Thomas Shannon and Thomas Adam in Haiti …
The Advisor Thomas A. Shannon, and the Special Coordinator for Haiti Thomas C. Adam, were scheduled to go to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, from March 29 to March 31. They were to meet with senior governmental officials, the civil society, and the private sector.
On March 29th, Advisor Shannon and Special Coordinator Adam were scheduled to go to Santo Domingo to meet the President Medina, Minister of Foreign Affairs Navarro, representatives of the International Organization for Migration (OIM), and the United Nations high commissioner for refugees. They were to discuss the preparation of the Summit of Americas, regional relations and important bilateral matters. They were also scheduled to meet representatives of the civil society to discuss questions of migration and the rights of workers.
On Monday, the 30th, Advisor Shannon and Special Coordinator Adam were to go to Port-au-Prince to meet representatives of the Haitian Government, international organizations and the Mission of Stabilization of the United Nations in Haiti (Minustah) to discuss the preparation of the elections. They were also supposed to meet with representatives of the National Chamber of Business and Industry.
United Nations Unveils Stunning Memorial in New York to the Millions Who Were Killed and Sacrificed in Slave Trade to Create America’s Riches
Visitors to the United Nations headquarters in New York will get a powerful reminder of the brutality of the transatlantic slave trade and its enormous impact on world history through a visually stunning new memorial that was unveiled last week in a solemn ceremony.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called slavery “a stain on human history.”
U.N. General Assembly President Sam Kutesa said slavery remained one of the “darkest and most abhorrent chapters” in world history.
The U.N. has declared 2015-2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent. Kutesa said yesterday that The Ark of Return would be one of the most important contributions of the entire decade.
The memorial project was conceived more than five years ago by a group of African and Caribbean nations, led by Jamaica. Courtenay Rattray, the Permanent Representative of Jamaica, who also served as chair of the Permanent Memorial Committee, noted yesterday that several nations, along with UNESCO, helped raise more than $1.7 million to pay for it.
“For us freedom came after a long journey,” she said. “Freedom was not gifted to us but rather earned by the sweat, blood, and tears of millions of our forebears on whose back the economic foundations of the New World was built.”
The memorial was designed by Rodney Leon, an American architect of Haitian descent who was chosen two years ago after an international competition that attracted 310 entries from 83 countries. Leon was also the designer of the African Burial Ground National Monument in lower Manhattan, which was built on a spot where 15,000 people of African descent were buried over a period of around 100 years from the 1690s until 1794.
As the son of Haitian immigrants, Leon said his parents filled him with the history of Haitian liberation and the country’s struggle to be the first independent African state in the western hemisphere.
Leon said he designed the monument so that it could be touched—by members of the public but also by dignitaries at the UN, reminding them, as they deal with global issues on a daily basis, of mistakes made in the past.
The memorial is etched with drawings of actual slave ships, depicting cross-sections of vessels and showing their systematic organization in order to pack in as much “human cargo” as possible.
Leon said the idea that children will be interacting and learning from his work “actually brings me ongoing joy.”
Five of the suspects who have attached religious communities are under lock and key
The criminals who are accused of having committed attacks against approximately thirty nuns were arrested by law enforcement recently. They are part of a gang established by the Charleus brothers, who are natives of Cornillon in Grand Bois. The suspects had developed a particular modus operandi of attacking only defenseless religious congregations. The gang of more than 15 bandits had established its bases in Petitie Reviere de l’Artibonite, Verettes, and Thomazeau, but moved about in the various regions of the country.
Five criminals were captured by the investigators of the Head Office of the Criminal Investigation Department (DCPJ) in cooperation with police officers of the Thomazeau precinct. The criminals attacked 19 religious congregations in 6 departments- among them were Mirebalais, Saint Michel de L’Atallaye, Thomassin, Saut d’Eau, Boucan Carre, Pandiassou, Aquin, Maniche, Saint Raphaël, Petitie Rivere de l’Artibonite, l’Estère, Verettes, Croix-des-Bouquets, Delmas, Marin, Tabarre, Thibert and Thomazeau.
One of the Charleus brothers, Daniel, was arrested whereas Charles is still at large.
Gary Desrosiers, spokesperson for the police department, expressed his anger against these criminals who sexually abused nuns who have dedicated their lives to the Haitian people. These criminals assaulted people who serve the community through various means, including education and healthcare, said Desrosiers. He indicated that some of the nuns’ rings were found in the bandits’ possession. Investigators also seized firearms and a baton.
