Submitted by Johanna (not verified) on Fri, 12/28/2007 - 15:51.
Please post my comment.
I think it's really important to look at the history of an organization before endorsing it. NCHR's actions during the time of the 2004 coup and after were unforgiveable.
NCHR virtually ignored the huge wave of repression against Aristide's political party, Lavalas. Their indifference was worse than unprofessional and should be criminal. Especially when the most likely sources of the violence were such notorious human rights abusers (Haiti: Perpetrators of serious past abuses re-emerge..." http://archive.wn.com/2004/02/18/1400/p/fb/7bfc637933f224.html) . The trust given to a human rights organization should not be given lightly.
A Lancet Journal study released in August 2006 determined approximately 8000 people were murdered in the two years after the 2004 coup (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/12/news/CB-GEN-Haiti-Lancet-Study...). Where was NCHR? Still pointing their finger at Aristide who was long gone! Still pointing their finger at him though most of the violence was directed at his supporters!
Read their report about the first 45 days after the 2004 coup, at the height of this killing spree. NCHR (now RNDDH) reported "a decrease in the number of human rights abuses and common law violations being reported" and stated,"the acts of political persecution have also significantly diminished"
"Boniface-Latorture: the first 45 days" http://www.rnddh.org/article.php3?id_article=161
Contrast this with with another report put out by the University of Miami School of Law by Thomas Griffin, (former federal law enforcement officer/current immigration law attorney). In a January 2005 article he comments “Haiti is such a hotly debated political topic that it is important for the report to be as objective as possible. The photos are necessary because they can’t be spun one way or another for political purposes. Anyone who sees these pictures will say this should not be happening to human beings anywhere, especially just a few hundred miles from Disney World....The General Hospital’s emergency room is a scene of bodies dripping blood, groans of pain from men, women and children and a nauseating odor...We need to look beyond the partisan debates to see that the very poorest of the poor are suffering in inhuman ways." http://www.law.miami.edu/news/368.html
Additionally, here's what a National Lawyer's Guild human rights delegation experienced at the NCHR office in their trip to Haiti just after the US orchestrated Feb. 29, 2004 coup (April 11, 2004 report):
"• In a large meeting room the wall was adorned with a large wanted poster featuring Aristide and his cabinet, in small photos, across the top. It named Aristide a "dictator" guilty of human rights abuses. Among a long list of other charges, it condemned him for the murder of John Dominique and included a large photo of Dominique's dead body (-new arrest in Jean Dominique case-http://www.nieuwsbank.nl/en/2007/12/12/r043.htm). When delegation members pointed out that NCHR's neutrality and inclusiveness might be better expressed with additional posters condemning, for example, FRAPH, Jodel Chamblain, Jean Tatoune Baptiste, (http://www.amnesty.org/en/alfresco_asset/21640371-a425-11dc-bac9-0158df3...) etc...they, while acknowledging their existence, laughed at the suggestion of adding other wanted posters to the office.
• NCHR could not name a single case in which a Lavalas supporter was a victim.
• When asked to investigate the 1000 bodies dumped and buried by the morgue during that last few weeks at Titanye and the alleged malfunctioning of the refrigeration at the morgue, the director and his staff denied ever knowing about these events and laughed saying none of it was true."
Haiti can do better than this.
Only 600 miles off our shores!
It's time for a real change in Haiti.
Take a closer look at NCHR
Please post my comment.
I think it's really important to look at the history of an organization before endorsing it. NCHR's actions during the time of the 2004 coup and after were unforgiveable.
NCHR virtually ignored the huge wave of repression against Aristide's political party, Lavalas. Their indifference was worse than unprofessional and should be criminal. Especially when the most likely sources of the violence were such notorious human rights abusers (Haiti: Perpetrators of serious past abuses re-emerge..." http://archive.wn.com/2004/02/18/1400/p/fb/7bfc637933f224.html) . The trust given to a human rights organization should not be given lightly.
A Lancet Journal study released in August 2006 determined approximately 8000 people were murdered in the two years after the 2004 coup (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/12/news/CB-GEN-Haiti-Lancet-Study...). Where was NCHR? Still pointing their finger at Aristide who was long gone! Still pointing their finger at him though most of the violence was directed at his supporters!
Read their report about the first 45 days after the 2004 coup, at the height of this killing spree. NCHR (now RNDDH) reported "a decrease in the number of human rights abuses and common law violations being reported" and stated,"the acts of political persecution have also significantly diminished"
"Boniface-Latorture: the first 45 days"
http://www.rnddh.org/article.php3?id_article=161
Contrast this with with another report put out by the University of Miami School of Law by Thomas Griffin, (former federal law enforcement officer/current immigration law attorney). In a January 2005 article he comments “Haiti is such a hotly debated political topic that it is important for the report to be as objective as possible. The photos are necessary because they can’t be spun one way or another for political purposes. Anyone who sees these pictures will say this should not be happening to human beings anywhere, especially just a few hundred miles from Disney World....The General Hospital’s emergency room is a scene of bodies dripping blood, groans of pain from men, women and children and a nauseating odor...We need to look beyond the partisan debates to see that the very poorest of the poor are suffering in inhuman ways."
http://www.law.miami.edu/news/368.html
Additionally, here's what a National Lawyer's Guild human rights delegation experienced at the NCHR office in their trip to Haiti just after the US orchestrated Feb. 29, 2004 coup (April 11, 2004 report):
"• In a large meeting room the wall was adorned with a large wanted poster featuring Aristide and his cabinet, in small photos, across the top. It named Aristide a "dictator" guilty of human rights abuses. Among a long list of other charges, it condemned him for the murder of John Dominique and included a large photo of Dominique's dead body (-new arrest in Jean Dominique case-http://www.nieuwsbank.nl/en/2007/12/12/r043.htm). When delegation members pointed out that NCHR's neutrality and inclusiveness might be better expressed with additional posters condemning, for example, FRAPH, Jodel Chamblain, Jean Tatoune Baptiste, (http://www.amnesty.org/en/alfresco_asset/21640371-a425-11dc-bac9-0158df3...) etc...they, while acknowledging their existence, laughed at the suggestion of adding other wanted posters to the office.
• NCHR could not name a single case in which a Lavalas supporter was a victim.
• When asked to investigate the 1000 bodies dumped and buried by the morgue during that last few weeks at Titanye and the alleged malfunctioning of the refrigeration at the morgue, the director and his staff denied ever knowing about these events and laughed saying none of it was true."
Haiti can do better than this.
Only 600 miles off our shores!
It's time for a real change in Haiti.