On April 4, 2011 a senior Haitian official announced that Michel 'Sweet Micky' Martelly won the run-off Haitian Presidential Election against candidate Mirlande Manigat. However, official results are not expected until April 16.
Kreyòl:
Sou 4 Avril 2011 yon wo ofisyèl Ayisyen anonse ke Michel 'Sweet Micky' Martelly te ranpòte dezyèm tou Eleksyon Prezidansyèl Ayisyen kont kandida Mirlande Manigat. Men, rezilta ofisyèl yo pa atann jouk 16 Avril.
Française:
Le 4 Avril 2011 un haut officiel Haïtien a annoncé que Michel 'Sweet Micky' Martelly a remporté le deuxième tour des Élections Présidentielles Haïtiennes contre le candidat Mirlande Manigat. Cependant, les résultats officiels ne sont pas attendus avant le 16 Avril.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Aristide returns to Haiti, days before election
(latimes.com)
Port-au-Prince, Haiti— In the face of international pressure to keep him out, former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned home Friday after seven years in exile, tossing a combustible new ingredient into the presidential election that is scheduled to take place Sunday.
Aristide arrived on a charter flight from South Africa, where he has lived for most of the time since he was flown out of Haiti on a U.S.-supplied plane amid turmoil in 2004.
He was greeted at a VIP arrival area at the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, by some supporters and 100 or so airport workers, some waving little Haitian flags.
Aristide, in a dark suit, waved and clasped his hands as he stepped down to the tarmac, and was then swarmed by dozens of journalists.
Aristide, a leftist former priest, remains a deeply polarizing figure in Haiti, where he is revered by many poor residents as a defender of the downtrodden but detested by wealthy elites and others who see him as a volatile force in the country's politics.
Speculation over Aristide's return had gripped the country since the Haitian government issued him a passport in February, just weeks after former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier made a surprise return.
But it became clear only in recent days that Aristide would return, as his supporters and lawyer began to promise that he would be back on Haitian soil before Sunday, when voters go the polls to choose a new president and parliament.
At the house on the edge of Port-au-Prince where Aristide once lived, workers repainted a tall surrounding wall in faint rose pink and planted scores of tiny Haitian flags along the top.
U.S. officials, including President Obama, had sought to keep Aristide from making the trip home, arguing that his arrival could prove a destabilizing factor during the closing phase of the presidential runoff between Michel Martelly, a popular singer, and Mirlande Manigat, a university vice rector who was once Haiti's first lady.
But South African officials said they had no power to prevent the former Haitian leader from going anywhere he chose.
Aristide left Johannesburg late Thursday, accompanied by his wife, two daughters, actor Danny Glover and the former leader's Miami-based lawyer.
Aristide has said he wanted to return to work in the education field, not politics. He has also said chronic eye problems are aggravated by South Africa's cold weather.
But Aristide's profile and the fractured condition of Haiti left may make it difficult for him to stay out of political life entirely.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti— In the face of international pressure to keep him out, former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned home Friday after seven years in exile, tossing a combustible new ingredient into the presidential election that is scheduled to take place Sunday.
Aristide arrived on a charter flight from South Africa, where he has lived for most of the time since he was flown out of Haiti on a U.S.-supplied plane amid turmoil in 2004.
He was greeted at a VIP arrival area at the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, by some supporters and 100 or so airport workers, some waving little Haitian flags.
Aristide, in a dark suit, waved and clasped his hands as he stepped down to the tarmac, and was then swarmed by dozens of journalists.
Aristide, a leftist former priest, remains a deeply polarizing figure in Haiti, where he is revered by many poor residents as a defender of the downtrodden but detested by wealthy elites and others who see him as a volatile force in the country's politics.
Speculation over Aristide's return had gripped the country since the Haitian government issued him a passport in February, just weeks after former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier made a surprise return.
But it became clear only in recent days that Aristide would return, as his supporters and lawyer began to promise that he would be back on Haitian soil before Sunday, when voters go the polls to choose a new president and parliament.
At the house on the edge of Port-au-Prince where Aristide once lived, workers repainted a tall surrounding wall in faint rose pink and planted scores of tiny Haitian flags along the top.
U.S. officials, including President Obama, had sought to keep Aristide from making the trip home, arguing that his arrival could prove a destabilizing factor during the closing phase of the presidential runoff between Michel Martelly, a popular singer, and Mirlande Manigat, a university vice rector who was once Haiti's first lady.
But South African officials said they had no power to prevent the former Haitian leader from going anywhere he chose.
Aristide left Johannesburg late Thursday, accompanied by his wife, two daughters, actor Danny Glover and the former leader's Miami-based lawyer.
Aristide has said he wanted to return to work in the education field, not politics. He has also said chronic eye problems are aggravated by South Africa's cold weather.
But Aristide's profile and the fractured condition of Haiti left may make it difficult for him to stay out of political life entirely.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Haiti Election - March 20, 2011
Haiti to combat vote fraud
(upi.com)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Haitian election officials say providing help for voters and better-educated poll workers will ensure fairness in the upcoming presidential runoff election.
Presidential candidates Mirlande Manigat and Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly, the top vote-getters in the preliminary round, will square off March 20, along with the two top candidates in legislative districts where no one got 50 percent of the vote, The Miami Herald reported.
The Provisional Electoral Council has set up a call center that provides 24-hour assistance for voters. In addition, all poll workers will be required to have a high school education and workers at the polling stations where fraud was most noticeable have been dismissed.
Gaillot Dorsinville, the council's president, told candidates the body is "prepared to make all of the corrections necessary to better the second round.''
The Organization of American States has also increased its delegation of observers from 120 to 200 for the runoff.
Haitian observers are dubious about the changes. Pierre Esperance heads a group that reported massive fraud in the preliminary voting.
"I have no confidence in the electoral machine," he said.
---------
UN plans to reinforce police for presidential run-off elections
(un.org)
The 3,500-strong United Nations police force in Haiti is planning to reinforce its support of national police for the presidential run-off election on 20 March, although it does not expect trouble, according to the head of the contingent.
“I don’t see any major risk for this second round,” Marc Tardif, head of the police component in the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), told the UN News Centre in an interview.
“Clearly it’s going to be a tense period but I don’t think we will have big trouble. We have a good working relationship with the national police and our robust presence will deter anybody wanting to create problems,” he said, noting that in the first round in November the two forces worked together, and despite some incidents, the poll took place in much greater calm than previous elections.
“Still, we’re going to reinforce our positions at those places that were unstable during the first round,” he added.
Trouble broke out after the announcement of provisional results in December from the first round, with thousands of protesters rampaging through the streets of Port-au-Prince, the capital, accusing the ruling coalition of rigging the polls, after tallies put former first lady Mirlande Manigat and outgoing President Rene Préval’s party candidate Jude Celestin in first and second place, thus qualifying for the run-off.
