Exposing CIDA's support for Haiti's 2004 coup and the human rights disaster that followed

CIDA funded numerous groups in Haiti that aided and abetted the 2004 overthrow of that country's democratically-elected government and then backed the vicious, coup-installed dictatorship that reigned for the next two years.

Here are links to a new article--11,000 words in length, with 92 footnotes--that exposes the devious role of one of these organizations, which was then called the National Coalition for Haitian Rights-Haiti: <http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/61/NCHR.htm>

The article is entitled: "The Canadian-backed Coup Regime's Reign of Terror: How CIDA's NCHR-Haiti Cleverly Promoted and then Covered up Atrocities."

It has three main functions:

(1) To Survey the Human Rights Abuses in Haiti following the 2004 Coup The article surveys the investigative research reports of six major, independent U.S. organizations that documented the human rights atrocities in Haiti following the Canadian-backed coup in 2004:
* Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)
* Quixote Center (QC)
* National Lawyers Guild (NLG)
* Ecumenical Program on Central America and the Caribbean (EPICA)
* Haiti Accompaniment Project (HAP)
* Center for the Study of Human Rights
(University of Miami, Law Department) These organizations were unanimous in all key aspects of their findings. They each documented overwhelming evidence that members and supporters of President Aristide's elected government, and his popular Lavalas party, were the primary targets of abuse during and after the coup. These organizations were also in total agreement that the newly installed, Canadian-backed coup regime was directly responsible for a broad range of severe abuses and systematic acts of repression experienced by Lavalas leaders, members and supporters.

(2) To Survey NCHR-Haiti's Complicity in the Coup and its Aftermath The article also examines what these six U.S. organizations and their lead investigators reported about the role of a particular CIDA-funded organization in Haiti, then called the National Coalition for Haitian Rights-Haiti
(NCHR-Haiti). All six organizations condemned NCHR-Haiti's extremely partisan approach to human rights, denouncing it for refusing to even consider investigating the systematic witch hunt that was waged against pro-democracy, Lavalas supporters during Haiti's post-coup regime. These six organizations denounced NCHR-Haiti for not only covering up the rampant post-coup human rights abuses, but also for actually encouraging a dangerous climate of anti-Aristide/anti-Lavalas hysteria. NCHR-Haiti did this by building a close working relationship with the coup regime and then spreading unfounded accusations that helped the de facto authorities target Lavalas officials and supporters who were later found to be completely innocent. One report
(HAP) cited damning evidence that a top NCHR-Haiti official actually took part in the illegal interrogations of three political prisoners who were tortured. The NCHR-Haiti official offered bribes of money and freedom if these political prisoners would collaborate with the coup-installed authorities by naming names, helping locate pro-democracy activists and/or testifying against Lavalas Party leaders.

(3) To Warn Canadian Organizations not to become Complicit in Government Propaganda Campaigns The article concludes with a provocative warning to Canadian peace, human rights and prodemocracy groups. The case of NCHR-Haiti clearly demonstrates that the Canadian government is willing to finance extremely biased, if not bogus, organizations that blatantly concoct deceptive propaganda campaigns. Such foreign groups have been manipulated, if not created, with the help of Canadian and US government funding. Their function is to funnel exaggerated, if not totally fabricated, disinformation and a politically partisan analysis that dovetails with their foreign mentors' policy objectives. Thanks to the corporate media and to government-funded organizations in Canada, the Canadian public was influenced into supporting what would otherwise have been recognized as a highly unjustified and illegal regime change in Haiti. In light of these facts, Canadian organizations--especially those receiving government funding, though widely perceived to be "non-governmental"--must become much more careful not to be manipulated into supporting the government's regressive foreign policies. Because some Canadian organizations have become deeply complicit in supporting the government's propaganda efforts, it is incumbent upon activists to take careful heed of this situation. Activists must become more wary of the potential for government manipulation so that they not tricked into lending further support to future wars, regime changes or other atrocities that are so often committed by governments in the hypocritical name of peace, democracy and human rights.

I hope you'll find this article interesting and useful in furthering the debate about the Canadian government role in Haiti's 2004 coup, and in particular the role played by CIDA-funded organizations in the human rights disaster that occurred during the reign of terror that gripped Haiti during the Canadian-backed coup regime.

Please circulate, and post this email and/or the links cited here to any individuals or groups that may be interested. Thanks also for ordering copies of Press for Conversion! magazine in which the complete version of this article appears,

Cheers Richard Sanders, Editor, Press for Conversion! Coordinator, Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)

SOURCE: "The Canadian-backed Coup Regime's Reign of Terror: How CIDA's NCHR-Haiti Cleverly Promoted and then Covered up Atrocities," was published in the September 2007 issue of Press for Conversion!
(#61), the magazine of the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT). The article is available online in two formats:

(a) As a pdf file showing how it appears in the printed version of COAT's magazine (with graphics and sidebars): <http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/61/3-19.pdf>

(b) In a text format without graphics and sidebars:

READ MORE: The overall theme of the issue of Press for Conversion! in which this article appears, is: "CIDA's Key Role in Haiti's 2004 Coup d'Ã?tat: Funding Regime Change, Dictatorship and Human Rights Atrocities, one Haitian 'NGO' at a Time."

The table of contents, with links to all the articles in this 52-page issue, can be viewed here: <http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/61/61-TOC.htm>

The previous issue of Press for Conversion! (#60) was entitled: "A Very Canadian Coup d'état in Haiti: The Top 10 Ways that Canada's Government helped the 2004 Coup and its Reign of Terror."

The many articles from this issue can be accessed in their entirety here: <http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/60/60.htm>

ORDER COPIES: Here's a link to order hard copies of these or other back issues of Press for Conversion!, or to subscribe and/or donate to the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT): <http://coat.ncf.ca/support_us/support_us.htm>