A mon avis les Brésiliens ne partiront pas; ils sont trop liés avec l'extrème-droite haïtienne, les grenn-nanbounda et l'administration US.
Cependant ,Ochan, honneur et respect à David Josué dont la tournée a permis
à la classe politique brésilienne et au peuple brésilien de voir
grâce aux vidéos le rôle répressif joué par leurs militaires.
Bah! -me direz-vous- les militaires brésiliens agissent pareillement au Brésil avec les populations noires, métissses
et pauvres de leur pays.
Il n'empêche Haïti ce n'est pas le Brésil.
Les troupes brésiliennes sont en principe des troupes de la paix.
En principe.
Il n'existe pas d'autres pays au monde où des soldats de l'ONU tirent sur les populations civiles en dehors d'Haïti.
Pourquoi ?
Parce qu'il n' y a qu'en Haïti que l'élite les a instamment priés de le faire.
David Josué devrait faire attention.
Il ne faudrait pas qu'il fasse partie de la liste des militants disparus, kidnappés, assassinés.
Les grenn-nanbounda, (alias Gnbistes) comme l'indique bien leur nom, ne sont pas de tendres démocrates.
D'ailleurs où est Lovinsky Pierre Antoine ?
Et pourquoi les autorités politiques, judiciaires, la société civile, les média, les intellectuels sont-ils tous unaniment et totalement silencieux ?
Qui a lu la lettre de la femme de Lovinsky Pierre Antoine?
Voir aussi :
Vidéos "opération grenn-nanbounda" à Cité Soleil
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Haitian Activist David Josue Concludes Successful 4-City Tour in Brazil to
Demand Immediate Withdrawal of UN/Brazilian Troops from Haiti
Report by Alan Benjamin
(report compiled from correspondence/documents from Brother David Josue and
from official tour report by Brazilian tour organizers; photos from the tour
can be accessed at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/revolutionyouthsf/DavidJosueInBrazil . Information
about the photos is contained in the report below.)
On Saturday, August 24, Haitian human rights activist David Josue, a member of
the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network (HLLN), completed his one-week trip to
Brazil. His tour, which was sponsored by leaders of the Workers Party (PT) and
Central Workers Federation (CUT) of Brazil, was organized to promote the widest
possible support for the call to withdraw all UN troops, which are under
Brazilian command, from Haiti -- so that the Haitian people can determine their
own fate, without foreign intervention.
UN troops in Brazil -- known as the MINUSTAH forces (or UN Mission for the
Stabilization of Haiti) -- have occupied Haiti since 2004. Brazil is in command
of these occupation forces and also has the largest contingent of troops in
Haiti -- 1,210 troops, according to the UN figures released for June 2008.
On April 4, 2008, from the platform of the Second Continental Conference
Against "Free Trade" and Privatizations at the hall of the Mexican Electrical
Workers Union (SME) in Mexico City, Brother Josue had issued his Open Letter to
Brazilian President Luis Inacio "Lula" da Silva, In this letter, Brother Josue
mentioned the heinous crimes by the MINUSTAH occupation forces in Haiti and
demanded that Lula take immediate action to put a halt to this situation,
beginning with the withdrawal of Brazilian troops from Haiti. [See Appendix No.
1 below for copy of Open Letter.]
On April 30, Gilberto de Carvalho, chief of staff of President Lula, received a
delegation in Brasilia led by PT Federal Deputy Fernando Ferro of Pernambuco
and Markus Sokol, a member of the National Executive Committee of the Workers
Party. The delegation delivered Brother Josue's letter to Lula. Carvalho
pledged that the delegation would receive a reply from Lula within one week.
But that reply never came. A campaign was then launched across Brazil in
support of Brother Josue's Open Letter and its main demand to withdraw
Brazilian troops from Haiti. In a short period of time, 14,342 endorsers were
gathered, about half from youth activists.
During his tour, Brother Josue also demanded that the Brazilian authorities
press for an immediate investigation into the disappearance on August 12, 2007,
of Haitian activist Lovinsky Pierre Antoine. For over one year now, an
international campaign has been waged to demand the safe return of Brother
Pierre Antoine.
Over the weekend, the tour organizers issued a comprehensive day-by-day report
of the tour. The following is an abridged and translated version of their
report:
Monday, April 18:
Brother Josue's successful tour began with a meeting with top leaders of the
CUT trade union federation in Sao Paulo. Earlier, the CUT had adopted a
resolution affirming that the "presence of Brazilian troops in Haiti has not
created the conditions for rebuilding a country that has been destroyed." The
resolution also reaffirmed the need to safeguard the right of the Haitian
people to self-determination and called on the Brazilian labor movement to
discuss the proposal to withdraw Brazilian troops from Haiti.
