25321: Leiderman: (news) calling the shots in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Stuart M Leiderman <leidermn@cisunix.unh.edu>


dear Readers:

excerpts from the most recent Haiti report by the Organization of American 
States, dated May 18th, is appended below.  for the full report: 
<http://www.oas.org/documents/eng/Haiti/Haiti_Fourth_Quarterlyl+Report_of_the_SG_Eglish.doc>

thanks,

Stuart Leiderman

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PERMANENT COUNCIL

OEA/Ser.G
CP/doc.4037/05
18 May 2005
Original:  English


FOURTH QUARTERLY REPORT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL ON THE SITUATION IN HAITI AND 
ON THE WORK OF THE OAS SPECIAL MISSION FOR STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY IN HAITI 
PURSUANT TO AG/RES. 2058 (XXXIV-O/04)

<snip>

BACKGROUND

This fourth report of the Secretary General to the Permanent Council, pursuant 
to Paragraph 15 of resolution AG/RES 2058 (XXXIV-O/04) of 8 June, 2004, 
describes the current situation in Haiti, discusses the work of the OAS Special 
Mission for Strengthening Democracy in Haiti (Special Mission), including the 
OAS Electoral Technical Assistance Program in Haiti (ETAPH), between mid -March 
and mid-May 2005. The report also gives a brief overview of the implementation 
of recommendations made in AG/RES 2058 (XXXIV-O/04).


WORK OF THE SPECIAL MISSION

Pursuant to paragraph 2 of resolution AG/RES 2058 (XXXIV-O/04), which requested 
that the OAS Special Mission should assist the Haitian Provisional Electoral 
Council in the preparation, organization and overseeing of elections, the OAS 
Electoral Technical Assistance Program in Haiti (ETAPH) has been established in 
Port-au-Prince.  As was mandated, the ETAPH is functioning in cooperation with 
the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH).  In accordance with the 
memorandum of understanding with the UN, the primary responsibility of ETAPH is 
to provide technical assistance to the CEP in the registration of voters; voter 
registration began on April 25.

<snip>

The OAS Special Mission facilitated the recruitment by the Government of Haiti 
of 21 specialized Haitian consultants to work in various ministries of the 
interim government to assist with the formulation and delivery of policies.

A technical advisor continued to work closely with the Director General of the 
Haitian National Police (HNP), consolidating the leadership skills of the 
latter and bringing about significant improvements in the selection and 
training of high- ranking officers, including commissioners and inspectors. 
The technical advisor's work has also developed the HNP's capacity to prepare 
and execute security operations.

<snip>

The OAS Special Mission has also accompanied Haitian human rights and civil 
society organizations, including the government's Ombudsman's Office, providing 
them with technical advice as they have adapted to the new challenges of the 
transition.  After a detailed evaluation of their needs, the OAS Special 
Mission has provided finance for equipment, specialized consultants, and 
appropriate training for workers throughout the country.  A civil society 
organization active in monitoring human rights in the turbulent and indigent 
neighborhood of Cite Soleil has benefited from office equipment, and the 
Special Mission facilitated outreach activities of the Lawyers' Committee on 
Individual Liberties (CARLI) which aim to raise public awareness on 
international human rights law.  The Catholic Church's Justice and Peace 
Commission also benefited from grants for training in human rights monitoring, 
as did the National Network for Defence of Human Rights, (formerly the National 
Coalition on Haitian Rights, NCHR).  It has also provided technical advice to 
human rights organizations on how to prepare complaints for the Inter-American 
Commission on Human Rights.  Further, the Special Mission has been monitoring, 
very closely, the situation regarding the cases of members of the former 
administration, information on which will be addressed in other sections of 
this report.

<snip>

In conjunction with the Department of Democratic and Political Affairs of the 
General Secretariat of the OAS, the SM facilitated the participation of a 
delegation of three Haitian politicians from different parties in the Caribbean 
Meeting of the Inter-American Forum on Political Parties in Montego Bay, 
Jamaica from April 27-29, addressing the particular challenges facing Haitian 
political parties.

<snip>

A most positive development was the launch of voter registration in the city of 
Gonaives on April 25th.  Political parties also held assemblies, in some cases 
nominating presidential and other candidates.  Given the high number of 
political parties in Haiti, mergers of some was an encouraging sign, in 
particular the merger of three parties to form the Social Democrats Fusion, a 
party linked to the Socialist International.

<snip>

An Ad Hoc Advisory group of the UN Economic and Social Council visited Haiti 
for four days in mid-April, to gather information for its long term plan for 
Haiti.  The Ad Hoc Advisory group declared on departure that its priorities for 
projects will be in education, environment and infrastructure.

A governmental decree declaring the launch of the National Dialogue was 
published on 6 April.  The government announced the creation of a commission of 
12 people to organize the dialogue, which will bring together Haitians of all 
sectors in all the provinces in the lead up to elections, aiming to promote 
depolarization and facilitate reconciliation. The National Dialogue format has 
however not been welcomed by all sectors.

