She was apparently holding the child as the UN opened fire. Next to them was her four year-old son Stanley Romelus who was killed by a single shot to the head.

Officially, the UN has responded that they only opened fire after being fired upon and have discounted non-combatant casualties. The HIP video shows 31 year-old Leonce Chery moments after a headshot ripped through his jaw. Chery was clearly unarmed as he lay bleeding to death in a pool of his own blood. In fact, the majority of the victims shown on the video were unarmed falling prey to a single shot to the head.

The international medical group Doctors without Borders, reported 26 people from Cite Soleil were treated for gunshot wounds at St. Joseph's hospital following the UN operation on July 6. According to reports, 20 of the injured were women and children and one pregnant woman lost her child during surgery. Many wounded and untreated victims of gunshot wounds are reported to be hiding in Cite Soleil. They fear leaving the area to seek medical treatment for fear of reprisal by the UN and the Haitian police.

In an exclusive interview in Cite Soleil following the UN operation, Jean Jorel, a Lavalas representative and member of the Fanmi Lavalas Political Commission commented, "Today all the popular neighborhoods are under attack." Jorel continued, "These neighborhoods represent the poor and the majority of the Haitian people. Neighborhoods like Cite Soleil, Bel Air and Solino have been turned into cemeteries.

Since the coup of Feb. 29, 2004, the international community has never concerned themselves with creating programs for the poor. Instead they have taken up a campaign of extermination against the poor at the request of Reginald Boulos, Charles Henry Baker, and Andy Apaid. We ask the international community to end their hypocrisy. We ask them to stop the killing! We ask them to stop supporting this unelected government and realize that the majority, who are the poor, are committed to the return of Jean-Bertrand Aristide." The U.S. State Department and Haiti's wealthy elite had called for the UN to take tougher action against supporters of Aristide's political movement known as Lavalas. Dr. Reginald Boulos, the president of the Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, called on the UN to step up its military operations against the "bandits" on May 27. Meanwhile, the term "bandits" has become a code word to signify Lavalas supporters in the Haitian elite-run media.

In response, the U.N. and the Police Nationale d'Haiti (PNH) launched a major offensive against Cite Soleil on May 31. At least 3 people were killed and scores injured after U.N. and PNH security forces reportedly entered the area with "guns shooting everywhere" according to residents. This was followed by a four-day siege of the pro-Aristide neighborhood of Bel Air that began on June 2. At least 30 people were killed and more than 15 homes were reportedly burned to the ground. Human rights observers described the tactics being employed by the Haitian police during the raids as a "scorched earth" policy. The Haitian police moved against Bel Air again on June 17 killing at least 10 people in another bloody raid. Among the first
victims shot by the police that day was 17 year-old Natalie Luzius. She was clutching her 6 month-old son Fritznel Luzius to protect him at the moment a police bullet struck her in the head and killed her.

The U.S. State department responded by adding its support to anti-Lavalas crusade. Roger Noriega, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, directly accused Aristide on June 24 of personally fomenting violence in Haiti. Noreiga asserted in a Miami Herald interview, "We believe that his people are receiving instructions directly from his voice and indirectly through his acolytes that communicate with him personally in South Africa."

On July 4, U.S. Ambassador James Foley gave the green light for violently clamping down on Haiti's majority political party, "Today in Haiti they are burning houses, they are burning stores, they are attacking means of transportation and communication links. They are kidnapping people of all social classes. They are assassinating, torturing and raping. All of this has a name: The use of violence against civilians for political purposes is the very definition of terrorism."

For photographic evidence go to: UN "peacekeepers" in Haiti accused of massacre, July 13, 2005
*****

MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES
http://tinyurl.com/ab2qb
July 13, 2005

Violence intensifies in Port au Prince, Haiti

One injured man, transported to St. Joseph’s by a local taxi, was arrested right in front of two stretcher-bearers before they could take him out of the vehicle, and driven by the police to Port-au-Prince’s general hospital, where he died an hour later, under police guard and without care.

