Resolution on Haiti by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), November 5, 2005, Sofia, Bulgaria

 

Considering that the Assembly General of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, during its 16 th Congress in Paris, made on June 10, 2005 a resolution regarding the situation in Haiti by demanding that the interim government of Haiti and of the United Nations Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti (MINUSTAH) take the necessary measures in order to ensure the security of the Reverend Father Gérard Jean Juste, to free every person detained without charges and to stop persecution against their opponents;

 

Considering that Fr. Gérard Jean Juste was arrested a second time on July 21, 2005, kept in prison until now and declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International;

 

Considering that since the installation of the interim Haitian government supported by the United States, Canada and France in March 2004, people aligned with the Lavalas Family movement have been systematically terrorized, killed, arrested and incarcerated in Haitian prisons without due process or even charges;

 

Considering that MINUSTAH, manipulated by the U.S., has not fulfilled its role as a peace mission as described in the U.N. Charter by failing to guarantee against political repression and murderous raids in the working-class neighborhoods and illegal arrests, and by supporting the illegal operations of the police and paramilitaries (comprised of escapees from prison and former military members);

 

Considering that the human rights section of MINUSTAH declared the human rights situation in Haiti “CATASTROPHIC”;

 

Considering that the judicial system in Haiti has become a machine of political repression where Lavalas members or supporters are kept in prison without any legal justification, and those who have been convicted of grave human rights violations are freed outside of the judicial norms;

 

Considering that the countries of CARICOM and the African Union (AU) have condemned the February 29, 2004 coup d’état in Haiti and demanded an investigation;

 

Considering that the U.N., instead of heeding CARICOM and the AU’s demands, have instead reinforced the illegal action by sending a purported peace mission to Haiti, to support a dictatorial regime that terrorizes its opponents and systematically and deliberately violates human rights;

 

As a result, the IADL, meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria on November 5 and 6, 2005, reiterates the resolution of the IADL at the 16 th Congress in Paris, which is, the freedom of all persons detained without charges or prisoners of conscience pursuant to Amnesty International, and the halt of political persecutions against opponents, and demands that an investigation be brought by the U.N. regarding the events that overtook Haiti on February 29, 2004.

 

Sofia, Bulgaria, November 5, 2005