Thursday, November 19, 2009

Antoinette Davis: Neglectful "Crack Ho" or Innocent Mother?

shaniya_davis_kidnapping_mcneill250 volunteer searchers scouring "an area about 6 miles from the last confirmed sighting of Shaniya." found her body on Sunday (11.16.09). She was dumped along "Walker Road, off N.C. Highway 87, near the Lee-Harnett county line... about 100 feet off Walker Road." The little five year old was found among "deer carcasses" in a woodsy and wet area. The last sighting of Shaniya was at a hotel in Sanford, North Carolina. A man named Mario McNeill was seen carrying Shaniya into a hotel elevator at a Comfort Suites hotel, about 30 miles from her mother's home (Sleepy Hollow Drive, Fayetteville, NC). One unidentified man "who found the body said the girl was lying on the ground and was wearing only a T-shirt." It may be an important clue that a blanket belonging to the girl was found in a neighbor's trash can a day after her disappearance.

mario andrette mcneillPolice arrested Mario Andrette McNeill, 29 and charged him with first degree kidnapping. Late Saturday (11.15.09), Shaniya's mother Antoinette Nicole Davis, 25 was also arrested, three days after she reported her child missing. Davis claimed to have discovered the girl missing an hour after putting her to sleep on a couch.
Its hard to believe that Shaniya's mother Antoinette Davis would knowingly "permit an act of prostitution with Shaniya" as the arrest warrant states. Shaniya's mother was arrested late Saturday (11.15.09) and "charged with human trafficking, felony child abuse–prostitution, filing a false police report and obstructing a police investigation."

Questions yet to be answered
Why did Antoinette Davis initially accuse her boyfriend Clarence Coe of abducting Shaniya? Davis is pregnant with Coe's child. Coe was first arrested, but charges against him have since been dropped. He was released when a hotel employee at the Comfort Suites hotel tipped off police about McNeill. At that point the hotel surveillance video of Mcneill with Shaniya was turned over to police. According to Theresa Chance of the Fayetteville Police Department, “...footage was taken Tuesday, and we weren’t made aware of it until Wednesday.”

antoinette davisAntoinette Davis reported Shaniya missing on Nov. 10. On her 911 call released by police, she claimed that she put Shaniya to bed at 5:00 am. Although, Davis is accused of lying on the call--there was time for the abduction to take place without her knowledge. The child was seen on surveillance cameras at the hotel at 6:11 am, an hour and eleven minutes later. The distance between Antoinette Davis' house and the hotel is 30 miles. A distance by car of 50 minutes according to Google Maps. If Davis got the time right, then it would seem that 1 hour was enough time for McNeill to arrive at the hotel with Shaniya after he admittedly abducted her. McNeill, who has a criminal record for shooting a man in the face and other drug related crimes, has nevertheless plead not guilty.

Did someone (McNeil or Coe) point the finger at Antoinette Davis, leading to police arresting her? Or have police deduced from her 911 call and the time constraints involved that she is lying? Do police have other evidence against Antoinette Davis that they are not disclosing?


map_shaniya_davis_death

Did police and prosecutors jump the gun in arresting and charging Antoinette Davis with prostituting her own child? She was arraigned and charged even before the body of her child was found. People should keep in mind that video of Antoinette Davis in court were shot before the body of her missing child was found (she is currently in a segregated cell and on suicide watch)--so if she appears calm and emotionless--it may be because she had yet to learn of her child's death. Some of Davis' family have come to her defense. Her mother Ann Summers said that Antoinette is a "good mother." And her sister Brenda was interviewed after the arraignment.
"Her sister, Brenda Davis, 20, said outside of the courthouse that she does not believe the charges. “I don’t believe she could hurt her children,” said Brenda Davis, who was able to speak to her sister at the jail Sunday."
An uncle, was another family member who made a statement in support of Davis. "I know she’s a great mom. She’s a great mom. Antoinette really loved her children,” said Davis' uncle, Arthur Cromartie.