Popular musician Michel Martelly was less than one percentage point behind in third place, but thus excluded from the run-off, and his supporters set up burning barricades of timber, boulders and flaming tires.
After a re-examination of the ballots, the Provisional Electoral Council last month announced that Mr. Martelly had come in second and would thus face Ms. Manigat in the run-off.
Apart from its police component, MINUSTAH, which has been on the ground in Haiti since mid-2004 after then president Jean-Bertrand Aristide went into exile amid violent unrest, fields some 8,500 peacekeeping troops in the impoverished country.
---------
Haitian candidate wary of Aristide's planned return
(reuters.com)
MIAMI - A candidate in Haiti's decisive presidential run-off said on Thursday she hoped popular former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide would delay his planned return to the country until after the election later this month.
"Personally, as a citizen, I would prefer that he comes back after the elections," former first lady Mirlande Manigat said in a news conference at Miami's International Airport.
"We are waiting for elections and the situation has been particularly agitated," she added.
Manigat, 70, faces musician Michel "Sweet Mickey" Martelly in the March 20 run-off. She emerged as a front-runner in the November 28 election in the volatile, earthquake-ravaged Caribbean country. The poll was widely criticized as chaotic and fraudulent.
The election also drew controversy over the fact that Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas political party was barred from running a candidate in the poll.
The run-off comes against the backdrop of Aristide's recent announcement that he is planning to return home, ending his prolonged exile in South Africa. He has kept everyone guessing about the timing.
"I think what we need now is more peace," Manigat said, The return of Aristide, a fire-brand left-wing populist, only threatened more "agitation" ahead of the election, she said.
Manigat did not elaborate on her comments suggesting possible unrest. But Aristide, a charismatic former Catholic priest, is loved by many of Haiti's poor and loathed by business leaders and the wealthy elite.
He became Haiti's first freely elected president in 1991 but spent much of his first five-year term in exile after a military coup. Elected again in 2000, his second term was soured by economic instability and gang and drug-related violence. He was finally ousted in a 2004 rebellion led by former soldiers. Aristide says Washington orchestrated it.
Haiti's outgoing government, under intense international pressure to keep shaky U.N.-backed elections on track, has said it cannot keep a citizen from returning and has issued a diplomatic passport for Aristide.
But the possibility that he could return before the March run-off has led the United States, the United Nations and other major western donors to signal they would view such a move as, at best, unhelpful, and at worst, potentially dangerous.
(upi.com)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Haitian election officials say providing help for voters and better-educated poll workers will ensure fairness in the upcoming presidential runoff election.
Presidential candidates Mirlande Manigat and Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly, the top vote-getters in the preliminary round, will square off March 20, along with the two top candidates in legislative districts where no one got 50 percent of the vote, The Miami Herald reported.
The Provisional Electoral Council has set up a call center that provides 24-hour assistance for voters. In addition, all poll workers will be required to have a high school education and workers at the polling stations where fraud was most noticeable have been dismissed.
Gaillot Dorsinville, the council's president, told candidates the body is "prepared to make all of the corrections necessary to better the second round.''
The Organization of American States has also increased its delegation of observers from 120 to 200 for the runoff.
Haitian observers are dubious about the changes. Pierre Esperance heads a group that reported massive fraud in the preliminary voting.
"I have no confidence in the electoral machine," he said.
---------
UN plans to reinforce police for presidential run-off elections
(un.org)
The 3,500-strong United Nations police force in Haiti is planning to reinforce its support of national police for the presidential run-off election on 20 March, although it does not expect trouble, according to the head of the contingent.
“I don’t see any major risk for this second round,” Marc Tardif, head of the police component in the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), told the UN News Centre in an interview.
“Clearly it’s going to be a tense period but I don’t think we will have big trouble. We have a good working relationship with the national police and our robust presence will deter anybody wanting to create problems,” he said, noting that in the first round in November the two forces worked together, and despite some incidents, the poll took place in much greater calm than previous elections.
“Still, we’re going to reinforce our positions at those places that were unstable during the first round,” he added.
Trouble broke out after the announcement of provisional results in December from the first round, with thousands of protesters rampaging through the streets of Port-au-Prince, the capital, accusing the ruling coalition of rigging the polls, after tallies put former first lady Mirlande Manigat and outgoing President Rene Préval’s party candidate Jude Celestin in first and second place, thus qualifying for the run-off.
Popular musician Michel Martelly was less than one percentage point behind in third place, but thus excluded from the run-off, and his supporters set up burning barricades of timber, boulders and flaming tires.
After a re-examination of the ballots, the Provisional Electoral Council last month announced that Mr. Martelly had come in second and would thus face Ms. Manigat in the run-off.
Apart from its police component, MINUSTAH, which has been on the ground in Haiti since mid-2004 after then president Jean-Bertrand Aristide went into exile amid violent unrest, fields some 8,500 peacekeeping troops in the impoverished country.
---------
Haitian candidate wary of Aristide's planned return
(reuters.com)
MIAMI - A candidate in Haiti's decisive presidential run-off said on Thursday she hoped popular former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide would delay his planned return to the country until after the election later this month.
"Personally, as a citizen, I would prefer that he comes back after the elections," former first lady Mirlande Manigat said in a news conference at Miami's International Airport.
"We are waiting for elections and the situation has been particularly agitated," she added.
Manigat, 70, faces musician Michel "Sweet Mickey" Martelly in the March 20 run-off. She emerged as a front-runner in the November 28 election in the volatile, earthquake-ravaged Caribbean country. The poll was widely criticized as chaotic and fraudulent.
The election also drew controversy over the fact that Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas political party was barred from running a candidate in the poll.
The run-off comes against the backdrop of Aristide's recent announcement that he is planning to return home, ending his prolonged exile in South Africa. He has kept everyone guessing about the timing.
"I think what we need now is more peace," Manigat said, The return of Aristide, a fire-brand left-wing populist, only threatened more "agitation" ahead of the election, she said.
Manigat did not elaborate on her comments suggesting possible unrest. But Aristide, a charismatic former Catholic priest, is loved by many of Haiti's poor and loathed by business leaders and the wealthy elite.
He became Haiti's first freely elected president in 1991 but spent much of his first five-year term in exile after a military coup. Elected again in 2000, his second term was soured by economic instability and gang and drug-related violence. He was finally ousted in a 2004 rebellion led by former soldiers. Aristide says Washington orchestrated it.
Haiti's outgoing government, under intense international pressure to keep shaky U.N.-backed elections on track, has said it cannot keep a citizen from returning and has issued a diplomatic passport for Aristide.
But the possibility that he could return before the March run-off has led the United States, the United Nations and other major western donors to signal they would view such a move as, at best, unhelpful, and at worst, potentially dangerous.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Not too late to prosecute Baby Doc: UN
(CARIBBEAT - Jared McCallister)
As expected, Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier's return to Haiti after a nearly 25-year exile continues to make news. Last week, the United Nations announced it's not too late to prosecute Duvalier - and it will help.
