By Pierre Dubuc, Editor of L’Aut’Journal
January 27, 2011
The following is a translation of an article that appears in L'aut'Courriel, the weekly web journal of L’Aut’Journal, a print monthly published in Montreal.
L’Aut’Journal met with Haitian lawyer Mario Joseph during his recent visit to Montreal. Mr. Joseph said he was flabbergasted when he learned that not a single member of Canada’s parliament has questioned the recent electoral process in Haiti.
“In the United States,” he explained in a January 25 interview, “a group of 45 members of Congress have condemned the fraudulent elections held in Haiti on November 28. In Canada, all members of Parliament - including the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP- have accepted the framework in which the first round was held.”
A human rights lawyer. Mario Joseph was concluding a brief visit to Canada in which, among other activities, he met with a group of 40 Quebec lawyers at the Montreal Courthouse to discuss how they could support the activities of his law office in Haiti.
As he sees it, it is clear that the so-called “international community” - essentially, in the case of Haiti, the trio of Canada/France/USA - controls and manipulates the present electoral process.
“The recount was imposed on President Préval by the Organization of American States (OAS). They are imposing Martelly as a candidate in the second round. It is the head of MINUSTAH, the UN’s military occupation force, that sets the dates and the tone of the debate. They have killed democracy in Haiti,” he protests.
What could break the present deadlock? For Mario Joseph, the solution lies in respecting the Haitian constitution. He explains that according to article 149 of the Constitution, René Préval’s term of office finishes on February 7, 2011. This does not imply a power vacuum. In such cases, the Constitution allows the senior judge of the Supreme Court to form a provisional government with an election to be held within a time period of 90 days.
Mario Joseph believes that such elections could take place normally if foreign interference ends. This requires the departure of MINUSTAH. “The people in the street want MINUSTAH to leave. Some of its soldiers have raped Haitian women and have been allowed to leave the country before they could be tried by the Haitian legal system,” He charges. “MINUSTAH is also responsible for the cholera epidemic.”
Political pundits have criticized the low voter turnout in the last election. Mario Joseph attributes the low turnout, in large part, to the exclusion of popular political parties from the election, such as the Lavalas party of former president Aristide, removed by a coup d’état in 2004. A large part of the population boycotted the election because these parties had been excluded.
A Republic of NGOs
Recently, on public affair programs commemorating the anniversary of the earthquake that devastated the country, several commentators and so-called experts were recommending that Haiti be placed under trusteeship.
Mario Joseph acknowledges the magnitude of the reconstruction tasks and the very little progress that has been achieved to date. “The only things that we are not lacking in post-earthquake Haiti are misery and poverty. But there’s no way that we will accept trusteeship!”
“We have already suffered a U.S. occupation, lasting from 1915 to 1934. Then, in the 1980s under the pretext of disease, Haitian peasants were forced to kill their pigs to ensure dependency on imports. The same thing happened with rice production. From a self sufficient people we have become dependent. Neo-liberal politics are known in Haiti as ‘death plans.’
Mr. Joseph points out that his country is already half under trusteeship. “Foreign aid is paid out to foreign NGOs and not to the Haitian government. At the present time there are more than 20,000 NGOs in Haiti, some of which function with budgets superior to the budgets of the corresponding Haitian ministries.”
“We cherish our freedom and the dignity of the Haitian people must be respected,” says Mario Joseph as he reminds us that Haiti became the first black republic in 1804.
He recognizes his country’s need for foreign aid but he is concerned that this aid must be transparent and accountable. He does not consider that foreign aid is charity. In the case of Quebec he sees it as a fair return. “In the 1960s,” he says, “many Haitian intellectuals emmigrated to Quebec and Quebec gained from their skills. It was a case of the poorer country helping the richer one. Thus, Quebec has a debt to Haiti.”
For selfless aid
In Haiti, Mario Joseph’s office defends victims of violent acts, concerning itself with not only their civil and political rights but also economic and cultural rights.
“We defend women rape victims. Their numbers have tripled since the earthquake. The camps have neither electricity nor police patrols. We help the women in court but we also help them organize to prevent these assaults. There are projects to distribute whistles to call for help and to teach women judo for self-defense purposes.
Another important file concerns forced expulsions. “Some people are using their property titles to threaten refugees with expulsion from the camps (of internally displaced). We organize press conferences and sit-ins.”
His office has opened a case file on the cholera epidemic, alleging that MINUSTAH is liable, and another file for the victims of the dictator Jean Claude ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier.
Mario Joseph came to Quebec and Canada to inform people about the situation in Haiti and to seek support to advance his legal and humanitarian activities. “I make a distinction between the Canadian government, which I accuse of killing democracy in Haiti, and the people of Canada and Quebec. We need partners, friends. We need the kind of aid which will permit Haitians to lead their country.”
Translation from the original French by the Canada Haiti Action Network.
Editor Pierre Dubuc appended to this article in the January 27 on-line edition of L’aut’journal links to these background articles on the crisis in Haiti previously published in the newspaper. For links to the articles, go to: http://lautjournal.info/default.aspx?page=3&NewsId=2806
Haïti : Qui est le candidat Michel Martelly ?
La lumière sur son association avec les « forces des ténèbres » par Jeb Sprague
Haïti : un diplomate de l’OEA s’insurge
Violent réquisitoire contre le régime d’occupation en Haïti par Roger Annis
Pour comprendre les événements en Haïti
Retour sur un coup d'État et ses consequences par Pierre Dubuc