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Haiti Report for January 10, 2007

Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

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Haiti Report for January 10, 2007

The Haiti Report is a compilation and summary of events as described
in Haiti and international media prepared by Konbit Pou Ayiti/KONPAY.
It does not reflect the opinions of any individual or organization.
This service is intended to create a better understanding of the
situation in Haiti by presenting the reader with reports that provide
a variety of perspectives on the situation.

To make a donation to support this service: Konbit Pou Ayiti, 7 Wall
Street, Gloucester, MA, 01930 or visit our website: www.konpay.org

IN THIS REPORT:

- - Spirit Airlines to Begin Offering Ft. Lauderdale to Port-au-Prince
Flight
- - Senator Kidnapped
- - Several Killed During UN/Police Operation in Cite Soleil
- - Children as Kidnapping Targets
- - Peaceful Demonstration Calls for Return of Aristide and Protests UN
Presence in Haiti
- - Preval's Cancer has Not Returned
- - Criminal Deportees Face Danger Due to Prejudice in Haiti
- - Montas Named Spokeswoman for New UN Secretary General
- - Wyclef Jean is Appointed as Roving Ambassador for Haiti
- - Number of Migrants Dropped in 2006
- - UN Secretary General Recommends MINUSTAH Extension Until February 2008
- - UN and Haitian Police Raid Cite Soleil to Arrest Alleged Shooter
- - Haiti Prisons are Overcrowded and Inhumane
- - New Commander for the MINUSTAH
- - Digicel Reports 100%% Subscriber Growth in 2006
- - Fire Destroys Market in Petionville
- - Tourism in Haiti
- - Schools Reopened After the Holidays
- - President Preval Accuses US of Not Doing Enough to Help Fight Drug
Trade
- - Commentary - Spiraling out of Control, Campaign for the Reduction
of Violence in Haiti
- - Commentary - Resolutions for Haiti, Brian Concannon

Spirit Airlines to Begin Offering Ft. Lauderdale to Port-au-Prince
Flight:
In a departure from its sun-and-fun marketing approach to the
Caribbean, Spirit Airlines has asked the Department of Transportation
for permission to serve Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to capitalize on the
growing Haitian population in South Florida. If approved, the Miramar-
based carrier plans to begin nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale-
Hollywood International Airport by late March or early April,
offering fares that undercut American Airlines' nonstops from Fort
Lauderdale and Miami. The move is part of Spirit's efforts to
increase routes in the Caribbean and Latin America, offering few
frills but lower prices to a segment of the flying public that
focuses largely on cost, company officials said Friday. Spirit won
U.S. approval late last month to serve Caracas, Venezuela, but that
request is pending Venezuelan government approval. "If we limited our
focus to leisure and the beach, we'd be missing an enormous market,"
said Ben Baldanza, Spirit's chief executive officer. The Haitian
market is a prime example, he said. According to a 2005 U.S. Census
Bureau survey, more than 240,000 Haitians live in South Florida, with
almost 88,000 in Broward County alone. "Add to this 10 million people
in Haiti, many of whom can't afford to fly at current prices, and we
see a huge opportunity," said Barry Biffle, Spirit's chief marketing
officer. (Sun Sentinel, 12/16)

Senator Kidnapped:
A Haitian senator was kidnapped by gunmen while driving near a
dangerous slum but escaped after several hours in captivity, a U.N.
official said Saturday. Sen. Andris Riche was seized Friday night
along a highway through the capital of Port-au-Prince, U.N. police
spokesman Fred Blaise said. Blaise said the senator, a member of the
opposition Organization for the
People's Struggle party, escaped early Saturday. The assault happened
near the sprawling seaside slum of Cite Soleil, a base for well-armed
gangs blamed for a string of recent abductions. Gunmen ambushed
Riche's pickup truck as he and three companions returned from a
celebration marking the 200th anniversary of Haiti's Senate, Blaise
said. Haitian broadcaster Radio Kiskeya reported the kidnappers
initially demanded a $200,000 ransom. (AP, 12/16)

Several Killed During UN/Police Operation in Cite Soleil:
U.N. peacekeeping troops traded heavy gunfire for more than five
hours Friday with gangs in a slum of the Haitian capital, and at
least five people were killed. U.N. armored personnel carriers
converged on the seaside slum of Cite Soleil early in the morning and
fighting quickly erupted between the two sides, according to
witnesses. Later, people who live in the slum showed Associated Press
photographers the bodies of five men they said had been killed by
fire from the U.N. troops. Two others, including a young boy, had
gunshot wounds. In past gunbattles in Haiti's crowded, maze-like
slums, people have been struck by crossfire from both sides so it was
not possible to confirm who shot the five men. The U.N. released a
statement saying it had launched a joint operation with Haiti's
National Police in Cite Soleil as part of an effort to fight a recent
upsurge in kidnapping and other violence by gangs based in the slum.
U.N. representatives could not immediately comment on reports of
casualties. U.N. forces were also seeking to take back control from
the gangs of a principal route through the slum at the northern edge
of the capital, Port-au-Prince. (AP, 12/22)

At least nine people were killed in Haiti's largest slum on Friday
during a raid by security forces targeting armed gangs blamed for a
recent surge in kidnappings and other crimes in the capital Port-au-
Prince. It was one of the worst outbreaks of violence in the
chaotic Caribbean country in more than a year and came hours after
the U.N. chief envoy to Haiti, Edmond Mulet, said the government had
given the go-ahead for a crackdown on areas controlled by gangs.
About 400 U.N. soldiers in armored vehicles, backed by Haitian police
forces, stormed a district called Bwa Nef in the volatile slum of
Cite Soleil in a move to dislodge heavily armed gang members led by a
young man known as Belony. A Reuters photographer counted nine
bodies from the clashes that ensued and eyewitnesses counted four
others dead. As many as 30 people were wounded, humanitarian aid
workers said. All of the casualties were believed to be civilians.
"The foreigners came shooting for hours without interruption and
killed 10 people," Johnny Claircidor, a resident of Bwa Nef, told
Reuters. "Then Belony's gang members started to exchange fire with
them", he said. "I personally counted 10 bodies," Claircidor said.
The spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti, Sophie
De la Combe, declined to provide a toll. "No one was killed or
injured on our side, but it's difficult for us to know for now how
many bandits could have been killed or wounded," said De la Combe.
The U.N. operation, conducted jointly with the Haitian police, was
launched at about 3 a.m. and was led by Brazilian peacekeepers. "The
operation was conducted to address the current insecurity caused by
the recent wave of kidnappings in the capital Port-au-Prince," said
Jean Saint-Fleur, the director of Haiti's Administrative Police.
(Reuters, 12/22)

