The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

Duane is right that this is not a free and fair election,but the exclusion of Siméus and Mourra is not the problem.They are both incontestably and by their own admission US citizens.The 1987 Haitian constitution does not permit double nationality.The Supreme Court heard the petition of Siméus against the earlier exclusion in a matter of hours without allowing the Electoral Council to submit its

documentation.The executive,with the Electoral Council,then set up a special

commission to determine the nationality and eligibility of declared candidates.It is

this body that has ruled out the candidacies of Siméus and Mourra.

On the other hand,the continued detention of several hundred political prisoners in

Haitian jails(most without charges in defiance of Haitian law)and particularly the

extraordinary jailing of Father Jean-Juste,considered the choice candidate of Haiti’s largest political party,hardly meets the normal preconditions for a reasonably

democratic election.The situation of Jean-Juste has been widely condemned-by

departing US Ambassador and the UN,as well as local and all the international

human rights bodies(he is an Amnesty Prisoner of Conscience.For a cool and

conclusive overview of the situation as of mid-September,I would recommend the

testimony of lawyer Brian Concannon to the Congressional Black Caucus easily

available on the site of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti(www.ijdh.org) and widely publisher under the title’Electoral Cleansing in Haiti’.

Thank you!!

I believe politic as usual will keep us wandering in the desert for another 40 years. In 1987, we had try hard to keep the Duvalierist out, (you know the rest)now is the Aristide fanatics so when we will ever learn from our mistake.

The matter of Simeus and Sura is whether we have a constitution or is any member of our goverment ever done it before