"Under international law, there is no statute of limitations for serious human rights violations such as torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and rape," said Navi Pillay, UN high commissioner for human rights.
Agency officials offered Haiti assistance in prosecuting Duvalier for crimes committed under his regime.
"Haiti has an obligation to investigate the well-documented serious human rights violations that occurred during the rule of Mr. Duvalier and to prosecute those responsible for them," said Pillay, a former UN war crimes judge.
"Such systematic violations of rights cannot remain unaddressed. The thousands of Haitians who suffered under this regime deserve justice," added Pillay.
Meanwhile, Duvalier was also trying to get access to funds frozen by Swiss banks, AFP reported.
"In 25 years [in exile], I have never had any accounts frozen, in Switzerland or anywhere," Duvalier told the Spanish-language Univision network.
Switzerland blocked millions of dollars suspected to have been stolen from the Haitian people under its recently enacted "Duvalier law," designed to return the funds to the impoverished Caribbean country.
"As soon as they release those funds, most of them will be used to rebuild the city of my mother's birth," told the network.
In addition, there is a 25-year legal battle between Swiss authorities and the Duvalier family over an additional $5.7million inallegedly embezzled funds.
As expected, Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier's return to Haiti after a nearly 25-year exile continues to make news. Last week, the United Nations announced it's not too late to prosecute Duvalier - and it will help.
"Under international law, there is no statute of limitations for serious human rights violations such as torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and rape," said Navi Pillay, UN high commissioner for human rights.
Agency officials offered Haiti assistance in prosecuting Duvalier for crimes committed under his regime.
"Haiti has an obligation to investigate the well-documented serious human rights violations that occurred during the rule of Mr. Duvalier and to prosecute those responsible for them," said Pillay, a former UN war crimes judge.
"Such systematic violations of rights cannot remain unaddressed. The thousands of Haitians who suffered under this regime deserve justice," added Pillay.
Meanwhile, Duvalier was also trying to get access to funds frozen by Swiss banks, AFP reported.
"In 25 years [in exile], I have never had any accounts frozen, in Switzerland or anywhere," Duvalier told the Spanish-language Univision network.
Switzerland blocked millions of dollars suspected to have been stolen from the Haitian people under its recently enacted "Duvalier law," designed to return the funds to the impoverished Caribbean country.
"As soon as they release those funds, most of them will be used to rebuild the city of my mother's birth," told the network.
In addition, there is a 25-year legal battle between Swiss authorities and the Duvalier family over an additional $5.7million inallegedly embezzled funds.
Time for Haiti to Withdraw from the OAS and the U.N.
(Max A. Joseph)
At the beginning of the Cold War (1945) until its end (1991) the western powers, preoccupied with stopping the Soviet juggernaut, abandoned the principle of direct rule of less advanced nations in favor of nominal independence. With the exception of France and the US, the leading western powers refrained from direct military interventions in the Third World throughout that period and institutionalized a policy of organized chaos as an alternative. Naturally any country that stretches its autonomy away from the western world’s economic and political umbrella finds itself confronting economic sanctions or embargoes, indigenous armed rebellions, military coups and other stratagems calibrated to bring it back into the fold. In Africa, particularly, even countries that toed the line did not fare any better in terms of economic, social and political development, which remained subordinate to the interests of the western world.
Fast forward to the aftermath of the Cold War (1991) and the policy became more disturbing. Sparing down their costly military expenditures following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the western nations adopted a novel approach to interventions in the Third World: having these countries police themselves. As Russia, the successor to the Soviet Union, retreats into introspection and China, an emerging giant unsure of itself, dares not challenge the west’s political supremacy, the unrestrained power of the Security Council is invariably used by the western powers to implement the New Order. Thus Third World nations, which could eventually be victimized under the same policy, are defending the world against “the threat to international peace and security” in Haiti as decreed by the western-dominated Security Council. The policy, which should be dubbed “Domination by proxies”, is absurd and highlights the temerity of its architects and many participating nations. Presently, dysfunctional luminaries such as Benin, Burundi, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guatemala, Madagascar, Nigeria and Niger are not only protecting the free world against the “Haitian threat” but also helping built Democracy and the rule of law in Haiti.
Founded upon the inalienable right to self-determination, incidentally a core principle of the United Nations Charter, Haiti became the most prominent victim of that policy in the year of its bi-centennial (2004). That year, an armed rebellion against the democratically elected government of that country, instigated by Canada, France and the U.S, was used as rationale for the designation of Haiti “a threat to international peace and security” by the UN Security Council under the repressive Chapter VII, which authorizes military actions against the offender.
Almost 7 years into this fateful decision, the so-called threat is being dealt with in the form of a protracted and deliberate process of steering the Haitian state into oblivion. An army of foreign-funded and administered Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) has practically taken over the administration of the country with the tacit approval of the current government. Haitian women and children are facing the gun barrels of the occupiers daily while thousands of their fellow compatriots have died or are dying from an imported cholera epidemic that seems to have fallen below the radar of both the U.N and the government’s priorities. Needless to say, the panacea to Haiti’s problems under the UN occupation (2004-?) remains as elusive as the western world’s unending quest to subjugate the population by sheer intimidations and institutionalized terror.
Roger Noriega, Assistant U.S Secretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs (2003-05) and primary coordinator of the policy, which led to the February 29, 2004 invasion of Haiti, was unapologetic for his role. Despite the thousands of deaths resulting from the endeavor, he would later declare nonchalantly and condescendingly “We (the U.S) are glad to see Aristide (the deposed president) gone. Haiti is better off without him. Though we had no right to change presidents in Haiti, that doesn’t means we cannot make logical decisions as to what is best for the country.” Having made a logical decision for Haiti, Roger Noriega is now a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, probably improving his infallible judging ability and devising ways to deal with similar threats to world peace and security.
The commission appointed by Ban Ki-Moon, the UN General Secretary, to probe the origin of the cholera epidemic and the OAS technical team’s recommendation that the November 28, 2010 election results be partially overturned are palpable instances of Haiti being a plantation. Ki-Moon’s decision was taken without the authorization of the Haitian government and not one Haitian health expert was assigned to the panel, an ominous indication the presumptive culprit, the Nepalese battalion attached to the MINUSTAH, will be exonerated. As for the OAS technical team’s edict, it probably came with a warning to Préval that he’ll be held accountable for a recurrence of last December riots, in the event his candidate refuses to accept it.
The fact that Haiti has been on the right side of justice, hence on the wrong side of tyranny, apparently justifies its designation as a threat to world peace and security. A new approach to dealing with its tormentors is needed, if the country were to overcome the two centuries of methodical harassments that have made it a laughingstock. Forfeiting its membership in the OAS and the UN is the prerequisite to Haiti achieving that goal, since most Haitians cannot in good conscience countenance these organizations’ responsibility in the subjugation of their country.