Children as Kidnapping Targets:
Kidnappers freed seven children who were seized on their way to
school in a volatile suburb of Haiti's capital, a U.N. official said
Friday. The children were released unharmed late Thursday following
negotiations between their relatives and the captors, but it was
unclear whether a ransom was paid, U.N. police spokesman Fred Blaise
said. The students, whose ages were not released, were riding to
school in the northern La Plaine suburb Wednesday when armed men
hijacked their vehicle. Their release came as several Haitian media
outlets reported a string of new child abductions in and around Port-
au-Prince. Ten children were kidnapped in the capital on Thursday,
private Radio Kiskeya reported. Haitian authorities could not
immediately confirm the report. More than 30 children have been
reported kidnapped in Haiti since November. Fear of kidnappings has
led many schools in the capital to close until after the Christmas
holiday. (AP, 12/15)

In perpetually turbulent Haiti, where children already suffer high
rates of illiteracy, child slavery and mortality, its most vulnerable
citizens now face a growing danger: kidnappings. They are being
snatched while walking to or from school; hijacked while riding in
school buses; abducted during home invasions; delivered to kidnappers
by the family driver. And in the horrifying case of Natacha Farah
Kerbie Dessources: shoved into a waiting car with five armed men as
she pounded on the front gate of her house. ''I didn't think they
were going to kill my child,'' Maggy Dessources said. But they did.
Even after a ransom of $500 was paid. Natacha's bullet-riddled body
was found near a heap of trash two days after she was kidnapped last
month. Haitian and international authorities can't say with certainty
how many kidnappings have taken place in the recent past. Victims
tend to avoid reporting abductions, they say, especially if they
involve children. But the Haiti director of the U.N. Children's Fund
estimates that 48 youths have been kidnapped since November; a U.N.
official familiar with the issue puts it at 60 since November; and a
Port-au-Prince human-rights organization says at least 68 children
were abducted from Nov. 10-Dec. 15.

Shortly afterward, police announced they had found the strangled body
of 6-year-old Carl Rubens Francillon, kidnapped on Nov. 8 in Port-au-
Prince. His family driver has been arrested. His parents also had
paid a ransom. On Dec. 13, kidnappers hijacked a school bus with
seven children on their way to school. It was one of four kidnapping
incidents that day involving 22 kids, officials say. All were
released unharmed after their parents paid ransoms. ''Children are in
a state of panic,'' said Adriano Gonzalez-Regueral, UNICEF's
representative in Haiti. ``They are having their childhoods destroyed
by the situation right now. They are shaken. If they are being
educated in fear, we can expect the future will not be so
brilliant.'' In a country where 49 percent of the 8.3 million people
are under the age of 18, children already face daunting odds,
according to UNICEF statistics: 1,000 are involved in armed gangs;
170,000 live in virtual slavery as household servants known as
restavecs, and fewer than 50 percent attend school. ''They are more
and more afraid to go to school,'' Gonzalez-Regueral said. As a
result of the child kidnappings, schools closed early for Christmas
vacation and some frustrated Haitians have been calling for
kidnappers to be shot on sight. Some lawmakers have proposed a return
of the death penalty, now forbidden by the constitution.

Both Gonzalez-Regueral and Esperance say kidnappers are deliberately
targeting kids to destabilize the government of Prival, elected in
February after two years of rule by an interim government following
the violent ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. ''The
concentration of children being kidnapped implies a kind of
coordination, of some kind of plan,'' Gonzalez-Regueral said. Fred
Blaise, spokesman for the foreign policemen deployed in Haiti as part
of a U.N. peacekeeping force, said authorities have been unable to
discern any pattern. At the very least, the child kidnappings have
highlighted the inability of the Haitian government and the 9,000-
strong U.N. mission to control the country's daunting security
problems -- despite ongoing government efforts to negotiate with the
armed gangs to demobilize and surrender their weapons. ''There needs
to be a clear signal from the government they have divorced
themselves from the people who are terrorizing the population,'' said
Esperance. ``There has to be a message they are going to reinforce
the police and justice.''

Haitian and U.N. police say they are making progress with an anti-
kidnapping operation they launched earlier this month, going after
the perpetrators in their hangouts. So far, there have been 25
arrests. ''We've tried to stop reading their minds on why they are
going after kids,'' said Blaise. ``All we can do as police officers
is ask the population to keep calling and we can try to put these
people in jail.'' Last week, Haitian police announced they had
arrested a suspect in Natacha Dessources' kidnapping. But that
brought little comfort to her mother, who is trying to leave Haiti
with her son. ''I see visions of her on the ground . . . I can't
sleep at night,'' said Maggy Dessources, adding that she continued to
get threatening phone calls from kidnappers even after Natacha's
death. "Every time I hear about another child being kidnapped, I
don't feel good. I can't live. I can't eat.'' (Miami Herald, 12/27)

Peaceful Demonstration Calls for Return of Aristide and Protests UN
Presence in Haiti:
About 1,000 supporters of ousted former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide marched through the Haitian capital Thursday to demand his
return from exile and protest the presence of U.N. peacekeepers. The
peaceful demonstration marked the largest show of support in months
for Aristide, who fled Haiti in February 2004 amid a violent uprising
and has been living in South Africa. "This is a gift for the end of
the year for President Aristide," said Deshommes Presengloire, a
spokesman for Aristide's Lavalas party. Carrying photographs of the
bespectacled former priest, demonstrators gathered at a church where
Aristide once preached and walked to the National Palace, accompanied
by vans blasting music and a police escort. Some of the protesters
accused U.N. peacekeeping troops of firing indiscriminately during
gunbattles with gangsters, killing and wounding civilians. The U.N.
denies the charge and says its troops, which arrived in June 2004,
only shoot when attacked. (AP, 12/28)

