Aristide Faces Justice in Haiti by Stanley Lucas

Former President Jean Bertrand Aristide is facing indictments from three different judges in Haiti.  Under pressure, Aristide reverted to his familiar evasive maneuvers and scare tactics to avoid the justice that has been chasing him since he was forced to resign his Presidency in 2004.  This week he paid three hundred people to protest in the street in an attempt to block police from arresting him.  So far, he has been successful in buying himself some time while the police develop a strategy to detain him in a way that does not disrupt the public order.

The charges he faces are serious, disturbing and wide ranging.  Judge Sonel Jean Francois is prosecuting a cooperative Ponzi scheme in which Aristide and his colleagues in the Lavalas party took to the radio urging poor Haitians to invest in a “Cooperative Initiative” that would yield impressive returns.  He is being indicted for stealing millions of dollars received from thousands of poor Haitians.  Judge Francois is also going after his La Fanmi Selavi Foundation, focused on helping the poor children of Haiti, for alleged heinous abuses against children.

Judge Ivickel Dabresil is prosecuting the case of the assassination of Haitian journalist Jean Dominique.  Judge Dabresil has already indicted nine of Aristide’s associates, including the head the Foundation Aristide for Democracy Mirlande Liberus, who is hiding in Miami; Ann Auguste (a.k.a. So Ann), Aristide’s voodoo priest and political advisor; and seven others.  During his two terms in office, Aristide was allegedly behind the murder many of his political opponents.  Among those killed, were three prominent journalists:  Jean Dominique, Brignol Lindor, and Jacques Roche.  Many known political leaders such as Mireille Durocher Bertin, Pasteur Antoine Leroy, Senator Yvon Toussaint, Bernard Lauture and others suffered a similar fate.  The loss to Haiti’s democratic system, which his Foundation claims to promote, is profound.

And, Judge Lamarre Belizaire has issued indictments for money laundering and the embezzlement of hundreds of millions dollars from Haiti’s state coffers.  Arrest warrants have been issued for Aristide; Laura Flyn Morgan, his executive assistant and lobbyist; Yvon Neptune, former Prime Minister; and five others. On Friday, Neptune was questioned by the judge, but was allowed to return home afterward. They are being summoned to answer charges based on the two Haitian state corruption reports issued by the Haitian General Accounting Office (UCREF) and the Commission Administrative in 2004.  The Commission Administrative report provides extensive evidence to support their findings, including copies of the checks, bank account numbers, and wire transfers, detailing how Aristide stole $350 million from the Haitian government.  Yet that report does not cover all the stolen funds.  He also allegedly stole from Haiti’s telecom company, Teleco, other ministries and state offices.  Aristide’s net worth is estimated at a staggering $800 million. Last Friday, while in the judge’s office, Aristide’s former Prime Minister seemed to take an indirect shot at his former boss stating that every citizen has an obligation to respond to judicial summons and no one is above the law.  Neptune has a different strategy from Aristide in dealing with these charges.  Aristide attempted to stop the judicial proceedings by filing a petition to Haiti’s Supreme Court to recuse the judge, process that requires no reason under Haitian law.  In response, the judge who is the head of Haiti’s Civil Courts stated that in accordance with Article 418 of the Haitian Criminal Code, Judge Belizaire can proceed unless a decision is rendered by the Supreme Court.  Further, in accordance with Article 5 of the Haitian Civil Code, if the former President does not present himself to the judge, he should be arrested adding that no one is above the law.

Aristide and his Fanmi Lavalas associates have never publicly denied these accusations.  Rather, they have mounted a campaign of political pressure and threatened violence and instability in an effort to make the charges just go away.    Over the years, every time the Haitian judicial system has tried to bring Aristide and his associates to justice, he has employed the exact same tactics to evade justice.  

First, to halt investigations and judicial proceedings, he intimidates and threatens various ministers of justice, attorneys general, judges, journalists and their families. Six months ago, when Judge Dabrezil summoned Aristide for questioning in relation to the killing of journalist Jean Dominique, he threatened the judge.  Last week, Judge Belizaire faced similar threats.  But, neither judge is backing down.  According to sources close to Judge Belizaire, when he started to pursue the corruption charges, Aristide thugs drove by the judge’s house firing automatic weapons in the air in an effort to intimidate him.  Later, his wife and children were also threatened.  For safety, he has had to relocate his family to the U.S. while prosecuting the case.

The second tactic used by the Aristide network is to leverage U.S. influence in Haiti  to evade justice.  He does this in many ways.  A favorite tactic is to assert that he can blackmail the Clintons and some of their associates for their alleged involvement in Haiti’s telecommunications scandal in the 1990s, and for their alleged failure to account for and effectively deploy the earthquake reconstruction funds which exceeded $8 billion.  In addition, he threatens instability on the ground through the use of violence.  And covertly, he encourages the flow of boat people to Florida.  From his 1992 - 1994 experiences in Washington, Aristide understands the U.S. system well and knows that these are the main pressure points for U.S. policy in Haiti.  And, for the most part, he gets results as pressure from Washington on the Haitian government to resolve the situation almost always follows these threats.  There are some accounts that Washington threatens to cut off aid or visas if the Haitian Government does not restore the peace.  The subtext is that the courts should be pressured to drop the charges.

To apply pressure on the U.S., Aristide employs a well-funded team of lobbyists with strong ties to the U.S. State Department and engages members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), mainly U.S. Representative Maxine Waters.  His main lobbyists are Ira Kurzban, a Miami-based lawyer who has made millions working for Aristide; Ron Daniel, a former member of the CBC; and Robert Maguire, an American professor and Lavalas ideologue.  

Maguire is a far-left ideological professor who has used a variety of platforms and universities to promote and defend his partisan pro-Lavalas agenda and drive U.S. policy toward Haiti.  He is also very influential with the U.S. military’s Southern Command.  Maguire has opposed Hillary Clinton’s Haiti strategy during her tenure as Secretary.  He has, in fact, coordinated efforts to scare the State Department into supporting Aristide’s agenda while Aristide deploys hundreds of violent operatives to agitate on the streets threatening instability.  Current efforts are underway to finance an exodus of boat people to Miami – as Aristide did in 1994 and 2004 – which will also be used to pressure the State Department.

The final tactic is to ensure that no qualified members of the Haitian Diaspora who are opposed to the Aristide agenda make it into any sort of leadership position in country.  They gin up stories of imminent political instability and assassinate the characters of leading Diaspora figures, and then leverage the State Department to weigh in with the Haitian Government against these appointments.  Fearing any loss of commitment from the U.S., the Haitian Government usually bows to the pressure.

But it seems to be a new day in Haiti.  The old tactics are largely failing – with the exception of the U.S. scare campaign.  In Haiti, the judges are resisting pressure and any influences – foreign and domestic – that interfere with the rule of law.  Despite a well-orchestrated campaign of threats and intimidation targeted at these judges, they have managed to hold the relevant hearings and obtain the indictments. The Haitian people are also refusing to give in to the violence.  More than 97% reject violence and believe that both Mr. Aristide and Duvalier should face justice.  So the battleground is in the U.S., which remains sensitive to threats of political violence in Haiti that could lead to instability. It is therefore up to the Haitian people – as it always is – to ensure that their will is carried out and that the dictators who have created a legacy of poverty in Haiti -- that they live with day after day -- answer for what they have done. 