At the beginning of the Cold War (1945) until its end (1991) the western powers, preoccupied with stopping the Soviet juggernaut, abandoned the principle of direct rule of less advanced nations in favor of nominal independence. With the exception of France and the US, the leading western powers refrained from direct military interventions in the Third World throughout that period and institutionalized a policy of organized chaos as an alternative. Naturally any country that stretches its autonomy away from the western world’s economic and political umbrella finds itself confronting economic sanctions or embargoes, indigenous armed rebellions, military coups and other stratagems calibrated to bring it back into the fold. In Africa, particularly, even countries that toed the line did not fare any better in terms of economic, social and political development, which remained subordinate to the interests of the western world.
Fast forward to the aftermath of the Cold War (1991) and the policy became more disturbing. Sparing down their costly military expenditures following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the western nations adopted a novel approach to interventions in the Third World: having these countries police themselves. As Russia, the successor to the Soviet Union, retreats into introspection and China, an emerging giant unsure of itself, dares not challenge the west’s political supremacy, the unrestrained power of the Security Council is invariably used by the western powers to implement the New Order. Thus Third World nations, which could eventually be victimized under the same policy, are defending the world against “the threat to international peace and security” in Haiti as decreed by the western-dominated Security Council. The policy, which should be dubbed “Domination by proxies”, is absurd and highlights the temerity of its architects and many participating nations. Presently, dysfunctional luminaries such as Benin, Burundi, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guatemala, Madagascar, Nigeria and Niger are not only protecting the free world against the “Haitian threat” but also helping built Democracy and the rule of law in Haiti.
Founded upon the inalienable right to self-determination, incidentally a core principle of the United Nations Charter, Haiti became the most prominent victim of that policy in the year of its bi-centennial (2004). That year, an armed rebellion against the democratically elected government of that country, instigated by Canada, France and the U.S, was used as rationale for the designation of Haiti “a threat to international peace and security” by the UN Security Council under the repressive Chapter VII, which authorizes military actions against the offender.
Almost 7 years into this fateful decision, the so-called threat is being dealt with in the form of a protracted and deliberate process of steering the Haitian state into oblivion. An army of foreign-funded and administered Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) has practically taken over the administration of the country with the tacit approval of the current government. Haitian women and children are facing the gun barrels of the occupiers daily while thousands of their fellow compatriots have died or are dying from an imported cholera epidemic that seems to have fallen below the radar of both the U.N and the government’s priorities. Needless to say, the panacea to Haiti’s problems under the UN occupation (2004-?) remains as elusive as the western world’s unending quest to subjugate the population by sheer intimidations and institutionalized terror.
Roger Noriega, Assistant U.S Secretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs (2003-05) and primary coordinator of the policy, which led to the February 29, 2004 invasion of Haiti, was unapologetic for his role. Despite the thousands of deaths resulting from the endeavor, he would later declare nonchalantly and condescendingly “We (the U.S) are glad to see Aristide (the deposed president) gone. Haiti is better off without him. Though we had no right to change presidents in Haiti, that doesn’t means we cannot make logical decisions as to what is best for the country.” Having made a logical decision for Haiti, Roger Noriega is now a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, probably improving his infallible judging ability and devising ways to deal with similar threats to world peace and security.
The commission appointed by Ban Ki-Moon, the UN General Secretary, to probe the origin of the cholera epidemic and the OAS technical team’s recommendation that the November 28, 2010 election results be partially overturned are palpable instances of Haiti being a plantation. Ki-Moon’s decision was taken without the authorization of the Haitian government and not one Haitian health expert was assigned to the panel, an ominous indication the presumptive culprit, the Nepalese battalion attached to the MINUSTAH, will be exonerated. As for the OAS technical team’s edict, it probably came with a warning to Préval that he’ll be held accountable for a recurrence of last December riots, in the event his candidate refuses to accept it.
The fact that Haiti has been on the right side of justice, hence on the wrong side of tyranny, apparently justifies its designation as a threat to world peace and security. A new approach to dealing with its tormentors is needed, if the country were to overcome the two centuries of methodical harassments that have made it a laughingstock. Forfeiting its membership in the OAS and the UN is the prerequisite to Haiti achieving that goal, since most Haitians cannot in good conscience countenance these organizations’ responsibility in the subjugation of their country.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Aristide - part deux
(Reuters)
PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Haiti is ready to issue a diplomatic passport to ousted ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, opening the way for his possible return from exile in South Africa, a senior official said yesterday.
"The Council of Ministers, under the leadership of President René Préval, decided that a diplomatic passport be issued to President Aristide, if he asks for it," said Fritz Longchamp, general secretary for the presidency.
Some aid donors fear the one-time Catholic priest who became Haiti's first freely elected president in 1990 could disrupt an already confused election process from which his party is banned.
PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Haiti is ready to issue a diplomatic passport to ousted ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, opening the way for his possible return from exile in South Africa, a senior official said yesterday.
"The Council of Ministers, under the leadership of President René Préval, decided that a diplomatic passport be issued to President Aristide, if he asks for it," said Fritz Longchamp, general secretary for the presidency.
Some aid donors fear the one-time Catholic priest who became Haiti's first freely elected president in 1990 could disrupt an already confused election process from which his party is banned.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Haiti judge eyes Baby Doc charges
(The Associated Press)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- A judge will decide whether former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier will be tried on charges of corruption and embezzlement for allegedly pilfering the nation's treasury, his lawyer said yesterday.
Duvalier was taken into police custody two days after the former Haitian strongman, also accused by human rights groups of torturing his opponents, made a surprise return to the struggling island nation where a popular uprising forced him from power in 1986.
Under the Haitian system, judges investigate allegations made by prosecutors. Haiti allows for pretrial detention, but that is unlikely in the 59-year-old Duvalier's case
Earlier yesterday, a contingent of police led the former dictator through a hotel and to a waiting SUV. He was not wearing handcuffs.
The SUV drove in a convoy to a courthouse, even as dozens of Duvalier supporters tried to block streets.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- A judge will decide whether former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier will be tried on charges of corruption and embezzlement for allegedly pilfering the nation's treasury, his lawyer said yesterday.
Duvalier was taken into police custody two days after the former Haitian strongman, also accused by human rights groups of torturing his opponents, made a surprise return to the struggling island nation where a popular uprising forced him from power in 1986.
Under the Haitian system, judges investigate allegations made by prosecutors. Haiti allows for pretrial detention, but that is unlikely in the 59-year-old Duvalier's case
Earlier yesterday, a contingent of police led the former dictator through a hotel and to a waiting SUV. He was not wearing handcuffs.
The SUV drove in a convoy to a courthouse, even as dozens of Duvalier supporters tried to block streets.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Haiti is told: Bust Baby Doc
(Reuters)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Rights groups yesterday demanded Haiti arrest former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier for crimes against humanity after his surprise return from 25 years in exile.
Analysts said the arrival in Port-au-Prince on Sunday of Duvalier, who had fled in 1986 to escape a popular revolt, could only complicate the nervous uncertainty in earthquake-battered Haiti.