Speaking from South Africa, former President Aristide continued to encourage 
his supporters to mobilize for his return.  The Lavalas Family continued to be 
ambiguous as to whether or not it will participate in elections, with some of 
its members calling for a boycott, and others encouraging supporters to 
register, in case the party decides to participate.

<snip>

A Ministerial Meeting on Aid for the Reconstruction of Haiti, convened by the 
French Foreign Ministry in Cayenne, French Guyana, on March 18, mobilized 782 
million Euros for 380 infrastructural and social projects. International donors 
agreed to relax disbursement procedures to speed up implementation of projects 
to satisfy the Haitian population's urgent needs.

<snip>

Following the serious spate of gun violence that rocked several neighbourhoods 
of the capital late March /early April, HNP carried out an operation to arrest 
Remissainthe Ravix and Rene Jean Anthony over the weekend of April 9/10.  The 
operation resulted in a shoot-out and the deaths of Ravix and Anthony, which 
brought a lull in the violence in the city.

<snip>

Throughout the month of April, there was a spate of kidnappings of high profile 
individuals, including a prominent cardiologist, school directors, Jean-Enol 
Buteau, general secretary of the Movement for National Reconstruction, a 
Russian civilian employee of MINUSTAH and an unnamed HNP officer.  This 
phenomenon has also been observed in Cap Haitien.  Most kidnapping victims were 
released on payment of ransoms, with some managing to escape or be released by 
the police with the assistance of MINUSTAH. Former victims' accounts suggested 
that some HNP officers may be involved in some kidnapping activities.

<snip>

The most important advancement during this period was the launching of voter 
registration on April 25 in the city of Gonaives, Department of L'Artibonite, a 
location chosen by the CEP for its national symbolism as the birthplace of 
Haitian independence. To date, thirteen registration offices have been 
successfully opened across the country, with at least one office opened in each 
provincial capital and some rural localities, which together will cover 
registration for close to 20% of the voting-age population. The CEP has 
expressed general satisfaction with the development of the process in the 
centers that are already functioning and reports from the media have been 
favorable. In support of this process, the Electoral Technical Assistance 
Program of the OAS in Haiti (ETAPH) has been working intensely to deploy the 
necessary equipment to the sites, train the required registration personnel 
that are being recruited by the CEP for the process, and follow registration 
activity in the field to ensure smooth technical operations.

Registration centres have reported very few technical problems.  The rate of 
registration in operating centres is good, despite there having been little 
available public information on the process, since the CEP launched its 
information campaigns only on May 16. Equal participation by all age groups has 
so far been noted.  However, less than 25% of those registered so far are 
women. The OAS Program has raised this publicly, and encouraged companies 
contracted by the CEP to conduct public information campaigns to promote 
greater participation by women.

<snip>

Haitian electoral law puts the deadline to complete registration at August 9, 
2005, a full two months before the first elections, which are municipal 
elections, scheduled for October 9th.  With registration beginning at the end 
of April, the time available for registration has been reduced to a little over 
three months, with the majority of sites still unopened around the country.

This slow pace of center openings is due to delays primarily in preparing 
infrastructure, the lack of adequate security personnel to provide static 
security to sites, and the lack of sufficient personnel for operations.

<snip>

The elections budget itself has been an important issue requiring full 
collaboration among partners during this period. Together, the executing 
organizations worked extensively with donor countries and institutions on 
reviewing and detailing the budget, which marked an increase from US$44 to 61m, 
required for additional costs in security, civic education, infrastructure, 
ground transportation, and information technology equipment, under-budgeted in 
the original budget projections or which became more costly as the time 
available for registration and the preparation of elections themselves became 
shorter. On May 12 a project document for the management of elections funds by 
the UNDP was signed by Prime Minister Latortue, the CEP, and the local heads of 
OAS, UNDP and MINUSTAH. The document is an updated version of the January 10 
project, to include the revised $US60.7m budget and acknowledge the deposit of 
the EU contribution of 10 million Euros.

<snip>

The ETAPH met during this period with three Canadian consultants, sent on 
elections-related missions to Haiti to evaluate the developing situation. Mr. 
Ron Gould was specifically charged with the task of examining, reviewing, and 
reporting on the elections budget situation and the overall electoral process. 
Mr. Gould recommended that voter registration and the issuance of National 
Identification Cards be highly prioritized. Since Mr. Gould's report, various 
government entities involved in the registration of citizens and the issuing of 
ID cards, together with the CEP and assisted by the UN and the OAS, have 
already drafted and submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval, a 
decree denoting the ID Card referred to in the electoral law as an obligatory 
document, and specifying its additional use (other than for voting) for 
everyday civil, political and commercial activities. The adoption of this 
decree would be of great significance for the registration process, since the 
possibility of obtaining, free of charge, a durable, reliable and multi-purpose 
identification card would be an added incentive for many to register.

<snip>

 The transitional period provided a unique opportunity to break with the 
practices of the past and to build a judicial system upon the foundation of the 
Constitution of Haiti and key Inter-American and international civil and human 
rights instruments.

<snip>

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