Debat Democratique: L'Agronome Michel William et Renald Luberice Questionnent une Partie de la Presse Haitienne

La manipulation de la population a atteint les limites de l’intoxication par Agr. Michel William

michelwilliam1000@hotmail.com

Dans l’affaire de double nationalité soulevée par le sénateur Moise Jean Charles , la presse de la  capitale parle de ce sujet comme d’une certitude  presque absolue. les journalistes  laisseraient croire astucieusement que la double  nationalité  dont est accusé le président Michel Martelly était indiscutable et qu’il fallait déjà commencer á  statuer sur la mise en place des procédures de sa destitution. C’était dans l’émission « Ramasse » du 28 Janvier 2012 la position de l’homme politique  Camille  Leblanc, un ancien ministre de la Justice , qui anticipait déjà une  procédure en deux étapes, la destitution du président d’abord et le recours ensuite  aux pénales .La presse  de son coté semblerait se constituer  en un parti d’opposition au pouvoir de Mr Martelly. Elle épie chaque geste du président pour en faire un drame qui alourdit l’atmosphère politique..Le tout dernier acte est son engagement tête baissée  dans  la lutte déclarée du sénateur Moise au président Martelly dans sa façon partisane sinon suspecte de traiter l’information. Dans l’affaire de double nationalité  la presse semble faire sienne le cheval de bataille du sénateur Moise,  en endossant naïvement la lutte politique du sénateur,  pour demander au Président pourquoi il n’a pas  répondu  á  la requête de la commission sénatoriale d’enquête en  lui remettant son passeport. C’est  aussi la perception qui se dégage  dans la population de l’approche  irrespectueuse et insolite du sénateur Dera qui s’est arrogé d’un pouvoir que la constitution ne lui a pas donné en écrivant une lettre ouverte au président de la république pour exiger des excuses publiques et un amendement. Le sénateur Dera, utilisant abusivement la casquette du président de l’assemblée nationale a accusé  le président de fautes graves et regrettables  commises dans la résidence privée du premier ministre et au salon diplomatique de l’aéroport de Port-au-Prince .en partant pour le Venezuela .Il pose des conditions  pour une reprise normale des relations du parlement avec le président..

Cette façon précipitée et intéressée  d’intervention dans le présent dossier par le président de l’Assemblée nationale et par la presque totalité de la presse  participe de la théorie  des dix stratégies de la manipulation des masses par les media  décrites par le linguiste américain Noam Chomsky dans « Armes silencieuses pour  guerres tranquilles) signalées par l’ Agronome  Joe N Pierre) .On est en présence d’une guerre tranquille  déclarée par un militant politique opposé á l’idéologie de Mr Martelly et  appuyée par les media  sous le fallacieux soupçon que le président Martelly prendrait trop tôt l’option de menacer la liberté de la presse.

Voici les dix stratégies utilisées par les media

1-La stratégie de la distraction

2-La stratégie  de création  des problèmes, pour  en offrir des solutions

3-La stratégie de la dégradation

4-Maintien  du public dans l’ignorance et la bêtise

5.-Celle de faire appel à l’émotionnel plutôt qu’à la réflexion

6-Celle de s’adresser au public comme à des enfants en bas âge

7-Celle d’ encourager le public à se complaire dans la médiocrité

8-Celle du différé

9-Celle du remplacement de la révolte par la culpabilité

10-Celle de connaître les individus mieux que les manipulateurs ne se connaissent eux-mêmes

Nous nous  attarderons sur les  cinq premières

1-Distraction»

.Sortie du double séisme physique (12 janvier ) et politique(25 ans de Lavalas  qui a détruit  économiquement  et institutionnellement le pays) Haïti fait face á des besoins énormes en temps et en compréhension dans les domaines  stratégiques de la politique,  de l’information, de la sécurité et de la production..

La stratégie de la distraction  consiste á  « « Garder l’attention du public distraite, loin des véritables problèmes sociaux, captivée par des sujets sans importance réelle . Dans la situation précaire de tous les besoins du peuple haïtien, le pays ne profiterait il pas plus  des appels répétés  de la presse  pour exiger la sérénité entre  les pouvoirs exécutif et législatif afin de  trouver le plus rapidement possible un terrain d’entente  pour mener les politiques publiques pour lesquelles  la population les avait élues ?. La presse a été prise aux pièges du GPR et  a fait plutôt le travail politique  du sénateur contre celui de la société.

2. Création des problèmes, puis en offrir les solutions

Le sénateur Moise  exploitant la perception non justifiée de l’inimitié  entre le président et la presse a amené dans l’opinion le problème de la double nationalité. Comme l’a souligné l’ancien premier ministre Yvon Neptune, pour accéder aux postes électifs de président de la république  et de législateurs, il avait été créé un organisme officiel, le CEP,  chargé de vérifier les pièces. Il faut donc s’adresser  d’abord aux   institutions  officielles ayant  délivré les certificats  requis par la loi électorale et ensuite au CEP pour juger de la la validité des pièces soumises..  On se souvient encore des manœuvres de l’exécutif de Mr Préval  avec le sénateur Fequière Mathurin pour valider le pouvoir des sénateurs du 19 avril 2009

De nos jours   n’est il pas étrange de constater que  c’est le sénateur Moise qui ne pouvant Pas faire la preuve de son accusation  a été le premier á suggérer au  président la solution qui satisferait ses propres fantasmes , celle de déclarer á la nation qu’il ne détient aucune autre nationalité ou de remettre volontairement  son passeport  pour mettre fin a une situation d’inquiétude politique créé par le sénateur en connaissance de cause ??N’est il pas  non moins  suspect de voir que la presse laisse dormir en paix le sénateur Moise qui ne peut pas prouver son accusation pendant qu’elle met á profit chaque seconde de l’horloge politique pour pousser le président  á faire le jeu du sénateur Moise en lui demandant  de se conformer á la demande de la commission sénatoriale d’enquête pour prouver qu’il ne détient pas une autre nationalité ?.Une situation d’instabilité politique a été  créé et on demande au président, la victime,  de prendre une mesure qui viendrait libérer  le sénateur Moise de son propre piège. C’est la guerre tranquille que le peuple  ne peut pas  détecter.

