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Haiti:
A Marked Man/Toussaint Case U.S. in Haiti as a corruptible element -
The U.S. war against Haitian democracy and development
Miami
Newstimes, August 28- September 3, 1997
"A Marked Man" by
Jim DeFede
This past January 22, shortly before 5:00 p.m., Dany Toussaint arrived
at Miami International Airport aboard American Airlines flight 1292
from Port-au-Prince and was detained by officials from the U.S. Immigration
and Naturalization Service. Although he is a legal permanent resident
of the United States, Toussaint had become accustomed to such delays
on his trips back and forth from Haiti. During the previous twelve weeks
Toussaint had been stopped at MIA three times by INS officials. On each
occasion he was held for an hour or two, then allowed to leave without
any explanation as to why he had been detained. He was never questioned
and his immigration status was never challenged. This time, however,
would be different.
His belt and shoes were confiscated and he was placed in a holding cell
at the airport. Beginning at approximately 8:00 p.m., Toussaint was
interrogated by an immigration inspector named James Carroll. Although
some of the questions were related to Toussaint's immigration status,
he says the majority dealt with political matters in Haiti and specifically
with his ties to former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the country's
current leader, Rene Preval.
According to Toussaint, the interview session lasted nearly seven hours,
until roughly 3:00 a.m. One reason it dragged on so long was the peculiar
way in which the questions were asked. According to Toussaint, the INS
agent would ask a question, then type Toussaint's answer into a laptop
computer. This was then followed by an awkward silence -- sometimes
as long as ten minutes -- before the INS official would ask another
question. Slowly it dawned on Toussaint that someone other than the
agent in the room with him was actually conducting the interview --
by way of e-mail. But who?
The answer to that question can be found in Toussaint's background.
He was born in Cap-Haitien on September 12, 1957. Before his first birthday,
his father was killed by security forces working for Francois "Papa
Doc" Duvalier. Several years later his stepfather was also killed
by Duvalierists.
Paradoxical as it may seem, these murders induced Toussaint to join
the Haitian army. "When you are in the military," he explains,
"you know what is going on and you are in a better position to
protect your family."
Toussaint excelled in the military. Not only did he become a black belt
in tae kwon do, he also represented Haiti in international karate competitions.
As a reward he was sent to the United States, where he learned English
at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, then went on to Fort Benning, Georgia,
where he received advanced military training. By the time Toussaint
completed his eight-month stint in Georgia in 1985, the political situation
in Haiti had deteriorated dramatically; killings had become commonplace.
Toussaint had already moved his family to the United States, so rather
than return to Haiti, he received permanent-resident status under an
agricultural program. (For a time he had been a farmworker in South
Dade.) He then began shuttling between New York and Miami, working for
various Haitian-American organizations. He also became a vocal critic
of Haiti's self-proclaimed president-for-life, Jean-Claude "Baby
Doc" Duvalier.
After Duvalier was forced from power in February 1986 and replaced by
Haitian army leaders, Toussaint returned to the island, where he resumed
his military career. He claims he was then trained by the CIA to conduct
surveillance for the military junta. "I was the best clandestine
photographer in Haiti," he says proudly.
Among those he was assigned to spy on was a populist priest named Jean-Bertrand
Aristide. But Toussaint claims Haitian officials wanted more than just
photographs of Aristide; they wanted Aristide killed. Rather than carry
out that order, Toussaint says, he went to Aristide and warned him of
the plot. Toussaint once again fled to the United States, eventually
settling in Miami, where he went to work at Coconut Grove's landmark
E-Z Kwik Kuntry Grocery Store on SW 27th Avenue.
In December 1990 Aristide became the first democratically elected president
of Haiti. One of his first calls went to Toussaint. He reached him at
E-Z Kwik.
