a1127: "I say that dialogue is the only road to peace." (Aristide with Cite Soleil) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: MKarshan@aol.com

President Aristide addressing meeting at the National Palace on February 27,
2002 with people from Cite Soleil regarding recent violence in Cite Soleil.


PRESIDENT ARISTIDE:

I am very happy today to welcome all of you in this house, which is your
home, which is the people's home.

We don't forget any of our friends in the Cité who can't go back home yet
because of the conflicts we are living.

We are all together this morning to recognize this fact with the
representatives from the 34 areas in Cité Soleil.

I know that people from all the different areas would have liked to see many
representatives from their area here in the Palace this morning. So I would
like to let you all know that I do not forget you. I understand how much you
want to be here with us and this is why I tell you that even though you are
not here, I think about you and I do not forget you. Don't you think I
believe only people who are in front of me now are important. Even if you
can't be here this morning, next time it will be your turn to be in a meeting
with us. I just can't welcome everybody at the same time in the Palace. I
want to show my respect and sensitivity to all the people in the 34 areas in
the Cité. Before we even get to discuss the main purpose of this meeting, I
chose to take all that time to show my solidarity to everyone of my brothers
and sisters in the Cité. I want them to know how much I respect them. I want
them to know I don't make a selection to know who can enter the Palace. They
are all always welcome here.

All of you, people from Cité Soleil should know your brother here respects
you. Even if you are not here this morning, we will find an occasion to meet
somewhere else. This is very important for me and that is why I spend so much
time talking about it.

I chose to invite several key figures: teachers, doctors, nuns. They are all
part of our society too. Some of them work in Cité Soleil. There are also a
few State representatives, like the Secretary of State to my right and Dr.
DEGRANGE, head of the staff to my left. To the Secretary of State's right is
Dr. GAUTHIER, delegate from the West department. You can see I invited many
nuns and many lawyers. Mr. JEAN-BAPTISTE BROWN and Mr. CESAR are both
lawyers. Since we say we want to build our country on the basis of law, it is
good to have legal professionals participating in our meeting even if they
don't speak up today. They will hear what we discuss here. I could have
invited a dozen other lawyers here today, as we keep saying we want Haiti to
be built on the basis of law, since we so much need law to protect each and
everyone of us so we can live in peace. This is the main reason why I invited
many lawyers in this meeting. I invited the director of CAMEP, Mr. GERALD, as
a symbol. I could have invited the director of E.D.H. and many other
directors. But I chose to invite only one. Who can live without drinking
water? Water may seem sometimes not so important, but for all of you in Cité
Soleil, it represents a lot. For all of us in Haiti, water is so important.
Out of 100 persons in Haiti, only about 20, have access to clean drinking
water. This means that even though water is essential to life, not every
Haitian finds drinking water. The Salesian Fathers have done a lot of great
work together with the nuns in Cité Soleil for the schools and for health
care. Father LANAUD has done a lot also so more people can have access to
drinking water. Great work has been accomplished already and the presence of
the CAMEP director is symbolic. We do not want to talk only about violence
occurring in Cité Soleil. We also need to look at the others problems, such
as the high cost of living, the problem of water, of electricity, and others.
We know they exist and to show our acknowledgment, I decided to invite
symbolically only one director. And since water is so essential to life, I
chose to invite the director of the water system. I know that this morning it
is impossible for us to discuss all the problems happening in the Cité and to
try to find solutions to all of them, but at least with the CAMEP director
here, maybe we will find time to try to see what we can do to make things
better as far as the water problem in the Cite. I know other problems exist
just as well. I don't forget housing problems, nor the public square we are
trying to build, nor the boat landing problem.

Today we will concentrate on one of the biggest problems, which is the
problem of insecurity.

In order to do that, I invited important figures such as Mr. FRITZ, a
protestant pastor, a school principal in Cité Soleil. We do not remain
indifferent to anybody who becomes a victim of insecurity.