Preval's Cancer has Not Returned:
Haitian President Rene Preval said Friday after undergoing tests in
Cuba that his prostate cancer has not returned. Preval, 63, said he
would go back to see his Cuban doctors on March 18,
but that the health of his prostate was "under control. The
Constitution says that if a president is not in good health, he can't
continue with his functions but that doesn't apply to me because I'm
in good health," he said upon arriving back in Haiti. Preval revealed
earlier this month that blood tests showed possible signs of cancer,
but that the results were inconclusive. He was diagnosed with
prostate cancer in 2001, the final year of his first presidential
term, and was treated in Cuba. (AP, 12/29)

Criminal Deportees Face Danger Due to Prejudice in Haiti:
In Haiti, where deportees are widely thought to fuel gang violence
and kidnappings, the struggle to assimilate is a perilous one. A
misplaced pronoun can give you away, subjecting deportees to outright
hostility. But no physical trait advertises a deportee's status more
loudly than grills (a line of gold caps affixed to the front teeth),
which are virtually non-existent here except in the mouths of youths
who have lived in the United States. Some deportees have gotten rid
of them to avoid discrimination -- and thugs looking to extract the
gold and sell it. "It's all I have as a token of the United States.
It's like a trophy," said Petion, 27, who left Haiti with his family
as a toddler and grew up in South Florida as a permanent resident.
Federal officials deported him after he served a nine-month sentence
for driving with a suspended license and signing a false name to a
traffic ticket. Wearing a grill in Haiti, "you don't know what might
happen," he said. "I don't walk the streets." To underscore his
point, he mentions a friend who had a grill and was abducted seven
months ago. The kidnappers pulled off the caps one by one, with pliers.

Haitians account for a relatively small percentage of deportations
from the United States. But community activists in South Florida have
complained that federal officials are putting deportees at risk by
sending them back to the troubled nation during violent flare-ups.
They've also asked for the government to extend temporary protected
status to Haitians already living in the United States, which would
allow them to stay here while their country recovers from cycles of
political strife. Haiti has been known to temporarily jail criminal
deportees even if no charges are pending against them in their
homeland. Authorities say the measure is precautionary, since crime
is already rampant. Haiti's roller-coaster ride through rebellion and
lawlessness has included reports of deportees popping up in the ranks
of insurgent gangs.

"They are killing us," said Gregory Basile, standing at a lottery
ticket stall in Port-au-Prince, expressing a common view of
deportees. "They should not send them here. These guys are very good.
They know how to use firearms. They can just lean against a car and
open it without using a key." Once released, criminal deportees face
an uphill battle to assimilate. When Petion and Charles arrived,
their homeland was a foreign place to them. Petion was two years old
when his parents left. Charles was eight. Neither spoke much Creole.
They became friends and now they share the scrapings of American
culture that come their way: a care-package of Oreo cookies and
pancake mix, a jar of peanut butter. They say they have both had
difficulty finding work in Haiti's shipwrecked economy, in part
because of the stigma of deportation. And they've learned to stop
speaking English around police, whom they mistrust.

Michelle Karshan, executive director of the Alternative Chance
counseling program for criminal deportees, said grills spark fear and
can even provoke malice in Haitians, who usually associate the gold
caps with hardcore criminality. But many deportees are not hardened
criminals. Some simply overstayed tourist visas. Among criminal
deportees, convictions range from misdemeanors to felonies, the
majority related to street-level drug sales. "I know guys that don't
speak, they don't smile, if they have the gold teeth," Karshan said.
"You don't have free movement in your own society." The issue
prompted Karshan to call a Fort Lauderdale dentist who fitted some of
the deportees' grills to ask if he would voluntarily remove them. He
was under review by licensing authorities, she said, and hung up on
her. While the gold caps represent one of the most ostentatious
barriers to fitting in, deportees say dreadlocks, accents, and even
posture can give them away. "They even walk differently. They're
physically different because they are healthier than the general
population, and a lot have come from prison so they've lifted
weights," Karshan said. "The word criminal implies assassin in
Creole," she added. "That alone puts you on the wrong foot. There's a
perception they're all killers." (Sun Sentinel, 12/29)

Montas Named Spokeswoman for New UN Secretary General:
Michele Montas' husband was assassinated six years ago. She continued
the broadcasts herself until gunmen opened fire on her home and sent
her death threats, forcing her to
flee the country. On Tuesday, Montas began her new job on the other
side of the microphone, conducting her first media briefing as
spokeswoman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who succeeds Kofi
Annan. Though she would have preferred to stay in Haiti, she sees her
new position as a way to further her causes in her home country and
publicize other human rights abuses around the world. "Working as a
journalist in Haiti ... we touched people's lives on a daily basis,"
she said in an interview with The Associated Press at U.N.
headquarters. "Of course, as a spokeswoman I will be talking about
other things besides Haiti. However, it's always there and it's part
of me." Montas has been a spokeswoman before -- for the president of
the U.N. General Assembly from September 2003 until September 2004,
soon after she fled to New York. (AP, 1/2)

Wyclef Jean is Appointed as Roving Ambassador for Haiti:
Haitian President Rene Preval has appointed Haitian-born hip-hop star
Wyclef Jean as a roving ambassador to promote the troubled country's
image abroad, government officials said on Wednesday. "We wish we
could have several Wyclefs as roving ambassadors because the country
could have gained so much," Foreign Affairs Minister Renald Clerisme
told Reuters in an interview. Jean moved to New York when he was
nine, but has been active in his support of his native country,
regularly wearing the Haitian flag on his clothing at public events
and creating a foundation to provide aid and assistance there.
Government officials praised the Grammy award-winning Jean as a model
for youth, the pride of all Haitians and "our best asset to promote
the country's image around the world and to help attract foreign
investors." The presidential palace announced that Preval, who left
Port-au-Prince on Wednesday for a three-day visit to Jamaica, would
be joined there by Jean. Haiti's government credits Jean with
successfully lobbying the U.S. Congress for passage of a trade bill
expected to help create textile manufacturing jobs in Haiti.
(Reuters, 1/3)

