TOWN HALL MEETING AND ACS TRAVEL IN NORTHERN HAITI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000902

SIPDIS

FOR CA/OCS/ACS/WHA: RUTH BRANSON
ALSO FOR WHA/CAR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC HA
SUBJECT: TOWN HALL MEETING AND ACS TRAVEL IN NORTHERN HAITI

REF: A) PORT AU PRINCE 714


1. Summary: ACS visited the Department of the North of
Haiti from 7-Mar through 11-Mar-2005. ACS traveled
throughout the region meeting with nearly 70 U.S. citizens
and holding a town hall meeting in the city of Pignon. In
Pignon, ACS also visited a hospital, an electrical
cooperative, and an agricultural development site all
involving large numbers of U.S. citizens. In Cap Haitian,
ACS attempted to visit an imprisoned U.S. citizen, visited
with the Warden responsible for the north of Haiti as well
as three sub-wardens, paid visits to local civil and police
officials, met with local American business leaders, the
local representative of the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC),officials from the UN Civilian Police, and
made other visits in support of other Embassy sections in
order to report on the situation in the area in general.
SEPTEL to follow. This trip was extraordinarily successful
and the personal contacts cultivated during the trip paid
immediate dividends when an emergency situation arose
involving an U.S. citizen in the north. End Summary.


2. Pignon is a city of 30,000 located approximately 40 miles
to the southwest of Cap Haitian along Route Nationale 3.
ACS held a very well received town hall meeting on 8 March
that was attended by 17 Americans. Eight U.S. citizens were
newly registered and one replacement passport application
was executed after the meeting. ConOff first discussed the
overall security situation in Haiti, the many personnel
changes in the Consular Section, the electronic visa (e-
Visa) program, and issues related to passport renewals.
ConOff also discussed several talking points which were
provided by Post's Public Diplomacy section including the
activities of the USSOUTHCOM New Horizons Task Force and the
successes of USG-funded anti-HIV/AIDS programs in Haiti.
Participants were keenly interested in the Embassy's opinion
of the security situation in light of the upcoming elections
and requested Embassy assistance in applying pressure to the
Haitian government in light of their perception of
bureaucratic delays in adoptions in Haiti. Other consular-
related questions fielded concerned the e-Visa program,
assistance in the death of an American citizen abroad, and
emergency passports.


3. Following the town hall meeting, ConOff met a flight of
Missionary Flights International (MFI). MFI flies several
trips weekly from West Palm Beach to Cap Haitian and/or
Pignon. MFI ferries mostly American passengers and mail in
support of member missionary organizations. Later in the
day, ConOff visited the electrical co-operative in the town
of Pignon which had just begun generating electricity,
providing the town with its first street lights. The local
Pignon cooperative - Cooperative Electricit de Pignon - is
being developed in cooperation with the US-based, National
Rural Electric Cooperative Association International (NRECA)
who have been donating equipment and expertise to the Pignon
cooperative. ConOff was then given a tour of the Hpital
Bienfaisance de Pignon (Benevolent Hospital of Pignon) which
was founded by a prominent expat doctor. The 60-bed
hospital is well equipped and well-staffed, serving as a
training hospital for doctors from three Haitian medical
schools in Port-au-Prince. That evening, ConOff was able to
visit for several hours with a medical team consisting of 20-
25 Americans from the states of Wisconsin, West Virginia,
and Minnesota. This medical team was conducting 8-10
reconstructive and laparoscopic surgeries per day at the
hospital. The following day, 9 March, ConOff visited the
e
Haitian American Friendship Foundation (HAFF) compound which
is home to approximately 15 U.S. citizens on a full-time
basis. This compound hosts an experimental farm which is
run by a US-based NGO called Educational Concerns for Hunger
Organization (ECHO). By chance, ConOff was able to hold an
impromptu meeting with nearly 25 U.S. citizens visiting on
behalf of ECHO.


4. In Cap Haitian, ConOff paid a courtesy visit to Inspector
Ralph Dominique, Director of the Department of the North
(Directeur du Dpartement de Nord or DDN) of the Haitian
National Police on 10 March. ConOff discussed the case of
imprisoned U.S. citizen Gerald Dorsainvil and requested the
assistance of Inspector Dominique in facilitating a visit to
the regional prison where Dorsainvil was purportedly
detained. Following the visit to DDN, ConOff visited the
headquarters of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH) meeting with several officials there including
the Administrative, Logistics, and Public Affairs Officers.
ConOff then traveled to the Cap Haitian International
Airport to meet the daily MFI flight as well as the local
MFI agents and sub-wardens Don and Karen Davis. Based on
questions raised at the town hall meeting in Pignon, ConOff
inquired as to whether MFI would assist the Consular Section
in the evacuation or the repatriation of remains of a U.S.
Citizen not affiliated with MFI. Ms Davis responded
affirmatively that they would assist in both cases for the
airports which they service including Port-au-Prince, Cap
Haitian, Pignon, and Les Cayes.


5. In the afternoon, ConOff traveled to the regional prison
to visit imprisoned U.S. Citizen Gerard Dorsainvil. There
the warden showed ConOff Dorsainvil's dossier which showed
that Dorsainvil had been released on 28 January 2005 after
being found not guilty. REFTEL A contains further details
regarding the release of Dorsainvil. Later, ConOff met with
the local representative of International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC). The local representative of the ICRC,
Megan Rock, had previously provided the Consular Section
with first notification of the detention of Gerald
Dorsainvil when she discovered him in late October on one of
her routine prisons visits in the north. ConOff thanked her
again for her assistance in this matter and requested her
continued assistance in similar situations. That evening,
ConOff met with police officer Ralph Vieux, a U.S. police
officer from South Florida who is the only U.S. Citizen
among the MINSTUAH Civil Police contingent in Cap Haitian.


6. On 11 March, ConOff visited the Royal Caribbean Cruise
Lines (RCCL) beach facility at Labadee and met with several
of the U.S. citizen staff who are permanent residents at the
facility. ConOff received a brief tour of the facility and
discussed topics including crime, emergencies, evacuation
for both U.S. citizen employees as well as U.S. citizen
guests. An interesting note is, that according to one RCCL
employee, approximately 80-85% of all guests on RCCL ships
are U.S. citizens. As most ships visiting this facility
have on average, 3,700 guests, which visit three times per
week, this equates to approximately 12,000 U.S. citizens
cycling through this facility each week. ConOff also paid a
brief visit to the sub-warden responsible for the Labadee
area.

FOLEY