From Inter-American Press Association

Haiti While Haiti's reputation on freedom of the press has not always been impressive, despite a constitution that prohibits censorship except in the case of war, the country has made significant progress in recent years, particularly when it comes to impunity. In 2008, President Rene Preval created the Independent Commission to Support the Investigations of Assassinations of Journalists, along with the media rights group SOS Journalistes, to take a serious look at prosecuting those who murder journalists for doing their job. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. The country is prone to natural disasters with four major hurricanes and storms in 2008 killing hundreds of people and destroying homes and livelihoods for millions of people. On 12 January 2010, a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake (USGS) hit Haiti with aftershocks measuring 5.9 and 5.5 in the first hours after the quake. According to the latest estimates by the Haitian government, more than 217,000 people died and 300,000 were injured. In the city of Leogane, Petit-Goâve and Jacmel. In Leogane, some 20 kilometres west of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince and epicentre of the earthquake, up to 80 – 90% of the buildings were destroyed. However, with as a result of the earthquake among the public buildings that collapsed in Port au Prince were the main parliament building, the justice palace, tax headquarters and prison along with schools and hospitals. The destruction of the capital also means that legislative elections planned for next month, and a presidential election planned for November, will also have to be put on hold. Given the extent of this destruction, the structures to continue investigations into crimes committed against journalists, as well as rising levels of attacks against the media by state security officials in late 2009, have been paralyzed. The overall communication structure in Haiti has been dramatically weakened limiting greatly the dissimenation of vital humanitarian information especially to migrating populations in and outside the capital. Assessments have reaffirmed the need to bridge the gap between the humanitarian organizations and the local media community to ensure that vital information reaches the people of Haiti. Beyond these incidents, the major focal point of attention has circled around the massive personnel losses incurred by the media after the earthquake. 31 journalists were killed throughout the country and at least 13 were wounded. A large majority of the media houses in the four principally affected cities were destroyed or heavily damaged with massive equipment losses. The earthquake damaged or destroyed many media office buildings as well as broadcasting equipment, printing presses and computers. And by shutting down so many businesses that bought advertisements, the quake undermined the financial foundations of the industry. Some airlines and wireless companies continue to advertise, and some aid organizations have bought public service announcements. But many other businesses that used to buy airtime or print space will take months or years to rebuild, and that could translate into a prolonged nosedive in ad revenue for the industry. The French weekly, Courrier International, has called on donors to assist the oldest newspaper in Haiti, Le Nouvelliste, which, since January 12, has been without a printing press. The paper's first special issue following the earthquake was published from an obsolete privately owned press. According to Max Chauvet, Venezuelan technicians are now on hand to assess the Le Nouvelliste's equipment. Le Matin, the second main newspaper based in the capital, used to employ more than 30 people to publish a daily newspaper that reached some 7,000 subscribers. Since the earthquake, the newspaper has had to lay off about half its staff, and cut the salaries of those who remain by about 50 percent. It publishes online only at the moment. Haiti's sole newspaper published exclusively in Creole has disappeared under the rubble of the January 12 earthquake. The Port-au-Prince offices of the monthly Bon Nouvel (Good News) were destroyed, as were the facilities of its La Phalange printing unit, which specialized in the production of Creole-language books and documents. In Port-au-Prince, only about a dozen radio stations out of a total of 50 remain on air. Immediately after the earthquake, one of the leading Port-au-Prince radio stations, Radio Métropole initially resumed broadcasting only online, as did Radio Kiskeya, another of the most popular radio stations in the capital, which had around 50 stations before the earthquake. Signal FM, Caraïbes FM and the local branch of the French public station RFI were the only three stations that managed to keep going immediately after the earthquake. But thanks to the help of foreign technicians and news media, including Radio France, a total of 20 stations are now operating, a week after the quake. They include Vision 2000, Radio Lumière, Radio Solidarité, Mélodie FM, Radio One and Radio Boukman, which is based in Cité-Soleil, the capital's biggest slum. The UN mission's station, Radio Minustah, was back on the air on 18 January. Radio TV Ginen, Radio Soleil, Radio Ibo and Tropic FM, and many other small community radio stations, were all totally destroyed. Radio Nationale, the state radio station, began broadcasting via its sister TV station. In Leogane, four radio stations are currently functioning to some extent while eight others have been destroyed – Radio Amicale, Radio Compas, Radio Touche Dous, Cool FM, Anacaona, Tele Top Canal, Radio Top and Force FM. In Petit-Goâve, 15 radio stations have joined forces under the umbrella of the "Réseau des Médias de Petit-Goâve" enabling them to produce and broadcast one shared programme of 3 ½ hours a day. Five radio stations have been destroyed – Radio Men Kontre, Radio Solidarité, Radio Heritage, Radio Kopha Pierre and Radio Echo 2000. Media outlets in the southern coastal town of Jacmel have also suffered major losses with Radio Tele Diffusion Jacmelienne being completely wiped out and now broadcasting in the open from the main square of Jacmel. Four other radio stations in Jacmel have equally suffered great losses. In Port-au-Prince, some radio stations will take a long time to resume their normal programming. Such is the case for Radio Ibo, which is currently broadcasting at low capacity from the private residence of its director, Herold Jean Francois. Radio Maximum, Magic 9, Radio Tropic FM, Radio Kiskeya, Canal 11, and Radio-Télé Guinen, have been badly damaged. Most of the television stations based in the capital, about