Following this meeting, Brother Josue spoke to journalists and elected
officials, including PT Deputy Adriano Diago, at the Legislative Assembly in
Sao Paulo. He also showed Haitian filmmaker Kevin Pina's video titled "What's
Going On in Haiti," which includes the images of the massacre by MINUSTAH
troops of civilians in Cité Soleil, a shantytown in the capital city Port au
Prince.
Brother Josue filed a report after his first day in Brazil that states, in
part:
"A couple of hours after I arrived, I went straight to work with my host Markus
Sokol and other members of the Workers Party. I brought with me the copies of
the dvd that Brother Pierre Labossiere sent to me. I showed it ten minutes
after my arrival. I was told by a member of the press that the Brazilian public
has never been told of the atrocities committed by their soldiers in Haiti.
They are all under the impression that Brazil is busy in Haiti building
hospitals and caring for the population. Then I showed them Kevin Pina's dvd.
The dvd was very helpful, and it will be shown to a joint session of the
Congress in Brasilia before my speech.
"I just finished a TV interview with the government television station. It went
very well. There is a copy of Mrs. Lovinsky's letter in every press kit, and I
will deliver one to the senators as well.
"I also met with the leadership of the CUT union federation. A resolution to
ask for the withdrawal of the troops in Haiti was discussed. Six-hundred
delegates will sign the resolution, and I will sign as a delegate of Haitian
Lawyers Leadership Network. I told the Brazilian press that we owe it to Kevin
Pina who risked the ultimate price to bring us the true story of what occurred
in Cite Soleil that day."
Tuesday, August 19
The following day took Brother Josue to the capital city of Brasilia, where he
met with Magali Naves, Secretary for the Promotion of Racial Equality in the
Lula government. Mrs. Naves viewed the Pina video and pledged to work with
Minister Edson Santos to put an end to this "Haitian drama." [See Photo No. 4
in photo link site below.]
Brother Josue was then received by Senator Eduardo Suplicy in his congressional
office. Senator Suplicy heard the message from Haiti, viewed the video and
pledged to show the video to a session of the Senate the following day. Brother
Josue also met with Valter Pomar, Director of International Relations of the
Workers Party.
The day ended with a public meeting for the Withdrawal of UN/Brazilian Troops
from Haiti in the hall of the SINDSEP [public sector] trade union. Also
addressing the gathering of 50 unionists and activists were Lucia Reis, of the
executive committee of the CUT; Ismael César, representing the CUT in
Brasilia; Oton Pereira, secretary-treasurer of SINDSEP; Edison Cardoni of the
CONDSEF union, and Markus Sokol.
Wednesday, August 20
The day began with a meeting with Dr. Fermino Fechio, Coordinator of the
National Human Rights Commission of Brazil, who received the 14,342 signatures
in support of Brother Josue's Open Letter to Lula. Mr. Fechio pledged to study
the full dossier presented by Brother Josue and said he would propose that the
Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network participate in the December 2008 conference
organized by the Brazilian Human Rights Commission. But he also stated, based
on the grave accusations and images from the Kevin Pina's video, his intention
to address the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and National Defense to demand
"clarifications." [See photo nos 6 and 7. in linked photo gallery.]
Brother Josue then presented his remarks and video to the Commission of Foreign
Affairs of the Brazilian Senate. The major Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao
Paulo reported as follows on this important session:
"'The peace mission in Haiti, coordinated by Brazil, has witnessed the use of
troops, tanks and helicopters to bombard the Cité Soleil neighborhood, where
innocent children were killed,' stated Senator Suplicy. ... Senator Marina
Silva echoed these remarks: 'The images speak for themselves. The child who
died at the hands of the UN troops is the child of every one of us. If no one
has been brought to justice for these actions, it us up to us to push for an
inquiry. Nothing can justify such atrocities." (Folha Online, August 20)
In response to the testimony and video showing, the Senate Commission voted to
communicate all this documentation to the Ministers of Foreign Relations and
National Defense, and to summon Defense Minister Nelson Jobim to appear before
the committee to respond to this evidence. The vote was reported widely around
the world, and was even aired in Haiti by Radio Kiskeya.
The official Brazilian Senate website and Senate Daily Journal reported on the
meeting as follows:
"Yesterday Senator Eduardo Suplicy (PT-Sao Paulo) presented denunciations of
human rights abuses committed by United Nations troops in Haiti under Brazilian
command at a meeting of the Commission of Foreign Affairs and National Defense.
