HURAH!

“PEACEFUL JUSTICE FOR HAITI “
The news and opinion bulletin of Hurah
(Human Rights Accompaniment In Haiti, dedicated
to non-partisan, non-violent basic human rights action in Haiti)
Hurah’s Blog:
(for an archive of previous bulletins and history)
Tom Luce, Editor

9.10.12

For All Supporters
of Human Rights For Quake Refugees!

Dear Friends:

I- CAMP GRACE: The latest on the AI website regarding Camp Grace which was reportedly handling refugee campers violently and evicting them is still dated June 2012. There it says Hundreds of Haitian families are facing forcible eviction from a refugee camp where they have been living since the January 2010 earthquake. Representatives of the landowner, and local police officers, have been threatening and harassing them. Hurah representatives were in touch with AI as well as people who know the situation and the situation definitely appeared as officially described. Now, however, September 2012 we haven’t been able to get in touch with anyone and we don’t know the situation of the refugees.
Amnesty International Alert (click for PDF)

II – Praise for Director General, Mario Andresol, Haitian National Police

Aug. 15, 2012

Dear Director General,
Here is a commentary I made after reading about Haiti Liberté’s article
on your alleged crimes and the nomination of a new Director General.

Thank you for all your assistance on behalf of some of the most deprived
Haitians.

Tom Luce, Organizer, Hurah, Human Rights Accompaniment In Haiti

———–

Aug. 15, 2012

To Whom It May Concern:
I’ve written about my personal experiences with DG Andresol in another
place, but after reading this article again, I feel I should repeat them
again. I am not a partisan human rights advocate and have fought against
whomever commits human rights abuse.

But as a human rights advocate–on the crime ridden ground, in the
jails, courts, in the aftermath of the soccer massacre and house
burnings of 05 and 06, (click for history of Grand Ravine), I have experienced Mr. Andresol’s effectiveness
and concern for common people being abused by the police.

Soon after the soccer massacre (05) he was in office only a week or so
and involved himself–against the illegal Latortue regime–with Grand
Ravine’s victims. He ordered an investigation into the killings. His
dept’s report and the arrests were overturned by Judge Peres Paul, yes.
But that is another story. He is on record condemning the government
powers.

It was RNDDH that totally condemned the controls on the Haitian police
ordered by MINUSTAH after the soccer massacre to not undertake any more
such plans (Soccer Massacre) to root out Lavalas “rat pa caca”.
DG Andresol continued to support the community-based human rights advocacy
I was involved in with AUMOHD, the non-partisan, non-violent Haitian
legal assistance project. He had already separated himself from the
RNDDH supported plan to give complete autonomy to the Haitian police.
DG Andresol answered our calls when the police in several communities
where we had citizen councils in place were beating/imprisoning/kidnapping citizens.
His support for this citizen-led watchdog approach to human rights was strong even to the extent of
endorsing the President of AUMOHD for a human rights award at the Haiti
Diaspora Unity congress in Miami in 2009.

We have no money, nor do we have any connections with any US government
or other sources. DG Andresol certainly gets nothing but our respect
from his professional dealings with us. I am not unaware of the
multitude of intrigues within the governments of Haiti, US, etc. the
crime and corruption. I certainly would not support forgetting any
crimes alleged to anyone including DGAndresol. But he does deserve his
day in court–not the way they are conducted now, of course!

Please know that my experience with DG Andresol was positive and made me
believe he supported human rights advocacy along lines compatible with
my own–unlike Latortue, Préval (basically absent in my areas), and
definitely what is happening now with the Martelly approach.

Thanks.
Tom
—
Tom Luce, Organizer
Hurah – Human Rights Accompaniment In Haiti
Note: As I have come to expect from Mr. Andresol, he immediately sent me a thank you for this report.