[van-discuss] Letter to Canadian Government and corporate media re: Haiti

[Anton]

Hi, I¹ve just sent out the letter below to approximately 200 gov¹t and corp.
media editorial staff, and others, regarding the escalating crisis in Haiti.
You¹ll find sufficient context in the body of the letter that addresses
Canadian and media complicity toward US and the violent overthrow of a
democratically elected leader, President Aristide, and I hope that you will
circulate it amongst this listserve and forward to the appropriate parties
[some addresses included below...just drag and drop into ŒCC¹ of message]


February 17, 2004 

To the Government of Canada and Canada¹s corporate-owned media,

I am writing to you concerning the escalating crisis that is unfolding in
Haiti, where the world is witnessing the attempted violent overthrow of a
democratically elected leader, Jean Bertrand Aristide. By tacitly supporting
an opposition that has repeatedly refused to negotiate peacefully with
President Aristide, the Canadian government is effectively supporting this
attempted coup d¹etat. From a rational perspective this is unacceptable for
several reasons, explored below. It is also unacceptable that the corporate
news agencies are refusing to provide objective coverage of these harmful
events, and are thereby also effectively supporting the attempted coup
d¹etat. 

On January 13, 2004, speaking from Monterrey, Mexico at the Special Summit
of the Americas, Paul Martin committed to help mediate a solution to the
crisis in Haiti, which has since seen at least 60 people brutally murdered,
and promises to soon see more in the absence of concrete efforts toward this
professed end by Paul Martin¹s government.

As of writing, the 8 million citizens of Haiti are in jeopardy of imminent
destruction as a society and as a peoples in this, Haiti¹s 200-year
anniversary of independence from colonial rule. In a country that sees a
majority of its inhabitants impoverished and lacking the necessities of
life, the decision not to intervene on behalf of the Haitian population is
jeopardizing an already desperately precarious state of living.

Canada is supporting the CARICOM proposal which claims to seek a peaceful
and democratic solution to the democratic crisis in Haiti. For its part, the
United States has also endorsed this proposal. Minister of Foreign Affairs
Bill Graham refused Friday to assist the Haitian government by sending in a
Canadian police contingent. Both Canada and the U.S. are refusing to assist
the democratically elected President Aristide while claiming at the same
time that they support a democratic resolution to this crisis.

The basis for this refusal is conveyed through repeated declarations as to
the right of the opposition to voice its dissent and carry out peaceful
protests. President Aristide has himself repeatedly recognized the legal and
democratic right to opposition, a central feature of any truly democratic
system. On several occasions and in full compliance with the recent CARICOM
proposal, Aristide has called upon the opposition to sit down and engage in
a peaceful dialogue with him. Consistently, the opposition has refused. And
yet the Canadian and US governments are maintaining that the impetus for a
peaceful political solution must come from Aristide.

Andre Apaid Jr., and Evans Pauls, both leaders of the opposition, have been
quoted several times asserting that they will not, under any circumstances,
enter into a dialogue with Aristide until he resigns. Such declarations have
been commonplace since 2000, the year of the disputed elections, which have
now culminated, according to many, in this crisis. The subsequent freezing
of some $500 million of economic aid to Haiti by the US, in addition to some
$140 million in loans that have been withdrawn by the World Bank, have
functioned to cripple Haiti economically. This has prevented President
Aristide from implementing Haiti¹s desperately needed social and democratic
reforms. This, in turn, has undermined the stability of his government. In
spite of this, Aristide to this day carries a plurality of support from the
impoverished masses who still see him as their only chance for democratic
survival. 

The Group of 184, the Democratic Convergence and other opposition groups
have been generously funded by U.S. and European taxpayers according to
COHA, and according to other independent sources, such as the Haiti Support
Group. A primary source of opposition funding has come from the
International Republican Institute and through USAID. Additional support for
this opposition comes from the Haiti Democracy Project, which is affiliated
with the conservative think-tank, the Brookings Institution.

It has been reported by independent journalist and filmmaker Kevin Pina that
the majority of US humanitarian aid to Haiti bypasses the Haitian government
and goes directly to opposition-run NGOs.

In response to the Canadian and US position toward Haiti, the corporate
media in Canada have neglected to critically challenge these policies.
Largely, this is due to a corporate media reliance on misinformation
provided to it by Haitian opposition-owned media outlets, as has been
reported by several independent journalist, in addition to COHA and U.S.
Congresswoman Maxine Walters. None of the coverage by any of these corporate
news outlets has been critical of the Canadian policy, despite having the
means to do so at their every disposal.

