30703: Forrest (reply) RE: 30701: Fofoye (reply) Re: 30676: Loccm (reply) Re: 30652: Lorsbach (reply) Re: 30648: Durban ... (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

> From fmooy@tulane.edu

It's funny, at first I thought FOFOYE was describing the Louisiana State court 
system instead of that of Haiti. The anecdote sounds familiar to some I've 
heard in New Orleans. Anecdotes aside (hallelujah Selby for finally pointing 
out some actual data, I'll definitely take a look) I wonder where your hope for 
the future is.

FOFOYE, you attack those of us with hope for Haiti as being superficial, but at 
the same time you describe Haiti in such superficial terms yourself. You say 
that Haiti has:

     "...no  infrastructure..."

But everyday I see crews out cleaning and fixing the streets, I see lights on 
(for a few hours at least) in neighborhoods where there are clearly no 
generators or inverters, I drive on newly graded and vastly improving roads 
like the one connecting PAP to Miragoane. These may be small signs of 
infrastructure development, but the are, nonetheless, real.

     "...no laws; no attorneys; no courts; no judges; no justice..."

but everyday I deal with Haiti's laws and some outstanding Haitian legal minds. 
It is true that there is a lot of corruption and bureaucracy here, the same is 
true in other places. In spite of that, many good people and organizations are 
using the Haitian legal system to their advantage in bringing about positive 
change. I have nothing but sympathy for your particular experience dealing with 
the Haitian legal system. You clearly feel that you were mistreated. At the 
same time, I would point out that Haitian renter's laws are incredibly pro 
renter. Without in anyway questioning your version of events, I have to say 
that I doubt very much that a similarly situated landlord could obtain judgment 
against a tenant before 5 years time had elapsed. That's not corruption or 
bureaucracy, that's just the law here. You may not like it; You may, like me, 
scratch your head and wonder how, in a country were everything else is so 
clearly stacked against the poor masses, such progressive renter's laws could 
develop, but that's the law.

     "...no  jails..."

but in reality there are plenty of jails in Haiti. They're just full of so many 
innocent people, there's no room for crooks.

     "...no real "education"..."

but I've never meet a people so hungry for learning. It is true that formal 
public education system here is a joke and millions can't read or write, but 
the same was true in the United States early in its history. That didn't 
prevent the US from developing. Anecdotally, I might also add that I am always 
surprised when I travel to small towns in the provinces here, like Boucankare 
or Milo, to find how many multilingual people there are among the illiterate 
crowd.

     "...no honesty [&] no conscience..."

but I would argue that it is the land owning elite in the country that are 
dishonest and without conscience, who represent a small fraction of the Haitian 
population. The millions swinging hoes in the countryside have don't seem to be 
in any position to cheat anyone and, in fact, seem to me to be generally honest 
and God fearing people.

You say that Haiti is not yet ready, it's not yet mature, its people are not 
yet grown up; When will it be ready? Who will show the country the way? How can 
things advance except by small steps (tipa tipa as the proverb goes)? If we 
don't talk about security and acknowledge the small, incremental, positive 
changes, how can we ever expect progress. You may be ready to throw up your 
hands and abandon hope, but there are millions who are not.

Forrest Mooy
Fonkoze S.A. Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Juris Doctor Candidate, May 2009
Tulane University Law School
email: fmooy@tulane.edu