Deye Mon Nan

Photos coming soon.

2006-03-31T00:17:00.000-05:00

Inspired by a recent slideshow by independant photojournalists in Iraq (Unembedded), I am working to put all the photo's I took in Haiti onto the web, with a link from here. Unfortunatly, as I prepared for the slideshow I gave a week or so ago, I learned that about half of the photo's I had taken failed to copy to cd and so remain on Evel's laptop. Thankfully he has emailed me some and I have arranged with a friend who is going down in April/May to retrieve them for me. In the meantime I will be putting up the photo's from the slideshow, as well as the others that didn't make the cut for whatever reason. As this progresses, please bear in mind that while the photo quailty isn't always the highest, there are reasons. These are all uneditied and unrefined, often taken from a moving vehicle, often without flash, as that would only have compromised the situation, often in low light, and frequently without proper focus, shot from the hip so to speak to try and remain inconspicous. Until I get them all online, you can still scroll back through old posts to see the dozen or so I put up here.

I've also put up a link to the blog I kept of Mattie and I's trip to Sri Lanka working for three and half months on tsunami relief. Those that found Haiti interesting may also find interest in Sri Lanka. I also hope to put up all the photo's of SL on the web in the near future as well.

The end... for now

2006-03-16T12:38:00.000-05:00

We had a good turn out, maybe about 30 people showed up tuesday night to hear about Haiti, learn about human rights work, see my slides get completely out of order, and eventually enter a raffle for a bottle of Haitian rum and a wall hanging of framed Haitian currency. We raised about $60, enough to free half a dozen people from jail, or send a kid to school for an entire year and then some. The local news paper, the AZ Daily Sun, ran an artical the day of the slideshow describing the work we did and advertising the slideshow, which helped bring in some people who came not because I guilted them into it. Of course I was misquoted, the slideshow began late, and when it did, all the slides were out of order, but I guess that just lent a more authentic Haitin air to the thing.

Although I will continue working with HURAH and AUMOHD, this will be the last post on this blog, at least until I get around to returning to Haiti, though when that will be I can't say. In the mean time, my regular blog will resume at www.wildmeridian.blogspot.com .

Thanks to everyone who stuck with me through this episode.

Slideshow

2006-03-08T19:51:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, March 14th I will be giving a slideshow and talk about Haiti and human rights, from 7-9 pm at Applesauce Tea House, at 213 S. San Francisco, in Flagstaff, AZ. And I think I'm gonna raffle off a bottle of Exta Special Boubancout Haitian Rum, to raise money for AUMOHD.

Going, going, gone

2006-03-05T18:54:00.000-05:00

3 bus rides, 4 plane flights, and 3 time zones later, I am back in Arizona, nearly home.

I could write about the abrupt transition from Haiti to the Dominican Republic, the language confusion, the joy of running water and electricity, or my brief psychotic episode upon encountering a crowded strip-mall again. But everything I could write about in that vein seems rather shallow. So, in that light, let’s try for a little summary of the last 6 weeks, maybe a little reflection on the past and predictions for the future.

In the time I was in Port-au-Prince, 6 illegal prisoners were freed, I was part of a special delegation to Cite Solei, we observed and monitored the national election, documented the incidence of ballot fraud at the city dump, met with community groups in Gran Ravine; Pele; Cite Solei; and Croix de Bouquets, met with U.N. MINUSTAH commanders from Brazil and Sri Lanka, embassy officials, police, UNICEF, visited orphanages, and then some.

Now to give credit where it is due, my part in much of all this was less hands on and more observatory, writing reports, taking photo’s, and documenting the situation. On a few notable occasions I was able to become directly involved. The daily business of working for human rights is done by AUMOHD, not by those of us who come from the States to visit and lend support. But our mission is important to: if you are reading this, it means I succeeded in reaching a few more people with the truth about Haiti and the world at large, the truth that can’t be found on the 6 o’clock news or the morning headlines. That is not to say the truth can’t be found, but you have to look for it and use a healthy dose of skeptism. There is a lot more bull shit in the news world than reality. Of course there is a lot of bull shit in the reality as well, but that is a different flavor of B.S. .

What does the future hold for Haiti? It isn’t pretty, but like all things Haitian, it is relative. By an interesting chance, the most popular political party, which largely swept the elections, is Lespwa, which is the Kreyol word for hope. And that is what I see for the future: hope. Relative to where we were 2 years ago, things are better. Relative to where we were 20 years ago, things are better. That is not to say we haven’t done a little two-step along the way, 2 steps forward and one back, backsliding seems to be the name of the game at times, but progress, relative progress in security, health, education, economics, and maybe even human rights, all these things are just on the edge of the horizon. There is still along way to go, but there are also motivated Haitians working to secure that hope for a better future. And as long as there is such important work to be done, we will be there working along side them. Just seems the neighborly thing to do.

As for me, I have been nominated for the board of directors of HURAH and have taken on the task of expanding the accompaniment program and working on fundraising. Will I be going back to Haiti? Heck, I’ve invested enough in learning the language, it would seem to be a waste not to ;) But really, how can I not go back when there is work to be done and friends to visit. In the mean time, it is home to Flagstaff to access the fire damage and rebuild, then a summer leading trips for NOLS. If I have good luck at the job fair in April, fall may see me bound for Antarctica and a season on the ice, then…who knows? Central Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central America all beckon…
For those that would like to stay up to speed on the goings on of AUMOHD, HURAH, and Haiti, you can send an email to hurrah_inc@riseup.net and ask to be put on the mailing list for updates.