The denunciations were made by David Josue, a Haitian residing in the United
States, in the name of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, and by Markus
Sokol, a member of the National Executive Committee of the Workers Party (PT).
"Parliamentarians watched a video about events that occurred in 2007. According
to David Josue, abuses continue to occur. In the video, troops with tanks and
helicopters are seen bombing the slum quarter of Cité Soleil, in
Port-au-Prince, leaving multiple residents dead, including children. 'The
authorities say that those killed were "outlaws or drug traffickers",' Suplicy
explained.
"The president of the commission, Heráclito Fortes (DEM-PI), considered the
denunciations to be serious and reported that the Commission will set a meeting
with the Minister of Defense, Nelson Jobim, to deal with the issue. Marina
Silva (PT-AC) said that the assassinated children represent 'the children of
all of us.' Parliamentarians will ask for clarification from the Ministries of
Defense and Foreign Affairs." [See photo No. 11, which is reprinted from the
Senate Daily Journal. Also from Brasilia, see photo no. 5 and 10.]
Following the session in the Senate, Brother Josue spoke before the Commission
on Human Rights of the House of Representatives, at a session also attended by
Deputy Attorney General of Brazil Gilda Pereira de Carvalho and by elected
officials and representatives from many human rights organizations.
Federal Deputy Luis Couto was so moved by the information on the real situation
in Haiti that he announced he would propose that the Commission summon
President Lula to appear before the committee to answer for these atrocities
committed in the name of the people of Brazil. At the same time, Deputy
Attorney General Pereira de Carvalho announced that she would initiate a
lawsuit based on the Statute on Children and Adolescents, given the evidence of
sexual trafficking and rapes committed by MINUSTAH troops in Haiti, under
Brazilian command.
Later in the afternoon, the delegation returned to Sao Paulo, where Brother
Josue spoke before a gathering of more than 200 people in the Franco Montoro
auditorium of the Sao Paulo State Legislative Assembly. The event began with
the presentation of the Kevin Pina video denouncing the criminal actions of the
UN troops in Cité Soleil in 2006 and 2007.
The event was sponsored by Federal Deputies Jose Candido and Adriano Diago. The
main speaker was David Josue, whose full presentation to the gathering is
included as Appendix No. 2 below.
Other speakers included Deputies Jose Candido and Adriano Diago; Gegé, leader
of the Union of Popular Movements; Milton Barbosa, a central leader of the
Unified Black Movement; Marcelo Buzzeto of the Landless Peasants Movement
)MST); Gilberto Malukinho, representative of Revolution Youth; Renato Simoes,
representative of the National Secretariat of the Popular Movements Coalition
of the Workers Party; Rafael Pinto, representative of the National Secretariat
of the Workers Party's Struggle Against Racism Committee; and Claudinho, of the
state committee of Struggle Against Racism, as well as Haitian activists
Roosevelt Jean Felix, Kathia Ridore and Jean Milus Rocheman.
The closing speech was delivered by Markus Sokol, who reported on all the
meetings held earlier that day in Brasilia and who concluded his remarks with
the call to continue and deepen the campaign across Brazil to demand the
withdrawal of all MINUSTAH troops from Brazil as well as the punishment of all
those responsible for the criminal actions perpetrated against the civilian
population. Sokol also announced that the Third Caribbean Conference Against
"Free Trade" and Privatizations and in Defense of National Sovereignty would be
held on December 12-13, 2008 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with the theme "By
Defending Haiti, We Defend Ourselves!" [See photos nos. 2,3, 12 and 13 in
linked photo gallery.]
Thursday, August 21
A meeting of 50 trade unionists of the CUT-Pernambuco union federation was held
in the state's capital city of Recife in northern Brazil to hear the
presentation by Brother Josue. Leading trade unionists and community activists
participated in the discussion. Jacqueline Albuquerque was one of the speakers.
She had met Brother Josue at the Second Continental Conference in Mexico City,
where she was a delegate from Fenajufe workers' union. Marta, a leader of the
National Black Unified Movement, also spoke and joined the call for the
immediate withdrawal of Brazilian/UN troops from Haiti. [See photo no. 1 in
linked photo gallery.]
Friday, August 22
The final day of the tour took Brother Josue to Salvador, the capital of the
state of Bahia. More than 70 people participated in this event, which was
hosted by members of the City Council, trade union and community leaders, and
by Juventude Revoluçao (Revolution Youth).