a dozen, are still off the air. Yet some—Télé Métropole and Télé Caraïbe, among others—are broadcasting programs from U.S, French, or Latin American television stations. Before the earthquake, Radio Ibo, one of the top four stations in Haiti, had 12 journalists working around the clock to produce the station's 4 flagship programmes. Now, there are only 7 journalists on the payroll of Radio Ibo and news hours have been reduced to 2. Their revenue has been reduced to one third of its previous level and the need to find a new more accessible premise to run the radio is very difficult with real estate prices skyrocketing to over 5 times their pre-earthquake rate. Many Haitian journalists have fled the country since the earthquake. For those who remain behind, the increasing prices of real estate and running costs (energy) have left the media in a precarious state. Radio Lumiere, a station based in Port-au-Prince, lost 3 journalists and is facing a major financial crisis with the station's reservce funds close to zero and journalists only receiving half their salaries. The National Association of Haitian Media Owners (Association National des Médias Haïtiens -ANMH) explained that the main priority for ANMH is to enable media outlets to publish and broadcast again - not only in order to generate income but also to avoid a genuine brain drain among the journalists. "Unless media houses can get back on their feet again quickly, the brain drain effect will multiply rapidly as journalists will look for job opportunities in other sectors or will emigrate if possible," says Max Chauvet, director of the daily newspaper Le Nouvelliste. As a limited sense of respite to bolster revenue to the media sector, both the ANMH and the other main association of media owners – the Haitian Independent Media Association (AMIH) – have begun an exchange of advertising services with the Haitian Government. Over the following 6 months, the Haitian Government will work with the media to exchange financial support for state advertising slots in a bid to kick-start the market with the anticipation that the private advertisements will come back to the fore in late 2010. In order to maintain a focus on impunity and cases of journalists killed, SOS Journalistes will be reconvening a meeting of the Independent Commission to Assist Investigations into Murders of Journalists on April 3rd. This will also preclude an event to be organised on 10 April to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the killing of Jean Leopold Dominique. SOS Journalistes are also looking to reopen discussions surrounding revisions to the existing Access to Information legislation in Haiti. ANMH have also been extremely actives in this regard, in order to guarantee a stronger base for press freedom and freedom of expression in Haiti. Between the end of March and mid-April, International Media Support will be organising a round table will be held between all key stakeholders in the media sector in Haiti - journalists, editors, media owners, the wider international media support community along with the UN and humanitarian organizations. This forum will be the first in a series of discussions aiming to create space for the media sector to analyse strategic ways forward and its role in the reconstruction challenges ahead. This first discussion will target the exchange information and experiences between the media and humanitarian sectors and those related to the media development sector in order to identify opportunities and possibilities for collective actions hence strengthening the ability of journalists and media to report on humanitarian issues. As the country prepares to enter into the heavy rain season in April and the hurricane season in June, the media's role in the reconstruction of Haiti will be vital. Other relevant facts affecting press freedom this period: By 3 December last year, justice had still not been fully rendered in the case of Brignol Lindor, a radio journalist working for Radio Echo 2000, who was murdered in the southwestern town of Petit-Goâve on 3 December 2001. Although two individuals implicated in his murder were given life sentences in December 2007, 7 other people who were convicted in absentia of his murder in January last year are still on the run. Following the earthquake on 12 January, Constant Junior, the new prosecutor in the central province of Hinche, was killed while attending a session in the Justice Palace. Junior had recently been transferred from Jacmel to Hinche and would have been involved in trying the case of threats by Wilot Joseph, a deputee from Hinche, against Radio Kiskeya and VOA correspondent Sainlus Augustin. According to SOS Journalistes, Sainlus is still in hiding in Port-au-Prince and on 16 March received threatening calls from "people connected to Wilot Joseph" On 21 January, IAPA expressed its concern over attempts by the US military to abruptly and covertly push international press reporters out of their airport base without providing an alternative base. These actions came amidst growing discontent in Port-au-Prince with the countries involved in the humanitarian relief effort, including the United States. On February 3, three weeks after the earthquake, Homère Cardichon, a photographer working for the daily Le Nouvelliste, had his camera confiscated by US marines while covering a demonstration by disgruntled residents outside the US embassy in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Tabarre. In February, Kertis Emma (Curtis Eyma : Correction "Le Ré.Cit"), a correspondent for Radio Caraibe FM in Cap-Haitien, was attacked by a police officer whilst reporting on a local event. The case is now before the tribunal court in Cap-Haitien. On March 15, journalist and secretary general of SOS Journalistes, Joseph Gulyer C. Delva, encountered another altercation with former senator Rudolph Boulos. Delva had arranged an interview with IDB chief, Luis Moreno, whilst Rudolph Boulos was at the same location participating in a private sector meeting with the IDB. A diplomatic representative on site told Devla that Boulos didn't want Devla to remain in the building even though other journalists from Le Matin and Signal FM were allowed to stay. Delva protested and was finally able to carry out his interview with Moreno. Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers Unit 1, Upper Level Élan Place 137 Eastern Main Road St. Augustine Trinidad and Tobago Phone: (868) 296-8009 www.acmediaworkers. com Wesley Gibbings, President: (868) 680-3452 Peter Richards, First Vice-President: (868)764-5745 Edward Troon, Second Vice-President Thalia Remy, General Secretary Bert Wilkinson, Asst. General Secretary Julius Gittens Canute James