Pierre Salignon

Pierre Salignon, General Director of the international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in France, recently returned from a visit to Haiti. He describes the extreme violence reigning in Port-au-Prince’s poorest neighborhoods and how the United Nations (UN) Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Minustah) — far from restoring calm — has been drawn into a war against supporters of former President Aristide. As the security situation continues to deteriorate in Haiti's capital, MSF has called on all armed groups in the city to respect the safety of civilians and allow immediate access to emergency medical care for those wounded in clashes.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 It is about ten a.m. in Port-au-Prince. A Haitian Red Cross ambulance pulls up to the emergency entrance of St. Joseph’s Hospital, sirens wailing. Two Red Cross volunteers wearing white helmets jump out of the car. They lift a man with a gunshot wound out on a bloody stretcher.

He was gunned down, it seems, just a few moments ago on the streets of the Haitian capital, during an exchange of gunfire between UN troops and supporters of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the notorious Chimères. The hospital is a flurry of activity. Doctors and nurses rush about.

Five emergency gunshot wounds have already been admitted this morning. One man, stretched out on a bed, is giving blood for a relative; another is undergoing surgery for a severe abdominal wound. In all, a fairly ordinary morning in Port-au-Prince.

People in Haiti are living in constant fear, caught as they are between widespread criminal violence and an armed insurrection against Prime Minister Gérard Latortue who was put in power in late 2004 after the autocratic President Aristide was pressured into exile, mainly by the US and France.

More than a third of the city is considered “extremely dangerous” - at the mercy of armed groups, most of them Aristide supporters. A Haitian member of the MSF team gave this grim summary of the situation: “When you walk down the street, you don’t know whether
you’re still alive or already dead.”

While the UN Security Council renewed the mandate of the UN “Stabilization” Mission in Haiti — 7,400 blue helmets and international policemen, plus an additional 1,000 men for the upcoming pre-electoral period — violence against civilians in Port au Prince is a daily occurrence (the rest of the country is still calm), and the number of wounded treated by MSF continues to grow.

In response to the lack of appropriate medical care for the wounded, in late December 2004 MSF opened a 56-bed trauma center at St. Joseph’s, a Port-au-Prince hospital. It is the only place that provides free, high quality emergency medical and surgical care for the many victims of violence. Since March 2005, MSF has also provided post-surgical physiotherapy at a 27-bed physical rehabilitation center.

The direct violence seen in this medical program (gunshot victims and knife wounds, beatings, burns, head trauma) simply reflects the deteriorating security situation and its direct effect on the population.

By early July, the MSF team had treated teams have treated more than 3,100 patients – 1,112, for violence-related injuries. Almost half of victims are women, children, or elderly, most often injured during violent confrontations between either the Haitian National Police (HNP) or UN forces and criminal pro-Aristide groups entrenched in several of the capital’s slums.

Nearly 900, or one third, of the victims have been treated for gunshot wounds — in some cases caused by exploding bullets. The vast majority of the 30 or so deaths recorded at St. Joseph’s Hospital between December 2004 and May 2005 were from gunshot wounds. About 40 women have also been treated for rape, with the victims receiving both medical and psychological care.

Some of the wounded are brought in by the UN or by private taxis. But most of the injured are referred to MSF by the Haitian Red Cross, who put themselves at considerable risk every day in order to do their work. In mid-June, two of their volunteers were seriously injured (and treated by MSF) in the seaside slum of Cité Soleil, during an exchange of gunfire between Minustah soldiers and the Chimères. One of the gang leaders had warned, “If UN soldiers show up on our streets, we’ll shoot.”

According to medical personnel, it is very hard for wounded men and teenaged boys to get to St. Joseph’s. Suspected by the police of belonging to armed opposition groups, they fear being arrested or executed by the police before they can even receive care. One injured man, transported to St. Joseph’s by a local taxi, was arrested right in front of two stretcher-bearers before they could take him out of the vehicle, and driven by the police to Port-au-Prince’s general hospital, where he died an hour later, under police guard and without care.

