a1971: Re: a1970: BBC: Haiti: Senator refuses to name possible suspects in death of his bodyguard (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: kevin pina <kpinbox@hotmail.com>


"According to what we have heard, the incident in which a bodyguard of
Senator Pierre Sancon Prince was killed took place when the contested
senator [i.e. he was elected in the disputed elections of 21 May 2000]
was attempting to reopen the doors of the Cayes-Jacmel town hall".


Mr. Benodin may add the qualifier "[i.e. he was elected in the disputed
elections of 21 May 2000]" till the cows come home and it still will not
cover the obvious biasness inherent in use of the term "contested." The
Haitian press has by and large reflected the position and contention of the
Convergence that the entire elections of May 21, 2000 were fradulent.

I will remind everyone that most independent observers, including the
Organization of American States, initially praised those elections as "the
most free and fair to date" until Orlande Marville leaked to the press the
discrepency over the ballot counting method. Secondly, only seven elected
positions were deemed to have been effected by the process and those
legislators have since resigned as a measure Lavalas's willingness to
compromise in the interests of breaking the recalcitrance of the
Convergence.

The remaining legislators were uneffected, as in the case of Senator Pierre
Sancon Prince, yet the Haitian press, and in this case the BBC who sources
them, insists upon referring to him as "contested." This has been one of the
major reasons that the grassroots organizations in Haiti have been furious
with the Haitian and international press in the past, and if it continues,
most certainly in the future. So please don't portray the entire Haitian
press as innocent victims merely standing on the sidelines giving unbiased
coverage of events in Haiti. It is simply not true.

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