August 4-- In a report just issued by the Haiti Accompaniment Project, Bay Area human rights activists decried "a new wave of repression by the de facto Haitian authorities against supporters of the elected government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the Fanmi Lavalas Party."

Leslie Fleming, a coordinator of the Haiti Accompaniment Project, noted, " this is a horrific situation in our hemisphere...one that Washington bears a great responsibility for." Fleming teaches anthropology at Merritt College in Oakland, California, and has traveled to Haiti on several previous human rights delegations.

On July 28, mass demonstrations were held throughout Haiti, on the anniversary of the first arrival of U.S. Marines in 1915. Laura Flynn, co-writer of the Accompaniment Project Report said, "independent observers described thousands of demonstrators braving incredible risk to voice opposition to the continuation of coup rule. The protests stressed the importance of President Aristide's safe return."

These demonstrations followed on the heels of July 15 protests, when thousands of people marched from the Belair neighborhood in Port-au-Prince to celebrate President Aristide's 51st birthday and to call for his return from exile in South Africa.

Robert Roth, a San Francisco educator and founding member of the Haiti Action Committee who was part of the recent delegation to Haiti, noted, "One of the most striking findings from our trip was that despite stepped-up repression, many groups throughout the country were preparing for ongoing long-term mobilizations to call for the return of democracy to Haiti. These courageous non-violent actions are going forward in spite of heightened crackdowns by coup authorities," Roth continued.

"There was widespread agreement from those we spoke with that repercussions from this coup are even worse than the aftermath of the brutal 1991-1994 coup. Convicted death squad leaders responsible for massacres of Lavalas supporters in the 1990's have been freed and are now extracting revenge on those who testified against them."

Fleming added, "Rape and other forms of terror are being used to repress dissent. Lavalas people associated with the overthrown government have lost jobs, had their homes burned, and been forced to leave their communities and families."

Two members of the delegation visited Lavalas-affiliated Prime Minister Yvonne Neptune, now being held at the National Penitentiary. The report notes, " Mr. Neptune was calm, articulate and dignified as he described the circumstances surrounding his case. He felt that he had good legal representation, but insisted that the case would be decided politically, not legally, since there is no legal basis to hold him. He considers himself a political prisoner."

Background:

On February 29 representatives of the Bush Administration kidnapped the democratically elected president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and flew him to the Central African Republic. President Aristide now lives in involuntary exile in South Africa. The Haitian people overwhelmingly elected him twice, only to see both terms of office brutally interrupted by military coups.

President Aristide's ouster was the culmination of a U.S.-led destabilization campaign which included withholding of loans, funding of political opposition groups, and arming and training of former military officials and death squad leaders.

Since the military insurgency began in late January, militias have murdered hundreds of people, burned hundreds of homes, and forced tens of thousands of activists in President Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas Party to flee for their lives. Food prices have skyrocketed, with the price of rice doubling, creating an unspeakably horrible situation for the overwhelming majority of Haitians.

An occupation force led by the United States, France, Canada, and Chile replaced Haiti's legal government and installed as President a Haitian exile, Gerard Latortue, who had not set foot in Haiti for 15 years. UN "peacekeepers" lend undeserved legitimacy to the coup government. Former military officials currently control the police, while formerly exiled and jailed death squad leaders again spread terror.

The U.S.-engineered coup in Haiti is in clear violation of international and federal laws. The Caribbean CARICOM countries and Africa Union have repeatedly condemned this removal of Haiti's democratically elected president.

For further information contact: Haiti Action Committee

Check out theHaiti Section of the Global Exchange web site.