If you are would like to hear what I am up to and in what hemisphere, my regular blog is at www.wildmeridian.blogspot.com .

There may be another post or two on this blog, if I end up giving a slide show sometime soon I’ll post the details here. But if I don’t. well shoot… thanks for sticking with me through this. It wasn’t always (or often) easy, but like I always say, work worth doing.

Na’we pita (see ya later)
Jared

The home fires burning...

2006-02-28T12:23:00.000-05:00

So it wasn’t exactly what they had in mind when they wrote the country song…

As some of you may know, my house back home recently caught fire and the roof burned up. As a consequence, I am forced to leave this enchanted little island a bit sooner than I had anticipated. But the work is not being abandoned, oh no! The work on the ground, in the jails and courts and slums will go on here as Evel Fanfan, president of AUMOHD carries the torch of human rights onward. And I will continue to help him, though my role will change in the coming days, as I transition from physical accompaniment to fundraising and report righting and lobbying, among other things.

But don’t tune out yet, dear friends, I still have a little time left here before I return to the land of running water and paved roads. And there is work to be done.

The National Pen is a little less crowded tonight

2006-02-25T11:27:00.000-05:00

His name is Moise. When he was arrested by Jordanian soldiers, they beat him when he asked for some water. When he asked again later, they beat him once more and then spat in his mouth. Yesterday he and three other young men arrested and held under similar circumstances: without charge, without a court appearance, without warrent or cause for arrest, these four were released to their families. It wasn't what I can call justice, strictly speaking. Justice would see some reprecusions for those responsible for these and more ongoing violtations of human rights. But like everything in Haiti, justice is relative, and for these four and their families, it is enough for now.

Updates and progress

2006-02-21T19:56:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I know I left that last post up there awhile. It was partly intentional, and partly because we had a few days with even less power than normal.

So lately: visited the US embassy, not an especially welcoming place, glad I never had to seek refuge there. The good news is that the US human rights officer is a lovely woman who is glad to help the cause. Also visited the national Penitenary and am working on some cases there, involving Pele, priviousl mentioned. Been meeting with community members in Gran Ravine about the tense situation between various armed gangs, trying to avoid another massacre like the Little Machete Army bit of last summer. Oh, and good news, AUMOHD freed the second person in a month, this fellow was actually one of the community leaders we regularly worked with, a teacher, and so on. The kind of guys everyone wants in their neighborhood. Well, a victim of bad intelligence, he was swept up in a MINUSTAH raid and held three days before we visited the Brazilian commander and investigated his case. Upon investigation, he was immediately released, with the request to AUMOHD to work with the Brazilians to work together and avoid such future mistakes. Yeah!
So been a busy last few days, and more to come. Stay tuned.

A long time in thinking...

2006-02-17T21:54:00.000-05:00

For over a week now I have been trying to figure out how to write this post. I hope before you read much further you go back and skim, just briefly, some of the posts from the last few weeks. Then come back.

Now, check out the HURAH website again, there has been a lot going on there in recent days.

OK

So you’re back, here is the deal: it comes down to money. It comes as no surprise that when you do pro-bono human rights work on the behalf of some of the poorest people in the world, you don’t exactly see a lot of income. By western standards (and in a different context Haitian standards too) life is cheap. A few hundred dollars can buy a life. Four bucks can send a kid to school for a month.

Listen, I’m not asking you for money. In fact I’ll never even see it and probably won’t ever know if you’ve donated. Your name won’t go up on the blog. You won’t get any brownie points with me. What you do get is the chance to help a cause that is real in every way. Your money goes to pay for gas, the gas it takes to drive to the jail, the courthouse, the police office, the UN compound, and back and forth all day everyday. It pays for the phone time that keeps the community leaders of those most neglected communities of Gran Ravine, Cite Solei, Bel Aire, and all the places most vilified by the international community, who incidentally have never been there because they are too afraid. We go there and we work side by side with those who want peaceful disarmament and accountability for the abuses. Your money pays for the forms and documents and appeals and summons that must be written in triplicate by a staffer in an unairconditoned office somewhere who refuses to do so unless you have the proper stamps and signatures.

Let me copy here a report and request I wrote a few days ago about a case we have in Pele right now:

Allow me a moment, just a moment to tell you about Pele and what work AUMOHD is doing there now. Pele is an exceptionally poor neighborhood which borders the infamous Cite Solei. It suffers no less the ravages and abuses of poverty and neglect, but unfortunately receives little of the press of its big brother.
AUMOHD was alerted to a possible case of systematic of human rights abuse going on in the neighborhood, and set out to investigate. The quick and dirty version of what we found follows. It seems that a number of young men, 20 we have identified so far, have been rounded up from the neighborhood while doing such mundane things as buying pate for lunch or crossing the street. They were rounded up by MINUSTAH troops, arrested, and then delivered to the Haitian National Police who sent them to various jails and prisons. As this is a very poor neighborhood, few could afford the customary payoff it takes to get a family member out of jail. Indeed one woman spoke of her son, arrested three times without being charged or tried, and each time they had paid what was asked of them. Now they couldn’t afford to when he was arrested again. Another woman spoke of her husband, when she went to see a judge he told her to pay $2,800 Haitian dollars (about $350 USD). She did as was asked of her but still her husband has not been released.
A community meeting was held at a school in Pele where relatives and friends of the disappeared gathered to tell their stories to AUMOHD president Evel Fanfan, who noted for each the names, dates of arrests and circumstances, names of judges, arresting party, and other pertinent information. He also advised the assembled to organize into an advocacy group for those who are arrested illegally to advocate on their behalf and lobby for an end to the abuses in the neighborhood. This is the same strategy AUMOHD has been pursuing with success in several other of Port-au-Prince’s most troubled neighborhoods.
Now, as I mentioned, we have identified 20 so far that need legal help. We have already met with the judge and he has agreed that the cases against the imprisoned are baseless. We are however proceeding strictly according to the letter of the law and legal procedure. Although it would be faster and easier to simply pull the right strings and get the doors opened, part of the long term mission of AUMOHD is also restoring respect for the rule of law in Haiti, and so we go by the book.
The book ain’t cheap though, at least by Haitian standards. By American standards it is a down right bargain, but the state does not pay for such things as processing, document forwarding, judge’s transportation costs, and so on. All things covered under an American system by the state, that are paid for by the accused under Haitian law. You begin to see how it is that the accused stay in jail so long, dependant not on guilt or innocence, but on moneyed or not.
To that end we are asking a little more, to get these 20 people out of jail and back into the light of day, and to help the community organize themselves against such abuses in the future. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 USD per person in jail should do the trick. Heck, you can’t even get a lawyer return your phone call for that in the states…