3. La stratégie de la dégradation

L’objectif final des ennemis de Martelly est son éjection du palais national. La stratégie de la dégradation  dans la manipulation des masses  consiste á indexer  chaque jour  les attitudes de l’artiste autrefois appréciées  par le public  pour en faire aujourd’hui des causes de dégoût et de regret. Voici les différentes dégradations dont le président a été victime d’Octobre 2010 á 2012. Grivois, putchiste. FRAPHiste, irrespect des prérogatives constitutionnelles dans sa manière d’imposer mano militari des taxes,  étranger á  la présidence d’Haïti. Aujourd’hui  C’est un «  Kwipe » qui ferait honte á  l’élite haïtienne et á  la presse alors que le gros peuple se félicite de trouver en Martelly , un président capable de dire au parlement les quatre vérités qui’il voudrait dire lui-même, mais qu’il ne peut pas dire, parce qu’on lui refuse toujours  d’utiliser son seul moyen d’expression qui est sa carte électorale pour sanctionner les candidats.. Le  kwipe »au quotidien du petit peuple des rues  n’est rien d’autre qu’un geste de dégout et de répugnance de celui qui le fait á l’endroit d’un adversaire qui ne mériterait même pas une réponse suite á  une parole très déplacée versée dans une prise de bouche. Elle signifie  «  mwen wont pou wou »

Le sens  du Kwipe » du président signifie qu’il éprouve de la commisération  pour la presse qui pourrait mieux aider la population a adresser ses problèmes majeurs au lieu de faire le jeu d’un adversaire politique qui ne cherche qu’á créer des situations de retard  pour bloquer les initiatives en faveur de la grande masse. La toute dernière goutte d’eau est la lettre ouverte écrite par le président de l’assemblée  nationale, le Sénateur Dieuseul Dera Simon,  largement reprise par la presse sans esprit d’analyse  et dans laquelle , mr Dera se permet de juger publiquement les actes du président et d’exiger avant toute investigation des faits  des excuses á  la population , á la presse et  un acte d’amendement  conditionnel á  toute  reprise normale des relations avec le parlement.

Le sénateur Simon le faisant vient de créer une nouvelle situation de conflit avec l’exécutif, car il sait très bien que dans le cas de différend opposant le législatif á  l’exécutif, c’est la commission de conciliation  qui est la première instance constitutionnelle  á  consulter pour aplanir le différend et non son titre de président de l’assemblée nationale.. Ce comite serait formé

a-Du président de la cour de cassation Président

b-Du président du Senat vice président,

c-Du président de la chambre des députés membres,

d-Du président du conseil électoral permanent membre,

e-Du  vice président du CEP membre

f- De deux ministres désignés par le président de la république  membres

Le mode de fonctionnement de cette commission  est déterminé par la loi.

Etant dans l’impossibilité de faire appel aux bons offices de cette commission que la quarante huitième avait  refusée de  mettre  en place pendant les vingt cinq ans de lavalas  et refusant á priori toute solution légale  qui ne trancherait pas en sa faveur de son parti le sénateur a préféré joué  la carte de la dégradation progressive du président pour porter l’opinion a se désolidariser de lui. En réalité, le sénateur Dera mène une guerre tranquille contre le président. Le sénateur DERA a utilisé le pouvoir des media pour régler ses différents  personnels avec le chef de l’exécutif

.4-Appel à l’émotionnel plutôt qu’à la réflexion

Les haïtiens avertis  ne tarderont pas á constater que les sénateurs les plus opposés au Président Martelly ont donné une conférence de presse dans laquelle ils disent que sur 10 dossiers analysés des membres de l’exécutif, il y aurait  deux membres détenant  la nationalité étrangère tout  en se gardant de décliner les noms. La presse a dramatisé l’information dans le sens du parlement  en relayant une information retenue comme une manipulation politique. Pourquoi la presse a donné  tout cet écho á  une information que ne veulent pas clarifier les sénateurs conférenciers eux-mêmes ?Y aurait il entre la presse et le parlement une relation privilégiée  qui voudrait que toutes les déclarations  sans preuve soient grossies  pourvu que ce soit contre le président ?.On ne sait pas . L’explication politique la plus plausible pour le parlement serait que la trouvaille était trop  maigre  par rapport aux attentes soulevées  politiquement et qu’il était préférable de jouer la carte de la tension politique permanente laissant aux media d’achever la stratégie de la manipulation de l’opinion. La presse prise aux pièges du GPR et des déçus de Lavalas a  décidé de  jouer la carte de l’émotion   est tombée dans la  manœuvre politique du sénateur. et en  fait durer  le suspense.

5-Maintien du  public dans l’ignorance et la bêtise

Un des objectifs non avoués des stratèges de la manipulation des masses est une  campagne  de tension permanente  qui prive la population de son droit de réflexion pour ne pas percer le mystère des enjeux politiques. De fait les enjeux politiques sont d’empêcher que la droite ne profite des erreurs des vingt cinq années de lavalas pour reprendre définitivement le pouvoir et le garder pour vingt cinq années á  son tour .Cette manipulation de l’opinion a des enjeux économiques. Il ne faut pas  laisser á  l’équipe de Martelly la chance de bénéficier des sous contrats de la reconstruction ou des commissions juteuses issues de passation de marché  non-conforme aux exigences de la loi.. Il faut en outre détourner   á  tout prix les enjeux politiques et politiques de l’attention de la presse qui ferait le jeu de Martelly en dénonçant  la signature frauduleuse de contrats  par l’administration antérieur et dont profiterait des hauts placés du GPR. Il faut créer pour la nouvelle administration une situation de malaise politique  qui force constamment  l’équipe de Martelly á faire des concessions  chaque fois qu’elle  voudrait réaliser la plus petite de ses promesses électorales de campagne jusqu'à sa reddition totale.

La presse est utilisée comme bouc émissaire dans cette guerre larvée d’information dont l’enjeu  est la récupération du pouvoir exécutif perdu par l’INITE au grand dam de la droite qui n’aurait  pas fini encore de purger ,selon la gauche, la punition ineffable de l’article 291 de la constitution de 1987 après 25 années d’exclusion. Il faut á  prix gagner la bataille de l’amendement constitution qui conforterait les INITE et Lavalas déçus  dans leurs  ambitions de garder le pouvoir pour un autre demi-siècle.

Cette affaire de la double nationalité, fusse  elle vraie, resterait de la poudre aux yeux pour brouiller les pistes et empêcher á  la population de découvrir les objectifs  cachés de la manipulation politique , profitable á  lavalas, á  l’INITE et aux quatrevingtsixards á certains égards.

Une  nouvelle manœuvre s’annonce. Comme les feux de flamme des dossiers Moise et Bélisaire  sont presque éteints  sans atteindre le but recherché, il faut  créer tout de suite de nouvelles distractions au niveau des sujets les plus sensibles. Les spécialistes de la manipulation des masses s’improvisent défenseurs des journalistes les plus en vogue. On attribue en deux fois á  Daly Valet des points de vue qu’il n’a pas du tout exprimés sur le président de la république.. Il y a deux  mois c’était Valery Numa qu’on disait de garder  un profil bas en raison des certaines menaces  voilées de l’exécutif quand  une semaine plutôt l’intéressé avait annoncé qu’il irait  consacrer son temps á  la mise en onde de sa station de radio Platinium qui émettrait á  l’avenir en simulcast avec vision 2000 pour les émissions de nouvelle et d’analyse politique. La semaine dernière  c’était au tour de Jean Monar d’etre menacé par le pouvoir . Demain ce sera peut être une intention prêtée au gouvernement de menacer Marvel Dandin dont les commentaires mêmes orientés  ne sont  pas des préoccupations majeures pour le president.