"Duvalier's return to Haiti should be for one purpose only: to face justice," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of the US-based Human Rights Watch.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said Duvalier, 59, should be put on trial for the killings and torture of thousands of opponents during his 15 years in power.
It appeared there were no outstanding arrest warrants against him.
"The widespread and systematic human-rights violations committed in Haiti during Duvalier's rule amount to crimes against humanity," said Javier Zuniga, special adviser at Amnesty International. "Haiti is under the obligation to prosecute him and anyone else responsible for such crimes."
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Rights groups yesterday demanded Haiti arrest former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier for crimes against humanity after his surprise return from 25 years in exile.
Analysts said the arrival in Port-au-Prince on Sunday of Duvalier, who had fled in 1986 to escape a popular revolt, could only complicate the nervous uncertainty in earthquake-battered Haiti.
"Duvalier's return to Haiti should be for one purpose only: to face justice," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of the US-based Human Rights Watch.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said Duvalier, 59, should be put on trial for the killings and torture of thousands of opponents during his 15 years in power.
It appeared there were no outstanding arrest warrants against him.
"The widespread and systematic human-rights violations committed in Haiti during Duvalier's rule amount to crimes against humanity," said Javier Zuniga, special adviser at Amnesty International. "Haiti is under the obligation to prosecute him and anyone else responsible for such crimes."
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Haiti waits for election decision
(bbc.co.uk)
The Haitian government and international experts have been discussing what to do about the disputed presidential election.
The run-off vote should have taken place on 16 January, but it has been postponed because of a row over who should be on the ballot.
Former first lady Mirlande Manigat won the first round in November.
But both governing party candidate Jude Celestin and singer Michel Martelly say they should face her in the run-off.
The 28 November first-round vote was widely criticised, with reports of ballot box stuffing and violence and intimidation at polling stations.
Provisional results announced by Haiti's electoral council in December said Mr Celestin came second, narrowly beating Mr Martelly into third place.
But the results provoked violent protests by supporters of Mr Martelly, who said he had been fraudulently denied second place.
Amid fears that violence might escalate, the Organisation of American States (OAS) sent a team of experts to assess the result.
Fraud
Their report was presented to outgoing President Rene Preval on Thursday.
The findings have not been made public, but according to a leaked copy, the OAS is recommending that Mr Celestin be dropped from the second round in favour of pop star Mr Martelly.
After discounting fraudulent ballots, the leaked report found that Mr Martelly won more votes than Mr Celestin.
Mr Celestin is the preferred candidate of President Preval, who has been considering the OAS report before passing it to Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council, which will have the final say on who should be on the ballot for the second round.
Correspondents say Mr Preval is under strong international pressure to accept the recommendations.
The head of the OAS mission, Colin Granderson, told the AFP news agency that talks between the OAS and the Haitian government would wrap up in the next few days and the report would then be made public.
Whoever wins the presidency will face the task of rebuilding Haiti after the devastating earthquake of a year ago which killed more than 250,000 people and left the capital, Port-au-Prince, in ruins.
More than a million people left homeless by the quake are still living in tents in poor conditions, and the country has also been ravaged by a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 3,700 people.
The impoverished Caribbean nation has suffered years of political turmoil, and almost 12,000 UN peacekeepers are in the country with a mandate to ensure security and support free and fair elections.
The Haitian government and international experts have been discussing what to do about the disputed presidential election.
The run-off vote should have taken place on 16 January, but it has been postponed because of a row over who should be on the ballot.
Former first lady Mirlande Manigat won the first round in November.
But both governing party candidate Jude Celestin and singer Michel Martelly say they should face her in the run-off.
The 28 November first-round vote was widely criticised, with reports of ballot box stuffing and violence and intimidation at polling stations.
Provisional results announced by Haiti's electoral council in December said Mr Celestin came second, narrowly beating Mr Martelly into third place.
But the results provoked violent protests by supporters of Mr Martelly, who said he had been fraudulently denied second place.
Amid fears that violence might escalate, the Organisation of American States (OAS) sent a team of experts to assess the result.
Fraud
Their report was presented to outgoing President Rene Preval on Thursday.
The findings have not been made public, but according to a leaked copy, the OAS is recommending that Mr Celestin be dropped from the second round in favour of pop star Mr Martelly.
After discounting fraudulent ballots, the leaked report found that Mr Martelly won more votes than Mr Celestin.
Mr Celestin is the preferred candidate of President Preval, who has been considering the OAS report before passing it to Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council, which will have the final say on who should be on the ballot for the second round.
Correspondents say Mr Preval is under strong international pressure to accept the recommendations.
The head of the OAS mission, Colin Granderson, told the AFP news agency that talks between the OAS and the Haitian government would wrap up in the next few days and the report would then be made public.
Whoever wins the presidency will face the task of rebuilding Haiti after the devastating earthquake of a year ago which killed more than 250,000 people and left the capital, Port-au-Prince, in ruins.
More than a million people left homeless by the quake are still living in tents in poor conditions, and the country has also been ravaged by a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 3,700 people.
The impoverished Caribbean nation has suffered years of political turmoil, and almost 12,000 UN peacekeepers are in the country with a mandate to ensure security and support free and fair elections.
'Baby Doc' Duvalier back in Haiti after long exile
(The Associated Press)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned Sunday to Haiti nearly 25 years after a popular uprising against his brutal dictatorship forced him into exile, a surprising and perplexing move that comes as his country struggles with a political crisis and the stalled effort to recover from last year's earthquake.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned Sunday to Haiti nearly 25 years after a popular uprising against his brutal dictatorship forced him into exile, a surprising and perplexing move that comes as his country struggles with a political crisis and the stalled effort to recover from last year's earthquake.
Duvalier, part of a father-and-son dynasty that presided over one of the darkest chapters in Haitian history, arrived on an Air France jet in a jacket and tie to hugs from supporters at the Port-au-Prince airport. He was calm as he was led into the immigration office. He left the airport without making a statement to journalists, waving to a crowd of more than 200 supporters as he got into an SUV.
"He is happy to be back in this country, back in his home," said Mona Beruaveau, a candidate for Senate in a Duvalierist party who spoke to the former dictator inside the immigration office. "He is tired after a long trip."
Beruaveau said he would give a news conference on Monday.
Later, Duvalier appeared on a balcony of the Karibe Hotel and waved to supporters and journalists outside. All he said was "tomorrow, tomorrow," apparently in reference to the news conference.
Veronique Roy, his longtime companion, spoke briefly to reporters at the hotel and said he will stay in the country for three days. Asked why now, she said "'Why not?"
In the fall of 2007, President Rene Preval told reporters that Duvalier could return to Haiti but would face justice for the deaths of thousands of people and the theft of millions of dollars.