Number of Migrants Dropped in 2006:
The number of migrants stopped off the southeastern U.S. coast
dropped by more than 40 percent last year, the U.S. Coast Guard said
Wednesday. Coast Guard agents patrolling the waters of South
Carolina, Florida and the Caribbean, where migrants from Cuba, Haiti
and the Dominican Republic frequently arrive, stopped 6,061 migrants
in 2006, down from 10,279 in 2005. Stormy weather, fear of increased
patrols and political changes in the migrants' home countries
contributed to the drop, officials said. The number of Cubans stopped
at sea dropped only slightly, but the number of Haitians stopped
dropped sharply, down 60 percent to 769 people. The number of
Dominicans stopped also had a steep drop -- down 50 percent to 2,203.
Miami-based Haitian advocate Marleine Bastien said the drop in
Haitian apprehensions was likely tied to last year's election of the
country's president, Rene Preval, who has received wide support both
internationally and at home. "Haitians want to live in Haiti. They
want to stay in Haiti. They only come here when they feel their lives
and the lives of their loved ones are threatened," Bastien said.
"Whenever there's a democratically elected government in place, they
tend to have a 'wait and see' attitude." Bastien said U.S.
immigration policies have also decreased the flow. Haitians who
illegally make it into the U.S. are generally sent back, while most
Cubans who reach U.S. soil are allowed to stay. (AP, 1/3)

UN Secretary General Recommends MINUSTAH Extension Until February 2008:
Citing significant challenges for Haitis Government, the United
Nations Secretary-General has recommended extending the world bodys
mission in the impoverished country for a further 12 months until
February 2008. The report by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who
was succeeded as the worlds top diplomat on 1 January by Ban Ki-
moon, covers the work of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH) for five months until December 2006, including its
logistical and security assistance for last months elections. The
Government will continue to face significant challenges in the coming
months Accordingly, I recommend that the Mission be extended for a
further 12-month periodand with its present authorized troop and
police ceilings, Mr. Annan wrote, referring to MINUSTAHs current
mandate that ends on 15 February 2007. Citing the potential for
destabilizing forces to use violence to attain their objectives, he
argued that, The continued engagement of the Missions military and
police will remain crucial in responding to significant threats at a
time when Haitis own security capacity is still at an early stage of
development. MINUSTAH currently employs more than 6,600 military
personnel and over 1,700 police officers, as well as hundreds of
civilian staff assisting the people of Haiti, which is the poorest
nation in the Western Hemisphere. The challenges ahead for the
Government cover the areas of security, institution-building and
socio-economic development, Mr. Annan noted, adding that while
primary responsibility for ensuring progress remains with Haitis
leadership and people, international aid remains essential.
Sustained bilateral assistance will be indispensable to further
reinforce and strengthen democratic structures of governance and rule
of law, including through meeting key infrastructural requirements.
This will also be crucial to bringing tangible improvements to the
daily lives of Haitians. Tangible improvements in the socio-economic
conditions of the general population, including through job creation,
is essential to forestall an increase in popular discontent that
could unravel all that has been accomplished thus far. In December,
the UN launched an appeal in Geneva for $98 million for Haiti to
cover basic services, political governance and economic recovery, as
well as provide assistance to help authorities better prepare for
natural disasters. (UPI, 1/3)

UN and Haitian Police Raid Cite Soleil to Arrest Alleged Shooter:
U.N. troops and local police raided a slum in Haiti's capital Friday
and arrested an alleged gang member wanted in the slaying of two
Jordanian peacekeepers, the U.N. mission said. No shots were fired
during the pre-dawn operation in Port-au-Prince's Cite Soleil slum, a
base for well-armed gangs blamed for a spate of kidnappings and
shooting deaths, the mission said in a statement. An alleged gang
member identified only as Zachari was captured and turned over to
Haitian police for the Nov. 10 killing of the Jordanians, who were
driving back to base when their jeep came under heavy gunfire. A
suspected kidnapper also was arrested in the raid. The U.N. mission
said Zachari directed kidnappings for the feared Beloney gang, which
authorities allege is behind a wave of recent abductions for ransom.
U.N. troops have announced plans to increase patrols next week to
prevent kidnappers from targeting children returning to school after
the Christmas holiday. (AP, 1/5)

Haiti Prisons are Overcrowded and Inhumane:
Haiti's prisons have grown so crowded prisoners must take turns
sleeping as police step up arrests of alleged gangsters blamed for a
wave of violence and kidnappings, government and human rights
officials said on Friday. "We're facing a critical situation with our
prisons which have no more room to hold prisoners," Haiti's Secretary
of State for Public Safety Eucher Luc Joseph told Reuters. The
national penitentiary in the capital, Port-au-Prince, was built to
hold 800 prisoners and now houses over 2,000. "We're experiencing the
same situation in all the other prisons and police custodies around
the country," Joseph said. Haitian police have intensified operations
against criminal gangs and the number of arrests has increased
considerably in the past few months. The United States has also
increased the number of Haitian criminals deported to their homeland
to about 100 a month, from 25. Haitian officials said many of those
deportees have long criminal records and will be held even though
they have not been charged with crimes in Haiti and have already
served their sentences in the United States. "We have to detain those
deportees because they pose a threat to the country's national
security," said Joseph. In many prisons, detainees sleep in turn on
the floor, live in inhumane conditions and are deprived of adequate
medical care, said Renan Hedouville, head of the Haitian Lawyers
Committee for Human Rights. "Some prisoners have to stand up, while
others sleep for one or two hours before giving up their place to
other inmates," Hedouville told Reuters. "The living conditions in
those prisons are in total violation of the principles of human
rights." Government officials acknowledged that the situation in the
country's detention centers is critical, but argue that they have an
obligation to hold prisoners while they work to change conditions.
(Reuters. 1/5)