Thanks so much for that moment of your time, and for that little extra something I know your sending right now. Your friendly human rights worker,
Jared Sibbitt, Port-au-Prince, Haïti.

I’ll probably write another post at some point, discussing the finer points of Jared’s First Law of International Relief Work, which states that the amount of work any given charity or aid group accomplishes and the efficiency with which it does so as a direct inverse relationship to how well it is funded. You can tell a lot about an NGO by what they drive. Experience in Sri Lanka and Haiti has borne this out time and again.

For now, I will simply ask that you help, in whatever capacity you are able. And naturally I would not ask you if I had not done so already myself; in addition to spending my time in sunny Port-au-Prince Haiti these days, I am donating $10 per month to the cause I believe in. Not so much you say? I agree, but more than I will ask of you. Only $120 per year, and that from someone who has to finance his good deeds with deficit spending. Nope, all we are looking for, officially, is $25 per year. Yep, that works out to…6.8 cents per day, or 48 cents per week, or just over $2 per month. Pocket change. Now, I can hear the whin’gers already, they are saying awwww, I’m a poor ________ college student/working parent/young couple/middle class family struggling to get by, insert demographic here. And besides, change starts at home.

Let me answer. Change happens, sooner or later, it happens, but what form it takes, and our roll in it, to say nothing of the lives that will be affected in the meantime, those are things we can affect. If you think that the problems of Haiti are far removed from the good old USA, reflect on these realities. The massive exodus of poor Haitians to the US most certainly has an effect on the US and its economy. The current condition of Haiti, despite the revisionist history being rewritten as we speak, is in a large part a legacy of the US’s involvement in Haiti. And the poorest country in the western hemisphere lies only a few hundred miles off our shores, close enough that thousands of boat people manage to land every year on American soil, and where Cuban’s find political asylum, Haitians seeking economic refugee status are returned on the first ship southward.

Look, I’m no bleeding heart looney toon crying about starving babies, though we have those too if it’ll do the trick. What I am is a cold hard realist who is looking objectively at a problem and evaluating the cost effectiveness of an investment. And for stability, both in Haiti and vis a vi the US, a few things are required. Education. Human Rights. Respect for the Rule of Law. And not coincidently these are all fronts on which we are working.

If I had, for even one instant half a shred of doubt if it was worth it, or even more relevant if it was possible, I would quit sweating and cursing and working in this unpleasant place and go spend my time on a beach with rum drink in hand. But because I have seen not only the problems, as so many have, but also the answers, I have hope. Now all we need is money.

We’re working on a direct deposit option, whereby you can elect to have that $2.08 taken directly from your bank account every month, but in the mean time we have only two options, a check to our treasurer, at

Joan Rae, Treasurer
P.O. Box 418
Fayston, Vt. 05673

Or paypal at http://www.hurah.revolt.org/Hurah/Fundraising/paypal.html

Unfortunately Paypal takes 4%, so if you have the option, we sure appreciate the check. And yes, for those tax conscious we are a 501(c)3 tax deductible charity. If you too fancy coming to sweat and cry and work in the lovely tropical paradise that is Haiti, drop me a line. And I recommend to all ya’ll that you go to the HURAH website, the link is on the side bar and check us out even further.

Thanks so much for tuning in and sticking with me so far. Even if you never give a cent, I appreciate knowing that someone out there cares what I, what we, are doing. So leave a comment in the darn box, it is there for a reason.

When things get really bad...

2006-02-16T20:14:00.000-05:00

Then I get a little bit happy, because I know soon they'll be getting better again. Such is the way of the world.

Last night around midnight I was woken from sleep by a tremendous noise in the street. More than the Karnival rah-rah, it was the sounds of a massive celebration. Preval was declared winner with 51% of the popular vote, and today Haiti came back to life, with a smile.

It is now safe for a blan to go out in public again, and so the work goes on.

And the hits juust keep on coming...

2006-02-15T07:49:00.000-05:00

Late last night got word that someone was burning ballots in a dump outside of town. Preval ballots. As a human rights group, voting rights are human rights, and anyway, we can do little else until life resumes in this country, so we set out to confirm the early news.