Faced with the ever-worsening security situation in Port-au-Prince, in early July MSF made a public appeal to all armed actors to spare civilians and facilitate the transfer of the wounded to hospitals, particularly to St. Joseph’s emergency unit, which is trying to take in all of the wounded, no matter who they are.

It is not easy. Civilians, young “combatants” from the slums, and policemen lay side-by-side in hospital rooms, all wounded in the violence wracking the Haitian capital. News of MSF’s treatment program has progressively spread through all the neighborhoods, particularly the poorest, but also to those involved in national and international politics. There is a hope that this means greater security for MSF’s patients and medical and surgical teams in this difficult context.

But we should not delude ourselves. The situation could well deteriorate further, leading to even more violence. The international community bears a lot of the responsibility. Minustah cannot “reestablish peace” in Port-au-Prince. Because of its mandate from the UN Security Council allowing it to use force in order to accomplish its “mission”, it has become an armed player in the conflict, a source of violence against civilians during police operations in the slums.

No longer taken aback by “collateral damage” caused by UN soldiers, one of its representatives even sees it as the price that has to be paid in order to “stabilize” Port-au-Prince. There seems little concern if Minustah is now seen by a significant segment of the population as an occupation force, buttressing a transitional government with limited powers. Meanwhile, Haitians continue to live in extreme poverty, faceless victims of an almost forgotten conflict whose quick and peaceful resolution appears highly unlikely.

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Sample Letter - (After death of Dred Wilme and the July 6, 2005 UN Massacre in Site Soley)

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To: pereira17@un.org, kongo-doudou@un.org, beer@un.org, cisse-gouro@un.org, fagart@un.org, inquiries@un.org, BanksD@state.gov, noriegarf@state.gov, presidentga58@un.org, president@whitehouse.gov

CC: louborda@delbrasonu.org, argentina@un.int, chile@un.int, chinamission_un@fmprc.gov.cn, france@un.int, canada@un.int, prnce@international.gc.ca, puechguirbal@un.org, KonareAO@africa-union.org, embassy@haiti.org, kerryp@state.gov
************

HLLN Note dated November, 2005:
Moral suasion alone will not free Haitians: Experience these last 18-months and Haitian history with the US status-quo officials has proven that the UN and US officials are not responding, so please, don't send appeals only to the UN, US officials or US Embassy, please send appeals also to the people of the US and primarily to the media. Flood the U.S. local, national and international media with your concerns about the re-enslavement of the people of Site Soley and Haiti. Media contact information.

See - UN peacekeepers mount new anti-gang operation in capital , November, 2005
- See also, HLLN's Open Letter and our original Action Alert sample letters)
*
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To whom it may concern,

This may come as some surprise to you, but there are still here in the United States a considerable number of people who respect the mission of the United Nations. There are even many who believe that it represents the best hope for world peace. We renounce violence, force, and unilateralism for cooperation and negotiation.

This is why it is so disheartening to see soldiers marching under the U.N. flag acting as proxies for Bush’s racist war on the Haitian poor. The Haitian people have been the victims of a destabilization campaign, which robbed them of their democratically elected government and constitution. The U.S. was the principle architect of this campaign, but is unable to re-stabilize the situation. (sound familiar?) The U.N. has been placed in the position where they are asked to do this task, but in reality it is not a task of peacekeeping, but rather one of pacification, attempting to impose a government which has no popular support.

The results are predictable: UN troops involved in human rights abuses, even massacres. This is enough to break the heart of even the most optimistic of peace activists.

I hope that you read this, and take action to end the use of UN troops as proxies for the US war on Haiti’s poor masses. A true peacekeeping force would have handed power back to the legitimate government of Haiti long ago.