Aristide asked Toussaint to return to Haiti and become one of the commanders
responsible for overseeing his corps of bodyguards. "I was working
for E-Z Kwik. I had a good job, but I wanted to serve my country,"
Toussaint recalls. "I wanted to be part of the change. We wanted
to show a different image of the army." Toussaint returned with
the rank of captain.
But there was nothing easy or quick about changing the culture within
the Haitian army. In September 1991 the military, led by Gen. Raoul
Cedras, launched a bloody coup. At the time of the uprising Toussaint
was with Aristide at the president's home in a suburb of Port-au-Prince,
along with about 30 loyal bodyguards. For the next two hours, Toussaint
recalls, they fought their way through roadblocks so Aristide could
reach the presidential palace, where the fighting grew even more intense.
At the palace Toussaint's best friend, the head of Aristide's security
force, died in the firefight. Eventually Aristide was permitted to leave
the country and go into exile. Toussaint says military officials asked
him to stay behind and swear his allegiance to Cedras, but he refused
and tendered his resignation. He returned to Miami and his job at E-Z
Kwik.
By the time U.S. military forces restored Aristide to the presidency
in October 1994, Toussaint had left his job at E-Z Kwik for a new assignment
as Aristide's personal bodyguard. After the president's return, Toussaint
was appointed chief of the country's interim police force, a post he
held through the end of 1995, when he resigned from government service.
Today he owns a pair of businesses in Haiti -- a video arcade and a
police-supply store. He is a member of Aristide's political party, Lavalas
Family, and says he plans to run for the Haitian Senate.
Why, then, did U.S. officials detain Toussaint at Miami International
Airport? And who was really behind his questioning? Toussaint says he
got his answers two days after the incident, when he was transferred
to the Krome Detention Center: A pair of FBI agents paid him a visit.
During Toussaint's tenure as interim police chief, several high-profile
murders occurred in Haiti, most notably that of attorney Mireille Durocher
Bertin on March 28, 1995. Bertin was an outspoken critic of Aristide,
and so early suspicions held that she had been killed by forces within
the government. Under pressure from the United States, Aristide agreed
to allow the FBI to investigate Bertin's murder, but only on condition
that the bureau also probe the slayings of numerous Aristide supporters
as well, including Justice Minister Guy Mallory and Father Jean-Marie
Vincent. More than two years later the continuing FBI inquiry has become
so politically charged as to render it highly suspect.
One of the FBI agents who arrived at Krome to visit Toussaint was Mark
D'Amico, who was responsible for the investigation into Bertin's death.
"He told me he knows I am not the triggerman but they would like
me to cooperate with them," Toussaint says. "He made it seem
like he was there to help me. Anything I want I could have. He wanted
to buy me. He wanted me to lie about what I know about the killings,
about whether Aristide ordered the killings." Toussaint refused,
saying he had nothing to do with Bertin's murder and that he didn't
know who was responsible.
Toussaint acknowledges that when he returned to Haiti in 1994 he was
tempted to seek revenge on those who supported the coup against Aristide.
"But President Aristide gave us orders to do reconciliation,"
he says today. "He granted amnesty and we had to follow his orders.
Inside of me, at first, I did not agree with reconciliation, because
my friends who were killed never got justice. The people who killed
them never went to jail. My house was ransacked and nothing happened.
But I have to follow orders. Finally, I now feel comfortable with reconciliation,
because those people did not know what they were doing."
Toussaint, who was released from Krome several days after D'Amico's
visit, believes it was D'Amico or others at the FBI who were feeding
the INS agent questions via e-mail during his January interrogation.
Toussaint's Miami attorney, Ira Kurzban, suspects that federal agents
used the e-mail gambit as a way of circumventing Toussaint's right to
have an attorney present while being questioned in a criminal case.
Toussaint says he repeatedly asked to call his attorney but was told
he was not entitled to counsel because he was merely being questioned
regarding his entry into the United States. Anne Figueiras, a spokeswoman
for the Miami office of the FBI, declined to comment.