From Inter-American Press Association

Haiti

While Haiti's reputation on freedom of the press has not always been impressive, despite a constitution that prohibits censorship except in the case of war, the country has made significant progress in recent years, particularly when it comes to impunity. In 2008, President Rene Preval created the Independent Commission to Support the Investigations of Assassinations of Journalists, along with the media rights group SOS Journalistes, to take a serious look at prosecuting those who murder journalists for doing their job.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. The country is prone to natural disasters with four major hurricanes and storms in 2008 killing hundreds of people and destroying homes and livelihoods for millions of people.

On 12 January 2010, a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake (USGS) hit Haiti with aftershocks measuring 5.9 and 5.5 in the first hours after the quake. According to the latest estimates by the Haitian government, more than 217,000 people died and 300,000 were injured.

In the city of Leogane, Petit-Goâve and Jacmel. In Leogane, some 20 kilometres west of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince and epicentre of the earthquake, up to 80 – 90% of the buildings were destroyed. However, with as a result of the earthquake among the public buildings that collapsed in Port au Prince were the main parliament building, the justice palace, tax headquarters and prison along with schools and hospitals. The destruction of the capital also means that legislative elections planned for next month, and a presidential election planned for November, will also have to be put on hold. Given the extent of this destruction, the structures to continue investigations into crimes committed against journalists, as well as rising levels of attacks against the media by state security officials in late 2009, have been paralyzed.

The overall communication structure in Haiti has been dramatically weakened limiting greatly the dissimenation of vital humanitarian information especially to migrating populations in and outside the capital. Assessments have reaffirmed the need to bridge the gap between the humanitarian organizations and the local media community to ensure that vital information reaches the people of Haiti.

Beyond these incidents, the major focal point of attention has circled around the massive personnel losses incurred by the media after the earthquake.
31 journalists were killed throughout the country and at least 13 were wounded. A large majority of the media houses in the four principally affected cities were destroyed or heavily damaged with massive equipment losses.

The earthquake damaged or destroyed many media office buildings as well as broadcasting equipment, printing presses and computers. And by shutting down so many businesses that bought advertisements, the quake undermined the financial foundations of the industry. Some airlines and wireless companies continue to advertise, and some aid organizations have bought public service announcements. But many other businesses that used to buy airtime or print space will take months or years to rebuild, and that could translate into a prolonged nosedive in ad revenue for the industry.

The French weekly, Courrier International, has called on donors to assist the oldest newspaper in Haiti, Le Nouvelliste, which, since January 12, has been without a printing press. The paper's first special issue following the earthquake was published from an obsolete privately owned press. According to Max Chauvet, Venezuelan technicians are now on hand to assess the Le Nouvelliste's equipment.

Le Matin, the second main newspaper based in the capital, used to employ more than 30 people to publish a daily newspaper that reached some 7,000 subscribers. Since the earthquake, the newspaper has had to lay off about half its staff, and cut the salaries of those who remain by about 50 percent. It publishes online only at the moment.

Haiti's sole newspaper published exclusively in Creole has disappeared under the rubble of the January 12 earthquake. The Port-au-Prince offices of the monthly Bon Nouvel (Good News) were destroyed, as were the facilities of its La Phalange printing unit, which specialized in the production of Creole-language books and documents.

In Port-au-Prince, only about a dozen radio stations out of a total of 50 remain on air. Immediately after the earthquake, one of the leading Port-au-Prince radio stations, Radio Métropole initially resumed broadcasting only online, as did Radio Kiskeya, another of the most popular radio stations in the capital, which had around 50 stations before the earthquake. Signal FM, Caraïbes FM and the local branch of the French public station RFI were the only three stations that managed to keep going immediately after the earthquake. But thanks to the help of foreign technicians and news media, including Radio France, a total of 20 stations are now operating, a week after the quake. They include Vision 2000, Radio Lumière, Radio Solidarité, Mélodie FM, Radio One and Radio Boukman, which is based in Cité-Soleil, the capital's biggest slum. The UN mission's station, Radio Minustah, was back on the air on 18 January. Radio TV Ginen, Radio Soleil, Radio Ibo and Tropic FM, and many other small community radio stations, were all totally destroyed. Radio Nationale, the state radio station, began broadcasting via its sister TV station.

In Leogane, four radio stations are currently functioning to some extent while eight others have been destroyed – Radio Amicale, Radio Compas, Radio Touche Dous, Cool FM, Anacaona, Tele Top Canal, Radio Top and Force FM.

In Petit-Goâve, 15 radio stations have joined forces under the umbrella of the "Réseau des Médias de Petit-Goâve" enabling them to produce and broadcast one shared programme of 3 ½ hours a day. Five radio stations have been destroyed – Radio Men Kontre, Radio Solidarité, Radio Heritage, Radio Kopha Pierre and Radio Echo 2000.

Media outlets in the southern coastal town of Jacmel have also suffered major losses with Radio Tele Diffusion Jacmelienne being completely wiped out and now broadcasting in the open from the main square of Jacmel. Four other radio stations in Jacmel have equally suffered great losses.

In Port-au-Prince, some radio stations will take a long time to resume their normal programming. Such is the case for Radio Ibo, which is currently broadcasting at low capacity from the private residence of its director, Herold Jean Francois. Radio Maximum, Magic 9, Radio Tropic FM, Radio Kiskeya, Canal 11, and Radio-Télé Guinen, have been badly damaged. Most of the television stations based in the capital, about a dozen, are still off the air. Yet some—Télé Métropole and Télé Caraïbe, among others—are broadcasting programs from U.S, French, or Latin American television stations.

Before the earthquake, Radio Ibo, one of the top four stations in Haiti, had 12 journalists working around the clock to produce the station's 4 flagship programmes. Now, there are only 7 journalists on the payroll of Radio Ibo and news hours have been reduced to 2. Their revenue has been reduced to one third of its previous level and the need to find a new more accessible premise to run the radio is very difficult with real estate prices skyrocketing to over 5 times their pre-earthquake rate.

Many Haitian journalists have fled the country since the earthquake. For those who remain behind, the increasing prices of real estate and running costs (energy) have left the media in a precarious state. Radio Lumiere, a station based in Port-au-Prince, lost 3 journalists and is facing a major financial crisis with the station's reservce funds close to zero and journalists only receiving half their salaries.

The National Association of Haitian Media Owners (Association National des Médias Haïtiens -ANMH) explained that the main priority for ANMH is to enable media outlets to publish and broadcast again - not only in order to generate income but also to avoid a genuine brain drain among the journalists. "Unless media houses can get back on their feet again quickly, the brain drain effect will multiply rapidly as journalists will look for job opportunities in other sectors or will emigrate if possible," says Max Chauvet, director of the daily newspaper Le Nouvelliste.