.Une nationalité étrangère á  la tête du pays  n’est pas objectivement et politiquement parlant une cause de destitution parce que le véritable homme fort qui contrôle les leviers du pays  n’est pas Michel Martelly mais le blanc..Le blanc est le véritable président qui fait les élections, qui choisit son président, qui choisit ses parlementaires, qui met  un avion en stand by sur la piste de l’aéroport pour envoyer en exil un président en exercice s’il laisse  la situation se dégénérer entre ses mains .Il est celui qui ordonne l’approbation du choix de son  premier ministre, et qui finance le Budget de la république á  70%.Aujourd’hui il intervient dans la gestion de la fédération haïtienne de Football..De quelle nationalité est le blanc qui nous dirige? Questionne t-on la nationalité du  blanc ?. Allons nous éjecter le blanc de son trône de Président suprême d’Haïti? Sinon de quoi  nous parlons ? Que visons nous dans cette question de double nationalité ?Voudrions nous mettre un autre haïtien á la place de Martelly pour exercer le même pouvoir dans les mêmes conditions imposées á Martelly ?

Mon souhait est que nous n’aggravons pas d’avantage les divisions entre frères haïtiens. Nous en avons fait l’expérience malheureuse  avec  Mr Aristide, avec Mr Latortue, avec Mr Préval .Pourquoi  ne nous entendons nous pas pour  mettre de l’ordre dans nos affaires et trouver le consensus haïtien pour libérer Haïti de la tutelle de l’Internationale qui nous tire la ficelle ? Pourquoi pas rédiger une nouvelle  constitution qui mettrait fin aux ambitions inavouées de maintenir un régime politique instable avec un parlement qui cherche á toujours renforcer son emprise sur l’exécutif pendant que dans les coulisses  il complote pour faire perdurer officieusement l’article  291 épuisée de la constitution depuis 1997.

La société ne doit plus tolérer cette médiocrité de la presse haïtienne par Renald Luberice

rlub@haiti-nation.com

Parce que la presse haïtienne est dans l’ensemble médiocre, elle constitue un frein à la démocratisation au lieu d’être un catalyseur au processus devant permettre l’exercice en Haïti du pouvoir pour le peuple, par le peuple et au nom du peuple. La société haïtienne ne doit plus tolérer cette médiocrité. Je tâche de développer mon argumentation en deux points. Premièrement je souligne les constituants de cette médiocrité. Deuxièmement j’établis le lien entre cette médiocrité et les mécanismes qui participent de ce ralentissement voire de l’immobilisation de la démocratisation et explique pourquoi nous ne devons plus fermer les yeux à ce sujet.

1)   Les constituants de cette médiocrité

En fait, de 2007 à nos jours je n’ai eu de cesse de souligner les mécanismes de blocage de l’émergence de l’Etat moderne en Haïti (à ce sujet lire mon livre intitulé  Haïti : Etat fortuit ? Mécanismes de blocage et/où d’accélération de l’émergence d’un Etat moderne sérendipe , Berlin (Allemagne), EUE, 2011).

J’ai par ailleurs souligné dans mes articles de vulgarisation des apparats politiques, la non rationalisation de l’activité politique, l’incapacité manifeste de nos élites de mener un projet collectif (la fondation de la nation haïtienne) comme autant de handicap à un « mieux être haïtien ». Toutefois une analyse objective de la situation contemporaine ne peut faire l’économie du rôle de la presse. La médiocrité de cette presse empire la situation politique d’Haïti. La presse participe plutôt à l’institution d’une médiocratie qu’à une démocratisation. Deux éléments essentiels facilitent cette médiocrité : a) les travailleurs de la presse (en particulier les journalistes) ne sont pas formés, b) leur situation économique est souvent pitoyable.

a)    formation des journalistes en Haïti

Le projet d’institution de la démocratie en Haïti avec la chute des Duvalier a permis  l’explosion d’une presse libre, essentiellement parlée. Cette presse est constituée d’amateurs, de militants politiques drapés du costume de journaliste. Ses travailleurs sont très peu formés. Ils ne dépassent généralement pas la terminale (la philo, en Haïti). Les rares journalistes qui ont pu fréquenter l’université n’ont pas obtenu de diplôme universitaire. Il est exceptionnel de trouver un journaliste haïtien diplômé d’une université reconnue exerçant son métier avec professionnalisme. Au niveau intellectuel on ne peut pas attendre grand chose de cette corporation. La méthodologie d’enquête en sciences humaines et sociales, proche de celle du journalisme, s’apprend à l’université. Les journalistes haïtiens n’y ont pas été, ils n’y sont pas familiers. Alors tout ce qu’ils savent faire c’est  du « voye moute ».

b)   Situation économique des journalistes

La situation professionnelle des journalistes en Haïti est préoccupante. Celui qui réussit à gagner 20.000 gourdes (400 euros), honnêtement en exerçant sa profession est un héros national. Parce qu’il est difficile de vivre par le biais de sa profession, nos journalistes sont très jeunes et doivent souvent déroger aux principes éthiques en vue de grappiller quelques sous.  Les associations de journalistes ne s’occupent pas vraiment des conditions de travail des journalistes. Les associations de propriétaires de médias n’en ont cure que des propriétaires de médias roulent dans des voitures à 120.000 dollars américains pendant que leurs employés journalistes peinent à s’acheter du déodorant ! Dieu sait que les conditions matérielles d’existence des hommes déterminent leur capacité de réflexion, leur vision d’eux-mêmes et des autres.

En Haïti les conditions d’entrée dans la profession de journalisme ne sont pas déterminées. Aucune instance ne contrôle la délivrance des cartes de presse. Le Conseil National des Télécommunications n’entreprend rien qui aurait pu structurer la profession. La conséquence de toutes ces inconséquences est qu’éthique et journalisme en Haïti sont vraiment antinomique. Point n’est besoin de se demander si cela a des impacts sur la démocratie.

2)   Médiocrité et ralentissement de la démocratisation

Cette presse aurait dû dans la logique des choses contribuer au renforcement de la démocratie en Haïti. Mais elle n’en est pas à la hauteur. Cela a pour conséquence de concourir à ralentir voire immobiliser la démocratisation. Ne dit-on pas que la presse constitue un pouvoir ? Eh bien, donnez le pouvoir à un type qui n’est pas éclairé, il le travestit et le rend méconnaissable. Rappelez-vous du troisième président de l’Ouganda Idi Amin Dada Oumee : imposant, impressionnant, forte capacité destructrice mais très peu de chose dans la tête. C’est un peu cela la presse haïtienne. Elle parle avec autorité, donne des informations qu’elle n’a absolument pas vérifiée et n’a jamais mené une enquête sérieuse sur quoi que ce soit, sur qui que ce soit. Elle ne sait pas se situer dans les champs sociaux, incapable donc de définir son rapport avec la politique et les politiques.

Quiconque a côtoyé les journalistes haïtiens dans les moments de crise aura le sentiment qu’ils en font tellement (sont tellement excités) qu’ils éprouveraient un certain plaisir si tout se cassait. Vu que Haïti vit en crise permanente nos journalistes restent donc en permanence dans cet état d’esprit. Qui n’est pas dans cet état là n’est pas journaliste. La conséquence de cela est qu’ils n’ont point de recul par rapport à l’actualité et aux faits politiques. Leur formation sommaire constitue, par ailleurs, un sérieux handicap à l’analyse sociopolitique. En plus de cela, ils sont prisonniers d’un agenda politique qui les dépasse.