Sure enough, in a dump outside of town, hundreds, if not thousands of ballots lay scattered accross the ground, some already burned. How they got there and who is responsible is unclear yet, but the people: PISSED OFF! The blocking of the country is at a peak, and it was only with the most delicate manuvering we were able to talk our way past the road blocks. But once they saw what we were doing, saw the evidence with their own eye's, it was like magic and those once hostile became our best friends. So now I'm holding up my end of the bargain and telling the world what was found in a garbage dump outside Port-au-Prince Haiti late last night. Better yet, let me show you.

Demonstration

2006-02-14T17:24:00.000-05:00

This one came from a few days ago, when it was still possible to move around the city by car. For two days now the capitol has been brought to a halt as road blocks are manned at every road and alley way. But as I said before, still more or less peaceful. Hoping it stays that way.

The fellow with the rifle is one of the Nigerian troops from MINUSTAH, they were there along with the Guatemalans. Curiously both of these contingents have terrible reputations for human rights, after the Jordanians. Also curiously, both removed their nation identying flags from their uniforms before this operation.

U.N. Helicopters, but not the black ones

2006-02-13T18:06:00.000-05:00

These ones are white, with big black letters.

All is not well in paradise. Not that I would know, but I can say with certainty all is not well here, far from paradise as we are. I’ve never been a fan of UN helicopters, and the sound of them low flying all over the place is disconcerting.

The elections went off, not without hitch, but without too much violence and only s few thousand voters turned away or otherwise disenfranched. As I have noted elsewhere, all fiasco on all fronts, but a more or less representative fiasco none the less. The problem has been the delay in vote counting and release of official results. The people know who won, after all they voted for him. But the heel dragging on the part of the CEP and the suspicious changes in vote percentages has done a thourgh job of leaving everyone upset. While the also-ran candidates had already given their speeches admitting defeat, the chance for a less than 50% +1 victory on Preval’s part has fired new life into their campaigns. Meanwhile the masses of people who support Preval have taken to the streets to protest the delay and show their support, and say, in no uncertain terms, that this country is, and will remain ungovernable until Preval is seated as the president. Witnessed a rally yesterday where I got some photos I’ll try and post. Today the situation had deteriorated to the point I was not willing to risk pulling out a camera for fear of further provoking the hostile young men manning the road blocks and marching by the tens of thousands through the streets. For the time being Port-au-Prince is more or less under mob rule Let’s hope things get better tomorrow, or at the very least not worse.

Haitian Justice

2006-02-11T17:20:00.000-05:00

What follows is a primer on the Haitian justice system I wrote for the HURAH website. Thought it might be helpful here as well to explain things.

In other news, the official election results are slow to be announced, though everyoone knows who won. A demonstration downtown today to demand an official anouncment.

The election process has stalled and overshadowed the human rights delegation to Cite Solei, so they press confrence and report has still not been officially anounced. Hope to get that ball rolling this week.

A Brief Introduction to the Haitian Criminal Justice System, Both in Theory and Reality.

In my time in Haiti so far, now three weeks and counting, that in order to fully comprehend the significance of AUMOHD’s work and challenges faced not only by its staff, but by the entire Haitian people, it is important to have some understanding of the Haitian criminal justice system, as it exists both in theory and reality.
First off, until the recent elections, the sitting government was one without a constitutional basis or authority. To compound the issue, the United Nations peacekeeping force, MINUSTAH, had the unclear mandate only to support the Haitian government. So even before we get started, understand we exist in a very gray area where rule of law is concerned.
Most cases referred to AUMOHD have some element of the following: a person is arrested by MINUSTAH troops, often after being singled out by a masked informant as a “bandit” though the informant may or may not be from the actual community and on more than one case has been accused of being a bandit or thief himself. The arrested person is then given over to the Haitian National Police, as the UN troops cannot hold prisoners. So an interesting situation arises where the UN claims no right to free or intercede on behalf of a prisoner and claims to only be doing what they were told in arresting them in the first place. The police for their part say they didn’t arrest them, have no problem with them specifically, but can not simply free them as they didn’t make the arrest and lack the authority. A vicious circle lacking accountability but rife with opportunity for enterprising judges and police within the system.
In theory, police must observe a crime or else obtain a warrant to make a lawful arrest, and an arrested person is entitled to a lawyer and a court appearance and a trial, as in most countries. It is however more complicated than that, as even under Haitian law, it is required that the accused pay the cost of transcripts and documents being copied and delivered, judge’s travel expenses, and so on. All things that are covered under the American justice system become the burden of the arrested. This does not even begin to cover the costs of the grease, the palm money that makes things happen in a country where no one can remember if it is legal or not, it is so ingrained in the culture and the way of doing business. Then there are the bribes, the money demanded by judges and attorneys and policemen to make a family member free. Add these costs, both the normal legal ones, the normal illegal ones, and the many that fall into the gray area of custom, and it becomes clear why so many of the accused stay in jail so long, based not on guilt or innocence, but on having money or not.
A few case studies may make the issue clearer. One woman told us about her son, arrested three times by the police and each time they demanded money for his release and each time she paid it, until arrested a final time she could not afford his “bail” and so he remains in jail, as ever without a charge or warrant against him. Another woman told of her husband’s arrest; when she went to see a judge he demanded $2,800 Haitian dollars for his release. She paid it but her husband still has not been released. A director of an orphanage in lower Port-au-Prince tells me he has spent the last several Christmases in jail, because the police know that his donors send more money around the holidays and they can extract more from him at that time.
Now, the case of a man arrested for kidnapping. A genuine bandit, he too had to face Haitian “justice” and pay off his captors: the police. So his friends kidnapped someone else and used the ransom money to pay his “bail”. If one side wasn’t wearing uniforms you’d never be able to keep straight who the real kidnappers are.
Now, we have had elections and are hopefully moving forward in the direction of progress and respect for the rule of law. To that end, AUMOHD seeks to work according to legal procedure and constitutional framework. No bribes are paid here, though a little palm grease and the pulled strings of a few friends would certainly be easier, and faster. But as AUMOHD’s mission is bigger than any one prisoner, it includes fostering that sense of respect for the rule of law that has been so long absent from the country.