As a limited sense of respite to bolster revenue to the media sector, both the ANMH and the other main association of media owners – the Haitian Independent Media Association (AMIH) – have begun an exchange of advertising services with the Haitian Government. Over the following 6 months, the Haitian Government will work with the media to exchange financial support for state advertising slots in a bid to kick-start the market with the anticipation that the private advertisements will come back to the fore in late 2010.

In order to maintain a focus on impunity and cases of journalists killed, SOS Journalistes will be reconvening a meeting of the Independent Commission to Assist Investigations into Murders of Journalists on April 3rd. This will also preclude an event to be organised on 10 April to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the killing of Jean Leopold Dominique. SOS Journalistes are also looking to reopen discussions surrounding revisions to the existing Access to Information legislation in Haiti. ANMH have also been extremely actives in this regard, in order to guarantee a stronger base for press freedom and freedom of expression in Haiti.

Between the end of March and mid-April, International Media Support will be organising a round table will be held between all key stakeholders in the media sector in Haiti - journalists, editors, media owners, the wider international media support community along with the UN and humanitarian organizations. This forum will be the first in a series of discussions aiming to create space for the media sector to analyse strategic ways forward and its role in the reconstruction challenges ahead. This first discussion will target the exchange information and experiences between the media and humanitarian sectors and those related to the media development sector in order to identify opportunities and possibilities for collective actions hence strengthening the ability of journalists and media to report on humanitarian issues. As the country prepares to enter into the heavy rain season in April and the hurricane season in June, the media's role in the
reconstruction of Haiti will be vital.

Other relevant facts affecting press freedom this period:

By 3 December last year, justice had still not been fully rendered in the case of Brignol Lindor, a radio journalist working for Radio Echo 2000, who was murdered in the southwestern town of Petit-Goâve on 3 December 2001. Although two individuals implicated in his murder were given life sentences in December 2007, 7 other people who were convicted in absentia of his murder in January last year are still on the run.

Following the earthquake on 12 January, Constant Junior, the new prosecutor in the central province of Hinche, was killed while attending a session in the Justice Palace. Junior had recently been transferred from Jacmel to Hinche and would have been involved in trying the case of threats by Wilot Joseph, a deputee from Hinche, against Radio Kiskeya and VOA correspondent Sainlus Augustin. According to SOS Journalistes, Sainlus is still in hiding in Port-au-Prince and on 16 March received threatening calls from "people connected to Wilot Joseph"

On 21 January, IAPA expressed its concern over attempts by the US military to abruptly and covertly push international press reporters out of their airport base without providing an alternative base. These actions came amidst growing discontent in Port-au-Prince with the countries involved in the humanitarian relief effort, including the United States.

On February 3, three weeks after the earthquake, Homère Cardichon, a photographer working for the daily Le Nouvelliste, had his camera confiscated by US marines while covering a demonstration by disgruntled residents outside the US embassy in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Tabarre.

In February, Kertis Emma (Curtis Eyma : Correction de RÉSEAU CITADELLE), a correspondent for Radio Caraibe FM in Cap-Haitien, was attacked by a police officer whilst reporting on a local event. The case is now before the tribunal court in Cap-Haitien.

On March 15, journalist and secretary general of SOS Journalistes, Joseph Gulyer C. Delva, encountered another altercation with former senator Rudolph Boulos. Delva had arranged an interview with IDB chief, Luis Moreno, whilst Rudolph Boulos was at the same location participating in a private sector meeting with the IDB. A diplomatic representative on site told Devla that Boulos didn't want Devla to remain in the building even though other journalists from Le Matin and Signal FM were allowed to stay. Delva protested and was finally able to carry out his interview with Moreno.

Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers
Unit 1, Upper Level
Élan Place
137 Eastern Main Road
St. Augustine
Trinidad and Tobago

Phone: (868) 296-8009

www.acmediaworkers. com

Wesley Gibbings, President: (868) 680-3452
Peter Richards, First Vice-President: (868)764-5745
Edward Troon, Second Vice-President
Thalia Remy, General Secretary
Bert Wilkinson, Asst. General Secretary
Julius Gittens
Canute James

Haïti : Qu’avons-nous fait de notre souveraineté ?

Cyrus Sibert, Radio Souvenir F.M., Cap-Haïtien, Haïti.

souvenirfm@yahoo.fr,

10 juin 2006

La proposition du nouveau représentant du secrétaire général des nations unies entraîne des réactions négatives. Le souhait d'Edmond Mulet de voir des magistrats étrangers siéger au côté des juges haïtiens a été mal accueilli par les dirigeants haïtiens qui n'ont pas manqué de scander des propos nationalistes. Les intellectuels haïtiens y voient le spectre du projet de mise sous tutelle d'Haïti. Le barreau de Port-au-prince appelle à la vigilance patriotique. Il invite les autres barreaux du pays à se joindre à lui dans un projet de pétition en vue de signifier au conseil de sécurité leurs objections.

C'est sûr que tout haïtien digne souffre de la situation actuelle du pays. Haïti vit en état de tutelle de fait. Il faut s'en sortir. Cependant, l’élite dirigeante haïtienne et les fonctionnaires de l'appareil étatique ne se sont jamais demandés : comment sommes-nous arrivés là ?

Parce que nous ne sommes pas des adeptes de la pensée unique, nous ne nous laisserons pas entraîner dans le jeu des irresponsables et/ou corrompus haïtiens, ces immoraux qui par leur attitudes vénales entraînent Haïti dans la faillite.