Among the many passionate speakers was Carmen Sacramento, a founding leader of
the Workers Party, who underscored the fact that "what is occurring at the
hands of the MINUSTAH troops in Haiti is occurring every day in the favelas of
Brazil's cities against poor Blacks and youth." [See photos 8 and 9 in linked
photo gallery]
********************
Appendix No. 1
Presentation by David Josue to Second Continental Conference Against Free
Trade, Privatizations and War (Mexico City -- April 5, 2008)
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
I want to thank the organizers of this important Segundo Encuentro for
providing me an opportunity to address this body and to put the issue of
Brazilian conduct in Haiti on the table for discussion.
My comments are directed at President da Silva, and I ask the delegates here
from Brazil to please relay my concerns to the government in Brasilia.
Open Letter to Lula
President Lula da Silva:
Something untoward is going on with your soldiers in Haiti. Brazilian soldiers
are conducting terrifying raids on residents of poor and defenseless
communities throughout Haiti, leaving in their wake a trail of blood, tears,
and death.
The buck stops with you, President da Silva. You are their commander in chief.
What your soldiers are doing to the innocent people of Haiti is worse than what
the armed forces of Haiti were accused of doing.
No one will attempt to mitigate the utmost importance of living in a state of
law. No one objects to getting a proper warrant before the proper court seeks
an arrest of the accused and brings him or her to justice. But a collective
warrant that declares an entire community criminal is, in itself, criminal.
President Lula da Silva, what would you say to Fredi Romelus for the terrible
loss of his one-year-old son, Nelson Romelus. What was his crime? Why was he
executed by your soldiers? His four-year-old brother Stanley, who died of a
high-powered gunshot wound to the head, what was his crime? Their mother, Sonia
Romelus, who died still clutching her baby, Nelson, what was her crime?
Lelene Mertina, 24 years old, was six months pregnant when a bullet ripped
through her abdomen, instantly killing her unborn fetus. What was she guilty of
to deserve this?
President Lula da Silva, according to a U.N. after-action report, your soldiers
spent seven hours shooting at an unarmed population. They expended over 22,000
rounds of ammunition, knowing they were striking unintended targets. This
cannot possibly be the best that the Brazilian people have to offer. How can
this happen when you are the President of Brazil?
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that there comes a time when silence is
betrayal. Will you and your Administration remain silent on these atrocities?
* * * * *
Appendix No. 2
Presentation by David Josue to public rally in Sao Paulo on August 20
Distinguished Members of the Brazilian Congress, and citizens of the Federative
Republic of Brazil. I am grateful, humbled and honored to speak before you on
behalf of those in Haiti who are no longer alive to speak and all Haitians and
friends of Haiti who desire a non-military and peaceful solution to the
situation in Haiti.
We all would like to turn the page and start anew with a New Haiti; a New Haiti
where all Haitians everywhere, and people of Haitian descent everywhere can
constitutionally participate in the Renaissance of Haiti.
It is time to silence the guns. It is time for lasting peace. For Haiti's sake,
it is time for a Truce in Haiti an end to the fratricidal strife. It is time
for the current military presence in Haiti to end. Maintaining law and order in
an urban area is a police matter, not one for military troops. Haiti needs the
assistance of police forces, financial aid, humanitarian workers and the
assistance of Haitians from all over to participate in Haiti's development. It
is time for Haitians to pro-actively prepare to assume the responsibility that
awaits them after the departure of MINUSTAH. Today, MINUSTAH represents
Stabilization in principle but occupation in practice.
It is time for the soldiers to know when they will return home to their beloved
Brazil, and the others, to their respective homelands. Too often, the
deployment of Brazilian soldiers and other foreign speaking soldiers in the
already impoverished neighborhoods of Haiti, for the arrest of one or two
lawbreakers results in the unfortunate death of children, women and unarmed
bystanders. What Brazilian led UN soldiers have done to the innocent people of
Haiti is worse than what the Armed Forces of Haiti were accused of doing.
Imagine the already frightened and traumatized Creole-speaking unarmed
civilians trying to react to soldiers shouting orders in Portuguese, Arabic,
Sinhalese, Tamil, or Spanish.
It has been four years now since families in Haiti are living in fear of
foreign troops and also are being forced to pay large sums for the return of
their kidnapped loved ones by the emergence of kidnappers, only to find their
lifeless and mutilated bodies. Eyewitnesses and survivors reported that during
a soccer match organized for peace in Martissant, many were methodically
executed in the stadium while the troops stood by like in Rwanda and did
nothing. What will it take to investigate what went wrong that day?
All that went to the tune of $535,372,800.00 a year, $44,614,400.00 a month,
$1,593,371. a day, yes, that is $66,390 an hour to keep soldiers in Haiti; and
it's been going on for four years. Yet, insecurity, hunger, political
stratification have the upper hand and the deaths of innocent civilians are
numerous. Given the flimsy constructions in Cite Soleil and the powerful arms
with projectiles that can penetrate the tin, wood and concrete shacks, how many
targets were the troops expected to hit when they expended 22,000 rounds of
ammunition in a populous civilian neighborhood?