No immediate reaction
It was not immediately clear why the former dictator chose this tumultuous moment to return to Haiti. There were no immediate protests in reaction to his return and very few people were even aware that the former dictator had come back to Haiti, where more than 1 million people are living in crowded, squalid tent encampments after their homes were destroyed from the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake. Half the people in the country are younger than 21, and weren't alive during Duvalier's rule.
At one of those camps, there was some enthusiasm for Duvalier's return.
"I don't know much about Jean-Claude Duvalier but I've heard he did good things for the country," said 34-year-old Joel Pierre. "I hope he will do good things again."
Nearby, 42-year-old Marline Joseph, living in the camp with her three kids, was also somewhat hopeful. "He's here, that's good. Now, what is he going to do for the country."
Haitians danced in the streets to celebrate the overthrow of Duvalier back in 1986, heckling the tubby, boyish tyrant as he drove to the airport and was flown into exile in France. Most Haitians hoped the rapacious strongman had left for good, closing a dark chapter of terror and repression that began under his late father, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier in 1957.
But a handful of loyalists have been campaigning to bring Duvalier home from exile in France, launching a foundation to improve the dictatorship's image and reviving Baby Doc's political party in the hopes that one day he can return to power democratically.
"We want him to be president because we don't trust anyone in this election. He did bad things but since he left we have not had stability. We have more people without jobs, without homes," said Haiti Belizaire, a 47-year-old Duvalier supporter in the crowd outside the airport.
Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said that if Duvalier is involved in any political activities he is not aware of them.
"He is a Haitian and, as such, is free to return home," the prime minister said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Asked if Duvalier's presence could destablize the country, he said "Until now, there's no reason to believe that."
Violent history
The Duvaliers tortured and killed their political opponents, ruling in an atmosphere of fear and repression ensured by the bloody Tonton Macoute, their feared secret police force.
The end of his reign was followed by a period known as deshoukaj or "uprooting" in which Haitians carried out reprisals against Macoutes and regime loyalists, tearing their houses to the ground.
Duvalier has been accused of pilfering millions of dollars from public funds and spiriting them out of the country to Swiss banks, though he denies stealing from Haiti.
Dictators have long favored hiding their cash in the European nation due to its banking secrecy rules, but last year, lawmakers there approved a bill making it easier to seize ill-gotten funds.
Duvalier's return Sunday comes as the country struggles to work through a dire political crisis following the problematic Nov. 28 first-round presidential election.
Three candidates want to go onto a second round. The Organization of American States sent in a team of experts to resolve the deadlock, recommending that Preval's candidate be excluded. Preval was reportedly not pleased with the report. OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza was scheduled to be in Port-au-Prince to meet with Preval on Monday.
More exiled leaders to return?
The news floored Haiti experts and has thrown the country's entire political situation into question. Immediately speculation began about what other exiled leaders might return next.
"I was shocked when I heard the news and I am still wondering what is the next step, what Preval will say and obviously what (exiled former President Jean-Bertrand) Aristide will be doing," said Robert Fatton, a Haitian-born history professor at the University of Virginia and author of "The Roots of Haitian Despotism."
"If Jean-Claude is back in the country I assume Aristide will be trying to get back as quickly as possible."
Fatton wondered what role the French government played in Duvalier's return, saying they would have had to have been aware that the ex-despot was boarding an Air France jet to go home.
In France, the deputy spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry said she had seen news of Duvalier's arrival in Haiti, but had "no information" about the matter and could not confirm that he'd left France. The spokeswoman did not give her name, in accordance with ministry policy.
Author Amy Wilentz, whose book "The Rainy Season" is a definitive account of the aftermath of Duvalier's exile and Aristide's rise, said: "This is not the right moment for such upheaval."
"Let's not forget what Duvalierism was: prison camps, torture, arbitrary arrest, extrajudicial killings, persecution of the opposition," she wrote in an e-mail to AP. And, she added, "If Haitian authorities allow Duvalier to return, can they thwart exiled President Aristide's desire to come back to the country?"
"Haitians need a steady hand to guide them through the earthquake recovery, not the ministrations of a scion of dictatorship."
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Haiti 1 Year Later
Haiti: A year after the quake, waiting to rebuild
(Jonathan M. Katz, The Associated Press)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The man's body lay face down, his white dress shirt shining like wax in the sun, as he was unearthed in the ruins of a Port-au-Prince restaurant a year after the earthquake.
The bodies still being found in the rubble are a sign of how far Haiti must go to recover from a disaster that left the capital in ruins and is estimated to have killed more than 230,000 people.
In the days after the Jan. 12, 2010 disaster, volunteers and hundreds of aid groups flocked in with food, water and first aid that saved countless lives. But the effort to rebuild has been dwarfed by the extent of the need and a lack of leadership – both in Haiti and internationally.
President Rene Preval did not speak publicly for days after the quake, and many observers have criticized him for not spearheading a coherent reconstruction effort, or making the hard policy decisions needed to rebuild.
Still, advocacy groups also blame the Haitian government's weakness on an international community that is not keeping its pledge of support.
"The international community has not done enough to support good governance and effective leadership in Haiti," the aid group Oxfam said in a recent report. "Aid agencies continue to bypass local and national authorities in the delivery of assistance, while donors are not coordinating their actions or adequately consulting the Haitian people."
Street markets were soon up and running after the quake and Port-au-Prince's traffic is worse than ever. On Tuesday, Preval, his wife and other officials lay flowers at symbolic black crosses marking a mass grave outside the capital where hundreds of thousands of earthquake victims are buried.
But from the barren hillside, the destruction is clearly visible. The slogan "build back better," touted by former President Bill Clinton and others, remains an unfulfilled promise.
Less than 5 percent of the debris has been cleared, leaving enough to fill dump trucks parked bumper to bumper halfway around the world. In the broken building where the dead man was discovered last week, workers hired to clear rubble by hand found two other people's remains.
About a million people remain homeless and neighborhood-sized camps look like permanent shantytowns on the fields and plazas of the capital. A cholera epidemic that erupted outside the quake zone has killed more than 3,600 people, and an electoral crisis between Preval's ruling party and its rivals threatens to break an increasingly fragile political stability.
Ericq Pierre, Haiti's representative to the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, said "the problem is that at a certain point the international community gave the impression they could solve the problem quickly. ... I think there was an excess of optimism."
In a statement before Wednesday's anniversary, President Barack Obama praised humanitarian efforts to provide people with food, water and health care but noted that progress in reconstruction has been too slow.
"Too much rubble continues to clog the streets, too many people are still living in tents, and for so many Haitians progress has not come fast enough," Obama said.
He said "Haiti can and must lead the way" but added: "The international community must now fulfill the pledges it has made to ensure a strong and sustained long-term effort."
The slow progress starts with the omnipresent rubble.
The U.S.-based RAND organization said donors and the Haitian government are responsible for more not being cleared. Haitian workers were not supplied with boots, gloves and hard hats while heavy equipment has been blocked by customs officials at the border, the report said. The government has also not designated sufficient dumping space.