Si les Dominicains ont tiré les leçons de l’occupation américaine de 1964 pour moderniser leur pays, gérer leur crise et ne plus connaître d'occupation humiliante, nous autres haïtiens, nous continuons comme l'autruche à ignorer la réalité en enfonçant notre tête dans un nationalisme hypocrite.

Un nationalisme de sot, vu que la communauté internationale nous a pratiquement mis sous tutelle. À chaque fois que nous faisons du bruit dans les médias, ses diplomates nous entraînent dans un jeu sémantique avant de continuer à appliquer les dispositions prises d'en haut. Nous nous laissons traiter comme nos ancêtres des tribus africaines auxquels les européens offraient des présents ridicules comme des morceaux de verroterie pour mieux les enchaîner à destination de Saint-Domingue.

On se souvient encore de ce fameux article du Devoir annonçant la tenue d'une réunion secrète au Canada "Initiative d'Ottawa sur Haïti", et la décision de mettre Haïti sous tutelle vu que l'élite de ce pays traite ses concitoyens pire que les canadiens auraient traité leurs animaux domestiques. Depuis lors, on a beau démenti l'information ; le secrétaire d'État canadien pour l'Amérique latine Denis Paradis a utilisé les mêmes techniques sémantiques pour nous rassurer ; cependant il n'en reste pas moins vrai qu'Haïti est de plus en plus sous contrôle international. Comme on dit chez nous : pas de fumée sans feu.

Alors, au moins pour une fois posons les problèmes de ce pays sans passion ni stupidité. Nous savons qu'en Haïti les blancophiles sont les premiers à brandir le nationalisme. Par leurs singeries nationalistes, ils cachent leur incapacité et donnent raison à tous ceux qui font d’eux l'élite la plus répugnante de l'Amérique.

Alors, posons le problème sérieusement. La justice haïtienne est décriée. Elle est en faillite. Elle n'arrive pas à jouer sa fonction sociale qu'est la gestion des conflits à partir des institutions légalement constituées. Elle est frappée d'immoralité. Elle se comporte en délinquant. Comme disait Montesquieu ses décisions ne sont plus conformes à l'Esprit des lois de la République. Des valeurs universelles telle que la liberté, le droit de propriété sont piétinées. La majorité des hommes de lois se comportent comme des bandits de grand chemin. On dirait que la justice haïtienne n’a plus de repères.

L'emprisonnement précipité du Directeur de l'organe de renseignement financier de l'État haïtien en est une preuve. Aucun juge ne peut justifier une telle décision, même quand le haut fonctionnaire de l'UCREF n'est pas au-dessus de la loi. Règlement de compte ou corruption, le juge d'instruction utilise la loi pour régler autre chose que la consolidation de la justice haïtienne. De son comportement, tout comme par cette décision des juges de la Cour de cassation sur la double nationalité, l'État haïtien est sorti affaibli. Ils n'ont pas compris la dimension étatique de leur décision. Malgré tout, ne soyez pas étonnés, si aujourd’hui, ces irresponsables brandissent le nationalisme pour défendre le statu quo.

Vu que le dysfonctionnement de la justice est l'une des causes de l'instabilité que connaît Haïti, logiquement, il faut remédier à la situation.

L’immoralité au niveau de l'État et l'inapplication des lois étant des handicaps majeurs à la stabilité de toute démocratie, l'internationale dans le cadre de sa MINUSTHA (Mission des Nations Unies pour Stabiliser Haïti) peut-elle abandonner la justice à des irresponsables ''nationalistes''?

C'est à ce niveau que la proposition d'Edmond Mulet trouve sa place. Ce dernier propose des magistrats étrangers pour la justice haïtienne. Cette proposition est sans doute inacceptable, toutefois on peut à partir d’elle explorer d'autres pistes de solution.

Paradoxalement, le Ministre de la justice Henry Marge Dorléans, appuyé de plusieurs juristes, dans sa réplique, au lieu d'affaiblir la position d'Edmond Mulet, l'a renforcée. En justifiant la situation par les conditions de vie et de travail des magistrats, nous démontrons que nous ne comprenons pas la dimension morale du problème de la justice haïtienne. Semble-t il, nous n’avons pas les valeurs requises pour corriger le système.

Sans rejeter l'idée d'améliorer la vie des magistrats, nous pensons que cette façon d'aborder le problème est identique à celle de ceux qui justifient le kidnapping par la misère et la pauvreté des masses. Cela explique pourquoi les magistrats libèrent sans regrets les kidnappeurs appréhendés par la police. Tous, ils participent de la morale pragmatique qui trouve sa source dans la précarité des conditions de vie et la misère qui gangrène le pays. Peut-on justifier la corruption d'un journaliste par le niveau de son salaire? Avec de telles valeurs nous allons tout accepter, vu qu'à tous les niveaux les salaires ne répondent pas. Le professeur aura raison de vendre ses examens aux élèves qui peuvent payer ; le policier aura raison quand il loue son arme à feu à des gangs ; les fonctionnaires de l'État seront dans leur droit quand ils organisent toutes sortes de rackets au niveau de l'administration publique, etc. Un juge insatisfait ne doit avoir d'autre issu que sa démission. Rester dans le système pour améliorer sa situation matérielle à partir de rackets, est inexcusable.

Le représentant du secrétaire général des Nations unies n’a-t-il pas raison de proposer une intervention d'agents externes dans la justice haïtienne ?

On peut discuter la formule. Observateurs judiciaires internationaux en Haïti - comme durant les élections -, consultants en vue de renforcer l'« Ecole de la magistrature » et le « Conseil supérieur de la Magistrature » ou juges étrangers, en toute logique, y a-t-il une possibilité de voir le changement venir de l'intérieur ? Avons-nous le niveau moral, les guides et/ou leadership nécessaires pour résoudre le problème de la justice haïtienne ?