More reality

2006-02-09T19:03:00.000-05:00

The guys with the guns in the armour, they are the MINUSTA troops, the ones supposed to be keeping order. The guys in yellow are the civillian election workers, supposed to be providing organization and voter assistance. As you can see, both are hard at work. Cite Solei.

More late night ballot counting...

Counting the votes at night by headlamp, flood light, and candle light. Ad history tells us, it ain't the votes that win elections, but the vote counters. Am happy to report I found the counting process more accountable and reassuring than the actual voting, despite the conspicous absence of international observers. Other than your's truly of course ;)

More election day pics

2006-02-09T18:53:00.000-05:00

Voting in Cite Solei.

Long lines outside another poll. This one was about 1/2 mile long, and that didn't include the huge mass of people huddled around the entrance gate.

Election Pictures

2006-02-09T18:42:00.000-05:00

Voters at a poll in Delmas crowd the gates. Actually, the election was more peaceful than anyone had a right to expect, with only one confirmed and one unconfirmed death I am aware of, both from suffocation, as you can imagine from this picture.

I got a kick out of this poster, sponsored by the UN MINUSTAH troops showing a smiling, happy, calm voter casting her ballot. Next to her you see a little bit of reality. A few more pictures of reality are included.

Democracy? Wow.

2006-02-08T17:32:00.000-05:00

It was easily foreseen, expected even, though we all still scrambled on election day to stay abreast and ride the current of the day to its eventual close. Along the way all he actors played their parts well, and despite large scale problems of incredible magnitude, it appears that the popular will of the Haitian people was expressed and the country will once again have an elected and constitutional government. That is the good news, the short version of the story.

The reality is that the notion of free, fair, and truly representative elections was a farce from the beginning; the only thing saving the day was the fact that those thousands of disenfranchised voters were all from the same voting block, that for populist candidate Rene Preval, who early reports indicate won by a substantial margin anyway.

Long lines, late openings, changed poll sites, uncooperative officials, missing voter rolls, lack of organization, poor distribution of voter cards, overcrowding and lack of direction at poll sites, insufficient numbers of international observers, and the list of problems goes on.

The majority of the problems can be linked to the examples in contrast between Petionville and Cite Solei, the richest and poorest neighborhoods in Haiti, respectively. In one the was order, direction, a heavy police presence, and efficient movment of voters through a sufficient number of poll sites. In the other a complete absence of local police was replaced by UN troops who not only didn’t speak the languge, but couldn’t help organize and maintain efficiency even if they wanted to. There was a single poll site for over 3,400 people, in a space meant for 1,000. Voters had been instructed to go home, that they couldn’t vote there, then told on the radio to come back, told to leave once again, and then summoned to return. How many never made it to the polls is not yet known. This miscarriage of democracy was repeated in heavily Leswpa partisan neighborhoods, while the strongly conservative neighborhoods of upper Port-au-Prince enjoyed far greater infrastructure. Those who had observed both this and the 2000 election of Aristide, oft cited as heavily flawed by the international community, said this was far worse.

Yet there was cause for hope. Peace reigned supreme yesterday, as the residents of the poorest neighborhoods, acutely aware of their image in the national and international eye, made a systematic effort and ultimately proved that they could vote in large numbers in the face of adversity in a peaceful manner. When the whole election teetered on the brink of being denounced as fraudulent, my associate Evel Fanfan spole personally with the president of the Provisional Election Council (CEP) and persuaded him to open the polls to anyone with proper id, thereby in a way that cannot be exaggerated, ensured the right to vote of thousands here-to-for turned away. When the call went out to local officials to make sure everyone had a chance to vote (again a result of Fanfan’s advocacy), there was distress that impending darkenss would shut things down prematurely. I spoke with the local authority and suggested cooperation with the UN troops who patrol the neighborhood and were watching the proceedings from their armoured personell carriers. I suggested we ask them for flood lights, and a few hours later when I returned I was glad to see the suggestion heeded and things still underway.
By days end we had visited over a dozen poll sites and seen the process through to its end, the counting of ballots by floodlight and candle light. I was distressed to see none of the highly touted international observers on hand for this critical period, when scored of workers, on the job for over 17 hours already and having barely eaten, tallied in the dark the days results. I was on the other hand glad to witness first hand the great pains taken to be open and accountable and accurate, free from any possibility of fraud at that stage.

So while on the one hand I am distressed at the scale and distribution of the problems of this election, I am equally confidant that if early reports are any indication, the will of the people was met.

But damn, it was one wild ride, one I hope to never again see repeated in any election I am ever party to. Honestly, the feverish desire to vote of these people puts the apathy of the American population to shame, and I speak most especially to my demographic, the 21-30 year old male. Though I could never tolerate such apathy before, I find it particularly offensive now.

These photos only the start

2006-02-04T15:07:00.000-05:00

There are so many more. Please, click on each one to get the full effect. Well, not the full effect, for that you need the blazing Carribean sun, the smell of sweat and raw sewage, and the rumble of a UN APC bearing down on you.

We'll have the report from the delegation to Cite Solei up soon, followed by my account.

