Originally: Communiqué No. 2
PRESS RELEASE NO. 2
Of THE 184 INSTITUTIONS, ORGANIZATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS
OF 12 SECTORS OF THE HAITIAN CIVIL SOCIETY
Recognizing that the Government in place has ignored the demands formulated in the joint Declaration of December 26th, 2002;
Recognizing the Government?s non-abidance by the commitments it subscribed in Resolution 822, and consequently, the blocking of national and international efforts to find an agreement towards filling the deficit of legitimacy of the public authorities issued from the Year 2000?s elections;
Recognizing the cascading consequences of the economic, financial and monetary mismanagement by the Government: cooperatives? bankruptcy, vertiginous plunge of the Gourde, excessive increase in the price of petroleum products, the Government?s tendency to put the blame on the other sectors of national life;
Recognizing furthermore the accelerated degradation of the situation resulting from the actions taken namely towards:
· Restricting the freedom of speech and controlling the medias
· Violently repressing students? protests
· Systematically dismantling the nation?s formal sectors
· Smothering Freedom of Association, more particularly Labor Unions? movements
· Plunging the country into a climate of increasing insecurity by politicizing the National Police, and organizing armed militias that aggress the citizens and the population in order to hinder the legitimate exercise of their constitutional rights.
The 184 Institutions, Organizations Associations have come to the conclusion that the Government in place does not have the political will:
· to resolve the legitimacy crisis emanating from the Year 2000?s elections;
· to create the necessary conditions for citizens to exercise their political, social and economic rights;
· to dismantle and disarm the gangs that are sowing terror throughout the country;
· to oblige itself to a transparent and efficient management of public affairs;
· to put an end to impunity and repression;
· to give up making declarations aimed at fomenting hatred, violence and division;
· to put an end to the personality cult, as forbidden by Article 7 of the Constitution of 1987;
· to abide by the commitments it subscribed within the framework of Resolution 822;
· to set free the individuals imprisoned for political reasons
and that consequently, the current situation is unacceptable and it is therefore impossible, at this juncture, to put in place the structures and mechanism that are necessary for free, transparent and credible elections;
The 184 Institutions, Organizations and Associations have decided:
– To reinforce the consultation mechanisms in order to tackle all totalitarian underhand maneuvers, to revive baffled expectations and to contribute to the establishment of a State of Law and Order, of a society of social justice and economic progress for all, based on a new social pact;
– To present in the shortest delay to the nation and to the political parties after consultation
with other sectors:
a) a proposal for coming out of the on-going crisis, assorted with a Plan of Action
b) the main elements for the implementation of a new social pact.
The 184 Institutions, Organizations and Associations inform the Haitian People, national and international public opinion, that numerous organizations have joined the ranks of the initial group which now form a platform for civic action.
This reinforced platform:
urges the citizens, through their organizations within the nine geographic Departments of the country, as well as the Diaspora, to regroup themselves and to concert, within the framework of local platforms, in order to forward their suggestions and proposals to this platform;
invites all citizens to overcome fear, to assume their responsibilities and to mobilize themselves to say NO to assassinations, to political persecution, to repression and political violence;
calls upon the Civil Servants and the Public Force to join in civic solidarity and to refuse to answer for illegal and unacceptable acts.
NO to Misery
NO to the Destruction of our Country
2003: Year of Force through Unity!
Port-au-Prince, January 20th, 2003.