Stop the Attacks on Former President Jean Bertrand Aristide and the Lavalas Movement On August 21, Haitian police wearing black masks and carrying heavy arms appeared in front of the home of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide as a Haitian judge issued calls to arrest him. Hundreds of people courageously surrounded the house to protect him. One week before, President Aristide was summoned to court on false corruption charges. This is the fourth time since his return to Haiti in 2011 that he has been the target of a politically motivated legal case. (Previous charges were dropped before he could even challenge them in court.) The judge in this case, Lamarre Bélizaire, has been suspended for ten years from practicing the law by the Port-au-Prince Bar Association for using the court to persecute opponents of the present regime. His suspension is due to begin once he steps down as judge. President Aristide, a former priest, was Haiti’s first democratically elected president. He is loved and trusted by the majority of Haitians. While in office he built schools and hospitals, encouraged agriculture and doubled the minimum wage. He was removed and forced into exile with his family in 2004 by a US-backed military coup. Thousands of members of his Lavalas movement were killed, raped or falsely imprisoned in the aftermath of the coup. In 2011, after seven years of grassroots organizing in Haiti backed up by an international campaign, President Aristide and his family returned home. Tens of thousands of people welcomed him. He promised to work for education and the inclusion of all Haitians in the democratic process. He has done just that – reopening the Aristide Foundation’s university, UNIFA, where today over 900 students from all sectors of society, including those who cannot afford higher education, are training to become doctors, nurses and lawyers. Legislative elections due to take place in Haiti in October are triggering a new chilling wave of repression aimed at President Aristide and his supporters. Lavalas has overwhelming won every election in which it has participated, but since the 2004 coup the party has been barred from elections. As a result, fewer than 20% of Haitians turned out for the flawed election that brought the current President Michel Martelly to power in 2011. The Martelly government has not held an election since, and legislative elections are now three years overdue. Determined to consolidate dictatorial power, the Martelly government has systematically attempted to defame Lavalas, throwing out one set of accusations after another against President Aristide and other respected Lavalas leaders such as former Senator Myrlande Liberis-Pavert. While President Aristide is being threatened with arrest, former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier – who is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Haitians during his rule – is living freely in Haiti, and has been openly embraced by Martelly. Since the devastating earthquake and the cholera epidemic, doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals training at UNIFA are needed more than ever. President Aristide must be able to carry on with his vital work as an educator. The last time President Aristide was summoned, thousands of people surrounded the courthouse, chanting: “If they call our brother, they call all of us.” We echo their voices. Enough is enough. It is time for food, housing, health care and education. It is time for free, fair, and inclusive elections in Haiti, not dictatorship, so the urgent needs of the population can be addressed. The arrest warrant and other false charges aimed at President Aristide and his supporters should be dropped once and for all. Signers: Danny Glover, Actor and Human Rights Activist Selma James, Author and International Coordinator, Global Women’s Strike (GWS)/UK Pierre Labossiere, Co-founder, Haiti Action Committee Mumia Abu-Jamal, Journalist and death row prisoner Jerry Acosta, Senior National Representative, Utility Workers Union of America Dr. Adrianne Aron, Liberation Psychologist Kali Akuno, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) ALBATV (Venezuela) Alexandria House, Los Angeles, CA Bilal Mafundi Ali, Organization of African American Unity Jahahara Amen-RA Alkebulan-Maat, Founder, Africans Deserve Reparations Akubundu Amazu-Lott, Central Committee AAPRP Jack Albert, Windsor Peace Coalition, Windsor, Ontario A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition - Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (U.S.) Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC) Ayuko Babu, Pan African Film Festival Michael Bass, School of the Americas Watch Bay Area Latin America Solidarity Committee (BALASC) Richard Becker, A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition - (U.S.) Dennis J. Bernstein, Executive Producer KPFA/Flashpoints Johanna Berrigan, House of Grace Catholic Worker, Philadelphia, Pa. Diana Block, California Coalition for Women Prisoners Diana Bohn, Nicaragua Center for Community Action, Berkeley, CA Blase and Theresa Bonpane, Directors, Office of the Americas Richard Brown, San Francisco 8/Committee for Defense of Human Rights Dr. Siri Brown, Chair of Ethnic Studies, Merritt College Mark Burton, Visiting Professor, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK Reverend Richard Meri Ka Ra Byrd Joey Cain, SF LGBT Pride Celebration Committee Board Member Rossana Cambron, member of Military Families Speak Out Dolores Canales, Organizer and activist Laura Carlsen Andrea Casher, PsyD, ABPP Chiapas Support Committee – Los Angeles CIP Americas Program Terry Collins, KPOO Brian Concannon, Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) Shandre Delaney, Human Rights Coalition-Fed Up and Abolitionist Law Center, Pittsburgh, PA Jacques Depelchin, Historian Dignity and Power Now – Los Angeles Emory Douglas, former Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party Sister Maureen Duignan, Executive Director, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant Carolina Dutton, Bay Area Latin America Solidarity Coalition (BALASC) Derethia DuVal, PhD, MFT, SFSU Director of Counseling & Psychological Services Center Mia Engberg, Documentary Filmmaker, Sweden Ecumenical Peace Institute/CALC Linda Evans, Organizer, All Of Us Or None Leslie Fleming, Director, Anthropology Program, Merritt College, Oakland, CA Laura Flynn, Author FMLN - Northern California Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular (Honduras) Cindy Forster, Professor, Scripps College, California Tova Fry, Workers World Party Mattias Gardell, Professor Comparative Religion, Uppsala University, Sweden Anna-Maria Gentili, Professor History and Politics, Bologna University, Italy, retired David Gespass, former President, National Lawyers Guild David Gibson, Peacehome Campaigns Eric Gjertsen and Dean Kendall, Payday men’s network Andy Griggs, LA Laborfest Deeg Gold, LAGAI Queer Insurrection Sister Stella Marie Goodpasture, OP, Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose, CA Guerilla Food Not Bombs Ben Guillory Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Archdiocese of Detroit Professor Shadrack Gutto, PhD, University of South Africa Daletha Hayden, RN and activist Genesy Hernandez, Union Salvadorena de Estudiantes Universitarios, UC Berkeley Charles Hinton, Inkworks Press, worker-owned collective Marcus Holder, ILWU Local 10 delegate to San Francisco Labor Council Hondurans in Resistance – NorCal Gerald Horne, Historian Phil Hutchings, Civil Rights activist (SNCC) Nehanda Imara, AAPRP Organizer & Faculty at AFRAM Merritt College Dr. Nia Imara, Harvard University International Action Center Kokayi Kwa Jitahidi, Campaign Director LAANE (Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy) Sister Gloria Marie Jones, OP, Congregational Prioress Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose Hank Jones, Committee for the Defense of Human Rights Phoebe Jones, PhD, Quaker, Global Women’s Strike James Jordan and Chuck Kaufman, National Co-Coordinators, Alliance for Global Justice William Joyce, Chair, Fr. Bill ODonnell Social Justice Committee Malaika Kambon, Photojournalist Sara Kershnar, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network Nadine Khoury-Quesada, RN, Trauma Nurse, San Francisco General Hospital Nunu Kidane, Director, Priority Africa Network Marcus Kryshka, Executive Vice President, National Lawyers Guild Eusi Kwayana, Caribbean Activist Without Borders Tchaiko Kwayana, Educator Labor Community Strategy Center (Los Angeles) Regina Day Langhout, PhD, Provost, Oakes College, University of California at Santa Cruz Marilyn Langlois, Richmond CA Planning Commissioner Gloria La Riva, National Committee to Free the Cuban Five Rev. Dr. Phil Lawson, Pastor Emeritus, Easter Hill United Methodist Church Richard Lichtman, Professor Emeritus, Philosophy, The Wright Institute, Berkeley, CA George