(Webmaster’s note. The paragraph referred to below in the Haiti Democracy Project report has been removed.)
The Haiti Support Group is an association of individuals who support the Haitian people in their struggle for justice, human rights, and participatory democracy. It is a solidarity group based in the United Kingdom. The HSG was launched in June 1992 in the aftermath of the military coup d’état that overthrew the democratic government.Haiti Support Group press release – 17 January 2003
Subject: The continuing circulation of the erroneous report on Radio
Metropole regarding the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ remarks about
Haiti on 4 December 2002
In the absence of any retraction or apology from Radio Metropole regarding
its 4 December news item entitled, “U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights’
Warning to the Haitian Authorities”, and in view of the fact that the
incorrect information contained in this report continues to circulate, the
Haiti Support Group believes it is necessary to set the record straight.
After consulting with the UN High Commission for Human Rights and having been
provided with a transcript of the exchange between the Radio Metropole
journalist and Mr. Vieira de Mello – the United Nations High Commissioner,
the Haiti Support Group is in a position to make the following points:
1. The original Radio Metropole report stated that Mr. Vieira de Mello gave
an exclusive interview to Radio Metropole’s correspondent in Geneva.
In fact, no interview took place. The Radio Metropole correspondent was
present during a press briefing by the High Commissioner for some 40 UN
Geneva-based journalists from international media on the morning of 4
December 2002 in Geneva. During this meeting the Radio Metropole
correspondent asked one two-part question about Haiti. After the press
briefing had finished, the Radio Metropole correspondent asked the High
Commissioner if he could include and assimilate what he had said in reply to
a question about the situation in Côte d’Ivoire and apply it to Haiti. The
High Commissioner said he could go along with reference to the general
principles. It seems that on this basis, the Radio Metropole correspondent
put together a number of different statements about different situations in
order to concoct an ‘interview’.
2. The original Radio Metropole report stated that Mr. Vieira de Mello
“strongly condemned the violent dispersion of an opposition rally by regime
supporters in Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday, December 3, 2002.”
In fact, the Radio Metropole correspondent asked the following question,
“Three weeks of continuous demonstrations against the government have been
violently repressed. I would like to know your position on the side of human
rights in relation to the systematic violation of human rights in Haiti by a
state that calls itself democratic”, and Mr. Vieira de Mello replied that his
position was “identical to that that I have taken, for example, in the case
of East Timor, which I know better than Haiti, in relation to the events that
took place in Dili, which is to issue, for a start, a categorical
condemnation of violence of this type, and, in particular, of violence that
targets civilian targets. And, as you know, Louis Joinet, who is the special
expert on Haiti, has made a long and very detailed declaration on this issue.”
3. The original Radio Metropole report accurately detailed Mr Vieira de
Mello’s remarks condemning attacks on journalists, and accurately reported
his vow to “continue to work with journalists’ associations so that this
issue is treated with the seriousness that it deserves by all international
bodies notably the Security Council.”
4. The original Radio Metropole report stated that Mr Vieira de Mello
threatened to take the question to the International Criminal Court that will
meet next March and indicated that this Court would “look into everything
that is happening”, and that Mr Vieira de Mello had invited the Haitian
authorities to remember the work carried out by the criminal tribunals for
Yugoslavia and Rwanda, underlining that “violations of journalists’ rights
fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court”.
In fact, Mr. Vieira de Mello did not say these words in relation to Haiti,
and did not invite the Haitian authorities to remember the trials in relation
to Yugoslavia and Rwanda. These words were in fact in response to a question
from another journalist about the situation in Côte d’Ivoire. The Haiti
Support Group has since been informed that although Mr Vieira de Mello had
indeed told the Radio Metropole correspondent that he could go along with
reference to the general principles about Côte d’Ivoire in relation to Haiti,
he had not imagined that the two replies would be “confused in such a way”.
When questioned by the High Commissioner’s spokesperson after the Radio
Metropole report became public, the Radio Metropole correspondent apologised
for the ‘misunderstanding’, and blamed his editors.
5. The original Radio Metropole report stated that Mr Vieira de Mello ended
his remarks by reminding the Lavalas government leaders that “everything they
do is being recorded and that, sooner or later, those responsible will end up
before the International Criminal Court, unless they are prosecuted in their
own country.”
In fact, once again, Mr Vieira de Mello did not say anything of the kind
about Lavalas government leaders, and the Radio Metropole version was
concocted on the basis of remarks about a different country.
In view of the very great discrepancies between the Radio Metropole report
and Mr Vieira de Mello’s actual remarks in response to the one question about
Haiti, the Office of the High Commissioner decided to publish on the front
page of the “News page” of UN High Commission for Human Rights website a
“Clarification on Haiti” which remained on the site for the entire month of
December.
These are the facts as they are known to the Haiti Support Group.
We regard the errors as especially important, and in need of correction, in
the context of the pre-eminent position of Radio Metropole as a primary
source of news about Haiti both locally and internationally.
In the first case, for example, we were concerned to see that the original
Radio Metropole report was picked up and regurgitated, complete with a whole
slew of new errors and fabrications, by Radio Signal FM. Its 4 December
broadcast included the following news item: “The Brazilian (High Commissioner
for Human Rights in Geneva) Viera de Mello has said what happened in the
capital yesterday was unacceptable, especially the serious threats against
freedom of the press. He could not tolerate the police who, he said, showed a
passive response to groups of individuals who inflicted violence on peaceful
citizens who wanted to take part in a march. He compared the Haitian police
to a government gendarmerie because of its attitude. Viera de Mello
threatened to take the case in front of the International Criminal Court in
days to come, which he suggested would have serious consequences for the
Haitian authorities.”
Little if any of the above is in fact true.
In the second case – the repercussions of the Radio Metropole’s report
internationally – the Haiti Support Group is concerned that a paper written
by the Washington-based Haiti Democracy Project entitled, “The U.S. Policy
Imperative in Haiti, and How to Achieve It”, dated December 9, 2002, and
published on December 28, 2002, ( see
/policypaper5.htm) contains the following
paragraph:
“Finally, though,–just last week–the UN’s High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Sergio Viera de Melo issued an unusually stern warning to all those
currently abusing their powers or prerogatives in Haiti by wielding violence
as an instrument of politics, with full impunity. Clearly angered by the
violent dispersion of a peaceful protest march a day earlier, the High
Commissioner minced no words in an interview with Haiti’s Radio Métropole,
predicting the future involvement of both the Security Council and the
soon-to-be launched International Criminal Court in bringing resolution to
the persistent crisis–and justice to the perpetrators of human rights
violations. “Everything they do is being duly recorded,” he cautioned Lavalas
powerholders, “and, sooner or later,” he promised them, “those responsible,
if not judged by a national court, will be so judged by the International
Criminal Court.”
While the above may reflect the original Radio Metropole report, once again
it in no way represents the remarks made by Mr. Vieira de Mello.
The Haiti Support Group calls on Radio Metropole to issue a public retraction
and an apology for its error-stricken report, and for all those who have
wittingly or unwittingly relayed the erroneous information to advise their
readership of the facts.
The transcript of the December 4th press briefing by Mr. Vieira de Mello that
includes his remarks about Haiti can be viewed on the UN High Commission for
Human Rights website at: http://www.unhchr.ch/news/pb412.doc.