So what do I suggest we do during the meeting today?

I suggest you all help me see what can be done in order for peace to last for
a much longer period of time then what it has lasted in the past.

We have had many meetings before and I personally went to visit you in the
Cité many times and that had always helped for peace to return. But as we can
see, peace goes back and forth in the Cité. The Cité remains peaceful for a
while, and then peace just disappears again. In this meeting today, you are
going to help me see what the country can do and what all the citizens can do
in order for peace to last for a long period of time. And let's not fool
ourselves: in order for peace to last, it is essential not to sit down and
talk only. Big efforts need to be done to protect that peace every day. Peace
is like a plant. If you don't water it, you will see it wither and if it
doesn't get enough sun, it can even disappear. Peace is like that. When it
appears, you need to water it and to give it enough sun so it can grow, just
like a flower.

The Police has an important part to play in this also. I will tell you later
on what orders I gave them.

And we, as citizens, we have an important responsibility just as well.

Our civic duty is written in our Constitution and I want to thank you all for
coming here this morning. This is a living proof that you respect your civic
duty. You have work to do, you have responsibilities but you put them on hold
for a moment to come here today to see what we can do together to make things
better.

I know you are very concerned with the question of violence in the Cité. We
discussed it many times with the Apostolic Nuncio, with His Grace MIOT who is
the diocese archbishop, with the people. We discussed the harsh reality in
Cité Soleil many times. Just a few weeks ago, we had a good discussion about
it with Father NAU, the provincial Head of Salesian Fathers. So I know how
Fathers, Nuns and Pastors are concerned with the insecurity people live in
the Cité. I am used to meeting with many of you to discuss that and we
managed to bring peace back into place many times. But unfortunately, it
doesn't last. So I really hope this meeting today can help peace get back
into place and stay there. Work will be done after our meeting today. What
seems a little awkward is that people sitting here today are not necessarily
the ones responsible for the insecurity in the Cité. It's the other way
around. We sit here because we want to bring peace back and we are used to
making great efforts for it to stay in the Cité.

Now there are some people who do not wish for peace to come back and stay.
They are not here in this meeting, but how can they participate, how can they
get the message, how will they react, how will they get it in their heads
that they need to leave violence behind and to move on peacefully? With the
fact that they are not here this morning, we will need to make greater
efforts to let them know what was discussed in the meeting so they can
participate. I know it is not easy to start a peaceful dialogue with a person
who has a weapon in their hand when you don't have one. But do not use your
head only to wear a hat. Use it to think. When 500 000 brains are thinking
together, it is possible to overpower the few people who have weapons and who
are hurting others. I have a responsibility and I assume it. I have a duty
and I fulfill it and I will fulfill it well. Citizens' participation is
essential for peace to last always. In other words, if we want peace to last
always, all citizens need to participate in protecting peace, in maintaining
it. If somebody thinks not everybody is part of the people, they are wrong. I
believe and you believe everybody is part of the people. Some persons may
think people in Cité Soleil are not part of the People. They may get angry
when they see I sit with them, I discuss with them just like I discuss with
themselves. I am sorry if that is what they feel, if they believe I shouldn't
sit with people from Cité Soleil. I will continue to sit with people from
Cité Soleil all of my life!

(The crowd applauds)

There are many prejudices in this country! Some people are so prejudiced
against others, they believe they are the only ones who have the right to
come and sit with the President in the National Palace. They believe that the
poor in Cité Soleil have no right to sit in the Palace. But everybody has the
same rights, they all have the right to sit here and talk about what is going
on and about their problems!

In this train of thoughts I say that dialogue is the only road to peace. And
that is why I invite you to take the microphone that will go around and speak
up. Let us know what you believe are the causes of violence in the Cité.

Why do houses break down? Why do people die?

What is keeping people from living peacefully in the Cité?

And at the same time, what can we do to maintain peace in the Cité?