Lippman, Vice-Chair, Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission [for identification only] Rev. Dr. Lewis E. Logan, II Jose Lopez, Executive Director, Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Chicago Nina Lopez, Coordinator Latin America working group GWS/Argentina, UK Jacqui Lovell, PhD Candidate, York St. John University, U.K Barbara Lubin, Director Middle East Children’s Alliance M. Brinton Lykes, Associate Director, Center for Human Rights & International Justice, Boston College Robert Majzler, University of California at Santa Cruz Claude Marks, Freedom Archives Gayle McLaughlin, Mayor, City of Richmond, CA Anita Schrader McMillan, Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UK David McPhail, Ruling Elder, St. Johns Presbyterian Church, Berkeley, CA Judith Mirkinson, San Francisco Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Wazir Mohamed, Associate Professor, Sociology Alejandro Molina, National Boricua Human Rights Network Movimiento Cumbe Afrosalud Barlovento (Venezuela) Leslie Mullin, San Francisco Women in Black Michael Neocosmos, Director UHURU program, Rhodes University, South Africa Robert Nixon, School of the Americas Watch – Oakland, East Bay Kwazi Nkrumah, Co-Chair, Martin Luther King Coalition of Greater Los Angeles Kiilu Nyasha, Host/Freedom is a Constant Struggle Oakland-Santiago de Cuba Sister Cities Association Ofraneh (Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña, Honduras) Catherine Owen, Human Rights Committee & District Labor Council, Windsor, Ontario Tanalis Padilla, Professor of History, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, U.S. Rosa Peñate, FMLN – Northern California Peter Phillips, PhD, President Media Freedom Foundation/Project Censored Kevin Pina, Documentary Filmmaker Richard Pithouse, Professor Politics and International Studies, Rhodes University Suyapa Portillo, Comité Solidario Graciela Garcia Margaret Power, Professor of History, Illinois Institute of Technology Margaret Prescod, Host “Sojourner Truth,” Pacifica Radio & Women of Color/GWS/US Porfirio Quintano, Coordinator, Honduran Resistance FNRP Northern California James Quesada, PhD, Chair and Professor, Department of Anthropology, San Francisco State University (SFSU) Kate Raphael, Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT), KPFA Womens Magazine Mary Ratcliff, Editor, San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper Dr. Willie Ratcliff, Publisher, San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper Barbara Rhine, Attorney Wilson Riles, Oakland C.A.N. Walter Riley, Attorney, Chair of Board, Haiti Emergency Relief Fund William I. Robinson, Professor of Sociology, University of California-Santa Barbara Robert Roth, Co-founder, Haiti Action Committee Alex Sanchez, Executive Director, Homies Unidos Carolyn Scarr, Ecumenical Peace Institute/CALC Azadeh Shahshahani, President, National Lawyers Guild Dan Siegel, Attorney, Oakland, CA Dr. Vito Signorile, Professor Emeritus, Windsor, Ontario Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, National Council of Elders AJ Smith, Artist, Windsor, Ontario Bob Smith, Brandywine Peace Community Susan Gold Smith, Professor Emerita, Windsor, Ontario Dale Sorensen, Director, Marin Interfaith Task force on the Americas Jeb Sprague, Author and Instructor, UCSB Patricia St. Onge, Seven Generations, Nafsi ya Jamii: The Soul Community Ruth Todasco, Every Mother is a Working Mother Network Clarence Thomas, member ILWU Local 10 Willie Thompson, Professor Emeritus Sociology, City College of San Francisco Walter Turner, President, Board of Directors, Global Exchange Akinyele Umoja, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of African American Studies, Georgia State University Lisa Valenti, US Cuba Sister City Association Sister Judy Vaughan, CSJ Gloria Verdieu Margaret Villamizar, Chair, Windsor Peace Coalition, Windsor, Ontario Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, Congolese Historian, Philosopher Kristin Wartman, Author and Journalist Tom Webb, Oakland Catholic Worker David Welsh, delegate, San Francisco Labor Council Michel Wenzer, Documentary Filmmaker, Sweden Laura Whitehorn, former political prisoner Witness For Peace Southwest Michael Wong Workers World Party Pauline Wynter Mario Zelaya, Father Bill ODonnell Social Justice Committee, Berkeley, CA Affiliations listed for identification purposes only
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 22:27:38 +0000
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