Open letter to the brotherly countries of Africa, the land of our ancestors, particularly the countries of the African Union (AU)
Port-au-Prince, le 06 Aout 2023
Posted to Rezo Nodwes, August 10, 2023
Honorable Heads of State and Government of the brotherly countries of Africa,
We, the signatory Haitian organizations and personalities, learned the astonishing the surprising news that a brotherly country like Kenya has agreed to lead an American-UN occupation force against Haiti, disguised under the label of "multinational force", the better to mislead national and international public opinion, in an attempt to hide the Machiavellian side of this initiative. It should be noted that to prepare national and international public opinion for the acceptance of this deception, the powers that be and the armed gangs are being mobilized on a national scale with the aim of creating total chaos likely to justify the American-U.N. occupation of our country. Armed gangs are thus authorized to gang-rape girls and women, massacre, kidnap and terrorize the defenseless population on a daily basis.
Honorable Heads of State and Government of sister African countries,
We would like to draw your attention to the involvement of the United States of America in the process of supplying weapons and ammunition to the gangs that are quietly sowing terror and death in Haiti. According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published in March 2023, the arms and ammunition used by the gangs come mainly from the United States. In the same report, the UNODC confirmed an increase in the illegal trafficking of weapons, mainly from the USA to Haiti, via the state of Florida. How can we understand or hope that the USA, which bears such a heavy responsibility for the supply of arms and munitions to the gangs, can at the same time claim to be helping to combat them effectively through a so-called multinational force? Paradoxically, what interest would the USA suddenly have in hunting them down?
Surprisingly, despite this contradictory situation, the Kenyan government has, in a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced that it is ready to provide leadership for a multinational force and to deploy a contingent of 1,000 police officers to Haiti, ostensibly to help train the Haitian police and restore normalcy to the country. The Kenyan government is waiting for a mandate from the UN Security Council and the agreement of the local authorities to begin its operation. According to Agence France Presse, the Kenyan government has even planned in the next few weeks "an evaluation mission led by an operational team from the Kenya police." What kind of operationality are we talking about? What knowledge of the reality on the ground would such a team have to carry out an assessment of a situation it perceives at best only through biased reports written by agents complicit in the CORE Group?
It's worth pointing out that Kenya has hastily agreed to become involved in this dubious political adventure after Canada and other countries had been forced, under pressure from a number of concerned citizens, to reject the USA's request to assume leadership of the occupation force that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the US government intend to impose by any means necessary. Has the Kenyan government asked itself why Canada and other countries have, in fact, refused, despite the pressure exerted or the advantages offered, to rush into this dubious venture? Did they question the real objectives of such an undertaking? Has it taken the time required, as other countries have already done, to reflect on the political significance and disastrous consequences of such a suspicious venture? At a time when many African countries are beginning to free themselves from the grip of the West, or to move away from the logic of the West's harmful neo-colonial practices, can Kenya allow itself, to Haiti's great misfortune, to contribute to the reinforcement of such pernicious and destabilizing practices?
Has the Kenyan government tried to understand the unavowed and unspeakable objectives of such a maneuver, which runs counter to what is solemnly proclaimed in the Constitutive Act and Charter of the African Union (AU)? Indeed, Article II of the Charter states: "The objectives of the Organization shall be : (a) To strengthen the unity and solidarity of the African States; (b) To coordinate and intensify their cooperation and efforts to provide better conditions of life for the peoples of Africa; (c) To defend their sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence; (d) To eliminate colonialism from Africa in all its forms; (e) To promote international cooperation, with due regard to the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;"
Article III states: "The Member States, in order to achieve the objectives set forth in Article II, solemnly affirm the following principles: Sovereign equality of all Member States; Non-interference in the internal affairs of States; Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each State and its inalienable right to an independent existence;".
Honourable Heads of State and Government of Africa's sister countries,
You will agree with us that the approach taken by Kenya's leaders is totally at odds with what is proclaimed in the AU's charter, and that it is appropriate in this situation to invite the AU, in the name of these officially adopted cardinal principles, to urgently review this approach, which seriously undermines Haiti's sovereignty and its right to self-determination. It is your duty to find the most effective strategy to explain to the leaders of this sister country that such a choice is likely to encourage and reinforce the already unacceptable interference in Haiti by the imperialist powers, particularly the United States of America.
