Sample Letter to President Aristide

President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Palais National
Champs de Mars 
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

October 31, 2001

Dear President Aristide:

I am writing to express my concern for the safety and welfare of Haiti’s most prominent human rights defenders.

Earlier today, the office of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR) in Haiti sent a communiqué to its international supporters and allies to inform them of the gravity of the recent wave of death threats that they, and colleagues at the Platform for Haitian Human Rights Organizations (POHDH), have been receiving. These threats began earlier this month, following the publication of an open letter from NCHR to the leadership of the Haitian National Police (PNH). The NCHR letter deplored the increasing politicization evident among the ranks of the police and the resulting weakening the already fragile public security situation.

Of particular concern is the fact that these threats began shortly after your meeting with the leadership of the National Police and called for action to be taken against the officers named in NCHR's courageous letter.

Trusted sources close to the police and the Fanmi Lavalas Party report that Pierre Espérance, the director of NCHR in Haiti, as well as members of his staff and that of the POHDH, are mentioned by name on a list currently in circulation in Haiti, marked for assassination.

In June of this year, Espérance publicly condemned the government’s stated “zero tolerance” policy toward crime. In response, René Civil of the so-called popular organization Jan l’Pase l’Pase (JPP) and Paul Raymond of Ti Komite Legliz (TKL) publicly called on the government to show zero tolerance toward NCHR and other human rights organizations. During the month of August, Espérance also received several menacing calls on his cellular phone. The different callers warned that if NCHR continued to press for justice in the Jean Dominique case, he would be eliminated.

NCHR has received such threats followed by violence in the past, making these recent attempts at intimidation all the more ominous. On March 8, 1999, Pierre Espérance was attacked in front of the NCHR office after NCHR and the POHDH had received similar threats. His truck was riddled with bullets and he was shot in the shoulder and knee. We are gravely concerned that unless the current threats are properly addressed, they may be translated into action.

I am also greatly concerned that, to date, there has been no progress in the investigation of that assassination attempt.

I am calling on you as President and head of the Government in Haiti to ensure that the threats received by the staff of NCHR Haiti and its partners in the Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organizations are promptly investigated and the perpetrators brought swiftly to justice.

It is imperative that security be provided to NCHR and POHDH staff and work places, specifically Pierre Espérance, Vilès Alizar, Jean Simon Saint Hubert, and Serge Bordenave.

Finally, we request that the Minister of Justice re-open its investigation into the March 1999 assassination attempt against Pierre Espérance.

Given the urgency of the situation, swift and effective measures are required. Not only are such actions crucial to ensure the protection of the staff of NCHR and POHDH, they will also send a strong message in support of the right of all Haitians to freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to criticize government policy.

Sincerely,

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