Several of Rep. Waters other assertions relate to the government and several
pertain to the corporate media, who are an important lynchpin in that their
readers, viewers, and listeners, receive disinformation regarding Haiti that
prevents positive actions from being taken on the part of this wider public.

I am calling on the Canadian government to encourage the U.S. government to
discontinue its support of the opposition, which has repeatedly demonstrated
its refusal to negotiate peacefully with President Aristide who himself has
repeatedly reached out to them. It follows that if Canada and the U.S. were
to condemn the opposition, which, as been documented, has very little
popular support, the opposition would abandon its disruptive and violent
efforts. 

Kevin Pina, Rep. Maxine Walters, Tom Reeves, and various other credible
sources of information have asserted that President Aristide still enjoys
the support of a majority of the Haitian citizenry. That massive
demonstrations in support of Aristide, such as the one on February 7 which
drew at least 300,000 people, go unreported by corporate media outlets, is
an example of disinformation that is fomenting the violence in Haiti.

It follows that I am calling on the corporate media to demand from their
journalists honest and balanced reporting of the events as they unfold in
Haiti. Continued deception on the part of the corporate media will have the
most dire of consequences for the already heavily distressed Haitian
population. 

Canada has a history of humanitarian efforts throughout the world. I do not
wish to see this devolve into mythology as Canada blindly accepts a policy
of ³complementary² relations with the U.S. The Canadian stance on Haiti, if
continued, will set a dangerous precedent which can only undermine the many
commitments that Canada has previously made to issues of human rights, civil
and political liberty, the right of self-determination, and the prevention
of genocide. 

As a point of reference, I would like to draw your attention to the
following internationally-binding agreements to which Canada has signed and
ratified, as well as specific sections under which a certain scrutiny is
necessitated given the dire situation in Haiti:

The UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:

In Part 1, Article 1, it states:

All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right
they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their
economic, social and cultural development.

Article 4 States: 

In time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation and the
existence of which is officially proclaimed, the States Parties to the
present Covenant may take measures derogating from their obligations under
the present Covenant to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of
the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with their
other obligations under international law and do not involve discrimination
solely on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social
origin. 

Secondly, I will draw your attention to the Convention of the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, ratified by Canada on September 3rd,
1952: 

According to Article 1, Genocide is:

A crime under international law.

And Article 2: 

ŠGenocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy,
in 

whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such:

a] killing members of the group;

b] causing serious bodily harm to members of the group;

c] Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to
bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part

Article 3 states: 

The following acts shall be punishable:

a] Genocide 

b] conspiring to commit genocide;

c] direct and public incitement to commit genocide;

d] complicity in genocide

Lastly, Article 4 states:

Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3

Shall be punishable, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers,
public 

Officials, or private individuals.

Sincerely, 

Your name, etc.

Alcock.R at parl.gc.ca, austij at sen.parl.gc.ca, Belanger.M at parl.gc.ca,
Bennett.C at parl.gc.ca, carroa at parl.gc.ca, Coderre.D at parl.gc.ca,
Cotler.I at parl.gc.ca, Efford.J at parl.gc.ca, Frulla.L at parl.gc.ca,
Goodale.R at parl.gc.ca, Graham.B at parl.gc.ca, bill.graham at dfait-maeci.gc.ca,
Guarnieri.A at parl.gc.ca, Knutson.G at parl.gc.ca, Martin.P at parl.gc.ca,
McCallum.J at parl.gc.ca, McLellan.A at parl.gc.ca, Mitchell.A at parl.gc.ca,
Peterson.J at parl.gc.ca, Pettigrew.P at parl.gc.ca, Pratt.D at parl.gc.ca,
Scott.A at parl.gc.ca, Valeri.T at parl.gc.ca, Volpe.J at parl.gc.ca,
jane.steward at hrdc-drhc.gc.ca, letters at macleans.ca,
jstackhouse at globeandmail.ca, pknox at globeandmail.ca,
egreenspon at globeandmail.ca, jking at globeandmail.ca, aframe at globeandmail.ca,
bcox at globeandmail.ca, letters at globeandmail.ca, foreign at globeandmail.ca,
pmartin at globeandmail.ca, mfraser at nationalpost.com, dfrancis at nationalpost.com

A more detailed list is available upon request. 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/van-discuss/attachments/20040217/f2088417/attachment.html