What is the father Bradley Lockhart's responsibility in this tragedy? Why did he hand his "angel" over to her mother (Shaniya is a product of a "one-night stand" with Davis, according to Lockhart) when there was some question about her fitness as a parent? A family friend Tim Allen said "after Shaniya went to her mother’s house, he noticed marks on her arms. "Boyfriends and his friends would put the cigarettes out on the baby's arms." The local news online, WRAL.com reports:
"Tim Allen has been caring for Lockhart's 17-year-old daughter, Cheyenne. He said Tuesday evening that he told Lockhart not to send Shaniya to live with her mother."I feel he is 99 percent the reason why this happened in the first place,” Allen said of Shaniya’s death."
Antoinette Davis had lived at a house (on Wall Street) which was raided in July by police for drugs, though no one was arrested. Davis also has a 7 year old son (no word on who fathered this son with Davis) and was investigate by child protective services, though no action was taken to remove her child and records are sealed. Lockhart has said that he decided to give Davis a chance to be a mother, and Shaniya was given to her mother on October 9, but by mid October, Shaniya was no longer attending school. Where was Shaniya when her mother was working at her two jobs? It should be mentioned, however, that in North Carolina mandatory school attendance age is 7-16 years old--so Antoinette Davis was not violating state law when she allegedly took Shaniya out of school. As for Davis' work record:
"Davis worked in the kitchen at Carolina Inn at Village Green, an assisted living facility in Fayetteville.CES, a South Carolina-based staffing company that has a contract with Carolina Inn, hired her in June 2008 after an extensive background check, an official said. She had a good employment record at both Carolina Inn and the Haymount Nursing Rehabilitation Facility, but she is no longer employed by the company, the official said."
shaniya davis_dressy

Who is Bradley Lockhart?
Why has the father who never given his "angel" his last name? While Antoinette is demonized by the majority of people opining about the matter (obviously, because of the arrest), Lockhart remains somewhat of a mystery. Still, some are hoping that this young woman did not cause this to happen to her innocent child. In America, is a person still presumed innocent, until proven guilty? Reading some of the comment on the internet it is hard to believe that people know of this celebrated tenet of the US criminal justice system.

bradley lockhartShaniya's father Bradley Lockhart seems to be a nice man on the surface. He's taken some blame on himself for Shaniya's death, saying--"Every parent would blame themselves. We all look within ourselves to see what we could have done differently." Antoinette Davis is 25 now, so she had Shaniya when she was 20. Wonder how old Bradley Lockhart is? As an aside... It's a frustration sometimes when the news outlets don't report a man's age, but are never slow with reporting the woman's age. Lockhart has five other kids with three different women. He has experienced a tragedy of equal proportion before. His former wife Vicki Lockhart was killed in a home invasion along with two others, including her 19 year old sister. Two men were arrested and prosecuted in the case. The evidence of this latest tragedy, appears to show that Lockhart was somewhat of an absentee father whose sister Carey Lockhart-Davis was actually taking care of Shaniya. His 17 year old daughter Cheyenne was also in the care of another--his friend Tim Allen. According to reports, Lockhart was gone a lot on "out-of-town jobs." No word on what his profession is.

Nancy Grace sets her sights on Antoinette Davis
That reptile Nancy Grace (maybe a guest spot on "V" would show her true colors?) aggressively attacked Antoinette Davis on her CNN show. Here's a video from the show: "Cops: Mom Owed Suspect Money." Grace claims that sources say (one of her guests pointed to cops) Davis owed McNeill for drugs. "Thanks, Mommy," Nancy exclaims at one point, for emphasis. Hasn't Nancy Grace learned anything from firestorm she caused when mother committed suicide after being on her show--"Melinda Duckett, a 21-year-old Florida woman whom Grace grilled after the disappearance of the woman's 2-year-old son." Can't abide Nancy Grace. If ever there was someone who personified gracelessness, its her offensive persona on her sideshow. This is the type of "news" show and ugliness that sells shampoos for Cable TV now.

This case is such a tragedy. Many people are saddened and are grieving the death of this innocent child. It is a sick reality that these sorts of incidents seem to be happening more and more often. What sick, twisted monster wants to have sex with children? The mind boggles and the heart is sickened by the thought of such a perversion. Is it a sign of the times? Is it the economic crunch, poverty and desperation that is leading people to do such despicable things for money? Or was it a festering illness that has always existed, yet never found the fertile ground to grow?