In Peace,
Name_____________________
Address___________________
E-mail _____________________

cc: Fax a copy of letter also to Haitian Minister of Justice
Fax. No. 011-509-245-0474
Me. Henri Dorlèans
Ministre de la Justice et de la Sècuritè Publique
Ministère de la Justice
19 Avenue Charles Sumner
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

*

Fax No. (212) 963-4879
Hon. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General
United Nations
United Nations Headquarters
First Avenue at 46th Street
New York, NY 10017
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Source: United Nations News Service
Date: 18 Nov 2005
Haiti: UN peacekeepers mount new anti-gang operation in capital

Continuing their anti-gang operations in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, United Nations peacekeepers launched another raid in the Cité Militaire area yesterday after intense firing during the night sowed panic among residents.

During the raid, troops of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) detained some 50 suspects, 40 of whom were later released, and seized a M16 sub-machinegun, two pistols and 2,000 cartridges. Two people were wounded.

The area was later reported calm but the UN troops remained there.

Earlier this week, 200 UN peacekeepers waged an eight-hour gun battle with heavily armed men who attacked them in Cité Militaire, killing four of the assailants.

MINUSTAH was set up by the Security Council last year to help to re-establish peace in the impoverished Caribbean country after an insurgency forced elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to go into exile in February 2004.
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Associated Press Worldstream
November 23, 2005SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Brazilian general denies accusations of human rights violations in Haiti
By VIVIAN SEQUERA; Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: BRASILIA, Brazil

The Brazilian general formerly in charge of U.N. peacekeeping troops in Haiti on Wednesday denied allegations that his forces had carried out executions or other atrocities in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Gen. Augusto Heleno Ribeiro told the foreign relations committee of Brazil's lower house of Congress that the accusations were spread by gangs linked to former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in an attempt to sully the peacekeepers' legitimacy.

He said many of the allegations arose from an operation in the Cite Soleil slum that resulted in the death of gang leader Emmanuel "Dread" Wilme. He said the operation caused little harm to civilians.

"One hour after the operation, local radio stations went there and did not uncover any of the alleged irregularities," Ribeiro said.

On Nov. 15, human rights groups such as Global Exchange and the Institute for Justice and Democracy alleged that systematic massacres were carried out in Port-au-Prince by the Haitian National Police and by U.N. forces under Brazil's command.

At the time, Brazil's foreign ministry issued a statement denying the charges.

The general said claims that soldiers carried out executions began to appear a day after the operation. He said that any such killings were likely carried out by gang members seeking revenge on slum residents suspected of collaborating with peacekeeping forces.

"The majority of executions were people shot in the head. That is not characteristic of military operations," Ribeiro said.

Ribeiro was in charge of the U.N. force in Haiti from June 2004 until last August, when he was replaced by another Brazilian, Gen. Urano Teixeira da Matta.

Brazil has more than 1,100 soldiers in Haiti as part of the U.N. force trying to re-establish order ahead of elections to replace the interim government imposed after the February 2004 ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

U.N. troops have repeatedly traded gunfire with the gang members in the Pele neighborhood of Cite Soleil. The U.N. says its forces have killed five alleged gang members and arrested nearly 100 people.

Gang leaders, who describe themselves as a self-protection force for slum dwellers against Haitian police and soldiers, say 15 people have been killed - including unarmed civilians caught in crossfire.

Cite Soleil, home to about 200,000 people, is one of the most lawless and violent areas of Haiti. International authorities have pressed the U.N. forces to crack down on the gangs before the elections to replace the interim government imposed following the February 2004
ouster of Aristide.Copyright © 2005 Associated Press.age
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See also,

HLLN's Open Letter Demanding a Stop to UN slaughter of Haitian civilians in Site Soleil, Haiti

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HLLN Recommended Links to honor Dred Wilmè on July 6, 2007, Haitian Perspectives, June 6, 2007 (July 6, 2007 sponsored by HLLN's FreeHaitiMovement - Dessaline is Rising Worldwide)