Les avocats haïtiens qui ne laissent passer aucune occasion pour réciter des adages latins ne diront-ils pas que ces citations sont d'origine haïtienne ? Les romains ont été chez les grecs pour parfaire leur civilisation. La révolution française a beaucoup appris de la révolution italienne. Alors pourquoi tant de litanie nationaliste quand nous avons envoyé en Afrique, des juristes et juges comme Maître Pierre Gonzalez ? Nos frères africains sont ils inférieurs à nous ?

Qu’avons-nous fait de notre souveraineté ?

Encore une fois, pour renforcer la justice, nous demandons de l'aide. L'international doit financer pour nous, la réforme de la justice. Alors, comment avons-nous utilisé l'Ecole de la Magistrature, créée par l'Etat haïtien, avec l'aide de la coopération internationale, justement pour répondre à ce besoin de magistrats professionnels ? On a bouffé les fonds, voyagé chaque semaine, détourné les bourses d'étude et continué à improviser en nommant n'importe qui magistrat. Des ''patatistes'' du droit, avocats corrompus, souvent ''sans lecture ni écriture,'' sont devenus magistrats au nom de la souveraineté nationale. Quand allons-nous établir une différence claire entre niveau de formation et niveau moral ?

Qu’avons-nous fait de notre souveraineté ?

Les généraux haïtiens l'ont utilisée pour accéder au pouvoir. Chaque semaine un coup d'Etat est orchestré. On a même vu des officiers au « garde à vous » devant le représentant des ''petits soldats'', le Sergent Hébreux. En conséquence nous n'avons pas d'armée. La défense d’Haïti dépend des Nations Unies et de soldats étrangers.

On se souvient encore de la reprise sur la TNH de cette déclaration du Roi Christophe : Je ne rendrai la ville que lorsqu'elle sera réduite en cendres et sur ces cendres je combattrai encore. Elle était diffusée sur demande du Général Namphy dans une situation de crise. Le Général président voulait, par ce message, signifier aux diplomates qui lui demandaient d’organiser des élections qu'il n'entendait pas céder aux pressions et cela au nom de la souveraineté nationale d'Haïti.

Les politiciens du mouvement lavalas ont tellement politisé la PNH (Police Nationale d’Haïti), qu'il nous faut actuellement des policiers de l'ONU pour remettre l'institution sur les rails, la rendre professionnelle.

Qu’avons-nous fait de notre souveraineté ?

Notre diplomatie est assurée par les employés de la MINUSTHA. On se frotte les mains quand Gabriel Valdez intervient en notre faveur par devant les bailleurs de fonds internationaux. Il jouait à la place du Général Hérard Abraam le rôle de Ministre des Affaires Etrangères en demandant aux Sud-américains d’envoyer des troupes, aux dominicains de comprendre notre situation économique et de bien traiter nos ressortissants et réclamait aux bailleurs de fonds des millions additionnels pour l'organisation des élections tout en nous imposant un président en violation du décret électoral en vigueur.

Qu’avons nous fait de notre souveraineté ?

Au lieu d'exiger le rétablissement de l'armée constitutionnelle, la société civile organisée d'Haïti a été manifester devant les locaux de la MINUSTHA à Bourdon pour exiger sécurité. De ce côté, le premier Ministre Latortue a demandé aux soldats de l’ONU d'attaquer les soldats haïtiens qui n'exigeaient que le respect de la constitution par le rétablissement de l'armée.

Alors qu’avons-nous fait de notre souveraineté quand nous nous félicitons des opérations des forces de la MINUSTHA à Cité Soleil contre le gangster Dread Wilmé en lieu et place de la Police nationale ?

Quand au lieu de renforcer l’appareil judiciaire, un pouvoir souverain, nous nous contentons de l'utiliser pour asservir nos adversaires, humilier nos compatriotes et/ou déposséder des propriétaires, qu'avons-nous fait de notre souveraineté ?

Au Cap-Haïtien, on nous relate des cas d'agressions sexuelles sur les femmes de détenus. Si elles ne coopèrent pas leurs maris seront battus et/ou privés de certains privilèges.

Qu'avons-nous fait de notre souveraineté ? Sommes-nous assez grands pour l'exercer ? Nos réflexes d’affamés, ne donnent-ils pas aux étrangers la ferme assurance que tout ira bien : Haïti sera finalement une colonie des Nations Unies en vue d'expérimenter les programmes de l'organisation ?

Le vendredi 3 juin, Edmond Mulet est entré en Haïti. Dans un point de presse l'ambassadeur des Nations Unies a qualifié de « dysfonctionnement », la situation de la justice haïtienne. Ce terme dysfonctionnement est significatif. Il met en évidence la gravité de la situation. La stabilisation d'Haïti n'est pas possible avec des pouvoirs étatiques dysfonctionnels. Et, l’instabilité en Haïti menace la région.

Alors détrompez-vous ! L'internationale ne vous prend plus au sérieux. Elle finira par nous imposer une formule pour réformer la justice. Puisque durant les 2 ans de la transition nous n’avons fait qu'accumuler richesses et pouvoir, au mépris des militants tombés pour le changement et le progrès, puisque aujourd'hui tout le monde se contente de brandir son trophée de transition : une entreprise solide, un compte en banque, une maison en Floride ou à Pernier, un poste au parlement, plus d'influence politique, plus de visibilité, etc. , le blanc va s'occuper de nous.

En bon irresponsables, nous avons tout fait, sauf réformer l'État et renforcer les institutions. En conséquence nous n'avons rien fait de notre souveraineté.

Dégénérescence nationale ! La souveraineté, si nous ancêtres l’avaient forgée, nous ne sommes plus dignes d'elle.

Au 21^ème siècle, comme des armes de destruction massive, la souveraineté est l'affaire des nations responsables. Pour Haïti, après ces deux ans de transition, la communauté internationale a sa solution. Souhaitons que dans sa solution, elle nous envoie, pour la justice, des juges différents de ses touristes des droits de l’homme.

