Kim Ives
Kim Ives
Left Forum 2017
The UN in Haiti: The Shell Game of Military Occupation
- Nat Wood Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) produce live talk show: 30 Frames a Second
- Kim Ives Haiti Liberte Newspaper
- Pojaneey Fleury Brown Eyez Magazine , Ayiti and Disapora Business
- Ray LaForest
Haiti delegation
On May 18th 2004 , a 21-year-old truck driver was on a shopping trip for his mother, when the bus he was on wasstopped at a police checkpoint in Portail St. Joseph in Haiti. Police let all the women off the bus and arrestedall the men, without warrant and without charge.The next day this man, who asked that his name not be revealed, saw a judge, who sent him to see aprosecutor. The prosecutor told him he would send his case to another judge to decide whether to hold trial orrelease him. He has not heard from anyone since, and as of Sept. 4 was still locked up in the National Penitentiary at Port-au-Prince. He says he still doesn't know why he's in prison.
This is just one of countless stories delegates on a four-day fact-finding delegation in Haiti heard about thedeteriorating human rights situation in that country.From Sept. 3-6, delegates from both coasts of the United States met with political prisoners, internal exiles, women's groups and labor leaders, who all told of a worsening of conditions since the Feb. 29 U.S. "coup-knapping" of democratically-elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.The Caribbean nation is now occupied by a United Nations "peacekeeping" force dominated by the U.S. and France. Josue Renaud of the New England Coalition for Human Rights in Haiti, a member of the delegation, told Workers World: "We are very concerned about the situation of these political prisoners, including Sò Anne, Neptune and Evert, arrested without warrants, under false charges. The government needs to release themimmediately.
"Kim Ives of Haiti Progres and the Haiti Support Network said, "Our visit helped reveal the depth and breadthof repression in Haiti today. The mainstream press, if they mention Haiti's political prisoners at all, focus juston two: constitutional Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and Lavalas activist So Anne. Our delegation revealed thatthere are scores of prisoners in the National Penitentiary alone, not to mention the other prisons around thecountry."We also uncovered that the problem of internal exile is much more prevalent than generally known. We learned that violence ranging from targeted killings to government-incited gang wars is driving thousandsfrom their homes.
"Also participating in the delegation were Haitian journalist Robert Benjamin, Catholic activist Kathy Boylan,radio program hosts Karine Jean-Pierre and Joseph Chery, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, SteelWorkers Local 8751 President Steve Gillis, filmmaker Katherine Kean, Haitian unionist Ray LaForest, former U.S. Army Capt. Lawrence Rockwood and Leilani Dowell, who represented the International Action Center.
The delegation met with approximately 35 political prisoners, including Annette "SÒ Anne" Auguste, well-known Haitian singer and Lavalas activist; Prime Minister Yvon Neptune; and Minister of the Interior Jocelerme Evert.[1]
Supporting Aristide
On April 7 2004 in the Whitman Theatre at Brooklyn College. A multinational crowd of 2,000, mainly people from Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean, packed the hall to hear a program entitled "An Evening with Friends of Haiti: The Truth Behind the Haiti Coup."
- A broad range of speakers and cultural performers ignited the stage for three-and-a-half hours to express heartfelt anti-imperialist solidarity with the besieged Caribbean country. Haiti has once again suffered a horrific atrocity with the U.S.-orchestrated kidnapping of its democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, on Feb. 29.
The rally was co-chaired by Kim Ives and Karine Jean-Pierre from Haiti Support Network (HSN), with Pat Chin and Sara Flounders from the Workers World Party controlled International Action Center.
Other speakers included Alina Sixto, Family Lavalas New York/Tri-State Area; Rep. Major Owens of Brooklyn; Mario Dupuy, Aristide's state secretary of communication; Don Rojas, Amy Goodman and Bernard White, WBAI-Pacifica Radio; Ray LaForest, Haitian labor organizer, District Council 1707; Brian Concannon, human-rights attorney; Brooklyn College student Starr Bernard; Serge Lilavois, Support Committee for PPN; Los Angeles anti-police brutality activist Michael Zinzun; Dominican activist Marc Torres; and Haitian performers Marguerite Laurent and Phantoms[2].