"Unless rubble is cleared expeditiously, hundreds of thousands of Haitians will still be in tent camps during the 2011 hurricane season," which runs from June through November, the report said.
Construction of new housing has barely begun. The core underlying issue of Haiti's broken land ownership system, with multiple claims to the same plot of land, has not been addressed. Without sorting out land ownership, there is nowhere to build.
Internationally financed inspectors have certified that some houses are safe for residents to return to, but few have. Many are merely moving their shacks closer to where they used to live, because they don't want to risk another earthquake in their damaged homes.
Meanwhile, only 15 percent of needed temporary shelters have been built, with few permanent water and sanitation facilities.
Owners of small construction material businesses, such as Justin Premier, 43, should be raking in money. But most people in his neighborhood are just buying plywood to reinforce their tarps.
"It's going to take a lot of time for us to come back where we were before," Premier said.
The earthquake was an opportunity to completely remake a broken education system where only half of school-age children were enrolled, often in poorly performing private schools with predatory fees.
But plans by the Inter-American Development Bank for safer buildings and a unified Creole-language curriculum have not come about. The government education ministry, which lost its headquarters in the quake, remains weak.
Instead, schools have opened here and there. About 80 percent of children who attended school before the disaster are back in class again, said UNICEF Haiti Education Chief Nathalie-Fiona Hamoudi. UNICEF planned to build 200 semi-permanent structures to teach in, but only finished 88 by the end of 2010 because the cholera outbreak diverted its effort.
The reconstruction effort overall is hampered by the failure to deliver or spend billions of dollars in promised aid.
Americans donated more than $1.4 billion to private organizations to help survivors and rebuild, but just 38 percent has been spent to provide recovery and rebuilding aid, according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy survey of 60 major relief organizations.
Governments have not done better.
More than $5.3 billion was pledged at a March 31 donors conference for a period of 18 months. Only $824 million has been delivered, according to former U.S. President Bill Clinton's U.N. Office of the Special Envoy to Haiti. Some $3.2 billion in public funding is still owed.
The United States had originally pledged $1.15 billion for 2010, but moved nearly its entire pledge to 2011 following delays in Congress and by the Obama administration.
Clinton was supposed to rally governments and coordinate international efforts. He has had three prominent, simultaneous roles in Haiti's rebuilding: co-chair of the reconstruction commission with Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, U.N. special envoy for Haiti and head of his Clinton Foundation, a major donor.
In July he told AP he would follow through with donors to remind them of their promises, and expressed frustration when payment was slow through the summer and fall.
But as the year ended, the United States had paid just a fraction of what it promised. Clinton has blamed bureaucracy and the world's financial troubles last year for the delay in securing the pledged funds.
Bellerive said he is disappointed by the slow delivery of the money. He said the delays may be caused by uncertainty surrounding the question of who will succeed outgoing president Preval.
"Perhaps some donors say, 'Let's wait until we know exactly who will be there for the next five years,'" said Bellerive.
"Everyone is talking about the resilience of the Haitian people, and everyone is taking advantage of that resilience," Bellerive said. "Success for me is to do the basic, the minimum, so we can really build a future. And we have to do it right now."
In an Op-ed in Haiti's Le Nouvelliste newspaper, Pierre asked that on the anniversary itself, foreigners leave Haitians alone.
"I ask only one day per year, from 2011 on, to enable us to mourn our dead ... to try to understand how and why we got where we are," he wrote. "We need to find some peace."
(Jonathan M. Katz, The Associated Press)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The man's body lay face down, his white dress shirt shining like wax in the sun, as he was unearthed in the ruins of a Port-au-Prince restaurant a year after the earthquake.
The bodies still being found in the rubble are a sign of how far Haiti must go to recover from a disaster that left the capital in ruins and is estimated to have killed more than 230,000 people.
In the days after the Jan. 12, 2010 disaster, volunteers and hundreds of aid groups flocked in with food, water and first aid that saved countless lives. But the effort to rebuild has been dwarfed by the extent of the need and a lack of leadership – both in Haiti and internationally.
President Rene Preval did not speak publicly for days after the quake, and many observers have criticized him for not spearheading a coherent reconstruction effort, or making the hard policy decisions needed to rebuild.
Still, advocacy groups also blame the Haitian government's weakness on an international community that is not keeping its pledge of support.
"The international community has not done enough to support good governance and effective leadership in Haiti," the aid group Oxfam said in a recent report. "Aid agencies continue to bypass local and national authorities in the delivery of assistance, while donors are not coordinating their actions or adequately consulting the Haitian people."
Street markets were soon up and running after the quake and Port-au-Prince's traffic is worse than ever. On Tuesday, Preval, his wife and other officials lay flowers at symbolic black crosses marking a mass grave outside the capital where hundreds of thousands of earthquake victims are buried.
But from the barren hillside, the destruction is clearly visible. The slogan "build back better," touted by former President Bill Clinton and others, remains an unfulfilled promise.
Less than 5 percent of the debris has been cleared, leaving enough to fill dump trucks parked bumper to bumper halfway around the world. In the broken building where the dead man was discovered last week, workers hired to clear rubble by hand found two other people's remains.
About a million people remain homeless and neighborhood-sized camps look like permanent shantytowns on the fields and plazas of the capital. A cholera epidemic that erupted outside the quake zone has killed more than 3,600 people, and an electoral crisis between Preval's ruling party and its rivals threatens to break an increasingly fragile political stability.
Ericq Pierre, Haiti's representative to the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, said "the problem is that at a certain point the international community gave the impression they could solve the problem quickly. ... I think there was an excess of optimism."
In a statement before Wednesday's anniversary, President Barack Obama praised humanitarian efforts to provide people with food, water and health care but noted that progress in reconstruction has been too slow.
"Too much rubble continues to clog the streets, too many people are still living in tents, and for so many Haitians progress has not come fast enough," Obama said.
He said "Haiti can and must lead the way" but added: "The international community must now fulfill the pledges it has made to ensure a strong and sustained long-term effort."
The slow progress starts with the omnipresent rubble.
The U.S.-based RAND organization said donors and the Haitian government are responsible for more not being cleared. Haitian workers were not supplied with boots, gloves and hard hats while heavy equipment has been blocked by customs officials at the border, the report said. The government has also not designated sufficient dumping space.
"Unless rubble is cleared expeditiously, hundreds of thousands of Haitians will still be in tent camps during the 2011 hurricane season," which runs from June through November, the report said.
Construction of new housing has barely begun. The core underlying issue of Haiti's broken land ownership system, with multiple claims to the same plot of land, has not been addressed. Without sorting out land ownership, there is nowhere to build.
Internationally financed inspectors have certified that some houses are safe for residents to return to, but few have. Many are merely moving their shacks closer to where they used to live, because they don't want to risk another earthquake in their damaged homes.
Meanwhile, only 15 percent of needed temporary shelters have been built, with few permanent water and sanitation facilities.