New Commander for the MINUSTAH:
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today named Major General Carlos
Alberto Dos Santos Cruz of Brazil as the new Force Commander of the
peacekeeping UN Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). The major general, 50,
has been the Commander of the 13th Infantry Light Brigade since
January 2005. He has also served as Chief of the Section of
International Relations for the Brazilian Army General Staff as well
as the Brazilian Defence Attachi to the Russian Federation. Major
General Santos Cruz joined the Brazilian Army in 1971 and was awarded
a doctorate from the Command and Staff College in 1990. He will
succeed Lt. Gen. Josi Elito Carvalho Siqueira, also of Brazil, who
was appointed to the post in January 2006. The Secretary-General
communicated his intention to appoint Major General Santos Cruz in a
letter to the Security Council. The mission has a mandate to promote
a secure and stable environment, support the political process and
monitor and uphold human rights. (UN News Center, 1/9)

Digicel Reports 100%% Subscriber Growth in 2006:
Digicel Group, the dominant mobile phone company in the region, said
yesterday its customer base had climbed above four million phone
users in 2006, representing 100 per cent subscriber growth last year.
The growth was concommitant with its expansion into new markets
throughout 2006, and as Digicel grew so did its corps of employees
which climbed from about 2,200 to 3,000. But the privately owned
telecoms, founded by Irishman Denis O'Brien, refused to provide
details of its market and earnings, saying it was not prepared to
give any more details other than provided in the release, according
to an emailed response from Group PR Maureen Rabbitt. In Haiti, it
already signed up one million customers after seven months of
operation in a country of about eight million. In Jamaica, where the
company had its start in 2001, its subscriber base was last reported
at more than 1.8 billion in a population of about 2.7 million. It's
unclear whether Jamaica remains its hottest market, since the company
also refused comment on the countries where it does most business.
The company boasts that, compounded, its five month growth in
subscribers is running at 1,432 per cent. Digicel's investment of US
$260 million for its service roll-out in Haiti in May was, according
to the telecoms, "the largest investment ever made in the country by
an international company." (Jamiaca Gleaner, 1/10)

Fire Destroys Market in Petionville:
A fire ripped through a large indoor food market in Haiti's capital
Monday, destroying merchandise but causing no injuries. The blaze
began before dawn and quickly consumed the La Couple market in the
Port-au-Prince suburb of Petionville. The normally bustling market
was closed at the time and no vendors or shoppers were inside,
witnesses said. The cause wasn't immediately clear, but some
bystanders accused political militants of torching the market in a
feud over last month's disputed local elections. Police did not
immediately comment on the fire. Firefighters arrived hours later and
extinguished the flames, which destroyed thousands of dollars worth
of vegetables, fruit, rice, flour and oil. Vendors wept as they
sifted through smoldering mounds of corrugated tin and charred
vegetables to salvage anything of value. The market is a vital
economic hub for hundreds of landless peasants who make long treks
from the countryside each morning to sell their wares. (AP, 1/8)

Tourism in Haiti:
On a sunny day in November, Haitian-American hip-hop star Wyclef Jean
visited this mountain-fringed seaside town for the first time.
Descending from a plane at the tiny airport, he said in Creole to a
crowd of Haitian journalists that he could already see the country
was more beautiful than Jamaica. The comparison with Jamaica is a
common one here, as people bemoan the fact that visitors flock to
their Caribbean neighbor while tourism is virtually dead in Haiti
because of years of unrest. Jean had long planned to give a large,
free "concert for peace" in
Port-au-Prince, but the level of violence in the capital made such an
event impossible. He switched venues to Jacmel's town beach, where
tens of thousands of fans gathered to hear him play in December
without incident. The words "tourism" and "Haiti" once fit
harmoniously together. But after the overthrow of the Duvalier
dictatorship in the 1980s, the country's economy fell apart and
instability reigned. In Port-au-Prince today, kidnappers and gangs
humiliate Haiti's weak police force and the UN peacekeepers who
support them. The United States advises its citizens against visiting
the country. And with few exceptions, travel guides to the Caribbean
ignore the western half of Hispaniola, while giving extensive
coverage of the resort-filled eastern side, the Dominican Republic.

But Jacmel is a different place from Port-au-Prince. Patrick Boucard,
cofounder of Jacmel's annual film festival , is spearheading a music
festival set for May. The music festival is part of an ongoing effort
to make the outside world understand that his town is far removed
from the Haiti that makes headlines overseas. Most of Haiti " is not
Port-au-Prince," Boucard said. "We should not be penalized by what
happens [within] a tenth of the country." Today, well-to-do Port-au-
Prince residents visit Jacmel on weekends. They can stroll through
the town, visit galleries, listen to live music, and eat grilled
lobster and conch at nearby beaches. But few foreigners venture to
Jacmel. Boucard is looking for ways for tourists to visit Haiti
without having to
set foot in the capital. There are 15-minute flights from Port-au-
Prince to Jacmel, but some visitors fear traveling on the half-mile
strip of road that runs from the capital's international airport to
its domestic airport -- never mind make the three-hour drive from
Port-au-Prince to Jacmel, 25 miles to the south. So Boucard is trying
to get "boutique cruises," small sailing ships, to
take 60 to 100 passengers from Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital,
to Jacmel for the music festival.