When you get your hand on the microphone, you may be tempted to express your
anger, to denounce a person or something that happened to you. This is
perfectly normal. When you suffer a lot, you have a lot of anger inside you.
But when we have a dialogue, there is a way of saying things so it gets into
people's heads better. Especially people who don't want to hear you in the
first place. For a long time while the army was here in the National Palace,
they would send an officer to discuss with the person if there was a problem
somewhere in the "high class" level. But if the same problem occurred in the
poorest area, they would send a police officer to kill the poor person. On
December 16 1990, we chose not to have the Haitian army kill more people.
This is why when there is a problem in Cité Soleil, we do not send police
officers to kill people, in order for them to understand that killing is the
solution. It is not the solution, that's not it!

(Everyone applauds heartily)

There are intelligent people in Cité Soleil, serious people, good people! You
are a sample of these great people. So when the microphone gets into your
hands, please say out loud what you think causes violence, what you see that
could be done to establish peace, to establish justice. One of our brothers
here says he wants justice.

Peace and justice are like our two feet that walk together. If you have peace
but no justice, it's like if you roll your hands in the dirt after washing
them. And if you have justice but no peace, it's the same thing.

Peace and justice work together. I keep saying that peace is the road that
can bring us to justice. It means that if you try to gain justice with
weapons, you will only find violence. You will see more blood and more
deaths. We do not choose that road. We choose the road of peace to bring us
to justice. I invited many lawyers in this meeting because I know many of you
here are victims and you can't find a lawyer to get justice done. There are
so many victims in Cité Soleil. Yesterday morning, I had heard some
information that hurt me so much! I had a very bad day. I had heard on the
radio that many babies had died in a gas attack in Cité Soleil. But I felt a
little better when somebody told me it wasn't true so many children had died
in the gas attack yesterday morning. We need justice. Fortunately, I heard
this morning it wasn't true. Some people went directly to see what had
happened and they told me it wasn't true. So I feel a little better. Whether
the victim is a child or an adult, they have the right to have a good lawyer
who can accompany them, who can help them find justice. We remember how long
it took to get justice done after 6 000 000 Jews were slaughtered by HITLER.
In our country, in Haiti, justice still isn't done for the victims of the
ST-JEAN-BOSCO massacre, the PIAT massacre, the JEAN-RABEL massacre.

Such victims as JEAN DOMINIQUE's family, the Minister of Justice GUY MALARY's
family, ANTOINE IZMERY's family, Father JEAN-MARIE VINCENT's family and
MARC-ANDRE DIROGENE whose funeral we attended with watery eyes yesterday. All
these victims and the deputy DOUDOU FEUILLE and many others still can't get
justice done. We could continue naming many other victims but it would be
nothing compared to the amount of the ones we don't name. The coup d'etat
made 5 000 victims in 1991 and many of the corpses were eaten away by pigs.
We can't stay untouched by all this. We need to keep fighting so justice can
be done. Fortunately, we can see a bit of the light of justice in the lawsuit
in Carrefour Feuilles. But unfortunately, many other victims still suffer
there. And in the Raboteau trial, we see a bit of the light of justice also.
And fortunately, the Haitian people are there to work together with the
authorities towards peace and justice. According to that thought, I ordered
the Police not to open fire on the people and not to let anybody open fire on
the people.

This is the order I gave them, I will repeat it: The police is not allowed to
open fire on the people and they have to keep anybody from doing so.

It is clear?

O.K. I ordered the Police not to open fire on the people in Cité Soleil, not
to open fire on the people anywhere. And at the same time, I ordered them not
to let anybody open fire on the people.

Is it clear?

It is clear now?

This is what I ordered the Police: Not to open fire on the people in Cité
Soleil and not to let anybody open fire on the people in Cité Soleil.