Cyrus Sibert

Cap-Haïtien, Haïti

10 juin 2006

«Nous n'avons pas d'orgueil parce que nous n'avons pas de souvenirs » disait Henri Christophe.

Haiti’s Founding Document Found in London

By DAMIEN CAVE Published: March 31, 2010 There is no prouder moment in Haiti's history than Jan. 1, 1804, when a band of statesmen-warriors declared independence from France, casting off colonialism and slavery to become the world's first black republic. Enlarge This Image Haiti's Declaration of Independence, discovered in the British National Archives. Related Times Topic: Haiti Haitian Declaration of Independence (pdf) They proclaimed their freedom boldly — "we must live independent or die," they wrote — but for decades, Haiti lacked its own official copy of those words. Its Declaration of Independence existed only in handwritten duplicate or in newspapers. Until now.   A Canadian graduate student at Duke University, Julia Gaffield, has unearthed from the British National Archives the first known, government-issued version of Haiti's founding document. The eight-page pamphlet, now visible online, gives scholars new insights into a period with few primary sources. But for Haitian intellectuals, the discovery has taken on even broader significance.   That the document would be found in February, just weeks after the earthquake that killed so many; that its authenticity would be confirmed in time for the donor conference that could define Haiti's future — some see providence at work.   "It's a strange thing in the period of the earthquake we find the first document that made the state," said Patrick Tardieu, an archivist at the Library of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit in Port-au-Prince. "People were searching for this for a very long time."   Indeed, decades ago, Haiti's leaders went hunting for a declaration they could call their own for the country's 150th anniversary. Researchers combed Haiti's libraries. Newspapers in the United States, which printed full versions of the declaration when it was made, were also considered a possible source.   But the originals seemed to have been thrown out or destroyed. In December 1952, the Haitian intellectual Edmond Mangonès wrote to his country's Commission of Social Sciences to report that "the mystery of the original of our national Declaration of Independence" had not been solved. "All searches to date have been in vain," he said.   Enter Ms. Gaffield, 26. She said she fell in love with Haiti while at the University of Toronto. It was 2004, Jean-Bertrand Aristide had just been ousted, and after a trip to Haiti, where she worked with street children, she decided to study its origins as a nation.   That eventually took her to Duke University, and last year, to the National Archives of Jamaica in Kingston. There, she found a letter from a British official who had just returned from Haiti around the time of its revolution.   "He wrote a letter to the governor saying, 'Here is this interesting document that I received when I was in Haiti,' " she said. "And he said the declaration 'had not been but one hour from the press.' "   The document he mentioned, though, was missing. She headed for London. On Feb. 2, she found herself poring through the leather-bound binders of Britain's National Archives. About 100 pages into the book of Jamaican records from 1804, she came across a delicate, yellowed set of pages.   "What I first noticed was across the top it said, 'Liberté ou La Mort,' " she said. There were a few differences from the accepted text of Thomas Madiou, the 19th-century historian who wrote a definitive, multivolume history of the country. Haiti was spelled Hayti in the pamphlet, for example, and in one sentence, Mr. Madiou seemed to have seen "idéux" (ideals) when the print shows it to be "fléaux" (ills).   The bottom of the last page read "De l'Imprimerie du Gouvernement." That made it the official declaration historians had been looking for. In the hushed London library — even cameras snapping photos of important documents must be on silent mode — Ms. Gaffield could only smirk.   "Being very excited in a document reading room is a bit of a challenge," she said. "You have to keep it all inside."   Later that day, she e-mailed her Ph.D. advisers at Duke. They were thrilled. "It is a lost treasure," said Deborah Jenson, a professor of French who has been overseeing Ms. Gaffield's research. "This is really the first copy that is directly tied to the Haitian government."   Professor Jenson said no manuscript version of the declaration with signatures — along the lines of the United States' document — seemed to have existed. Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Haiti's revolutionary leader, delivered the declaration as a speech on Jan. 1, 1804, and then had it printed over the next few months. Historians believe that he and others overlooked documentary preservation because they were too worried about another French invasion.   "They were building forts," said Prof. Laurent M. Dubois, a historian of Haiti at Duke. "It's part of the larger story: that Haiti knew it was going to be isolated, it knew it was attacking this broader social order."   He said the pamphlet showed that Haiti was intent on sending out the declaration to get the world to understand its position. "This was a gesture of reaching out, of saying, 'We have these grievances, and we have decided we have to be independent, to refuse and resist this social order we have lived under,' " Professor Dubois said. "They wanted recognition."   That is exactly what some Haitians hope Ms. Gaffield's find will bring to Haiti today. Mr. Tardieu said he dreamed of seeing the document returned to its home — "it would be the greatest gift," he said — while others are praying that its discovery alone will reawaken the world to Haiti's strong sense of self-determination.   "In the context of the Haitian tragedy, it is important for Haitians and the rest of the world to remember the independence of Haiti," said Leslie Manigat, a historian who briefly served as Haiti's president in 1988.   "We must recover," he said, shouting in order to be heard through a phone in Port-au-Prince that cut out repeatedly. "We must find an alternative to the traditional meaning of independence, now, in the new world."

