Haiti – Politic : CRED position facing the back of Duvalier
18/01/2011 08:19:31 | Original Source: Haiti Libre

John Miller Beauvoir is the President of the Center for Reflection, Education and Debate (CRED), a youth organization involved in education and civic action to promote and mentor a new generation of young leaders in Haiti. John Miller is currently in Montreal, where he continued studies at master’s degrees in political science. In an exclusive interview with HaïtiLibre, President of CRED, answers our questions about the surprising return of former President Jean-Claude Duvalier, after 25 years of exile in France.

HL/ CB : What is the position of the CRED about the return of Duvalier?

John Miller : We must address the return of the dictator on the legal and political plans. The Haitian Constitution of 1987 does not recognize exile. However, man is accountable of political and economic crimes that are alleged. No one should forget, even in the name of the national reconciliation, the pages of history written in red ink under the Duvalierist. There can not be reconciliation without justice and reparation.

On the political level, we believe that Haitian society has rejected this troubling past. It chose, for better or worse, the aspirations and promises of democracy. Haitian elites do not match with the aspirations and profound claims of the population, from which the blockage and to some extent, nostalgia for the Duvalier era. However, we are confident that, for the most part, the Haitian people rejects and “the veiled dictatorship” that represent the status quo and the hard-line dictatorship that symbolizes the person of Jean Claude Duvalier.

HL/ CB : What consequences the presence of the former dictator may have on the current political crisis?
John Miller : In the current context marked by an acute political crisis, his presence will fuel the confusion and increase the division within the Haitian family. It can also be used as a diversionary tactic to divert attention to the recommendations of the OAS [Organization of American States] about the election crisis. The actors who are now back to the wall, against the recommendations of the OAS will receive the came of Duvalier as a godsend which at least gives them time to breathe. I also appeal to young Haitians of the need to learn the history of Haiti. The wear of time does not transform a torturer as a savior.

HL/ CB : What do you think of the statement of Jean Claude Duvalier, when he says “I’m here to help” ?

John Miller : If it really came to help, his first act would be to make a mea culpa to the nation, restore the stolen funds and to put himself at the disposal of the justice. This is the first thing to do in the name of public morality.

HL/ HaitiLibre /CB

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“The popular solution for millions of Haitians is simply to bring Jean Bertrand Aristide back, but he represents the interests of the poor and working classes and the fulfillment of their needs, not the needs of the rich and exploitative, indigenous or international. Consequently we have the spectacle of a brutal and corrupt dictator being allowed back into Haiti and given a government escort, while the most popular president in recent Haitian history is verboten, persona non grata!” (Life Imitating Art in Haiti? Pontecorvo’s Movie Queimada (Burn!) as Presage for What May Go Down Next http://bit.ly/huMaDN )

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Obama’s change in Haiti: the Return of Dictator, Jean Claude Duvalier

http://bit.ly/hI4PBu

No, Haitians shall not merely consume the repugnant U.N. occupation along with the return to outright dictatorship and this contempt for Haitian rights shown by France, the United States and the Internationals. Haitians are entitled to a participatory democracy and basic human rights. The return of the bloody Baby Doc dictator does not show respect for the democratic rights of Haitians. Haitians deserve justice and respect, not charity, not this return. That means Jean Claude Duvalier must be immediately arrested and tried for the murder, torture and deprivations of human rights he caused. Nearly 100,000 Haitians were tortured and murdered from 1957 to 1986. We have the duty to remember and demand justice for these innocent Haitian lives and freedoms lost. We must also make clear the difference between democracy and dictatorship and not allow the self-serving Haiti Oligarchy and their Haitian zentellectuals, the UN and USAID State Department drones to fudge the lines with their double-speak and photo op-eds of “Duvalier returns amidst praise”€ as if even if this wasn”€™t orchestrated and manufactured to show Haitian consent, staged “praise”€ at the airport could trump legal and moral laws and strictures against mass murder, false imprisonment and torture.

Justice for Haiti means the immediate arrest of the dictator, Jean Claude Duvalier, the return of the democratically elected Jean Bertrand Aristide, the end of the UN occupation, an end to the NGO charity industry in Haiti, a stop to Western-dominated exploitation of Haiti resources and lands (through assembly plants, plantations, mines) to services consumers abroad and Western corporations; investment in Haiti food sovereignty, domestic production, jobs and development, and new free and fair elections in Haiti with all eligible political parties permitted to participate including the Fanmi Lavalas party. (See also, Ezili Dantò on Haiti priorities and accountability – Interview with Wiatta on Wrfg, Jan. 13, 2011.) —– Obama’s change in Haiti: the Return of Dictator, Jean Claude Duvalier

http://bit.ly/hI4PBu

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“What is certain is that Baby Doc’s return is merely the starkest manifestation yet of a basic political fact: after the interlude of 1990-2004, Haiti has once again become a de facto dictatorship. Its affairs are at the mercy of the international community, and this latest, so-called democratic election is double-speak for a process that effectively ensures the near-total disempowerment, exclusion and pacification of the Haitian people.” —( http://bit.ly/eYrB6Y Baby Doc’s return haunts Haiti Return of dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier does not bode well for Haiti democracy\ Guardian.co.uk)

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Is Baby Doc Duvalier’s Return To Haiti a Distraction or Scare Tactic? http://bit.ly/eTxEeq
by Georgianne Nienaber

“I asked a Haitian American friend about Duvalier’s return at this hour, considering that he has been clamoring to return for years.

“I am just wondering though if they needed to go through this whole charade. Though, I am also quite certain, it is killing 2 birds with one stone– scaring Preval and distracting the media from the poor job of the IHRC [Haiti Interim Recovery Commission] and its leaders.”

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Forwarded by Ezili’s Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
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