[Peace-discuss] Danny Glover: Stop the Political Persecution of Aristide and FL Once and for All

Sun Sep 21 16:46:22 EDT 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danny-glover/aristide-fanmi-lavalas-political-persecution_b_5852006.html

Stop the Political Persecution of Aristide and Fanmi Lavalas Once and for
All
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danny-glover/aristide-fanmi-lavalas-political-persecution_b_5852006.html#es_share_ended>
  Danny Glover <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danny-glover/>

Actor, producer and humanitarian
  Posted:  09/19/2014 4:54 pm EDT   Updated:  1 hour ago
 [image: ARISTIDE]

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.

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 kept
off the ballot
<http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/haitis-elections-parties-banned-media-yawns>
by Haiti's authorities ever since the 2004 coup that led to Aristide's
forced exile.

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.

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.

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 4,000 people were
killed for political reasons
<http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/washington-cant-block-aristides-return-or-deny-haitis-sovereignty>,
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 Clifford Charles was
killed
<http://www.haiti-liberte.com/archives/volume8-7/Death%20Squads%20Sow%20Terror.asp>
following a protest demanding the release of fellow activist Louima Louis
Juste.

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 arrest last year
<http://www.ijdh.org/2013/10/topics/law-justice/haitians-outraged-at-arrest-of-human-rights-attorney-andre-michel/>
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,
has pointed out <http://t.co/8E5b5u4ktq> that these are not the actions of
a neutral third-party.

On the night of September 11th, 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 from
the National Palace <http://www.ahphaiti.org/ndujour.html>. The message was
chilling and clear: the government can and will stop offering protection to
the former president whenever it chooses to do so.

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.

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 elections aren't
held by the end of the year
<http://www.ijdh.org/2014/07/topics/politics-democracy/a-constitutional-electoral-council-is-imperative-for-haitis-upcoming-elections/>,
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.

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 last-ditch effort
<http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/mar/13/america-subversion-haiti-democracy>
to prevent Aristide from returning to Haiti in 2011.

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.

* Follow Danny Glover on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mrdannyglover
<http://www.twitter.com/mrdannyglover>*
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