Assuming the leadership of this occupying force for the benefit of the USA simply means helping them consolidate their genocidal stranglehold on this country, which staged the first and only successful slave revolt in the history of mankind, thereby changing the colonial, racist and slave-owning world order. This revolution represented great hope for the Black world and all oppressed peoples around the globe in their quest for freedom and collective well-being. Christiane TAUBIRA highlighted what Haiti represents for the world, and for Black people in particular, when she said: "It wasn't for me alone that the people of Haiti opened the avenues to a world of justice and fraternity. It was also a gift to the entire Black world, which recognizes in it the first independent Black republic, wrested and then codified by former slaves, built in the morgue of the colonial empire. ...It was also a gift to the oppressed world in its quest for a reference and a model in a universe that was not only hostile, but which, as Frantz Fanon asserted, was already seizing its past to disfigure and distort it."
Haiti's terrible multidimensional crisis is cynically fabricated and maintained in large part by the former colonial, slave-owning and racist powers, now transformed into imperialist powers. The latter are in the process of suffocating our country, with the effective help of local collaborators made up of corrupt, criminal, mafia-like puppet political leaders imposed by Washington, and the equally corrupt, criminal oligarchs who finance the armed gangs...
All this is part of a global war waged by these racist former colonial powers against Haiti, because it dared to break the chains of slavery and thus create the conditions for the establishment of a new anti-slavery, anti-colonial and anti-racist world order.
Today, the aim of these subjugating powers is to destabilize our country, to wipe out the Haitian people like the first inhabitants of this land, the Taïno people decimated by the Spanish colonists, and to build a Haiti without Haitians. With this in mind, they are fueling the chaos that has been built up in an attempt to justify and legitimize their plans for military occupation, for far more systematic political control and for the total plundering of our wealth. Under these conditions, how can we believe that the USA would have the will to help the Haitian people eliminate the armed gangs when it is a strategy to annihilate the resistance of the popular movement?
Honorable Heads of State and Government of sister African countries,
We urge you to take a close look at our country's appalling situation, in order to understand it better and help us to overcome it, and above all to convince Kenya of the need not to allow itself to be dragged into the murderous logic of the imperialist powers bent on burying Haiti's sovereignty.
Brotherly countries of the Africa of our ancestors, it is imperative to act in such a way as to prevent any country on the African continent from playing the role of a sounding board for former colonial, slave-owning and imperialist powers. From now on, Africa's active solidarity with Haiti should be the watchword. As Professor André Ntonfo pointed out: "Africa embodies the sociological roots of Haiti; In the name of this solid link, in the name of what Haiti symbolizes, and in the name of pan-Africanism, "a movement of solidarity for the emancipation of Black peoples throughout the world" which thus carries a political vision of emancipation for both Africa and its diaspora. As The Black Alliance For Peace has pointed out, Kenya must not "choose imperialist servitude over pan-African solidarity".
Haiti has a long tradition of solidarity with the peoples of Latin America, Greece and Africa. It was with this in mind that Haitian President Nord Alexis entrusted Benito Sylvain, considered one of the first apostles of pan-Africanism, with the task of providing Haiti's effective support to Ethiopia, which was under threatened by Italy. President Alexis "helped King Menelik II buy cannons from Russia to defeat the Italian army in the battle of Adoua in Ethiopia". President Nord Alexis insisted: "We must help Emperor Menelik in a completely unselfish way to maintain the national independence of his empire and to assure him in the fullness of his sovereign rights a normal path of progress. If Ethiopia falls, we will be the only ones fighting against colonialism, but if she resists, our example will go a long way towards liberating Africa from the colonial yoke".
Honourable Heads of State and Government of Africa's sister countries,
We invite you to follow and practice this example of concrete solidarity to help Haiti recover its mortgaged sovereignty and perpetuate the symbol of freedom and dignity of the Black People that it has always been.
The Haitian people wish to see you at their side, and thank you in advance for your concrete solidarity in helping them to break this dangerous deadlock, to avoid the imminent landing of this warlike and murderous project of occupation. Such solidarity will enable Haiti not only to resolutely ward off the deployment of foreign occupation troops, but also to obtain :
- the recovery of its national sovereignty to by putting an end to the interference of imperialist powers;
- an end to the indecent support of the destabilizing international fringe, in particular the USA, Canada and France, for the criminal PHTK government of Ariel Henry, and the establishment of a credible transitional government;
- the effective application of Resolution 2653 (2022) adopted by the Security Council on October 21, 2022, banning arms trafficking from UN member states to Haiti;
- the suspension by the United States of the supply of weapons and ammunition to the gangs, and the rapid recovery of weapons already introduced;
- the establishment of an independent Commission of Inquiry to evaluate the UN's eighteen years of support, and to determine its responsibility for the current chaotic situation;
- the granting, on behalf of Haiti, of another UN Decade for People of African Descent 2024-2033. It should be noted that Haiti, the first to break the chains of slavery, has been relegated to last place in the celebration of this International Decade for People of African Descent, when the UN should have given it a place of honor.