A pattern emerges...

2006-02-04T14:59:00.000-05:00

...every house, school, church, and hospital in Cite Solei has taken fire.

Not exactly a safe learning environment

2006-02-04T14:51:00.000-05:00

A small sample of the handiwok of the MINUSTAH troops. A classroom in the school mentioned in another post. Most of the classrooms looked like this or worse. The holes, as has been mentioned several times were made by .50 caliber and 20mm cannon fire.

These are the armoured personell carriers that patrol Cite Solei and much of Haiti. Not tanks exactly, they might as well be for the job they do here.

School house under fire

2006-02-04T14:46:00.000-05:00

We met with the head master of this school, who had posted this sign advising the troops that the school is not a bandit and to please stop shooting it and puting the kids in danger. They had taken fire while the school was in session and the kids had to hide on the floor under their desks. Those are bullet holes from small arms fire, the larger crater on top is from a .50 caliber machine gun, and upstairs (not pictured here) are the classrooms demolished by 20mm cannon fire.

Cannon fire

2006-02-04T14:37:00.000-05:00

20mm cannon fire upon a residential house. It blasted through the outer block fence, through the cement wall of the house you see, and impacted the far wall of the house. We intereview the woman who lives there, incidently not a bandit or gand member. By the way, 20mm cannon is not an antipersonell round, it is fired from the turrents of the armoured personell carriers of the MINUSTAH troops.

Delegasyon Dwa Moun

2006-02-03T08:57:00.000-05:00

Wednesday we, an international human rights delegation made up of organizations including Pax Christi, AUHMOHD, SOS, CRISTI, IJDH, and others went into Cite Solei to investigate the human rights abuses on the part of the UN troops and armed gangs. It was like entering a war zone, the closest thing I have seen before was in Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka after the cease fire ended 20 years of civil war. This was worse. Not a home or building stands that isn't pockmarked by small arms fire. Or worse. Churches, schools, hospitals, all bear witness to the suffering of the people who live there. The comprehensive report will be out in a day, maybe two. My personal testimony will follow here and elsewhere. In the meantime, a few pictures may speak for themselves.

Tap-Taps and Education

2006-01-31T07:51:00.000-05:00

This is a tap-tap. Why public transportation in third world countrys always have double names, I don't know. In Sri Lanka, they had tuk tuks, in Cuba they had gua-guas, here they have tap-taps. The best part though, aside from the colorful paintjob, is the names. Each has a name, painted on it along with a variety of other script. My favorites so far include "Try your philosophey", "I Love You Baby!", "Close enough", "Let Bygones be Bygones", "Everybody talks to me", and "Lion of Zion".

As those of you who followed my trip in Sri Lanka after tsunami, it is not in my character to sit idly by as policys of social injustice and stupidity are pursued by various governments, especially when local people ae involoved in trying to right the respective wrongs. It is one thing to impose an "American knows best" soltion and mentality, another all together to work with the locals to find solutions to their problems. In Sri Lanka it was the 100 meter rule (Which, for those who don't follow Sri Lankan policy, has finally been repealed, YEAH!!!!). Here in Haiti it is human rights and education.

On the education front, I have been learning about the program AUMOHD has running right now. It sponsors 50 kids from Cite Solei to pay for their school tuition and uniforms and supplies so they can go to school. Have I told you about Cite Solei yet? It is the poorest slum in the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Why it is allowed to exist right off the front porch of the world wealthiest country....

Anyway, the vision of the program is to take the kids that AUMOHD frees from the jail, they have been rounded up and tossed in the can without being charged or having committed a crime in most cases, and after freeing them, enroll them in school. To a one, each and every kid we have talked to wants to be in school. It is a lack of money whoch keeps them out. Unlike at home, there is no effective public school program here. And it seems a logical investment. As the kids and teachers and community leaders will gladly tell you, if a child is in school, they are not thinking about kidnapping and gangs. So if you invest $200 in schooling these kids, you don't have to pay $200,000 later in ransom.

Oh, I haven't mentioned the cost yet. This is the best part. For an average of $4 per month, a haitian child can go to school. Yep, that is four US dollars each month. That is it. $200 a month keeps these 50 kids in school, $2,000 USD keeps them in school for an entire year. 50 kids. What a deal!

But don't pull out your wallets just yet. (that comes later) I am working on trying to get some funding from UNICEF for this program that should be right up their alley. For heavens sake, the cost of just one of their big white land rovers could send 1,000 kids to school for a year.

T-Minus 11 days and counting ('till elections that is)

2006-01-27T22:05:00.000-05:00

Jeep with speakers hanging out the back, blaring the speil of some or another canidate for senate. And I do mean blaring.
Poster and flyers such as these are pasted to every flat surface in Port-au-Prince. Actually many many times this number of canidates, but these are the two front runners for President, Rene Preval on the top, and Manigat on the bottom.

Elections

2006-01-27T21:38:00.000-05:00

The Haitien election is less than 2 weeks away, and the air is thick with more than the exhaust of thousands of UN vehicles clogging the streets of Port-au-Prince. Music blared from the speakers of jeeps touting their canidates of choice, handbills and flyers are pasted to every flat and semi-flat surface for miles around, and smiling faces beam at passerbys from the campaign t-shirts worn by supporters and those seeking free clothes alike.

