uch press was garnered by the peaceful protests in Beirut that helped achieve the resignation of the Syrian backed president there, another peaceful protest for Democracy was largely ignored by the press. In Port-Au-Prince on March 1st, the Haitian people called for the return of the elected president Jean Bertrand Aristide and for the unelected leaders to respect their freedom of speech.
The police responded to the non-violent march on the anniversary of the most recent coup with live ammunition from U.S. made rifles, killing five.
Unfortunately, this is only the latest in a pattern of political killings in Haiti, and the origin of these rifles is not the only connection between that violence and the U.S. government.
Up until February 2004, the United States government complained about the "democratic principles" of the elected Haitian president Jean Bertrand-Aristide. They imposed sanctions on the poorest county in the Americas and "called into question [Aristide's] fitness to continue to govern Haiti."
In February of 2004, a well-armed paramilitary army headed by former members of Le Front pour l'avancement et le progrès d'Haiti (FRAPH), invaded Haiti from the Dominican Republic. The FRAPH was known as a death squad involved in mass killings of civilians and political assassinations during the coup of 1991. Some of the leadership of this army had recently escaped from prison and includes convicted killer Louis Chamblain and drug trafficker Guy Phillipe.
On February 29th, 2004, U.S. forces entered Aristide's residence and flew him to the Central African Republic. The U.S. government released a statement that Aristide had resigned. Aristide, on the other hand, called media and said "I have been kidnapped. Tell the world it is a coup!" Since then several thousand American marines were flown to Haiti to stabilize the coup government.
Meanwhile Aristide's Lavalas party has been forbidden from taking part in the government, and paramilitary thugs have systematically murdered party supporters. A research team from the University of Miami released a horrifying report (available on the web at 
http://www.ijdh.org/) that shows a system of repression that is stunning in its cruelty and brazeness. Lavalas supporters, activists and advocates for the poor are regularly executed in the street by police or pro-coup gang leaders. The dead bodies are left to be eaten by dogs. This campaign of violence has even forced hospital closures and has attacked an AIDS clinic run by internationally acclaimed HIV expert Paul Farmer.
The un-elected government plans to hold elections eventually. In the meantime they appear to be murdering the opposition, a process called "politicide" by Maryland professor Christian Davenport in his study of Rwanda. Though no media outlet has tried to estimate the number of political killings, unpublished world bank documents put the estimate in the thousands.
Unfortunately, this seems to be consistent with the "democratic principles" of the U.S. leadership. They continue to support the current Haitian government despite the violent, illegitimate way in which it came to power, and its campaign of persecution against its political opponents.
In fact, evidence suggests that the CIA and U.S. civilian leadership were involved in planning and orchestrating the coup itself. The University of Miami report details the relationship between U.S. government funded organizations and the coup leadership. Indeed, USAID financially aids the coup government, and many of the soldiers and burocrats now giving orders were trained by and are being advised by the American military or state department. The BBC reported that U.S. leadership coordinated with Guy Phillip for a pause in the fighting while Aristide was taken from the country. This is perhaps not surprising since the U.S. Special Forces trained many the paramilitary leaders, including Philippe himself.
While Aristide was not perfect, this coup has thrown out Haiti's young democratic instituions along with him. Unfortunately, the Haitian people have found few allies here besides the Black Congressional Caucus and organizations of civil society such as the Trans Africa Forum and the Prince Georges County based Quixote Center.
International media have barely covered the issue. The few stories that do run simply repeat the U.S. government statements that the problem is unorganized or pro-aristide gang violence. However, those on the ground in Haiti report a "siege to stifle the political voice of the poor and wipe out the Lavalas movement."
American people must create a climate where members of Congress can be outraged at the overthrow of a democratically elected leader. There must be a full and thorough investigation into the U.S. involvement in the coup against Aristide's government.
Furthermore, members of the State Department, CIA, and other agencies found to have played a role in Aristide's removal and the installment of the military government should be punished appropriately. Congresswoman Barbara Lee plans to reintroduce the TRUTH ACT which would start an investigation into the Haitian coup and give Haitians who face extra-judicial execution Temporary Protective Status in the United States. It is urgent that she be supported.
Return to Op Eds
Sources
http://www.law.miami.edu/cshr/CSHR_Report_02082005_v2.pdf
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO402D.html
http://www.quixote.org/hr/campaigns/hsw-2005/body/usinvolvement.php
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