Boucard and other advocates of "integrated," or cultural, tourism
don't want Haiti to become just another Caribbean get away. When
Boucard envisions tourism in Haiti, piqa coladas on the white sands
don't feature in. "I would like us to grow gradually with ecotourism,
artisan tourism, [with a] better quality of tourists, who can
appreciate our culture and arts and crafts," he said. But to others,
especially self-described realists, the poorest and least-developed
country in the Americas can hardly be picky about who lands on its
shores and spends money. "If you think you're just going to do
without the international corporations, you're fooling yourself,"
said Philippe Armand, a Haitian businessman and vice president of the
Regional American Chambers of Commerce. Armand is pushing for
enclosed, all-inclusive resorts and cruise ships to come to Jacmel,
among other ports. "We have to create secured environments," he said,
similar to those in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

Already, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship anchors off the north of Haiti
two to three times a week, and thousands of tourists spend the day on
jet skis, water slides, and lounge chairs at the enclosed beach of
Labadee. As recently as a year ago, passengers were told that they
were debarking not in Haiti but onto a private island off the coast
of Hispaniola. Since then, a sign has been built welcoming visitors
to Haiti, and some are aware that they are on the mainland, but they
are penned in by razor wire, with no option of leaving the grounds.
Royal Caribbean pays $6 per passenger per day in taxes, which amounts
to about $3 million per year. And hundreds of Haitians are employed
at the beach. But locals say the benefits are minuscule compared with
what they would be if passengers were able to enter "the real Haiti."
Officials in Milot, a small town about 16 miles and more than an
hour's drive from Labadee, want Royal Caribbean to help pave the
rough dirt road that connects them and let the ship's passengers make
the journey. (Boston Globe, 1/8)

Schools Reopened After the Holidays:
A return to classes commenced on Monday with calm in Haiti9s capital.
This situation contrasts with the situation that bore down on Port-au-
Prince before the holidays, a period marked by an increase in
violence and kidnapping. In fact, children were removed from the
metropolitain region of Port-au-Prince and buses arriving from the
provinces were hijacked. It was thought that the situation would calm
following a MINUSTAH raid on Citi Soleil, that left tens of victims,
including women and children. Although numbers were low on the first
day, students returned to the road to school peacefully with
assurance that measures announced by the authorities would take
effect. The Secretary of State for public safety, Luc Eucher Joseph,
guaranteed that all available measures had been adopted to encourage
safety upon return to school in January. Police patrols were
intensified in areas surrounding schools in order to protect the
students, assured Mr. Eucher. He said that they were counting on the
cooperation with the public to ensure that kidnappers would be
deterred. Luc Eucher Joseph used the opportunity to call on all
sectors working outside the law to comply. He cited an example of the
country's elite continuing to circulate in vehicles with tinted
windows despite warnings issued by the authorities against this
practice. Numerous kidnappings and other violent crimes are
committed regularly by people driving vehicles with tinted windows,
he said. A source close to the police also stated that the position
of the State must be respected by all parties in order to bear fruit.
The source said that the authorities must also manage to disarm the
same sector of its heavy weapons that the sector claims it needs to
protect its interests. Disarmament is as urgent a priority in the
marginalized neighbourhoods as it is in the posh districts, said the
same police source, asserting that these areas swarm with bandits.
The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), also
confirmed in conjunction with Haitian authorities, a security plan to
encourage the return to classes. According to a press release, the
plan includes verifying the identity of pedestrians and searching
suspect vehicles. MINUSTAH reiterated their willingness to work with
the government in order to establish a climate of security. (AHP, 1/8)

President Preval Accuses US of Not Doing Enough to Help Fight Drug
Trade:
President Rene Preval said Haiti remained a "victim of drug-consuming
countries" in a speech Monday, accusing the United States in
particular of not doing enough to help his impoverished nation fight
the narcotics trade. In his annual address to open Parliament, Preval
called drug trafficking and the corruption it breeds the main threats
facing Haiti as it struggles to return to stability. Renewing a
criticism he made in his first presidential term, Preval accused
rich, drug-consuming countries of blaming Haiti for failing to stop
the flow of illegal drugs while doing little to boost the Caribbean
country's weak defenses. "A lot of crimes happening in the country
are connected to drugs. But everybody knows that Haiti doesn't
produce drugs. Haiti isn't a big consumer of drugs. ... Haiti is the
victim of drug-consuming countries, mainly the United States," Preval
said, repeating the words from a speech he first made six years ago.
"Since I made that speech ... , has the situation changed? I don't
think so," Preval said. A spokeswoman at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-
Prince declined to comment Monday evening. With its ill-equipped
defense forces and hard-to-protect coastline, Haiti has long been an
attractive transshipment point for drug traffickers smuggling South
American cocaine into the U.S. and Europe. (AP, 1/8)

Commentary - Spiraling out of Control: the authorities must make
security a priority, Campaign for the Reduction of Violence in Haiti
The Campaign for the Reduction of Violence in Haiti is concerned and
outraged by the ever-increasing level of violence in the country. The
past several weeks have been witness to numerous horrific and
deplorable acts of terror and violence a violence now apparently
aimed at innocent children. The prevalence of terror and anarchy
threaten to take complete control of the city of Port-au-Prince if
authorities do not take urgent measures to stop this violence.
Kidnappers operate throughout the metropolitan zone, from Laboule to
Croix des Bouquets to Carrefour-Feuilles to Turgeau. From the
beginning of December until the 19th, 41 people died from gun
violence in the metropolitan area alone. The result is a population
traumatized and paralyzed by fear. Schools are closing their doors
early despite mid-year exams that are taking place, while other
schools have been forcefully taken over by armed groups setting up
camp. On many occasions, violent actions are announced in advance and
carried out in complete impunity.

Yet how can this be when there is an elected government in place
whose first priority is to guarantee its citizens security? How can
this be given the establishment of a parliamentary commission charged
with addressing insecurity issues? How can this be when there is a
National Commission for Disarmament, Dismantling, and Reinsertion
charged with removing guns from the hands of criminals? How can this
be given the presence of a 9,000+-strong UN peace keeping mission
with a specific mandate to support the stabilization of the security
situation? The government stresses the ongoing problem of deportees
from the United States. While it is clear that criminal deportees are
part of the problem, it is the responsibility of the Haitian
government to identify all the factors involved in the security
crisis, determine the degree to which they are factors and develop
strategies to deal with them accordingly.

The Campaign for the Reduction of Violence in Haiti acknowledges that
government resources are limited. But urgent situations require
urgent measures and the immediate security of the population to whom
it is accountable is priority. The Haitian government continues to
call on the population to lend its support and collaborate with
authorities. While truly an essential and crucial element in the
fight against insecurity, it is not enough. It is only by way of
urgent and immediate government initiatives demonstrating a solid
political will and promoting transparency that the population will
mobilize and collaborate in the fight against insecurity.