Pour concourir à la définition de l’agenda politique les journalistes auraient besoin d’effectuer un travail de journaliste. Vu que l’espace politique haïtien est parsemé de politiciens véreux qui n’ont d’intérêt que dans la descente aux enfers d’Haïti, qui ne jurent que par l’éternel recommencement, les journalistes, volontairement ou par ignorance, deviennent leurs alliés les plus fidèles et les plus efficaces.  Ce sont ces véreux politiciens qui définissent l’agenda et non les journalistes.

Un renforcement de la démocratisation aurait pourtant besoin de journalistes qui enquêtent sérieusement sur les cas de corruption, questionnant les budgets, mettant en relief l’écart entre projets annoncés et résultats obtenus, révélant à la population ce qu’on cherche à lui cacher, etc. Quel citoyen haïtien n’aurait-il pas été content si un journaliste révélait, suite à une enquête sérieuse et crédible, comment et pourquoi la version amandée de la constitution a-t-elle été altérée ? Qui ne serait pas satisfait de voir un média menant enquête indépendante sur la nationalité des officiels haïtiens, ne se contentant pas des allégations du sénateur Moïse, révéler la vérité sur la question ? Qui ne serait pas content de voir un brillant journaliste révéler à la nation qui est l’auteur de l’assassinat de Jean Dominique ? etc. ?

La plupart du temps nos journalistes préfèrent colporter, « faire du  zen » au lieu d’exercer la profession qu’ils prétendent exercer. De ce fait, une médiocratie s’installe dans le pays et la nation haïtienne reste la première perdante. Nous ne devons plus fermer les yeux sur cet état de fait. Si nous sommes en positions de dénoncer, dénonçons. Si nous sommes en position de décider, décidons. Prenons des mesures pour que le journalisme soit une réalité en Haïti.

INITE’s Deadlock a Last Ditch Effort to Undermine Change in Haiti by Stanley Lucas

For the past 31 years former Presidents Duvalier, Aristide and Preval squandered Haiti’s opportunities leaving behind a legacy of corruption, human rights violations and drug trafficking – not to mention crushing poverty. Now, eighteen months after the devastating January 12 earthquake with little progress on reconstruction, Haitians are becoming more and more frustrated with the political deadlock in Port-au-Prince. Last November, the Haitian people registered their frustration with corruption and voted for change. They resoundingly voted for Michel Martelly as the candidate for change. But change has been under heavy fire by those who want to keep Haiti mired in the corrupt politics of the past. Their ranks include drug dealers, kidnappers and corrupt business leaders in the Groupe de Bourdon and politicians who squandered public resources for their personal enrichment.
    Click on picture to enlarge

The crux of the deadlock is INITE’s refusal to ratify a Prime Minister in an effort to ensure that they maintain a hold on that office with one of their handpicked candidates. President Martelly has selected two honest and experienced men to become Prime Minister, Daniel Rouzier and Bernard Gousse. INITE’s parliamentarians rejected Rouzier, a successful businessman known for his integrity, in a complete violation of the Haitian Constitution. According to Article 157 the Prime Minister is required to submit certain documents for ratification, such as birth certificates for himself and his parents and financial disclosures.  If he or she is able to provide all of those documents and the documents can be verified, the Parliament is required to accept the document and then move to a political vote. The Parliament could not find any issues or irregularities with Rouzier’s documents, but refused to approve him. Many speculate that if the people would never tolerate it if the Parliament officially approved all of the documents and then rejected Rouzier in the political vote.

The latest nominee, Gousse, is also known for his integrity particularly for his efforts to take on the corrupt system using the rule of law and an iron fist during his tenure as Minister of Justice under former Prime Minister Gerard Latortue in 2005. He is also facing deadlock and opposition in the Parliament because five senators in the INITE leadership, who have been publicly linked to drug trafficking, kidnappings, human right violations and corruption, have launched a high profile smear campaign to impugn his character linking him to human rights violations for his crackdown on the violent kidnapping campaign. Gousse was never publicly perceived as being anything other than tough on crime, but nonetheless has been thoroughly vetted by human rights organizations who have found him to be nothing but upstanding and forthright in his political and private dealing, see: http://www.hpnhaiti.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3576:gousse-non-coupable-de-violation-des-droits-de-lhomme-plaide-le-rnddh&catid=1:politics&Itemid=1  Gousse will submit his documents within the next two weeks.

This is a tired, old story of the corrupt old guard fighting against the popular new guard promising change. INITE is the legislative wing of that corrupt old guard, and they have been surprisingly effective in blocking change in the face of overwhelming popular support for change. So, what is INITE and how have they been able to block change against public will? How is INITE getting control of parliament and trying to force continuity? What’s next?

What is INITE? Who are its Leaders?

INITE is not a political party per se; rather, it is a coalition of deputies and senators in parliament pulled together by former President Preval. The coalition has secured 16 of the 30 seats in the Senate and 42 seats in the Chamber of Deputies almost exclusively by manipulating electoral results in the 2009 and 2010 elections. Their favorability rating among the general public is a mere 2% because they are widely viewed as the perpetrators of political instability and intimidation, but more importantly because over the past 10 years, they have completely failed to deliver any results or progress for the people. Under their watch, nothing has improved in Haiti. It remains the second poorest country in the world and ranks among the most corrupt. The coalition is controlled by political operatives and business leaders who have been involved in violence, see: 1. http://www.youtube.com/v/kASfVSb9ozU?fs=1&hl=en_US  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVwsN4G-txY  drug trafficking see: http://metropolehaiti.com/metropole/archive.php?action=full&keyword=Socabank&sid=0&critere=0&id=12324&p=3  kidnappings and various financial scandals in which state funds have been diverted for their personal enrichment.

The head of the INITE coalition in the Senate, Senator Joseph Lambert, is publicly perceived as corrupt, violent and linked to drug trafficking, money laundering and political assassination. When the Haitian National Police captured a boat carrying tons of cocaine in Tiburon, Southern Haiti, the press managed to uncover that Senator Lambert in fact owned the boat. The Haitian National Police linked him to the assassination of Monique Pierre, also a known drug trafficker, when it was discovered that the car that was driven by the assassins was owned by Lambert. The Senator is also rumored to be one of three senators who took 200 million gourdes (about $5 million) from the Office of Pension Workers (ONA) to build lavish homes. The manner and method he used to steal the money remains a matter of national debate, however.

Senator Lambert’s term in the senate is over in November, and he has set his sights on a cabinet position, Ministry of Agriculture, as a means to retain immunity against future prosecution. It should be noted that under Haiti’s constitution, if a Deputy or Senator commits a crime, he or she has judicial immunity and cannot be prosecuted unless two-thirds of the Chamber of which you are a member votes to allow the prosecution. So even if the police have an airtight case, they cannot prosecute unless Parliaments says they can. In the current political structure, INITE has enough votes to ensure that immunity is never revoked.  As a member of the cabinet, you do not officially have judicial immunity; however, in practice, no cabinet members face prosecution given the vast power they hold in their positions.