Although INS officials initially told Toussaint they would go to court
to have his residency status revoked, seven months have passed without
any action. Miami INS spokesman Lemar Wooley would not comment about
any possible action the INS might eventually take against Toussaint.
Kurzban, who in addition to representing Toussaint is also an attorney
for the government of Haiti, argues that the United States's ham-handed
treatment of Toussaint is typical of its dealings with Haiti in general.
For example, when FBI agents went to Haiti to investigate Bertin's death,
Kurzban asserts, they were predisposed to believe that Aristide was
responsible. "The FBI was being briefed by the U.S. intelligence
guys in Haiti," says Kurzban. "These are the same guys who
were in Haiti during the September 1991 coup that removed Aristide and
who some people believe may have had some responsibility for the coup.
So the orientation they were getting when they came in was that Aristide's
people were behind this killing in some way, without any proof except
for the fact that Bertin was on TV as a critic of Aristide. But anyone
who knew Haitian politics knew she was not a threat to Aristide. She
was just a person who shot off her mouth a lot."
Although the United States helped restore Aristide to power, many senior
U.S. officials have never been comfortable with the former priest and
his fervent brand of nationalism. The prospect of Aristide running again
for president in 2001 is clearly something they do not relish. "The
fear is that he doesn't toe the line," Kurzban says. If they can
brand Aristide -- as well as his most loyal supporters -- with Bertin's
death, Toussaint contends, then they may be able to keep him from running
for office. Many Republicans in Congress, particularly North Carolina's
Sen. Jesse Helms, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
have been vociferous opponents of Aristide and have repeatedly criticized
the Clinton Administration for not being more aggressive in pursuing
the FBI investigation into Bertin's death. Indeed, it is possible that
such congressional pressure on the FBI may have been partly responsible
for Toussaint's detention and questioning.
Although Toussaint returned to Haiti this past April, new obstacles
have arisen to keep him from re-entering the United States. An amendment
to the bill authorizing funding of the State Department appears to have
been proposed with the specific intent of barring Toussaint's return.
The measure, which recently passed Congress, allows INS officials to
exclude anyone the Secretary of State believes participated in political
killings in Haiti.
"On its face, obviously, who can complain about going after and
excluding human rights violators?" Kurzban asks. "That's the
thrust of what it is -- unless you really know what the politics are.
This is a bill written to exclude ten people from the United States,
and to put pressure on them.
"Look at what the standard is," Kurzban continues. "The
standard is ridiculous. It says, 'reason to believe that there is a
credible allegation.' What does that mean? That means that if the FBI
says they think they have information -- even though it wouldn't stand
up in a court of law -- that is sufficient to exclude someone from the
United States who has been a long-term permanent resident. Where's the
evidence? What this does is allow the government to get off the hook
by not having to prove anything."
Kurzban says he has no doubt the measure was written specifically with
Toussaint and a handful of other people in mind. "I've been practicing
immigration law for twenty years and have never seen an immigration
bill establishing grounds for exclusion directed toward specific individuals,"
he adds. "Whatever the objective is here, it is bad law and bad
public policy, because, if they want to go after human rights violators,
then they ought to do it in such a way to cover human rights violators
wherever they are in the world. But to single this out -- it is obvious
to me what it is. It's really going after three or four major people,
with Dany at the top of the list, and six or seven other people solely
because of very short-term, very narrowly focused U.S. foreign policy."
The only way to have the ban lifted, according to the law, is for suspects
to cooperate with the FBI. "The exemption is that if you cooperate,
we will forgive everything, which is the same offer that has been made
to Dany and others before," Kurzban says. "It was made to
Dany when they stopped him at the airport. This is designed to try to
induce them to testify falsely against Aristide, Preval, or anyone else
in the government." Kurzban says he is considering a possible legal
challenge to the measure, believing that it is unconstitutionally broad
and violates Toussaint's rights to due process and equal protection
under the law.
