<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danny-glover/aristide-fanmi-lavalas-political-persecution_b_5852006.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danny-glover/aristide-fanmi-lavalas-political-persecution_b_5852006.html</a><div><div class="h5"><div><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danny-glover/aristide-fanmi-lavalas-political-persecution_b_5852006.html#es_share_ended" target="_blank">Stop
the Political Persecution of Aristide and Fanmi Lavalas Once and
for All</a><br></div></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
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<div> <a rel="author" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danny-glover/" target="_blank"><span>Danny Glover</span></a> <span>
<p>Actor, producer and humanitarian</p>
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<span>Posted: <u></u> 09/19/2014 4:54 pm EDT
<u></u> </span> <span> Updated: <u></u> 1 hour ago <u></u> </span>
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<div> <img src="cid:part4.04030905.07010100@cepr.net" alt="ARISTIDE"> </div>
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<p>In March of 2011 I accompanied Haitian president Jean-Bertrand
Aristide on his trip home to Haiti following years of forced
exile in South Africa. I did so in support of Haitian democracy
and Aristide's civil rights, and in protest against my country's
role in illegally removing him from power in 2004 and then
preventing him from returning to his native land for seven long
years. Today, Haitian democracy and the rights of Aristide are
again under threat and the U.S. government appears to be turning
a blind eye.</p>
<p>Since returning to Haiti, Aristide has focused his energy on
rebuilding and reactivating a medical university that he founded
in 2001 and that had been closed down during his time in exile.
Though he hasn't been directly involved in politics, he remains
a popular figure and is the leader of Fanmi Lavalas (FL) -- a
political party that has won the majority of votes in every
election in which it has participated. However, FL has been <a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/haitis-elections-parties-banned-media-yawns" target="_blank">kept
off the ballot</a> by Haiti's authorities ever since the 2004
coup that led to Aristide's forced exile.</p>
<p>Haiti's parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for 2011,
are now three years overdue and the UN and other foreign
entities have repeatedly called for them to take place before
the end of the year. With Aristide back in Haiti it would appear
to be more difficult this time around for the government to
prevent FL from participating. This is perhaps why the deposed
president is once again under attack. </p>
<p>Last month, a Haitian judge reportedly issued an arrest warrant
for Aristide. The case being mounted against him reeks of
political persecution directly tied to efforts to suppress a
popular alternative to the current administration of Michel
Martelly, who is supported by conservative Haitian elites and
the U.S.</p>
<p>The charges against Aristide stem from an investigation
conducted by the illegal government established by the 2004
U.S.-backed coup. Under that government, human rights
researchers found that some <a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/washington-cant-block-aristides-return-or-deny-haitis-sovereignty" target="_blank">4,000
people were killed for political reasons</a>, while many
others were imprisoned on bogus charges. Despite his powerful
enemies' best efforts, and a grand jury investigation in the
U.S., no evidence has been produced that could support criminal
charges against Aristide. In the meantime, the persecution of
Lavalas and human rights defenders continues. On August 20,
Lavalas activist <a href="http://www.haiti-liberte.com/archives/volume8-7/Death%20Squads%20Sow%20Terror.asp" target="_blank">Clifford
Charles was killed</a> following a protest demanding the
release of fellow activist Louima Louis Juste. </p>
<p>The judge who issued the warrant for Aristide's arrest has been
disbarred from practicing law for 10 years -- as soon as he
steps down from his position as judge -- for his role in the <a href="http://www.ijdh.org/2013/10/topics/law-justice/haitians-outraged-at-arrest-of-human-rights-attorney-andre-michel/" target="_blank">arrest
last year</a> of Andre Michel, an attorney investigating
corruption within the Martelly administration. Lawyers for
Aristide contend that they never received the initial summons
from the judge and that when they did go to the court at the
required time, the judge himself was a no-show. Now, in an
apparent attempt at saving-face, the judge has ordered house
arrest for Aristide, something that is not even legal in Haiti.
The National Network for the Defense of Human Rights, Haiti's
most prominent human rights organization<a href="http://t.co/8E5b5u4ktq" target="_blank">, has pointed out</a> that these
are not the actions of a neutral third-party. </p>
<p>On the night of September 11<sup>th</sup>, Haitian authorities
went a step further, removing the security detail that had been
with Aristide since his return from exile, a move that put him,
his family, and his supporters at risk. Haitian press reports
indicate that the command came not from the National Police, who
have been reluctant to act against Aristide, but straight <a href="http://www.ahphaiti.org/ndujour.html" target="_blank">from the National
Palace</a>. The message was chilling and clear: the government
can and will stop offering protection to the former president
whenever it chooses to do so. </p>
<p>Is the government scared of facing Fanmi Lavalas in a free and
fair election? President Martelly was elected in 2011, but only
after intervention by the U.S. and its key partners, who
arbitrarily overturned the results of the first round, thereby
putting Martelly into the run-off election. Voter participation
barely reached 20 percent. </p>
<p>The U.S. government was one of the main funders of those flawed
elections and a major funder of the elections of 2006 and 2009,
all of which excluded Fanmi Lavalas. The U.S. is also expected
to provide key funding for the next elections, if and when they
end up taking place. If <a href="http://www.ijdh.org/2014/07/topics/politics-democracy/a-constitutional-electoral-council-is-imperative-for-haitis-upcoming-elections/" target="_blank">elections
aren't held by the end of the year</a>, terms will expire for
the majority of the senate and the entire chamber of deputies,
effectively letting the president rule by decree. My country's
government is a de facto, if not active supporter of this
rampant curtailing of democracy.</p>
<p>It's time to end the campaign of attacks against Aristide and
Fanmi Lavalas once and for all. Aristide, like all Haitian
citizens, must be allowed to participate in politics without
fear and intimidation being the norm. My government has been
complicit in undermining Haitian democracy for many years now --
from the 1991 CIA-backed coup against the first Lavalas
administration to the U.S. Administration's <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/mar/13/america-subversion-haiti-democracy" target="_blank">last-ditch
effort</a> to prevent Aristide from returning to Haiti in
2011. </p>
<p>This needs to change. The U.S. government should stand by its
professed support for democracy and development and stop
standing in the way of the popular will of the Haitian people. </p>
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<p> <b> Follow Danny Glover on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/mrdannyglover" target="_blank">www.twitter.com/mrdannyglover</a></b></p><span><font color="#888888"><pre cols="72"></pre>
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