Finally, it should also be noted that Joseph Lambert does everything with his brother, Wensceslass Lambert, who he named senator during the electoral coup of 2009. For more on Senator Lambert, see the following links:

1. http://radiokiskeya.com/spip.php?article4144

3. http://metropolehaiti.com/metropole/full_une_fr.php?id=14422

4. http://metropolehaiti.com/metropole/archive.php?action=full&keyword=Socabank&sid=0&critere=0&id=12324&p=3

5. http://belpolitik.com/messages.php/35677

INITE’s second in command is Kelly Bastien, who has been linked to several financial scandals in parliament. He was accused of presenting and voting the resolution to use public funds to bail out and revamp SOCABANK after it was exposed that the bank’s leadership – in cooperation with some politicians – stole millions of customers’ deposits. Bastien is also linked to the ONA scandal. See: 1. http://metropolehaiti.com/metropole/archive.php?action=full&keyword=ONA+corruption&sid=0&critere=0&id=14201&p=1 2. http://www.tmsplus.com/tms/index.php?news=7

Third in command within INITE is Moise Jean Charles. Nominated by Preval in 2009, he was the President’s advisor and his Ougan (vodou priest). Preval named him as a LESPWA-INITE senator also in the 2009 electoral coup to provide him judicial immunity for several open criminal matters. Charles killed two people in 2004 – Guitz Adrien Salvant and Donald Julmiste – and seriously injured Evens Lucien, in Cap Haitian, the Northern Department. These killings were politically motivated. See paragraph III: 1. http://radiokiskeya.com/spip.php?article5650 2. http://www.rnddh.org/article.php3?id_article=403 The judge who constituted the dossier issued an arrest warrant for him, but Preval used the power of the executive branch to prevent his arrest until he named him as senator. Charles has been linked to numerous other cases of political motivated violence.  See a copy of arrest warrant at the end of the text.

The fourth is John Joel Joseph known over Haiti’s radio stations as the one who assisted Amaral Duclona in the 2004-2006 kidnapping spree in Haiti. Amaral was the head of Operations Bagdad I & II and Pakatan’n, which were violent political campaigns that assassinated 2,500 Haitians, kidnapped 1,300, killed 112 police officers (eight of them decapitated), raped 600 women, and stole 1,200 cars. They killed students, children, priests, journalists, and women indiscriminately in order intimidate and instill fear into the public. Joseph is popularly viewed as Amaral Duclona’s puppeteer, one of the most violent assassins in Haiti. See paragraph II: http://www.rnddh.org/article.php3?id_article=300 Bernard Gousse was the Minister of Justice who put an end to the madness of those violent campaigns. Duclona had to flee the country and was arrested in the Dominican Republic where he was extradited to France to face charges for murdering two French Diplomats. He confessed that he executed all the violence on behalf of his close associate former President Aristide. John Joel was also an informal advisor to President Preval who named him as Senator in 2009 to prevent future political prosecution.

And finally, the fifth in command is Jocelerme Privert a former Minister of the Interior under Aristide who became an advisor to Preval. He was directly involved in the Scierie Massacre in the town of Saint Marc when he was the Minister of Interior. An arrest warrant was issued for him, and he went into hiding. When Bernard Gousse became Minister of Justice he executed the warrant and put Privert in jail. Gousse sent him to court to face justice; however, when Preval became President, he stopped the judicial proceedings and named him as his advisor. See: http://www.rnddh.org/article.php3?id_article=336 Later Preval used the electoral coup to name him senator so he could also avoid facing any prosecution. The press also identified Privert as the one who falsified a constitutional amendment, an offense that is considered high treason. See: http://metropolehaiti.com/metropole/archive.php?action=full&keyword=amendement+constitution&sid=0&critere=0&id=19200&p=1 The falsification was an effort by INITE and Preval to shift some of the President’s constitutional powers to Parliament after Martelly won the Presidency. On May 9 (five days before Martelly’s inauguration), INITE and Preval called a session of Parliament to pass an amendment that would strip some of the Presidential powers, but they did not have a chance to pass all the measures they had intended to get through. Therefore, after the vote, INITE parliamentarians tried to sneak additional changes to the constitutional amendment on May 13 to strengthen their position and allow them to reclaim the presidency months later. According to public discussions and declarations from his colleagues in the senate, Senator Privert directly carried out the falsification of the amendment. Their attempt was blatant and fully transparent. It is impossible to see how they thought they would get away with changing the text.

Part of INITE’s strategy is to impose on Martelly a Prime Minister that they can control. They have put forward several candidates in an effort to negotiate a compromise candidate despite the fact that they have absolutely no political power to make demands for compromise – not to mention absolutely an absymal track record upon which to claim that they can pick an effective Prime Minister. They have recommended the current Prime Minister, Jean Max Bellerive, who, in the eyes of the Haitian people and Martelly’s base, represents a total failure for his performance as Minister of Planning and as the Prime Minister in charge of the failed reconstruction over the past 18 months. See: 1. http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2011/01/haiti-one-year-after-earthquake-by.html  2. http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2011/04/haitian-companies-still-sidelined-from.html For Martelly’s base, Bellerive represents continuity of corruption and does not fulfill the mandate for change. In a last ditch effort to cling to some sort of power, INITE and Bellerive have called an IHRC meeting next week to promote him remaining in office. It is unheard of for a lame duck Prime Minister to presume to call such a meeting.

Second, they have put forward Jean Henry Ceant, a close associate of Aristide. He is a lawyer and public notary well known for corruption despite his best efforts to clean up his reputation over the past few years.  In an official corruption report issued by UCREF, Haiti’s official anti-corruption bureau, he is linked to former President Aristide’s money laundering and stealing of state funds. See: http://balawou.blogspot.com/2010/08/jean-henry-ceant-enquetes-sur-la.html  Some people believe that he used his knowledge of the judicial system and relationships to make his case disappear; while others believe he is innocent. See: http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/VINOUSH/message/16018  Again because of this and his Lavalas affiliation, Martelly’s base erupts whenever they hear the name. There are a few other names being floated around as well, including Eriq Pierre who serves as Haiti’s representative to the IDB. Pierre is not linked to the corruption and scandals, but is perceived as a Preval insider. Henry Bazin, a former Minister of Finance under Gerard Latortue’s Interim government, has also been identified as a potential candidate. While he has a great reputation, he is viewed as part of the old system.

How did INITE take control of parliament?

When Preval, his INITE associates and his handpicked Provisional Electoral Council, led by Gaillot Dorsinvil, executed the November 2010 electoral coup, the people revolted. Preval knew he either had to find some public means to address the situation to quell the public, or face revolt. To keep his office, Preval quickly adapted and asked the OAS to conduct an official review of the electoral results. The OAS Electoral Mission only focused on the manipulation of the Presidential tally sheets, which was a high profile issue, but they ignored the manipulated legislative results. As a result,  INITE was able to steal 37 seats in the House and six in the Senate in an election that was widely known to be a referendum for change. The OAS, unfortunately, was seen as complicit for their failure to highlight the stolen legislative elections. See: http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2011/05/haiti-inite-tries-to-steal-parliament.html The people are still contesting these stolen seats. Around the country many voices are calling for a commission of three members to review the tally sheets of the legislative elections with the support of national domestic observers and international experts to fix what was stolen from the Haitian people. President Martelly has not responded yet to these calls.

What’s next?