Although the law would also apply to those suspected of killing Aristide's
allies, Kurzban says he doubts it would ever be used to that end. "Given
the history of the State Department, it is a virtual certainty that
they will not apply it toward anyone who was involved in the murders
of Aristide's supporters," he says.
Kurzban notes that members of Cedras's family have been allowed to reside
in the United States. In addition, the U.S. government granted political
asylum to Marc Valme, a major in the Haitian military, even though he
was identified as one of the leaders of the coup against Aristide. (He
was subsequently indicted by a Miami federal grand jury on drug-trafficking
charges.) "How the U.S. decides to grant asylum to Valme is absolutely
amazing," Kurzban says with exasperation.
But no more amazing than the decision earlier this month to allow Emmanuel
Constant, former leader of the murderous right-wing Haitian paramilitary
group known as FRAPH, to live and work freely in the United States.
Although he is wanted in Haiti for numerous human rights violations,
U.S. officials are considering his application for political asylum.
In 1995 Constant told the CBS program 60 Minutes that he had been a
paid agent of the CIA from 1991 to 1994. "That just goes to show
you what this country's agenda is," Kurzban shrugs. "As long
we find you useful we don't care what you do."
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Ezili Danto's Note:
Dismissed
Senator Boulos ingratiates himself with the DR, announces his
candidacy for president of Haiti
***
Haiti's
(dismissed) Senator thanks Dominican Republic for support offered to
the almost 2 million Haitians that reside in the Dominican Republic
, August 31, 2009 [Source - translated from German
original)
Santo Domingo. - The (*dismissed
and rejected) senator of the Republic of Haiti, Rudolph
Henry Boulos considered today that his nation should thank
the Dominican Republic and the authorities of the Dominican government
for the reception, protection and good treatment which they're giving
to the almost two million Haitians who reside in the Domican Republic.
The legislator of the neighboring nation considers that there exist
no justification for the Dominican Republic to be accused of violating
the rights of Haitian immigrants when, on the contrary, what the country
does is to offer them opportunities and facilities to be educated and
to develop.
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*Contrary
to the assertions in this article, Rudolph Henry Boulos, is not
a recognized Haitian Senator. He was forced to resign and after
took refuge in the Dominican Republic to avoid arrest for fraud
after being kicked out of the Haitian Parliament for being a US
citizen,
deceiving the Haitian authorities about his
citizenship and not meeting the legal and Constitutional
Haitian citizenship requirement to hold a senate seat in Haiti. |
"I want to take advantage of this opportunity to give thanks to
the Dominican people for the 350,000 thousand laborers that are working
in the the construction industry. I, as Senator want to give thanks
to the Dominican people for the more than 300,000 laborers that are
working in the area of agriculture. I want to give thanks to the Dominican
people and to the universities for the more than 30,000 students they
have received and also I want to give thanks for the more than 5,000
Haitians that know more than four languages and are working in the tourism's
industry in the Dominican Republic," said the legislator.
He said that for Haiti it is an incredible value to have all those human
resources in the Dominican Republic.
In his judgment the 90% of the middle class of Haiti reside
in the Dominican Republic, and that this is a big
help the Dominican nation offers to Haiti since the remittances from
these Haitians in the Dominican Republic benefit Haiti, are the fruit
of the opportunities of jobs that Haitians in the Dominican Republic
are offered.
"I want not only to give thanks first to the Dominican people,
but also to give thanks to the authorities of the Dominican Republican
government for protecting the rights of Haitians who come to the Dominican
Republic, above all their human rights", said Boulos.
In that order, Boulos denied that Haitians are regularly mistreated,
the rights of Haitians violated, their children abused and constantly
injured in the Dominican Republic. At the same time he attributed the
accusations of human rights groups to people interested in exploiting
the Haitian issues for private ends.