So is Antoinette Davis a neglectful, immoral and criminal "Crack Ho" or innocent hard-working mother?

Rest in peace Shaniya.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Why Haiti Needs a Political Partner with a Standing Army


ANSWER emergency response demonstration
to March 1, 2004 Coup-knapping in Haiti – March 2, 2004
The recent history of relations between the US and Haiti has been an adversarial one. US foreign policy in Haiti has been controlled by right-wing elements in the US--with primary connections to the now deceased segregationist and racist Jesse Helms and his organization, the IRI, a subgroup of the National Endowment for Democracy--who were involved in the financing and sponsorship of two Coup D'etats in Haiti (the first on Sep. 30, 1991 and the second on Monday, March 01, 2004). The International Republican Institute (IRI) is not pro-democracy, though its objectives are stated to be democracy and trade. The real purpose of groups like the IRI, in countries of the global south is to promote anti-democracy elements by aligning with right-wing extremist elements of the countries they target. In Haiti, the mysterious Haiti Democracy Project (HDP) funded the creation of Group 184 (consisting of rich pro-business elements of Haiti's so-called "civil society") which in turn aligned with the armed "rebels" (their muscle) to form the threat that was the basis for the removal of Haiti's first democratically elected government--for the second coup.


Lovinsky-Pierre Antoine:
disappeared July 28, 2007

Haiti is a country that has lost thousands of its citizens--they were/are either dead or disappeared as a result of the chaos attending the upheavals of the coups. A conservative estimate of the toll was published in the Lancet in 2006 that documented 8,000 deaths and 35,000 rapes in Haiti since the second coup in 2004.

Haiti is a part of a small island in the Caribbean. It is bordered on it's right by the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is where so-called "rebels" (Bush's then Secretary of State, Colin Powell characterized them as "thugs and criminals") were trained and armed by their benefactor (the US) in preparation to the second attack on Haiti's first democracy. Members of these "rebels" had also been trained and financed by US Special Forces and the CIA, including wanted drug trafficker Guy Philippe and his associates, wanted murderers/assassins Emmanuel Constant and Jodel Chamblain.

The United States of America--which is the world's number one super power--or has very good marketing apparatus that promotes the number one billing, is not and never was interested in promoting democracy in Haiti.


US government and multinational corporations/ political "interests" in Haiti

The US government's foreign policy is aligned with the Haitian sweatshops and businesses that pay poverty/slave wages to Haitian workers. A typical Haitian worker averages about $3 a day. These unethical multinationals and their Haitian coconspirators see to it that the Haitian worker is exploited and deprived of every basic human right that is enshrined in the UN "Universal Declaration of Human Rights." The UN's stated objectives in the declaration make imperative the right for workers to earn a living wage. This requires that basic employment laws that protect workers from exploitation are in place. One basic right denied to Haitian workers is the right to form unions.

What of this current UN mission in Haiti with the unfortunate and evocative acronym of MINUSTAH: United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti? The UN has now been occupying Haiti for the past five years under the pretext of bringing stability, after the violent kidnapping of the democratically elected government (which it supported), yet human rights for poor Haitians have not been a part of their mission. Perhaps this is because the security/stabilization they seek is for the multinational corporations and the Haitian rich business class to operate without oversight and to spare them the embarrassment of being called to account by an empowered native Haitian government?

There are many more reasons for forming a political, strategical partnership with a country that has a standing army. Below is a list of the potential candidates. Readers are invited to list their own candidates and explore the pros and cons of a partnership between Haiti and a foreign political partner. The best candidate should have a standing army and be able to withstand any economic, military or diplomatic embargo initiated and supported by the UN Security Council. As of October 15, 2009, the five "permanent" (voting) members of the UN Security Council were: United States, France, China, UK and Russia. As of today October 16, 2009--five new "non-permanent" (voting) members were elected: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria. They join Uganda, Turkey, Mexico and Japan to make up the fifteen members voting members. According to the UN, "Under the Charter, all Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. While other organs of the United Nations make recommendations to Governments, the Council alone has the power to take decisions which Member States are obligated under the Charter to carry out."