The Campaign strongly believes in and actively promotes a process of
participatory community dialogues as an effective approach to
reducing violence in Haiti. Furthermore, it believes that it is
essential for the State, together with all social sectors to work
together to combat suffering and exclusion, in order to achieve a
certain level of social and economic justice that will serve to curb
the sources of violence and insecurity. One must maintain a clear
analysis of the situation in the face of this adversity that is
crushing public morale; it is such analysis that will produce
sustainable results. In order to do so, the government must first use
the force of the law to send clear signals to those sowing terror in
the streets of Port-au-Prince that this behaviour will not be
tolerated. Are these clear messages being sent to criminals during
government negotiations?

The government must stop complaining of the double standards of the
international community. Instead, Haitian authorities must develop
and share concrete plans, requesting the participation of all
national sectors, without exception, to actively participate in
resolving this crisis. Any delay in doing so only serves to risk the
generation of more victims, while hindering any possibilities for
concrete, sustainable development aimed at improving the socio-
economic lives of the people. With each day that passes, the little
control that is left is slipping away. The fifteen (15) organizations
that have joined together in the Campaign for the Reduction of
Violence in Haiti call on the Haitian government to focus its energy
and resources in swiftly responding to the security crisis that is
threatening to consume the capital. The Campaign calls on the Haitian
authorities to:

' Take precautionary measures in anticipation to threats by criminals
announcing to increase their activities during the Christmas holidays;
' Transform theoretical plans into concrete actions at the level of
the parliamentary and ministerial commissions working on security
issues in order to produce concrete and sustainable results;
' Take into consideration when reflecting on measures to be taken
relevant conventions, as well as the laws and Constitution of the
country and thus ensuring that these are respected during
implementation of security measures;
' Develop and implement a joint strategy between the PNH and MINUSTAH
in order to take maximum advantage of available MINUSTAH resources
(helicopters, vehicles, personnel etc) to reduce incidents of
violence within the city;
' Coordinate joint PNH-MINUSTAH patrols in strategic areas and at
strategic times, specifically in areas where schools are still
operational;
' Develop, communicate, and implement strategies regarding measures
to be taken at the beginning of 2007 to guarantee the security of the
student population, professors and parents ;
' Broadcast educational messages to encourage solidarity and mutual
assistance for individuals who have been victims of violence;
' Provide psychological support to children directly affected by the
violence, particularly those who have been kidnapped;
' Consider options for establishing a permanent joint PNH-MUNISTAH
presence in key conflict areas such as Fort Mercredi, Grand Ravine,
Martissant, La Pleine etc.
' Develop strategies for other cities and towns to prevent the
violence from spreading and to prevent criminals seeking refuge in
other areas;
' Encourage popular mobilization via the provision of a hot-line
which families of hostage victims may call for police support and
which members of the community may call to provide information;
' Develop, in collaboration with international partners, an
appropriate system to deal with individuals deported back to Haiti,
including the establishment of a rehabilitation/re-integration centre
and check-in programs with police authorities;
The Campaign also strongly encourages the Haitian population and
civil society to join together in solidarity and mobilize to demand
that the government take responsibility by responding to ones right
to live in peace and security. The country is suffocating under this
weight of insecurity, violence and impunity. This is not the Haiti
that we want to live in; this is not the Haiti that we want the world
know. It is time to end the suffering and the violence. Too much
blood has been shed. Violence causes suffering! Lets give our
country a chance!

For the Executive Committee: Yolette ETIENNE - Oxfam, Joseph GEORGES
- - SAKS, James Edwin WOOLEY - ActionAid, Erlande MERCERON - PEJEFE
Coordination Campagne pour la Riduction de la Violence en Haoti,
Tiliphones: (509) 510-2167 / (509) 245-2133, E-mail:
contact@campagnecontreviolence.org
Members of the Campaign for the Reduction of Violence in Haiti:
ActionAid, APROSIFA: Association pour la Promotion de la Sante
Integrale de la Famille, Caisse Populaire Saint Girard, CONCERN,
COZPAM: Plateforme des Associations Communautaire de la Zone
Mitropolitaine, Konbit Fanm Saj, KOZ, KROS: Kodinasyon Rejyonal
Oganizasyon Sides, KSIL: Kolektif Solidarite Idantite ak Libhte,
Oxfam, PEJEFE: Programme d'Encadrement de Jeunes, Femmes et Enfants,
RNDDH, SAKS: Sociiti dAnimation et de Communication, SOFA (12/18)

Commentary - Resolutions for Haiti, Brian Concannon
The New Year is a good time for all kinds of resolutions: resolutions
(or firm decisions) to do better next time; the resolution (or
settling) of conflicts; and passing resolutions (or expressions of a
joint opinion). Although any time of any year is a good time for
resolutions promoting stability, prosperity and peace in Haiti, this
New Year presents a particularly good opportunity for the U.S.
Congress. Haiti was the Americas' second independent country-
proclaiming its independence on New Year's Day 1804. But we did not
recognize our neighbor for fifty-eight years, because acknowledging
the freedom of a country run by former slaves raised too many hard
questions about our own commitment to freedom. We were trapped in a
conflict between our high-sounding espoused principles- all men are
created, endowed by the creator with the inalienable rights to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness, etc.- and the brutally low
reality of enslaving millions of human beings.

Abraham Lincoln took a step towards resolving that conflict on June
5, 1862, when he recognized Haiti during the U.S. Civil War. Three
and a half months later, President Lincoln took the next step,
resolving to soon emancipate all slaves in areas remaining loyal to
the rebel Confederacy. True to his word, on New Year's Day 1863
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, instantly turning the
abolition of slavery into the principal issue of the U.S. Civil War.
The surrenders of Confederate Generals in early 1865 and the
ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution the following
December abolished slavery for good throughout the U.S. Emancipation
was important, not only because it freed over four million Americans
from the bondage of slavery, but also because it freed the rest of
the U.S. from the hypocrisy of keeping slaves in a country that
claimed to be free. Ending the hypocrisy also raised America's
international standing: by the 1860's, most of the powerful countries
in the West recognized slavery as the evil it always was. By
resolving to eliminate the evil, we earned respect, and friends. In
particular, emancipation forced France and England, whose commercial
interests would have benefited from an independent Confederacy, but
whose principles opposed slavery, to stay out of the war.