Senator Henry Boulos also declared concern that more than 50% of the
Haitian population in the Dominican Republic are not registered and
therefore they lack identity cards. In that sense, Boulos maintained
that this a project which the Dominican Republic can offer great aid,
"because the Dominican Republic is a country that's organized."
"The Dominican Republic has many solutions to Haiti's problems
since its more advanced. I think that the brothers of the Dominican
Republic can help us and guide us on how to resolve our problems,"
Boulos added.
On another issue the Haitian legislator considered that there is a lack
of vision in the Haitian leadership, and he said that many do not understand
the importance of commerce between the Haitian nation and the Dominican
Republic. He attributed this attitude to a group of citizens of his
nation who boycotted the commerce of eggs and chicken toward his country,
of which Haiti gets more benefit than the Dominican Republic itself.
"But nevertheless, it is necessary that a trade agreement among
both nations is signed, because the Dominican Republic is the Republic
of Haiti's second business partner and both must not be working in an
informal way," he said. Likewise Senator Boulos considers that
it's urgent to sign an immigration agreement between the Dominican Republic
and Haiti.
"It is crucial important and urgent that the Haitian leadership
be dedicated to resolving the migrant problem," Boulos said. He
declared that this would be the first aspect on which would work the
team that will support him in his aspirations to the presidency of the
Republic of Haiti.
"As a former president of the Dominican Republic has said, between
Haiti and this nation exists a marriage without divorce," he stated.
Rudolph Henry Boulos is a senator* for the Party Democratic Social Fusion,
in representation of the province of Ounaminthe, a position he holds
until 2012.(*dismissed).
He said that he aspires to the presidency of the Republic of Haiti,
but that first he will work to organize and to form a team.
"A captain can't go to battle without a team, now we are going
to build the team. I am going to work for my community and for all the
Haitian people in general," he said. The legislator was interviewed
by Listin Diario in the Hotel Jaragua while he participated in an encounter
of the members of the Committee of Preparation for the Elaboration of
a strategy of National Salvation for Haiti. The event was organized
by the League of Haitian Shepherds in the Dominican Republic.
At the event that started today and will conclude tomorrow, participants
included intellectuals, residents from Haiti, Haitian religious groups,
Haitian unions and Haitian political leaders from Haiti, United States,
Canada, France and Dominican Republic.
************************************
"Transformation is only valid if it is carried
out with the people, not for them. Liberation is like a childbirth,
and a painful one. The person who emerges is a new person: no longer
either oppressor or oppressed, but a person in the process of achieving
freedom. It is only the oppressed who, by freeing themselves, can free
their oppressors."
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Barbados
Pressed not to engage with Death regime
May 18, 2004 |
Barbados' Shameless Path-
Pressed Not to Engage Haiti by Dawne Bennett
Caribbean Net News - Barbados Coresspondent |
International
Solidarity Day Pictures & Articles
May 18, 2005 |
Pictures
and Articles Witness Project |
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Ayiti
Flag Day
May 18, 2005 |
Three
unarmed Haitians died from Bullets on Haiti's Flag Day
Marguerite Laurent
HLLN
May 19, 2005 |
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Ayiti
Flag Day
May 18, 2004 |
At
least 9 demonstrators killed during huge march on Haiti's Flag
Marguerite Laurent
HLLN
May 19, 2004 |
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Ezili Danto Witness
Project: Direct
form Haiti - Jean's Report on the May 18, 2005 Demonstration |
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May
18, 2005 Pro-democracy anti-occupation demonstrations flare across
Haiti
Haiti Progrè, This Week In Haiti
May 25 - 31, 2005
Vol. 23, No. 11 |
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UG
group solid with Haiti
Thursday,
May 19th 2005
Stabroeknews.com |
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Haiti
Occupation and Solidarity
by Jean St.Vil
Zmag.com
May 16, 2005 |
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Paper
Tiger, Rising Dragon
China's Deployment in Haiti Treads in Familiar Footsteps
by Pranjal Tiwari
May 19, 2005 |
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