by Kim Ives
Despite
cold weather, over 100 people protested in Ralph Bunche Park in
front of the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan on Oct. 12
as the Security Council renewed the mandate of UN troops in
Haiti for one more year.
The day before, a 10-person
international delegation led by Haitian Sen. Moïse Jean-Charles
met with UN officials to argue against renewal of the UN Mission
to Stabilize Haiti, known by its acronym MINUSTAH (see
accompanying
article). After the meeting, the delegation
reported what was said at the encounter to the Haitian community
at the offices of Haïti Liberté newspaper in Brooklyn.
At the demonstration, Haitians
as well as anti-imperialsts from several other New York-area
communities marched in a circle chanting “UN, Out of Haiti!”
Some carried signs that read “MINUSTAH=Cholera,” a reference to
the epidemic that UN Nepalese soldiers unleashed when their
latrines leaked into the headwaters of Haiti’s largest river,
the Artibonite. Since then, some 8,000 Haitians have died from
the disease, and over half a million have been sickened. It is
now the world’s worst cholera epidemic.
The demonstration, called by a
coalition of about 20 Haitian and international groups, also
demanded reparations for Haitian cholera victims. Lawyer Brian
Concannon of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)
helped draw up a lawsuit against the UN last Nov. 3 on behalf of
some 5,000 cholera victims and their families. Until now, the
plaintiffs have received no response from the UN.
“The UN has remained silent,
but the UN cholera in Haiti has not been silent,” Concannon told
the demonstrators. “Since we filed our claim, 800 Haitians have
died, and over 100,000 people have become sick. That’s an
average of over two deaths a day. So yesterday, two people died
of cholera on average, tomorrow two more will die, two more the
day after that, and every day until the UN decides to respond
justly to the cholera epidemic they brought to Haiti. In the
meantime, the UN is spending over $2 million a day sending
soldiers to Haiti for an occupation the Haitian people don’t
want and don’t need.”
Concannon said that although
the UN is stalling, the Haitian people are winning the battle
for reparations “in the streets.”
“We have a great demonstration
here, just as there are in Haiti, where thousands of people have
been coming out to fight for justice for cholera,” he said.
Other speakers at the rally
included Gregory Perry of the Dec. 12 Movement, David Abdulah of
Trinidad’s Oil Workers Union, Roger Toussaint, former leader of
New York’s Transit Workers Union (TWU), Jocelyne Gaye of KAKOLA,
Dr. Jean Ford Figaro of Haitians for Peace in Boston, MA,
Berthony Dupont of Haïti Liberté newspaper, Greg Dunkel
of the International Action Center, and the international
unionists and activists who had participated in the delegation
that spoke to UN officials the day before.
“Thank you for coming out to
show your solidarity with the Haitian people who are under the
boot of a military occupation today,” said Sen. Moïse
Jean-Charles in his remarks in Kreyòl to the crowd. “The UN
doesn’t bring us tractors or money, but they come with guns and
tanks to crush the Haitian people. Yesterday we were in the
United Nations talking with the UN authorities. Today, we are in
front of the United Nations talking with the people. We know
it’s not going to be easy to get them out. But we, the Haitian
people, along with all democracy-loving people internationally,
who are against colonialism, will build our solidarity to build
our strength across the world to tell MINUSTAH to get out of
Haiti.”
The demonstrators rallied in
front of the UN for three full hours, from 3 to 6 p.m. To close
the event as dusk fell, Lavalas Family militant Minouche Lambert
and KAKOLA’s Jocelyne Gaye took to the improvised stage to sing
the Haitian national anthem, “Le Dessalinien.” |