The election bosts a large number of candidates, a fair number it is safe to say have printed more flyers than votes they will likley recieve, as a friend observered. The presidential race alone has at least a dozen canidates, and perhaps many more. There are also likely more political parties than canidates, in a country where each party is often times a one horse show, and as a canidate or party falls out of favor, either one can choose to start from scratch. The front runners are Preval and Manigat, both with prior experiance in Haitian government, but the details of their histories and platforms are too convoluted and intricate to explain at the moment.

The elections have been put off for somthing like 5 times, delayed for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest has been the lobbying efforts of some human rights groups, who cited the boycott of the single largest party (Lavalas) and the ongoing persecution of its former members and the need for some kind of healing period without violence to allow for greater voter turnout and actual free, fair, and credible elections. We are not there yet, as hundreds of thousands of poor Haitens were not registered for this election and less than 10% of polling places as prior elections are being set up, and violence continues (as many of you know.) But, and this is a big but, at this point elections ae the best option, as virtually all will agree. The community groups, the UN police, the disarmnament commisions, the human rights groups, all are waiting for the new government to begin making effective work. That and the term of Aristide and by default the interm government ends Feb 7th, making it legally imperative to install a new administration. Not that legality had anything to do with it in Feb of 2004.

Public Transportation, Haitian Style

2006-01-25T08:41:00.000-05:00

Why do all these countries have transportation meachanisms with double words? Here they are tap-taps, in Cuba they are gua-gua's, in Sri Lanka they were tuk-tuks?

The veil is pulled back ever so slightly

2006-01-25T08:39:00.000-05:00

OK, time to tell you a little about the organization I am working with here. Understand that due to the situation in Haiti right now, I must be careful with details, but the work that is going on here is important and needs to be known.

AHMOUD is the Association of University Graduates for a Haiti With Rights, and Evel Fanfan in its president. Once composed of university graduates from many disciplines who are left out of the non-existant job market, these young men and women worked pro-bono to improve the fortunes of their country. Their chosen arena? Human rights. But not the day-glo term bandied about UN board rooms and cocktail parties, we are talking about in the jails and police stations human rights, the kind with small budgets and big results, not the other way aound.

Some examples you say? The day I arrived we freed a young woman from jail here. She had been arrested a month and a half prior when her ex-husband paid off a police man to have her taken in. She was in for 6 weeks with no court appearance or charges filed. She had no money and could not pay the requiste bribe, so she was told to call AHMOUD. A few visits to the judge, a few visits to the police station, some stamps and signatures and on and on and her “case” was dismissed. An important study by Tom Griffin at the University of Miami found that of the 1,074 inmates in the National Penitentary, 14 had actual charges filed against them. Standard operating procedure is to throw them in jail and extort the families. But those that cannot pay? They are left to rot. And that is where AHMOUD comes in.

That would be worthy enough, but it is only the beginning. The ongoing violence in Cite Solei (think poorest slum in the poorest country in the western hemisphere), Gran Ravine, Pelee, and Bel Aire that pits local armed gangs against one another and the UN troops has already taken a huge toll on the residents of those neighborhoods, and threatens to erupt into all out warfare on a weekly basis. The UN Disarmnament Commision (DDR) is hamstrung by the mistrust of the people. Rightly so, considering those that have turned in their arms have been promptly arrested and thrown in jail by Haitian Police. To address these problems of community violence, AHMOUD has taken the lead in nurturing community groups, made up of local community members, to discuss the problems that face them and how to address them peacefully. Taking a look at the problem from the ground up and facilitating community backed initatives. Work worth doing.

But the show don’t stop there ladies and gentlemen! Oh no, along with investigating human rights abuses on a case by case basis and facilitating community disramnament councils and victims advocacy groups, AHMOUD also sponsors several hundred street children from Cite Solei (remember, poorest of the poo?) to go to school…It ain’t free in this country, but AHMOUD’s stance is that if you want good citizens and a good country in 10 and 20 years, you must start now with education.

And what is my place in all this you may ask? Well, as I alluded to, the security situation here is less than ideal. Everyday sees new kidnappings and shootings. It is the advantage of some groups to see the perception of violence continue. I accompany members of AHMOUD and others and provide an international set of eyes to tell the rest of the world what really goes on here and to tell the people of Haiti, both those being victimized and those doing the crimes, that the world is watching. I work with the other human rights groups in Port-au-Prince, and the US embassy and UN. And other random duties as assigned. The outfit I am strictly affiliated with is HURAH, which stands for Human Rights Accompaniment Haiti, a non-profit charity that is based in the USA and supports the work of AHMOUD with money and accompaniers like yours truly.

Oh, and I fixed the comment bit, so now it will accept comments.

Background

2006-01-23T14:08:00.000-05:00

Why the oicture appears twice, I don't know, but it takes too long to upload to fuss with it too much.

Alright, I tried to start writing about what is going on, but reading it I realized it maked no sense without some background. So here it comes. MINUSTAH is the UN force on the ground here. Made up of Brazilians, Jordanians, Sri Lankans, Chinese, and some other contries that get around paying their UN dues by sending troops to places the US wants work done without committing our own.

The MINUSTAH force here lacks a mandate, that is it has no mission execpt to support the current government, the one that by international law is illegal, as it lacks a constitutional basis (and is actually very much in violation of it) and was imposed after the US backed coup that saw the democratically elected President Aristide removed from power. Aristide had problems, to be sure, or at least his administration did, and left many dissolusioned. Many here supported and still support his vision, but they are done with the man himself.