Two hundred years after its independence, Haiti challenged the U.S.
to resolve another conflict between our espoused principles- this
time our commitment to democracy- and our practices. On February 29,
2004, the country's 33rd coup d'itat forced the constitutional
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide out of the country on a U.S. plane.
He was replaced by a brutal dictatorship, led by a hand-picked Prime
Minister flown in from Boca Raton Florida. The regime held on until
June 2006, during which thousands of Haitians were killed in
political violence, and Haiti's democratic institutions were gutted.
President Aristide claimed that the Bush administration played a key
role in his overthrow, by supporting his armed and unarmed opponents,
weakening the government through a development assistance embargo,
and eventually forcing him onto the plane. Mr. Aristide's claim was
echoed by members of the U.S. Congress, the 73 countries of the
Africa Union and the Caribbean Community, and millions of Mr.
Aristide's supporters in Haiti. The claim is also supported by
reports from human rights groups, documents filed in lawsuits and by
media investigations, including a New York Times investigation
published last February.

If these charges are true, the Bush Administration's practices
conflicted with the fundamental American commitment to democracy,
both here and abroad, a principle that President Bush has espoused
widely, even justifying the Iraq War as a democracy promotion
exercise. These practices would also have violated international law,
and contributed to a deadly reign of terror in Haiti. The Bush
Administration has consistently rejected the allegations. Officials
contend that the withholding of aid was not an embargo, but a
legitimate effort to force the government to correct election
irregularities; that U.S. aid to Haiti fought poverty and helped
build democracy; and that President Aristide asked the U.S. to fly
him out of the country after he had resigned in the face of a rebel
takeover of much of Haiti. The best way to resolve these conflicting
accounts of the U.S. role in Haiti's 2004 coup d'itat is an
impartial, independent inquiry. If the Bush Administration is correct
in its denials, it deserves to have the record set straight. If the
Administration did participate in the overthrow of an elected
government, that fact should be established. Haitians need to know
whether they can trust the U.S. to keep our word and respect our
principles. They know from repeated hard experience that coup d'itat
# 34 is already in the planning stages, which adds urgency to
exposing the causes and mechanics of #33.

Establishing the truth about the U.S. role in Haiti's coup is also
important for the U.S. Although the 2004 coup did remove a government
that our government disliked in the short term, Haitians eventually
got a chance to vote in February 2006, and inevitably elected another
progressive by another landslide. The coup's repression generated a
spike in refugee flows that placed unwanted pressure on our
immigration and homeland security systems. U.S. troops, already
overextended in Iraq and Afghanistan, were stretched thinner by a
three-month deployment in Haiti. The post-coup chaos provided shelter
to smugglers bringing cocaine from South American through Haiti to
the U.S. Allegations of U.S. involvement in Haiti's coup also hurt
our international standing, at a time when we need friends in the
world. They particularly undermine our credibility when we claim that
we are trying to establish democracy in Iraq, criticize other
governments as undemocratic, or try to stop the Sudan and other
countries from condoning political killings. The U.S. Congress may be
the only chance for a credible investigation of the U.S. role in
Haiti's coup d'itat. Although the Africa Union and the Caribbean
Community- together almost one-third of the United Nations' members-
called for the UN to conduct an independent inquiry in March 2004,
the UN declined to investigate and instead sent troops to Haiti to
support the illegal Interim Government. That support, along with the
troops' shootings and illegal arrests of political dissidents makes
Haitians distrust the UN's ability to impartially investigate the
coup. Haitian victims of the coup have petitioned the OAS' Inter-
American Commission on Human Rights for help. But that body refused
to hear their complaints, without explaining why.

Unlike the UN, Congress has the ability to require Bush
Administration officials to appear at hearings, answer questions
under oath, and produce relevant documents. Some members of Congress
supported the President's Haiti policies in 2004, while others
opposed them, which would help ensure balance in the inquiry.
Congress already has a vehicle ready for such an investigation: the
proposed "Responsibility to Uncover the Truth about Haiti Act", known
as the TRUTH Act. The TRUTH Act was originally filed in 2005 in the
U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Barbara Lee of California, with
21 co-sponsors. It would appoint a bi-partisan, independent
commission charged with investigating the February 2004 coup d'itat,
and determining whether the U.S. contributed to the overthrow of the
Constitutional President, directly or by channeling aid to groups
that helped the overthrow. The TRUTH Act's commission would resemble
the Iraq Study Group that released its report last month. Commission
members would be appointed by Congress (half by Republican leaders,
half by Democrats), and would be entrusted with reviewing all the
evidence, and submitting a final, public report, including findings,
conclusions, and recommendations of corrective measures, if needed.

The TRUTH Act was referred to the House International Relations
Committee's Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, where it languished. But
last month, following a visit to Haiti, Rep. Lee promised to
reintroduce it. With last week's convening of a new Congress, with a
Democratic majority and an unequivocal mandate to question the
Administration's foreign policy, the TRUTH Act's time may have come.
By enacting the TRUTH Act, Congress could resolve, once and for all,
the outstanding controversies about that the U.S. role in the 2004
overthrow of Haiti's constitutional government. If the investigation
determines that the U.S. did participate in President Aristide's
overthrow, that knowledge would allow Congress to take steps to
resolve the conflict between such illegal and harmful practices and
our professed policy of promoting democracy and respecting human
rights. The knowledge would also inform the most important resolution
of all: a commitment by everyone concerned- Haitians and Americans,
government officials, candidates and voters- to allocate political
power in Haiti with ballots, not bullets, and to promote the
stability that Haiti's peace and prosperity requires. (Counterpunch,
1/9)

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