New York June 1: End the occupation in Haiti!

Eight years ago, on Jun. 1, 2004, the United Nations began a military occupation of Haiti which continues to this day with some 10,000 troops. The UN forces took over from the U.S., French, and Canadian troops which helped carry out the Feb. 29, 2004 coup d’état against former President Jean Bertrand Aristide and which then militarily occupied Haiti for three months before passing the mission off to the UN. The UN occupation, orchestrated by Washington, flagrantly violates the Haitian Constitution and Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.

 

Haitians have held many massive demonstrations demanding the UN troops leave and pay Haiti reparations for the cholera epidemic they imported into Haiti in October 2010. UN troops have brutally repressed protests, raped young men and women, and killed dozens of Haitians. Demonstrations are occurring around Haiti and the world on this eighth anniversary to demand that the UN troops, known as the UN Mission to Stablize Haiti or MINUSTAH, withdraw from Haiti immediately and that their UN Security Council mandate, which expires October 15, 2012, not be renewed again. Haitians also reject the formation of a new Haitian Army under the auspices of the neo-Duvalierist government of President Michel Martelly. The Haitian Army, disbanded by Aristide in 1995, never defended Haiti against imperialist invasions; it only carried out coups d’état and repressed the Haitian people.

 

Endorsers: ANSWER Coalition (NY), Colia Clark for Senate Committee, Free Mumia Committee (NY), Green Party (Manhattan), Int’l Action Center (IAC), Int’l Commission of Inquiry on Haiti, Int’l Support Haiti Network (ISHN), Konbit Ayisyen pou Kore Lakay (KAKOLA), Lavalas Family (NY), Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), Workers World Party (WWP)