The drug dealers and the kidnappers supported by the corrupt business cartel Groupe de Bourdon are determined to maintain the ruthless and lawless status quo in Haiti. Their future and the future of justice and democracy are in the balance. The corruptors will try to once again create chaos in order to continue their predatory system of management and governance. Meanwhile the international community after spending $4 billion to assist Haiti’s democracy is paralyzed and wary of wading in with support after being burned so many times.

In spite of their best efforts to maintain status quo, the winds of change are at the back of the President. His extreme popularity (currently at 71%) gives him the political power to break through the deadlock. The people have been the only force that has been able to effectively rise up against the corruption and throw out the corruptors as they did with Duvalier and Aristide – and almost with Preval. Martelly has the political capital and support to stand up to the predators and make change. Already, their deadlock strategy is backfiring with public support strongly in favor of Martelly democratically confronting INITIE. Immediately after Rouzier was booted by INITE, 85% of the people advocated democratic confrontation. In recent polls, that number has climbed to an astounding 91% of the people in favor of democratic confrontation. In the face of such public support, INITE operatives can either face popular revolt and being completely booted out in the upcoming November elections. INITE has the option to continue with their juvenile deadlock tactics, or they can realize that change has come; they can either play ball or be left behind.
Click on arrest warrant to enlarge

Haiti Post Runoff Electoral Update # 2 by Stanley Lucas

Background

Two weeks after Haitians went to polls to vote in the Presidential and Legislative runoff election in what appeared to be a peaceful and fair process, uncertainty remains. Given the recent announcement postponing the official results due to the detection of fraudulent tally sheets, there is a growing perception among the people that Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) is trying to fix the results at the instruction of President Preval and his ruling party INITE instructions. The unresolved elections have the potential to create serious political instability. Since Monday, March 28 the word on the street was that Preval had given the CEP instructions to slowdown the counting process so they could find ways to rig the elections. The March 20 election day was a success; voters were able to cast their ballots, and the elections happened without serious violence. But it seems President Preval will not deviate from his 20 year pattern of rigging and stealing elections as he did in 1997, 2000 and 2009. His efforts to undermine the electoral process in those elections led to a huge political crisis, and he failed in his aim to maintain power. During the first round of presidential and legislative elections last November, he tried to rig the results in favor of his chosen presidential candidate, Jude Celestin; he failed. Now it seems that is failing again in trying to change the runoff results so he’s stalling.

President Rene Preval

The lame duck president spent two weeks in Cuba for “treatment”. In reality, he was organizing Jean Bertrand Aristide’s return hoping to destabilize the electoral process. They quickly learned that Aristide’s influence and impact on Haitian society had dwindled to merely a few supporters. To gain more support, they will likely resort to spreading around money and arming their thugs. With the failure of Aristide to undermine the elections, Preval’s current goal is to manipulate the results in favor of his party and political allies. In conversations with his INITE operatives, Preval has been making the ludicrous claim that the US State Department sanctioned his manipulation of these elections. He says the State Department told him to do what he wants to with the elections. 

The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP)

The CEP is under pressure from Preval and his allies to change the results.  They are also under pressure from the Haitian people who are ready to take the streets to defend their vote. Members of CEP remember what happened back in November when the Haitian people took the streets on December 7 to reject the blatant manipulation of the results in favor of Preval and INITE. Preval almost resigned. The CEP and members of the ruling party were nowhere to be found; they were all in hiding.

So the CEP’s new strategy is to claim fraud and annul tally sheets that are not in favor of the ruling party candidates. They have annulled 20% of the tally sheets so far; however, the ruling party candidates still cannot win because of the wide margins in favor of the opposition candidates. Faced with that reality, the CEP postponed the released of the results that were scheduled for March 31 until April 4 claiming that they have to deal with the fraudulent tallies. In reality they are just buying time to determine ways to manipulate the process at the tabulation center, see: http://metropolehaiti.com/metropole/full_une_fr.php?id=18952 .

At the same time the CEP is trying to ban the publication of partial results of the elections using a misinterpretation of the Electoral Law. The Electoral Law actually requires that each polling station publicly post the results at the polling station immediately after closing of the polls and the counting of the results. Most observers conclude that the CEP’s efforts to silence the press tipped off the Haitian people to their true intentions to block transparency so they could manipulate the tally sheets. The publication of the partial results by municipalities would make it impossible for the CEP to change the results at the tabulation center. The comparison of the copy of the tally sheets of the polling stations with the originals that went to the tabulation center were instrumental in verifying the manipulation of the results by the CEP at the tabulation center in the first round. The following pictures show how the CEP changed the results on the original tally sheets from 11 (shown on the original copy at the polling station) to 111 votes (at the polling station) for the ruling party.

    Click on picture to enlarge

 Counting the results

The tabulation center has put aside more than 20% of the tally sheets claiming that they were subject to fraud. But domestic observers disagree. The Haitian Research Center for Social Studies (CERESS) said that the system put in place by the CEP at the tabulation center has been opaque, and it is impossible to verify why the tally sheets are being put aside. They can only deduce that its for partisan reasons. The CEP is preventing observers from verifying the tally sheets that have been eliminated, see: http://metropolehaiti.com/metropole/full_une_fr.php?id=18938 . 

Meanwhile a parallel count by civil society groups reveal that Michel Martelly won the elections by a significant margin over Mirlande Manigat, and the Social Democrat Coalition Alternativ is emerging as the big winner of the legislative elections (see partial results below). People attributed Manigat’s loss to the alliance she made in the final week of the campaign with the ruling party INITE. Two Preval cabinet members, Marie Laurence Lassegue and Marjorie Michel, endorsed her and an INITE senator campaigned for her in the North.

    Click on picture to enlarge

Security, Violence and Narco traffickers

The INITE ruling party is trying to impose its will through violence and the manipulation and politicization of the judicial system.  A number of political appointees have been named Justice of the Peace by the Ministry of Justice in an effort to support INITE at the local level in their quest to manipulate the elections and protect their perpetrators of violence. Violence has been perpetrated by INITE in the following departments: Grand Anse, Artibonite, Central Plateau and Northwest. INITE senators that have track records implicating them in cocaine trafficking in Tiburon and in Port de Paix are also involved.

Jean Claude Duvalier and Jean Bertrand Aristide

Haitian state institutions have issued official corruption reports on both Jean Claude Duvalier and Jean Bertrand Aristide detailing the funds they stole from the Haitian state. According to these records, Duvalier stole $200-600 million over 14 years and Aristide $350 million in nine years.  Aristide and Duvalier are also implicated in human rights violations including the killing and “necklacing” of political opponents. Both men have used the stolen funds to employ a cadre of American lobbyists that received millions of dollars in retainer fees and the promise of lucrative reconstruction contracts in exchange for reshaping their images. Duvalier employed former representative Bob Barr, and Aristide has former representative Ron Daniel, lawyer Ira Kurzban, and others who made millions with him when he was in power. Both men represent a threat to democracy and stability in Haiti. Haiti’s Attorney General has served notice to Duvalier that he will be tried for his crimes. Nobody knows yet when Aristide will be served. Haitians will insist that justice be served once and for all. 
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 Inauguration and Challenges

The President of Haiti should have been sworn on February 7; so we are already two months behind schedule. Haitians want that the new president sworn in two days after the publication of the results so that he can get to work immediately. The hurricane season, which starts on June 1, poses an imminent threat. Additionally, there are still 1.7 million people living on the street since the January 12, 2010 earthquake. The cholera epidemic continues to threaten the population resulting in 7,500 dead and 200,000 contaminated so far. Cholera will spread in the fast approaching rainy season, It is estimated that 800,000 people could be contaminated if nothing is done. There has also been a marked rise of food and oil prices that need urgent attention and solutions. The challenges facing the Haitian people are enormous. And, as usual, Preval remains steadfastly focused on how to retain power, which he has proven to only use to enrich himself and his allies rather than provide any improvement to the lives of the Haitian people. The votes reflect that. Time for Preval to realize the jig is up.

