Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PORTAUPRINCE2031
2007-12-31 15:45:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Port Au Prince
Cable title:  

HAITI MONTHLY: DECEMBER, 2007

Tags:  HA PGOV PHUM PREL KCRM KWMN KTEX 
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VZCZCXRO2463
OO RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #2031/01 3651545
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 311545Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7423
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1734
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1548
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 0971
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1384
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 002031 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR
S/CRS
INL FOR KEVIN BROWN AND ANGELIC YOUNG
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: HA PGOV PHUM PREL KCRM KWMN KTEX
SUBJECT: HAITI MONTHLY: DECEMBER, 2007

PORT AU PR 00002031 001.2 OF 002


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 002031

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR
S/CRS
INL FOR KEVIN BROWN AND ANGELIC YOUNG
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: HA PGOV PHUM PREL KCRM KWMN KTEX
SUBJECT: HAITI MONTHLY: DECEMBER, 2007

PORT AU PR 00002031 001.2 OF 002



1. (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified -- please
protect accordingly.


2. (U) Summary: This is a monthly report on various topics
of interest which do not merit a full reporting cable. End
summary.


3. (U) PARLIAMENT TO CONSIDER NEW WOMEN'S RIGHTS LAWS.
The Ministry of Women's Affairs presented to Parliament
December 11 three pieces of legislation aimed at
institutionalizin women's rights. The draft laws cover
equal rigts for domestic workers, rules and rights for
coples in common law marriages, and "responsible
ftherhood" - codifying the idea that men have some
responsibilities when it comes to parenting, even f the
are not married to the mother. Minister f Women's Affairs
Marie Laurence Jocelyn-Lassegu noted that the laws are the
result of more thanten years of consultations between
women's organzations and the parliament. Ministry Director
Geeral Myriam Merlet told Poloff December 5 tat the support
for the laws in Parliament is "very good," and that the only
opposition comes from some religious fundamentalists opposed
to common law marriages. Senator Cemephise Gilles, President
of the Senate Committee on Women's Affairs, told Poloff
December 20 the Senate strongly supports the laws and will
likely pass all three in January.


4. (SBU) PRIME MINISTER WARNS CHIEF PROSECUTOR AND CHIEF OF
POLICE.
After a hearing before the Senate Committee on Public
Security, PM Alexis told the press that Port au Prince Chief
Prosecutor Claudy Gassant and Haitian National Police (HNP)
Director Mario Andresol must resolve their differences, or
else the government would intervene with "administrative
measures." Alexis also disputed contentions from certain
Senators that the dispute between the two had contributed to
an increase in crime including kidnappings in the capital
over the last few months. Alexis, who appeared with Justice
Minister Magloire and Secretary of State for Public Security

Eucher-Luc Joseph before the Senate committee, thus attempted
to put a stop to a long-standing rivalry that has intensified
in recent months. The most recent incident in that dispute
was the convocation by an investigative judge, acting with
the support of Chief Prosecutor Gassant, of HNP DG Andresol
to answer questions about the 2000 murder of journalist Jean
Dominique. Gassant in November released over one-hundred
long-term detainees with the justification that many of them
had not been charged or that they faced health issues. Human
rights groups charged that some of those released were
dangerous criminals, and Andresol promptly rearrested at
least one of them, whom Gassant then immediately ordered to
be re-released.


5. (U) PRESIDENT PREVAL PRESSES FOR U.S. HELP TO IDENTIFY
AND PROSECUTE FINANCIAL CRIMES CASES.
In a December 18 meeting with U.S. Treasury financial crimes
advisors, President Preval emphasized his interest in
obtaining "quick results" on cases involving corruption and
money laundering. Preval said that although corruption is
widespread in Haiti, most of the cases that are identified
represent minor crimes, such as favors for services. A
concentrated focus on rapidly identifying and prosecuting
egregious cases is greatly needed, Preval said. He
encouraged the advisors to get to work quickly to train GoH
financial crimes analysts, investigators and prosecutors.


6. (U) U.S. CBP HOPE TRAINING FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief of Textile
Operations Branch Bob Abels, sponsored by USAID, on December
13-14 trained representatives from the public and private
sectors on Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through
Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE) implementation. In a
two-day workshop-style setting, Abels trained over a dozen
representatives from the Ministry of Commerce, Haitian
Customs and several members from the private sector (mostly
apparel factory representatives). Abels, for a day and half
with the public sector, focused mostly on circumvention and

PORT AU PR 00002031 002.2 OF 002


transshipment issues, HOPE visa regulations and clarifying
CBP requirements. For a half day, Abels gave an abbreviated
presentation to the private sector clarifying the
often-interpreted ambiguous wovens versus knits HOPE
requirements. Representatives from both the public and
private sector wholly appreciated the training and requested
additional HOPE training in the future.


7. (SBU) DEPORTEES ARRESTED ON KIDNAPPING CHARGES.
On December 20, the Haitian National Police arrested two
Haitian deportees from the U.S., Pierre Emmanuel and Patrick
Fenelon, in connection with the December 18 kidnapping of
Vanessa Paul, a German citizen and employee of the World
Bank. Despite the strong anti-deportee sentiment in Haiti,
Yves Stanley Joseph, the chief of staff at the Ministry of
Interior that handles the deportee portfolio, told Poloff on
December 21 that he does not believe that the GoH will resume
incarcerating criminal deportees upon arrival to Haiti.


8. (U) KIDNAPPERS THREATEN VICTIMS WITH DEATH IF THEY GO TO
THE POLICE.
Yves Stanley Joseph, the Chief of Staff at the Ministry of
the Interior, on December 21 told Poloff that kidnappers were
threatening their victims and their families with murder if
they contacted the Haitian National Police. Joseph claimed
that this is especially the case among victims from the elite
or industrial class. Stanley claimed to know personally four
kidnapping victims who were threatened in this way by
kidnappers who appeared to have mapped out their travel
routines and family relationships. These threats contribute
to the underreporting of kidnappings that are currently
plaguing the capital.


9. (U) FORMER HEAD OF ANTI-KIDNAPPING UNIT CLEARED OF
KIDNAPPING AND MURDER CHARGES.
Judge Jean Carvesse cleared Michael Lucius, the former
commissaire of the HNP's anti-kidnapping unit, of all charges
of being an accomplice to kidnapping and murder. The
December 3 order was made official by the Port-au-Prince
parquet on December 21. Lucius, who is in Paris, implicated
two members of the government prosecutor for Port-au-Prince's
(Claudy Gassant) security detail in the September 25
assassination attempt against him.


10. (U) HAITI SIGNS EPA WITH THE EU.
Minister of Commerce Maguy Durce at a lunch debate entitled
"European Union Economic Partnership Agreements and Caribbean
Countries: Opportunities and Challenges for Haiti" on
December 17 confirmed that CARIFORUM countries, including
Haiti, on December 16 signed an Economic Partnership
Agreement (EPA) with the EU. The EPA offers duty- and
quota-free treatment for all CARIFORUM goods, excluding rice
and sugar, entering Europe as of January 1, 2008. The EU
allowed Haiti to be a signatory country to full EPA benefits
with the understanding that the GoH has six months to fulfill
its partnership requirements.
TIGHE