During his UN speech in October, Libya's Muammar Gaddafi lamented the inequality among member states and criticized the Security Council as being ineffective because since its inception, 65 wars had been launched. Gaddafi also dropped the T-Bomb, calling the UN Security Council a "Council Of Terror." Unfortunately, the mainstream media in the US portrayed Gaddafi's speech as rambling and incoherent and the Guardian UK said it was mind-numbingly long. It would have perhaps been more constructive if they had focused on the substance of his first ever UN speech, instead of its length and entertainment value.


The Potential Candidates for a Partnership: Pros and Cons

Which candidate country would make the best political partner for Haiti? The Aristide government dissolved the Haitian army in 1995. President Aristide considered the Haitian military to be a primary source of oppression and an instrument used to make coups in Haiti. So, the political partner must have a standing army that fills that gap for Haiti. This is just one consideration, but a paramount one in a political partner. It would be constructive for a Haitian government which seeks autonomy to weigh the pros and cons in making a decision as to whom to approach about this matter. Conversely, any potential partner would have to be assured that the pros outweighed the cons in any partnership undertaken with the Haitian people.


Top candidates
Country
Military Defense Apparatus
Taiwan
National Defense
North Korea
Military
Iran
Foreign relations and military
Venezuela
Military
South Africa
Defense
China
Military and Army
Cuba
Military



Obama arrives in Beijing to continue China visit
US President Barack Obama arrived in Beijing Monday afternoon to continue a four-day state visit to China after meetings with officials and students in Shanghai.
Some will object to Haiti seeking aid from states that are considered to be enemies of the US. Those who have this qualm should ask themselves: If other sovereign countries can act in their own self-interest, why not the long-suffering people of Haiti? What of the US' alliances with the dictatorships and authoritarian governments of China, Saudi Arabia and Sudan--to name a few? The very thought of the US having cordial relations with the genocidal government of the Sudan, should be enough to turn the stomach of freedom loving Americans everywhere.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Accused Pedofile Perlitz Files Motion for Secrecy from Behind Bars

No More Secrecy
HLLN on Douglaz Perlitz's new motions asking for secrecy



The new court date is December 2, 2009. Please continue writing to Judge Margolis, and if you are in the East Coast, attend the hearing to show support for Haiti's children.

At his Oct. 28 bond hearing, accused pedophile Douglas Perlitz withdrew his bond request for now. The awareness-raising campaign HLLN-led to warn the community that an accused pedophile may be set free on bail had some effect. (Perlitz Court Date Moved, Groups Raise Awareness of Perlitz, O'Brien Cases; Letter-writing campaign aims to keep Perlitz jailed , and Jesuits, diocese asked to help sex abuse victims). Defendant Perlitz was not set free and shall remain behind bars until the matter is revisited again on December 2nd, if at all.

This is a small victory, but a victory nonetheless for all children considering that last time in court, on Oct. 8th, Perlitz's attorney kept pointing out how massive Mr. Perlitz's support was, implying the children of Haiti had no support and stating outright that our children are liars, not to mention detailing, in racist terms, how violent and corrupt Haiti is as the reason why Perlitz is being wrongly accused. (See in contrast, Pointing Guns at Starving Haitians: Violent Haiti is a myth. According to the UN, the violence rate in Haiti is 5.6 homicide per 100,000. In 2006 the neighboring Dominican Republic had 23.6 homicides per 100,000 according to the Central American Observatory on Violence. Brazil had 52.2/per 100,000 ... whereas in the USA, the rate is 13.2 per 100,000 in some excluded communities and 5.7 per 100,000 overall.

The Caribbean region's average murder rate were at 30 per 100,000 in 2007. If you compare the US, Brazil, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, the facts indicate more violence there than in Haiti. But it is Haiti that is singled out, negatively stereotyped and saddled with UN occupation and people abusing Haiti stereotypes for their own ends. The facts reveal that the only time there is more violence in Haiti than normal crimes is when the US/Euros sponsor coup d'etat and dictatorship over the objections of the Haitian peoples' democratic vote.)