On the other hand, the Police are there to protect the people, to serve the
people. This is what the Constitution states and if the Police are there to
protect the people, they can't let people with weapons shoot anybody, run
away with people's belongings, steal and hurt others. Is that right?

The Police has the obligation to protect each and every person, to serve
everybody in Cité Soleil, and the entire Haitian people.

Thirdly, The Police and the people need to work together to maintain peace in
the Cité. The Police and the people need to work together to maintain peace
in the Cité.

What does that mean?

It means that things are much easier when the Police work hand in hand with
the people, instead of turning its back on them. It is much easier then to
keep criminals from hurting others in the Cité. The Police is not the
population's enemy! No!

The Police and the population need to walk hand in hand to share the
information, to identify the real guilty party, to identify the persons who
own weapons and kill people, and the persons who steal from others. We will
not tolerate these things anymore.

We need to maintain peace in the Cité and in order to do that, the Police and
the people need to walk hand in hand, to work side by side. If I live in the
Cité and I see a police officer, I need to run to join him, and not run away
from him. And if I see a police officer running away, I can denounce him,
because there is a rule that forbids that. The police have to stand with the
people, stand next to the people to protect them. When a policeman owns a
weapon and he stands among 1,000 persons who don't, this weapon becomes the
property of the 1,000 persons. So these 1,000 persons who stand together with
the policeman are much stronger then the few persons who would own bigger
weapons. How could 2 persons with bigger weapons feel stronger then a 1,000
others with an armed policeman? These 1,000 persons should never feel afraid
or run away if they stand together, if they stand as one. The day there is
real solidarity between the police and the people in Cité Soleil zenglendos
won't be able to do so much damage, to kill so many people in the Cité.

(The auidence applauds strongly)

This is what I want, this is what the people wants and this is what needs to
be done.

We have seen too much blood in the Cité,

Too many people live in fear in the Cité.

Some people don't want to see peace installed. They have money and they
manipulate others so they can achieve their goal.

(Everybody applauds)

This is no good, it's no good. If there is solidarity in the Cité, we will
see zenglendos live in fear, we will see zenglendos be scared to do any harm
in the Cité. The population should not be afraid. Fear should not be in the
citizens' hearts in Cité Soleil. Fear should be deep in the zenglendos hearts
and heads. Zenglendos are cowards. Zenglendos are cowards and only the
weapons they hold in their hands can make them feel a little stronger, can
make him feel he can do what he wants.

We can't let them scare us like that. This is why I ask the Police to respect
the people, to respect the people's rights, to stand together with the people
so they can find all the information. I ask you to stand united so there is
zero tolerance in the Cité, so the light of justice can shine again, so the
light of peace can shine again.

(The crowd applauds)

I always said that and it is clear for me: Hunger is hard enough on somebody
that the person doesn't need fear also to keep him or her from sleeping at
night. That's not normal.

(People applaud)

It is not normal. It is not normal. Life is so expensive, there is
unemployment, we don't need violence on top of it to hit us like this. We
will open a dialogue to try to find solutions to this. We will pass the
microphone around so people who want to talk have a chance to do so. I
strongly encourage you to talk about the causes of the problems and the
solutions. When people who can't be here right now, but are listening to us
on the radio hear the interventions, they will feel as though they were here
and they will understand what is discussed. It is normal to be tempted to
complain and complain about your situation, because it is hard and you need
to get it out of your system. But some interventions can help us more to move
forward. Intelligent interventions such as when you say what a cause could
be, when you identify a real cause can really help us and I would really like
to hear that. You can also bring solutions to at least an attempt of
solution. I would also like to hear that. We already know what is hurting us
so. We know it so let's begin looking for the causes and the solutions. I
will repeat myself again so this meeting can continue the same way it
started: we already know the sickness, now we need to know how it can be
healed. Now what is important is to find the cause of the sickness and to
find out how we can heal it. So we will now hear the first person who can
help us find the remedy.

Port-au-Prince (National Palace)

02/27/2002