US foreign policy toward Haiti for the last 15 years or so has had everything to do with destabalizing Aristide. In doing so, it destabalized the country. Not that it was ever stabalized. But the sanctions applied against the Aristide gvernment and the pressure exerted were rather like backing a rabbitt against a corner, as it has less room to manuver and resources to deal with, like the rabbitt that will eviserate itself in a wire fence in a panick, the Haitien gov injured itself, thus fulfilling US expectations.

Ok, were're getting there. Aristides power and popularity were in the poor. He was a preacher for years during Duvalierism and the poor of the slums loved him. They still love him. They took up arms at his departure and declared that they would not recognize the government until he returned. So when you read about the gangs in the slums of Cite Solei and Gran Ravine, these are very poor areas that are stongly pro-Aristide.

Now, follow the money. It is the in best interest of the very few families who control the wealth of Haiti to maintain the status quo. This cannot be done if the mass of people are allowed to vote in free and fair elections. So it is in their best interest to delay and destabalixe elections and disenfanchise the poor neighborhoods. They have already succeed with the latter. Of the estimated 300,000-700,000 living in Cite Solei alone, only 80,000 are registered, and only 60,000 have thier voting cards. The others must pass through a war zone in the worst slum in the poorest counry in the western hemisphere to even get their cards. And their cards are in a market in the industial district, owned and patroled by armed men financed by the very rich familys trying to screw them!

So, the current problem, among many, is how to keep the armed gangs in Cite Solei from shooting each other (3 are political, 2 just regular gangsters), how to keep the UN forces, particularly the Jordanians from blasting the poor residents of Cite Solei, and how to support the elections. Actually that is just the tip of the iceberg.

But understand this, because it is very important. It is in the best intrest of the wealthy elite to foster an attitude of fear and violence in and regarding Haiti. Where it used to be thought that all the kidnappings were poor folks in the slums, now it is being uncovered that a majority are rich 'uns in Petionville masquaradeing as Lavalas. Who controls the international media, and whose ends does that support? I'm not going to give you the answers to that question, but by now you should be able to figure it out. Look, I am here and working and lving and meeting with those who work hard every day to champion the basic rights of the poor and indigent. We should all be honored to meet people of this fine quality. Don't be misled, Haiti is a hard place, a dangerous time, but approach all news with a bit of skeptism.

Just a test photo, better to follow...

2006-01-20T18:14:00.000-05:00

Out the window of the car, PAP.

Off to a good start

2006-01-20T18:04:00.000-05:00

Made it to Port-au-Prince today after camping out in the Ft. Lauderdale airport. Nervous the whole flight to be sure, but landed, picked up the solar panel I had checked and was releived to find it undamaged. Met my host outside and we were off.

Strangely, it felt quite natural. Oh, now that was an interesting sentance, no? What I mean is, it was like a cross between Sri Lanka and Africa, yet distincly Carribean. Anyway, the creole study has payed off, not that I can communicate effectivley, but at least I am not totally lost.

So we went home and promptly set about putting up the solar array. The instructions went on about meeting code and liscenced electrians, but we managed somehow in spite of it and the new panel was charging the battery all afternoon.

That task done we ran out to a neighboorhood police station to seek the release of a prisoner. Evidently she had been arrested and held without being charged because somehow she is related to someone who made someone else mad, paid someone to have her arrested, etc. Point is, no charges and no court date mean illegal arrest and violation of human rights. So we, and by we I mean my host (he did all the work, I just stood behind him and looked the part of clueless international observer) got her released. I guess this has been several days in the making, I just happened to show up for the actual day of release. None the less, we still had to roam all over town and back again to collect the proper signatures, stamps, and copies.

But a productive day, with many more to follow I hope.

J

Introduction and caveat

2006-01-07T23:48:00.000-05:00

So I am going to Haiti. I knew for awhile I was going somewhere, but couldn't say when, or even where for along time. But ever since returning from Sri Lanka, things haven't quite sat right with me. I need to see more of the world. So I am going to Haiti. Why Haiti you ask? Why not. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. If you are going to try and do good things somewhere, it is as good a place to start as any.

I must apologize up front. I can not say a great deal about the group I am working with, and frequently will not be able to say much about the people, what I have done, with whom, and where an a daily basis. This is not because of some super top secret mission I am on, but first because I am obliged to protect the identity of the persons I am associating with, and also because the social and political reality in Haiti these days is, how you say, tenious at the moment. By associating with this person today, tommorow that agency will refuse to work with me. But allow me to describe in general terms what I anticipate doing: human rights work.

In a completely nuetral attitude, I may be visiting political prisoners in jail and advocating for medical treatment, release, a prompt court hearing, etc. I will likely be interviewing and documenting surviors, and transcribing such things into english. I may end up writing grants, teaching english, and my favorite "coalition building." That neboulus term means something like trying to persude a variety of fairly polarized groups to work together toward a common goal.

And what is that common goal? Nation wide respect for human rights, with the idea of fostering an environment where in Haiti can have free, open, and fair elections and again set out on the path of self determination. Poverty with dignity, as one Haitian prominantly advocated. As I have slowly learned, each country must one day solve its own problems, and the people best suited to do that are its own citizens. Solutions cannot be imposed by foreign nations, aid workers, or NGO's no matter how noble their intentions. What we can do is not hinder or subvert their development and help them create a space in which to work safely toward whatever solutions they require.

Things are rough there right now. Electricity is sporadic at best. The security situation is not what you would like to read about. And I do not delude myself into thinking I am going to solve the problems. If I can help, even in the modest way of providing solidarity to those who are still trying to improve the fortunes of their country, their home, then I will be satisfied.

Thanks for tuning in, and I'll try to keep this updated as much as time and power outages allow.