That was scandalous, and excessive in light of the clear overall military
advantage of the troops and the loss and damage to the civilian population that
could have been avoided. On July 3, 2008, the world learned that 15 hostages
were rescued from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and not one shot
was fired. General Freddy Padilla said. "We wanted to have it happen as it did
today, without a single shot, without anyone wounded, absolutely safe, sound
and without a scratch." In contrast, the Brazilian-led UN troops, entered Cite
Soleil to arrest one man, who they claimed held the population hostage by
intimidation and other allegations.
10,000 shots were fired from heavy automatic weapons and 30mm cannon in that
populous seaside slum. The suspect they were looking for was not found. Yet,
they left behind a trail of disaster and a terrible precedent. How can it be
asked of us to put our trust in these soldiers when the world learned from Save
the Children that UN soldiers are involved in rape, sexual trafficking and
exploitation of women and children as young as 6 years old in Haiti and Sudan?
All the babies, children, unarmed men and women who met their untimely death
from the Brazilian-led mission will be remembered. They cannot be dismissed
simply as Collateral Civilian Damages; Haiti is not at war.
But I would like Brazil to be remembered as the one that made peacemaking
possible in Haiti without a military solution.
The stance of the soldiers does not instill faith in the civilian population
that it is a peace Mission, but instills in the population the belief that the
Mission has turned against unarmed civilians they swore to protect.
Stabilization in name, but occupation in practice is a problem.
The Haitian solution is not a military one. I am not going to take an
unreliably nationalist stance; we will need the assistance of our friends in
various projects. We will need tractors for agriculture but we will not need
tanks and other weapons of war.
We need to experience the implementation of people-centered policies that will
remake the Plaine du Sud and the valley of Artibonite the bread baskets of
Haiti once again. According to an Associated Press article published in the
Miami Herald on July 20, 2008, which quoted a U.S Agency of International
Development report "Š of the outpouring of international pledges that included
more than 40,000 tons of food intended to quell the emergency, as of early July
of 2008, less than 2 percent of that had been distributed".
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that he did not want a repeat of the
Rwanda killings and chaos in Haiti after the departure of MINUSTAH. These words
are proof that he is a man of compassion and compassion is not only a virtue,
it is a duty. History will thank his Excellency for leaving a legacy of moral
courage for ordering the orderly withdrawal of the troops in Haiti and avoid
the lost of lives he mentioned. Distinguished members of the Brazilian
Congress, your country has accepted the role of Lead Nation in Haiti, and you
must have reason for having done so. I therefore ask you to please listen to
your voters and support an Agenda for Peace and Reconciliation and end the
military operations in Haiti. I ask the Churches not to remain silent in light
of our trouble and the pulpits not to remain inept. Please end the occupation
in memory of the innocent children who died and the orphans that are struggling
to survive against all odds.
When Brazilian families talk about Haiti, it should be about vacations or
business opportunities, but not where their loved ones lost their lives. When
Haitian families think of Brazil, it should be about emulating the success
story of this republic, but not of Brazilian soldiers who fired the weapons of
war that killed their loved ones. No life should be written off. Not the life
of any Brazilian soldiers and not the life of any citizens of Haiti.
We the peoples of Latin, South, Central America and the Caribbean Islands, must
live in peace. Hunger, sickness, and death have been our burden for a long
time, but nothing hurts more than the total indifference of others.
The new leaders will boast of the lives saved but not of the lives taken to
earn their ranks. To all among you who support an immediate withdrawal of the
troops in Haiti, I thank you in behalf of those who lives weren't spared in
Haiti. The Haitian people have many friends inside Brazil and around the world;
we will always remember your generosity of heart. The Progressive communities
around the world will remain vigilant in their support for a peaceful Haiti.
My warmest gratitude to the Workers Party of Brazil, Juventude Revolucao,
L'Union General des Travailleurs de Guadeloupe, l'Association des Travailleurs
et Peuples de la Caraibe, Travaye e Peyizan, Movimento Negro Unificado, elected
officials of the Federative Republic of Brazil, students all over Brazil, to
you and all others I say thank you for standing up for peace in Haiti.
My brothers and sisters in Haiti are starving for peace, order and union, and
Haitians have not lost their resilience and determination to succeed. Our
leverage is within us and we will draw strength from our past achievements and
with the help of our friends, peacefully forge a way of this impasse.
Obrigado por convidar-me e viva a amizade brasileira-haitiano.
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Forwarded by Ezili's Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
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