Rushed From Haiti, Then Jailed for Lacking Visas

By NINA BERNSTEIN Published: March 31, 2010 More than two months after the earthquake that devastated Haiti, at least 30 survivors who were waved onto planes by Marines in the chaotic aftermath are prisoners of the United States immigration system, locked up since their arrival in detention centers in Florida. Enlarge This Image Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times Lunva Charles, a jailed quake victim, hopes to be reunited with Paul Herver Sanon, above, and their son, Herver Sanon, 3, who live in New Jersey. Related Skepticism on Pledges for Haiti (April 1, 2010) Times Topics: Haiti | Immigration and Emigration Enlarge This Image Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times Haitian identification for a detainee, Mike Kenson Delva.   In Haiti, some were pulled from the rubble, their legal advocates say. Some lost parents, siblings or children. Many were seeking food, safety or medical care at the Port-au-Prince airport when terrifying aftershocks prompted hasty evacuations by military transports, with no time for immigration processing. None have criminal histories.   But when they landed in the United States without visas, they were taken into custody by immigration authorities and held for deportation, even though deportations to Haiti have been suspended indefinitely since the earthquake. Legal advocates who stumbled on the survivors in February at the Broward County Transitional Center, a privately operated immigration jail in Pompano Beach, Fla., have tried for weeks to persuade government officials to release them to citizen relatives who are eager to take them in, letters and affidavits show.   Meanwhile, the detainees have received little or no mental health care for the trauma they suffered, lawyers at the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center said, despite an offer of free treatment at the jail by a local Creole-speaking psychotherapist.   Their plight is a result of the scramble to cope quickly with the immigration consequences of the quake's destruction and death toll. Some Haitians who arrived without papers were handed tourist visas, only to find that status barred them from working; the more fortunate received humanitarian parole, an open-ended status that permits employment. Those already in the country illegally were allowed to apply for temporary protected status, which shields recipients from deportation for at least 18 months and lets them work.   Almost at random, it seems, immigration jail was the ad hoc solution for these 30 survivors and for others still hidden in pockets of the nation's sprawling detention network. Some of the 30 have already been transferred to more remote immigration jails without explanation.   On Wednesday, after inquiries by The New York Times, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the 30 Florida detainees were "being processed for release," and that 35 others who had arrived since the Jan. 12 earthquake, some by boat, were also being held in detention centers around the country.   "In order to mitigate the probability that Haitians may attempt to make a potentially deadly journey to the U.S., we clearly articulated that those who traveled to the U.S. illegally after Jan. 12 may be arrested, detained and placed in removal proceedings," the spokesman, Brian P. Hale, said in a statement. He added that Nina Dozoretz, acting director of the agency's Division of Immigration Health Services, had just approved counseling by the volunteer psychotherapist.   Advocates for the detainees said they had been told for weeks that deportation officers in Florida were waiting for senior officials in Washington to set a policy for the group. Most were ordered deported in February, but are eligible for release under an order of supervision until deportations resume.   "Their prolonged and unnecessary detention is only exacerbating their trauma," the advocates wrote to the agency on March 19, after receiving no response to detailed, individual requests for release by two dozen of the detainees. "There is no reason to spend taxpayer dollars detaining traumatized earthquake survivors who cannot be deported and who have demonstrated that they are neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community."   The government's actions have been especially bewildering for the survivors' relatives, like Virgile Ulysse, 69, an American citizen who keeps an Obama poster on his kitchen wall in Norwalk, Conn. Mr. Ulysse said he could not explain to his nephews, Jackson, 20, and Reagan, 25, why they were brought to the United States on a military plane only to be jailed at the Broward center when they arrived in Orlando on Jan. 19.   "Every time I called immigration, they told me they will release them in two or three weeks, and now it's almost three months," said Mr. Ulysse, a retired carpenter and architectural designer who said he had always warned his relatives in Haiti not to come illegally on boats, but to wait for a green light from the United States.   On March 11, Reagan was abruptly transferred, and for days his younger brother did not know where he was. It turned out he had been taken to the Baker County jail, in Macclenny, Fla., six hours away. On Tuesday evening, a paralegal found him there in shackles, about to be transferred again; guards, following government protocol, would not say where. Related Skepticism on Pledges for Haiti (April 1, 2010) Times Topics: Haiti | Immigration and Emigration "His brother is far away — he's waiting, waiting," Mr. Ulysse said of Jackson. "He started to cry on the phone. It's very terrible."   Jackson, who was trapped in the collapse of his family's apartment building in the quake, and pulled from under cinderblock by a cousin, lost many relatives in the destruction. His formal request for release, dated March 12, describes how even the sound of someone on the jail stairs makes him fear another earthquake and worry that because he is locked up, he will be unable to escape.   The jailed survivors' requests for release, prepared with help from law students volunteering on spring break, detail a variety of circumstances that led them to board the airplanes. One man who was in a taxi when the earthquake hit was later placed on a military plane to Miami by a doctor from Texas who had treated him for severe back and leg injuries. He left the plane in a wheelchair.   Mike Kenson Delva, 21, asked a Marine for a job and was assigned to help board a young boy whose leg had been amputated, along with the boy's wheelchair-bound mother. Suddenly, the plane took off.   "That's my little nephew, my brother's son," said his uncle, Reymond Joseph, 46, an American citizen and a supervisor with the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles, who is ready to take care of him.   Another jailed survivor is Lunva Charles, 25, who hopes to be reunited with her 3-year-old son and his father, Paul Herver Sanon, legal permanent residents living with his parents in Irvington, N.J.   "I want to marry her, she wants to marry me," Mr. Sanon, who works in a nursing home, said in French on Tuesday. "She's sad, she's so sad, she wants to see her child."   The youngest detainee, Eventz Jean-Baptiste, 18, has no parents. "He is now responsible for his two younger brothers, who are homeless and living in a tent city in Port-au-Prince," Charu Newhouse al-Sahli, the statewide director of the advocacy center, wrote in urging his release to his aunt and uncle in Coral Springs, Fla.   Mr. Jean-Baptiste describes putting his little brother and a cousin's baby on top of a collapsed concrete wall during the quake, as they all prayed and cried. Afterward, "we had nothing to eat or drink," he said. "I thought if I stayed in Haiti any longer I would not survive, and my family would not survive, so I decided to try to board a plane." No one asked him for papers until he reached Orlando, he said.