LEGAL ACTIVISTS OF COLOR
News, Events, Actions and Commentary on law and social justice. Welcome to the official blog of the United People of Color Caucus (TUPOCC) of the National Lawyers Guild.
Latortue's disturbing legacy / NYC: Elvira Arellano speaks via
phone conference from Chicago!
Forwarded by the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network [ ezilidanto@lists.riseup.net ]
via lawofcolor@lists.riseup.net
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15458244.htm
Miami Herald, September 7, 2006 MiamiHerald.com
********************************
Latortue's disturbing legacy
BY IRA KURZBAN
ira@kkwtlaw.com
On Feb. 29, 2004, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forcibly removed
from Haiti by the Bush administration. Several days later, Gerard Latortue was
airlifted into Haiti and named the prime minister with barely a fig-leaf as a
process. Latortue was a radio announcer in Boca Raton.
His major qualification, as with many Iraqi advisors to the Bush administration,
was his strong ties to the U.S. intelligence community and neoconservatives in
the White House. Having fed the administration what it wanted to hear about how
unpopular and dictatorial Aristide was in Haiti -- similar to the disinformation
campaign waged by Ahmed Chalabi regarding Iraq -- the unqualified Latortue was
rewarded by being anointed prime minister.
Brutal regime
The results of his tenure are now in. A study published this week in The Lancet,
the respected medical journal of the United Kingdom, scientifically analyzed the
brutality of the regime. In the last two years, reports have documented the
gross human-rights violations in Haiti, but these abuses were sadly ignored by
most mainstream media. The University of Miami School of Law's Center for Human
Rights, led by the prominent human-rights author and professor Irwin Stotzky,
Harvard University's Human Rights Clinic and the Institute for Justice and
Democracy in Haiti all detailed executions and systematic human-rights
violations after Aristide's removal.
The Lancet report, however, confirms everyone's worst suspicions. It concludes
that in the 22 months after Aristide's removal there were 8,000 murders and
35,000 sexual assaults in the greater Port-au-Prince area alone. More than 50
percent of these murders were attributed to anti-Aristide and anti-Lavalas
factions including armed anti-Lavalas groups, demobilized army members and
government security forces.
Gangs not guilty
Similarly, almost 30 percent of the sexual assaults were attributed to
anti-Lavalas and anti-Aristide forces. The remaining murders and sexual assaults
were due to common criminals or of unknown origin. Although a sustained
disinformation campaign by Latortue and the Bush Administration claimed that
violence was due to Lavalas ''gangs'' -- the study finds just the opposite. No
murders or sexual assaults were attributed to Lavalas members or partisans
during the 22-month period of Latortue's regime.
As in Iraq, the other lasting legacy of the Bush administration's policies in
Haiti has been rampant corruption. More than $900 million in aid was provided to
the Latortue regime at the request of the United States, France and Canada. But
no visible major projects warranting such huge expenditures have been recorded.
In a country where the average annual income is less than $350 per year, the
newly elected legislature is investigating this rampant corruption, including $6
million that disappeared from Latortue's Foreign Ministry.
Luxury cars
Latortue also paid a U.S. law firm $250,000 a month retainer solely to bring
against Aristide a civil suit that was ultimately dismissed. In a parting shot
to the Haitian people, Latortue awarded himself two new luxury automobiles,
which he took to Florida until the misappropriation was discovered.
The Bush administration legacy of terminating democracy under Aristide and
allowing gross human-rights abuses and corruption to fester during Latortue's
regime will take many decades to reverse. Nor was the administration successful
in terminating the Haitian people's desire for the return of Aristide, who is as
popular as ever in Haiti.
Ira Kurzban was the general counsel for Haiti for 13 years during the
governments of Renè Prèval and Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
for links to more articles of interest see
http://peaceandjustice2005.blogspot.com/
===================================================
re: Elvira Arellano speaks via phone conference from Chicago to New York City
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
via Fwd: www.HawkinsForSenate.org Tuesday 9/12: immigrants rights event [edited]
When ordered to report to be deported on August 15, Elvira Arellano instead took refuge with her son Saul in the Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago, where she remains today and continues to organize a campaign for a moratorium on all raids and deportations. Her courage in publicly resisting a law that routinely separates families and destroys lives sets an example for us all.
Elvira will speak via phone conference from Chicago.
Also featuring local Immigrant Rights Leaders.
Come and get involved in this and other campiagns for immigrant rights!
Tues. Sept 12, 2006 , 6:30pm
ST. AGONY'S CHURCH
(101 st Street & 3rd Ave)
Sponsored by: No One Is Illegal (NOISI) Coalition (Art for Change/Carlito's Café, CECOMEX, International Socialist Organization, Not in Our Name, and individuals)
Call (347) 537-3433 or e-mail <noisicoalition @ gmail.com> to endorse or for more info
MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "pr.atwola.com" claiming to be Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email and IM. All on demand. Always Free.
__._,_.___
Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic
Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
Recent Activity
1
New Members
Visit Your Group
SPONSORED LINKS
Yahoo! TV
"The 9"
Daily count down
of top Web finds.
Y! Toolbar
Get it Free!
easy 1-click access
to your groups.
Yahoo! Groups
Start a group
in 3 easy steps.
Connect with others.
.
__,_._,___
No comments:
Post a Comment