Owners of small construction material businesses, such as Justin Premier, 43, should be raking in money. But most people in his neighborhood are just buying plywood to reinforce their tarps.
"It's going to take a lot of time for us to come back where we were before," Premier said.
The earthquake was an opportunity to completely remake a broken education system where only half of school-age children were enrolled, often in poorly performing private schools with predatory fees.
But plans by the Inter-American Development Bank for safer buildings and a unified Creole-language curriculum have not come about. The government education ministry, which lost its headquarters in the quake, remains weak.
Instead, schools have opened here and there. About 80 percent of children who attended school before the disaster are back in class again, said UNICEF Haiti Education Chief Nathalie-Fiona Hamoudi. UNICEF planned to build 200 semi-permanent structures to teach in, but only finished 88 by the end of 2010 because the cholera outbreak diverted its effort.
The reconstruction effort overall is hampered by the failure to deliver or spend billions of dollars in promised aid.
Americans donated more than $1.4 billion to private organizations to help survivors and rebuild, but just 38 percent has been spent to provide recovery and rebuilding aid, according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy survey of 60 major relief organizations.
Governments have not done better.
More than $5.3 billion was pledged at a March 31 donors conference for a period of 18 months. Only $824 million has been delivered, according to former U.S. President Bill Clinton's U.N. Office of the Special Envoy to Haiti. Some $3.2 billion in public funding is still owed.
The United States had originally pledged $1.15 billion for 2010, but moved nearly its entire pledge to 2011 following delays in Congress and by the Obama administration.
Clinton was supposed to rally governments and coordinate international efforts. He has had three prominent, simultaneous roles in Haiti's rebuilding: co-chair of the reconstruction commission with Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, U.N. special envoy for Haiti and head of his Clinton Foundation, a major donor.
In July he told AP he would follow through with donors to remind them of their promises, and expressed frustration when payment was slow through the summer and fall.
But as the year ended, the United States had paid just a fraction of what it promised. Clinton has blamed bureaucracy and the world's financial troubles last year for the delay in securing the pledged funds.
Bellerive said he is disappointed by the slow delivery of the money. He said the delays may be caused by uncertainty surrounding the question of who will succeed outgoing president Preval.
"Perhaps some donors say, 'Let's wait until we know exactly who will be there for the next five years,'" said Bellerive.
"Everyone is talking about the resilience of the Haitian people, and everyone is taking advantage of that resilience," Bellerive said. "Success for me is to do the basic, the minimum, so we can really build a future. And we have to do it right now."
In an Op-ed in Haiti's Le Nouvelliste newspaper, Pierre asked that on the anniversary itself, foreigners leave Haitians alone.
"I ask only one day per year, from 2011 on, to enable us to mourn our dead ... to try to understand how and why we got where we are," he wrote. "We need to find some peace."
---------
Haiti’s Year Of Woe
(nydailynews.com)
Jan. 12, 2010: A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Haiti, killing an estimated 300,000 people in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, according to the united nations, Hundreds of thousands more are injured and more than a million are estimated to be homeless.
Jan. 15, 2010: International aid and search-and-rescue team start arriving in force in Haiti. The U.S. Air Force takes control of airport.
Jan. 19, 2010: U.S. navy helicopters with the 82nd Airborne land on the grounds of the destroyed presidential palace.
Jan. 23, 2010: The Haitian government declares an end to rescue operations.
March 2010: International donors pledge $5.3 billion for post-quake reconstruction of Haiti at a UN donor conference.
July 2010: Anger grows over the slow pace of the reconstruction efforts. More than 1 million people still live in temporary shelters.
October 2010: Cholera breaks out in rural northwestern Haiti and quickly spreads to Port-au-Prince. The disease claims more than 3,000 lives. The outbreak sparks violent protests across the country.
Nov. 28, 2010: Haiti holds presidential and parliamentary elections.
December 2010: Election results are inconclusive. Tensions mount and demonstrations take to the streets. Another vote scheduled for Jan. 16 is delayed. The Obama administration announces it plans to resume deportation to Haiti.
January 2011: Only 5% of the rubble has been cleared and not even half the pledged donor money has arrived in Haiti, according to Oxfam International.
Haiti’s Year Of Woe
(nydailynews.com)
Jan. 12, 2010: A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Haiti, killing an estimated 300,000 people in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, according to the united nations, Hundreds of thousands more are injured and more than a million are estimated to be homeless.
Jan. 15, 2010: International aid and search-and-rescue team start arriving in force in Haiti. The U.S. Air Force takes control of airport.
Jan. 19, 2010: U.S. navy helicopters with the 82nd Airborne land on the grounds of the destroyed presidential palace.
Jan. 23, 2010: The Haitian government declares an end to rescue operations.
March 2010: International donors pledge $5.3 billion for post-quake reconstruction of Haiti at a UN donor conference.
July 2010: Anger grows over the slow pace of the reconstruction efforts. More than 1 million people still live in temporary shelters.
October 2010: Cholera breaks out in rural northwestern Haiti and quickly spreads to Port-au-Prince. The disease claims more than 3,000 lives. The outbreak sparks violent protests across the country.
Nov. 28, 2010: Haiti holds presidential and parliamentary elections.
December 2010: Election results are inconclusive. Tensions mount and demonstrations take to the streets. Another vote scheduled for Jan. 16 is delayed. The Obama administration announces it plans to resume deportation to Haiti.
January 2011: Only 5% of the rubble has been cleared and not even half the pledged donor money has arrived in Haiti, according to Oxfam International.
---------
Haiti by the Numbers
(haitiantimes.com)
230,000 – the number of people believed to have died in the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake
1,000,000 – the number of people still living in tents one year later
5 – the percent of rubble that has been cleared one year later
3,481 – the number of cholera deaths as of Jan. 5, 2011
5,700,000,000 – the amount pledged by the international community in March 2010 to rebuild Haiti over two years
6.3 percent – the amount of money pledged that had been delivered as of December 2010
4,000,000,000 – the amount raised by private charities for earthquake relief, according to CBS
14,000,000 – the U.S. contribution to Haiti’s highly criticized election
*all currency in U.S. dollars
---------
Haiti honours earthquake victims
(euronews.net)
Haiti commemorates the first anniversary of the catastrophic earthquake that shattered the Caribbean country, with a poignant ceremony at a mass burial site in Port-au-Prince.
President René Préval laid a wreath on a hill littered with black crosses, the final resting place for those whose life was snuffed out on January 12 last year.
As many as 200,000 people are buried at the St Christophe grave.
The two days of remembrance are going ahead, despite criticism over Haiti’s slow recovery and reconstruction, despite billions of euros of international aid being pledged.
President René Préval spoke to euronews:
“Haiti cannot get by on its own, given its current state, don’t forget 60 per cent of Haiti’s budget is external aid, so we are waiting for promises to become reality to make tangible what we need to do.”
Some 800,000 survivors still live in crowded, tented villages in the rubble-strewn Haitian capital where cholera still lurks.
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