The actions of the gang of the Charleus brothers have been condemned by all sectors of society. Several members of the gang are natives of Cornillon Grand Bois, bordering the municipality of Carrefour (West), others are natives of Mirebalais and Boucan Carre and Lascahobas in particular. They are charged with night theft, armed robbery, and criminal conspiracy.
French President François Hollande will be in Haiti on May 12th of this year.
Following his trip to Guadeloupe, Martinique and Cuba, François Hollande will stop in Haiti on May 12th of this year.
RD: nurse fired because of Haitian origin
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (sentinel.ht) - Anne Dimanche Saintil was born in the Dominican Republic, earned her nursing degree there and worked at a hospital in the capital. Then she was fired, because her parents were from Haiti.
It goes further. A report by the Georgetown Law Human Rights Institute found that the measure is limiting access to education for tens of thousands of children living in the nation.
Bloomberg Business reported the Dominican Deputy Minister of the Interior and Police saying that after June 15, 2015, his government can begin deporting roughly 100,000 persons who are not enrolled in a path to (secondary) citizenship of which only 8,775 have been accepted into.
In 2013 when the D.R. began instituting such measures against its nationals of foreign descent, dating back to 1928, many nations declared it a human right violation and were prepared to impose sanctions.
The Martelly regime in Haiti which had not addressed the issue, rather helped the D.R. at the height of international disdain by engaging in a series of bi-national, highly publicized, meetings on trade and other matters that were iterated over and over, were not to address the critical issue at hand: Constitutional Tribunal ruling TC 186-13.
The article by Ezra Feiser shares more about the case of Anne Dimanche Saintil and the growing tensions between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The Haitian and Dominican Chancellors met
According to reports, the meeting was productive. Among the items discussed on the agenda were:
Chancellor Navarro reminding that the National Dominican Plan for the Regularization of Foreigners (PNRE) to address the irregular immigration status of Haitians in the Dominican Republic will end on June 17th, 2015, following 18 months of applications. Afterward, he explained, the Dominican Republic will conform to the Dominican Constitution and Dominican laws, protocols and procedures. “If need be," to execute deportations, while respecting human rights.
Until now nothing has been done in Haiti in term of preparation to receive these 200,000 fellow countrymen. But the Haitian Chancellor Duly Brutus seemed remain calm. Here was his answer:
“Secretary Brutus announced that next April, the Haitian government will open offices in the Dominican cities of Santiago (Center), Barahona (South) and Higuey (East), to accelerate the process of delivery of documents to our fellow countrymen living in the nearby country, to allow them to apply to the PNRE.”
He also announced, that Haiti will deliver a temporary letter to Haitians with irregular status. It will serve as a receipt to join the plan of regularization, until the Haitian government supplies them with their passports, the first requirements of the PNRE.
It should be noted that while the Dominican Chancellor spoke about repatriation, the Haitian chancellor, spoke about measures taken by his government to activate the registration of Haitian without papers to the PNRE program.
Let us remind our fellow countrymen that to benefit from the PNRE, it is necessary for the applicant to possess identification documents, and to prove through official documents that he or she lived in Dominican Republic before November 19th, 2011. Such proofs, which are not the only requirements, are already difficult for Haitians to obtain. But they are impossible for those, who every day tempt their faith and hang on to false hopes from Haitian smugglers, who grow rich from their ignorance. The only immediate advantage for a fellow countryman to join the PNRE, is to benefit from the moratorium on current deportation until June 17th by producing proof that he or she joined the regularization plan.
The Washington Post
Haiti’s expiring democracy
By Editorial Board March 25
Its PARLIAMENT disbanded and its judiciary weak and subject to manipulation, Haiti is slouching toward tyranny. President Michel Martelly, whose term expires in 10 months, has set a timetable for much-delayed legislative and local elections later this year. But given that Mr. Martelly now rules by decree in a country with a history of dictatorship, there is ample cause for skepticism and worry.
Elected in 2011, Mr. Martelly has spent much of his time in office feuding with lawmakers over holding new elections, effectively paralyzing the country’s politics until the terms of most members of parliament expired in January. Having barely bothered to conceal his contempt for the legislative branch, the president seems content with its absence — and with the collapse of any semblance of checks and balances.
The intransigence of Mr. Martelly’s political opponents contributed to the past few years’ paralysis, but at this point the burden of holding elections falls on him. Diplomats have pronounced themselves encouraged that he has ordered that a first round of legislative elections be held in August, with a second round (plus presidential and local balloting) in October. It is imperative that there be no slippage in that timetable if Haiti is to have any chance of restoring democratic governance.