Haiti Post Runoff Electoral Update # 1 by Stanley Lucas

Background

Haiti went to polls on Sunday, March 20 to vote in the runoff elections for a new president, six Senators and 77 Deputies. The Haitian voters entered the process with ongoing concerns about the partisan Provisional Electoral Council that attempted to rig the first round elections in favor of the ruling party, Preval’s INITE.  Voters were also wary of unresolved technical issues like the integrity of the voter lists, availability of ballots to vote, the presence of former strongmen Duvalier and Aristide in-country, and the link between INITE and narcotraffickers who are trying to maintain their control over the political system and potential violence.  There was also concern about domestic observers not able to do their job as several groups that participated in the first round were not accredited for the runoff.

Voters and Turnout

Despite these concerns, more voters went to the polls than in the first round. Turnout was estimated at 32-35%. Voters initially went early to the polls and encountered difficulties to vote because their names were not on the list, but were allowed to vote in the end because immediate actions taken by the CEP and local electoral officials. It seems that voters were satisfied and exercised their right to pick their leaders.

While the time was tight to update the voter lists for these elections, for the next Senatorial elections scheduled for this November, the voter list must be fixed. They also need to pay closer attention to stocking the polling stations. In more that fifty polling centers in the West department, basic materials like ballots boxes, ballots and ink were missing. The CEP reacted quickly to solve the problems, however. In some areas materials from the 2009 elections were distributed; an investigation is underway to shed light on this.

The Provisional Electoral Council

Knowing that voters remain very suspicious of them, on election day the CEP made a conscious effort to address technical issues related to voter lists, distribution of ballots that were not available at polling stations and other technical issues. Their interventions during the day to resolve these issues contributed to the level of confidence among the voters.  Overall -- despite some incidents -- the day went well.

At approximately 10:00 p.m. when members of the press started to broadcast partial results, the CEP went on the attack claiming that the electoral law does not permit such announcements. Their vitriolic reaction has triggered speculation that the institution was responding that way as part of a larger effort to prevent transparency so they could manipulate the results. According to Haiti’s electoral law, the votes are counted immediately after the closing of the polling stations. Within two hours, the tally sheets are publicly posted at each polling station, so the CEP was wrong about the law. Political party poll watchers representing the candidates were given a copy of the tally sheets as were domestic observers; an additional copy remains on file at the Departmental and Municipal Bureau; and the original goes to the tabulation center at the CEP headquarters in Port-au-Prince.  This process allowed the OAS Mission after the first round to identify the fraud of the CEP and the ruling party. They were able to compare the copy of the tally sheets that stayed at the polling station with the originals that they manipulated at the tabulation center. The picture below shows how the fraud was done by the CEP in the first round, at the polling station the ruling party INITE got 11 votes, at the tabulation center they turned it into 111. Hundreds of tally sheets were subject to that type of manipulation. The CEP’s efforts to stonewall the posting of results have been interpreted as a way to close the loophole that exposed their fraud in the first round. The broadcasting of the partial results directly from the polling stations would make it impossible to change the results at the tabulation center.
    Click on picture to enlarge

Counting the results

The process of counting the results at the tabulation center is underway with the presence of domestic and international observers. CEP employees have harassed the domestic observers because they speak the language and have a better understanding of how and what to observe while international observation is light. It seems according to the tally sheets that the big winner of the legislative elections will be the social democrat coalition ALTENATIV. For the presidential elections the CEP has only counted 33.80% of the tally, 23.06% for the Senate seats and 42.81% for the deputies. More details are available at: http://www.cephaiti2010.org/index.php?option=com_weblinks&view=category&id=62&Itemid=255 . 

But a parallel count is being conducted by civil society and is moving faster to prevent fraud. Their count is available on the internet. As of Wednesday afternoon, they counted the results of 7,757 tally sheets of the 11,181. There are 951,050 voters in the system.  Michel Martelly is significantly leading Mirlande Manigat. The following link shows Martelly’s vote in pink and Manigat’s in green, and for the vote count Manigat is “M” and Martelly is “T” for “Tet Kale” – his electoral nickname: 

Afficher Résultats des Dépouillements sur une carte plus grande

The popular mood around the results is that the government and the CEP will make a last attempt to steal the elections or spoil the entire process. People around Haiti are so alert that the government and the CEP would be in for a bad surprise if they do.

Security, Violence and Narco traffickers

Sunday’s elections were the least violent in Haiti’s recent election history. The Haitian National Police had a good security plan and acted in a non-partisan manner. They provided security to all. On election day violence occurred in two municipalities: in Dessalines in the Artibonite Department and Mare Rouge in the North West that reflected tensions between the ruling party and two opposition parties. In the following two days, violence occurred in the West, Center, Grande Anse departments mainly from the INITE party not accepting its defeat at the polls and still trying to manipulate the results.

1. http://metropolehaiti.com/metropole/full_une_fr.php?id=18924

2. http://metropolehaiti.com/metropole/full_une_fr.php?id=18918

It seems that part of the violence in the North West, Grande Anse and Center Departments are associated with the narco traffickers that are with or associated with the INITE party. These traffickers will try to manipulate the results in order to keep the status quo. The new government will need additional support from the US Drug Enforcement Agency to maintain political stability. Meanwhile the rest of country is quiet -- but alert -- awaiting for the results.

Jean Claude Duvalier and Jean Bertrand Aristide

Some analysts thought that these former strongmen could have an impact on these elections. They did not.  Haiti is ready to put them where they belong: in the past and in jail. When Jean Claude Duvalier debarked in Port-au-Prince in January that raised many hairs. The following days the Preval government -- weakened by corruption and an effort to manipulate the results of the November 28 elections -- was unable to react despite the clear corruption and human rights record of Duvalier. Meanwhile Haitian society reacted and demanded justice while only a couple hundred turned up to show support for the former president for life. Two days prior to the elections another strongmen linked to human rights violations and corruption, Jean Bertrand Aristide, landed from his exile in South Africa. He and his party Fanmi Lavalas wanted the annulment of the elections. Some analysts believed that his return could throw the country into political chaos and violence and the annulment of the elections. 

Aristide’s presence had no impact; in fact, the turnout was actually increased. These two strongmen represent a threat to democracy and stability unless a process of accountability is put in place by the new government with some international support. The following shows their alleged political and economic crimes and how Haitian society is seeking a judicial framework to try them.

    Click on picture to enlarge

International Observers

All international observers have reacted positively about the way that Sunday elections went. They are following the counting process and have issued statements that the will of the people should be respected.