Honorable Heads of State and Government of sister African countries,
We, the signatory organizations and personalities, would like to conclude by reminding you of the urgent need to give us your concrete solidarity in this situation of extreme threat. We remain firmly convinced that you will not fail to take an open stance against the criminal plan to occupy Haiti, and particularly against Kenya's regrettable decision to persist in its involvement in such a venture, which is undermining our already eroded national sovereignty.
Long live the solidarity of all African countries with Haiti!
Long live the solidarity of people the world over with Haiti!
Signatories:
Alternative Socialiste (ASO) / Jean Hénold Buteau et Jean-Paul Bastien
ALBA MOVIMIENTOS, Chapitre Haïti /Islanda Micheline Aduel
Michel Frantz Grandoit, prêtre engagé
Comité Democràtico Haitiano en Argentina / Henri Boisrolin
KONAKOM, Dunois Erick Cantave
NEHRO / Josue Renaud
Me Jean Oreste Junior Appilar Morin
Réseau caribéen Panafricanistes / Mirtha Desulme
Mouvement des Jeunes carrefour feuilles / Joseph Fenel
Inisyativ Patriyòt Maryen (IPAM) / Hugues Célestin
Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen / Origène Louis
Sek Makandal/Wendy Mentor
Esklav Revòlte / Jean Wilgins Charles
Latibonit Kanpe pou Ayiti (LAKAY) / Rigaud Velumat
Grandans Reveye / Legagneur Bouchensky
PPN / Bernadin Kény
Georges Eddy Lucien / citoyen engagé
James darbouze / citoyen engagé
Òganizasyon Feminis Danto / Vanessa Jeudi
BRIGADA DESSALINES / Ricardo Cabaño
Rezistans pou Ayiti / Patrice Célestin
Mouvman Revolisyonè pou Liberasyon Mas yo (MORELIM) / Nelio Petit-Homme
COMIPOL/ Ernso Ertilus et Julio Fils Cham
Union Nationale des Normaliens-nes d’Haïti (UNNOH) / Péguy Noel
Kolektif Solidarite, Idantite ak Libète (KSIL) / Rudy Prudent
Konbit Ayisyen pou Lojman Altènatif (KAYLA) / Francia Pierrette
KOPI / Raimy Ysmael
Platfòm Ayiti Vèt (PAV) / Saico Jean Michel Sévère
Inisyativ 109 / Luckner Jabouin
Union Syndicale des Transporteurs Haïtiens (USTRAH) / Venès Junior Many
Asosyasyon Viktim Masak Leta nan Katye Popilè yo (AVIMEKP) / Nevelson Jean-Baptiste
Antèn Ouvriye / Reyneld Sanon
Nou se Dorval / Iswick Théophin
Rezo Òganizasyon Nòdwès / Kerby Joseph
MODÒD / Jose Félix
Rezo Òganizasyon Marigo / Lainé Louis
AJ3L / Kerly Dubréus
Platfòm Oganizasyon pou Ideyal Bwawon Tonè / Hugues-Capè Mondésir
FGPB / Edmond Jean-Paul
SECD / Georges Réginald
MOSSOH / Gary Lindor
Rasanbleman Fanm Peyizan Aken / Louise Marie Naissant
Kowòt Patriyotik / Francisco Alcide
MOPDES –Nòdès / Astride Noel
OJPDCP-NIPPES / Simon Wallan
Cercle Grégory Saint-Hilaire / Cilien Luxenat
Armand Joseph Jules / Citoyen engagé
SITWAYEN / Gustave Augustin
Fòs Dèlma 32 / Clerveaux Fritznel
Sèk Janil / Wasly Simon
Baugé mon cœur/citoyen engage
PLANARE / Victor Charidieu
Kolektif medsin tradisyonel / Berthony Jean Charles
MSTH-ROZO / Mario Maisonneuve
ASJPCH / Luckner Chéry
ESKANP/ Mario Coty
ROZO/Mirtha Elie
FOSYNPO/Gedeon Junior Georges
FRAKKA/ Francois Philippe
ZOULA/ Pierre Dieudonné Delice
Òganizasyon Konbit Aksyon Popilè / James Francisque
Schneider Alcereste / NOUVOLIB
Kolektif Atis Angaje (KATAN) / Kébert Bastien
Konbit Òganizasyon Sendikal, Politik ak Popilè / Josué Mérilien
Plateforme Haïtienne de Plaidoyer pour un Développement Alternatif (PAPDA) / Camille Chalmers
MOLEGHAF / David Oxygène
Mouvman Leve Kanpe pou yon Lòt Endepandans / Patrick Joseph
Pour authentification :
Camille Chalmers / PAPDA
Rudy Prudent / KSIL
Josué Mérilien / KONBIT
Translated by CHIP editors
Posted August 17, 2023