This time in court, the children of Haiti had more people there to support them than Mr. Perlitz's so touted "supporters" which were mostly no-shows in comparison to the Oct. 8th showing.

Thank you all who wrote and asked Judge Margolis not to release Douglas Perlitz on bond. The process has just begun. We suspect,the information Ezili's HLLN has been circulating about the systemic abuse of Haitian children by white charity workers and the UN troops is making a difference and the new information filed by the prosecutors on October 27 to support Perlitz's continued incarceration has raised the bar.

We suspect as more information is made available and as the media learns more about what is actually going on in Haiti in terms of the raping and molesting of Haitian children by charity workers and UN peace keepers, more of Mr. Perlitz's supporters and prospective bond financiers will be asking to remain anonymous. For instance, according to new information divulged by the federal prosecutors, from June until his arrest in September 2009, computer records show that Douglas Perlitz was using a laptop computer to seek Haitian and black boys on sexually oriented Internet sites and over 100 sexual images of black boys where found on his computer. Perlitz's attorneys has file a motion supporting bond where he requests that the individuals putting up money on defendant Perlitz's behalf remain anonymous. But all children need protection and we are publicly campaigning against this demand for secrecy. This sort of crime against children flourishes in secrecy. Its prosecution must be done in the full light.

Every Douglas Perlitz's bond supporter ought to be able stand in front of the entire community and say they are standing by Mr. Perlitz' innocence. Too many times in Haiti's past we've seen, as we just saw with the arrest of ex-priest and accused pedophile John Duarte last week, that the authorities are willing to make arrests but, as for instance in the John Duarte pedophile case, categorically refuse to name the hotel in Port au Prince where Mr. Duarte was having sex with children. This is exactly the sort of thing Save the Children did last year when it announced that UN peacekeepers in Haiti and NGO workers were sexually abusing Haiti's children, but did not name the UN peacekeepers nor the NGO charities involved.

Perlitz ran a residence for humanitarian aid workers in Haiti, as well as, the school for boys. Our investigation show an entwine international network in Haiti and a systematic cover up, it seems, by the authorities to keep this matter as "isolated incidents" when it is not. (See, for example - The 'Father Teresa' of Haiti – Armand Huard - was convicted on sex abuse charges against minors in Haiti orphanageTwo Canadians Charged with Sex Abuse in Haiti orphanageFormer Windsor priest John Duarte arraigned on child-molestation charges Fr. Paul Carrier, S.J. Near The End Of The LineSex scandal in Haiti hits U.N. mission • and, A Swiss accused pedophile was arrested in Haiti.)

Thus, in this case with defendant Douglas Perlitz, those who wish to stand with him ought to be sure enough of him and his innocence not to hide their names as his attorney asked in the motions filed in court yesterday. If Douglas Perlitz is the "saint" that his attorneys say he is - just simply a wrongly accused white American in a "Hatfield/McCoy" caper concocted by Haiti's children and teachers, if that is so, as his attorneys are vociferously pleading, then there ought not to be a problem with revealing who the 19 "people of fine standing in the community, as well as of sufficient financial means," many from Fairfield County, are, who will agree to post the required $5 million bond for defendant Douglas Perlitz.

Our concerned community (local, national and international) is asking for transparency.

We have had ENOUGH of secrecy in the exploitation, abuse, rape and molestation of black children and people in Haiti. Haitians are still waiting for the UN authorities to RELEASE the investigation report from the 114 Sri Lankan soldiers accused of the systematic sexual abuse and rape of minors in Haiti and deported back, in disgrace, to Sri Lanka. It's been two years and the UN investigation has never been made public to Haitians. This is the sort of racist double standard, complicity and capriciousness Ezili's HLLN finds an abuse of power by supposedly lawful and respected authorities. (See, UN Peacekeepers and Humanitarian Aid Workers raping, molesting and abusing Haitian children.)

The media must begin to look into the carnage in Haiti - the fleecing of Haiti's natural resources while the people starve and die, as well as, this systemic tourist sex trade bringing disease, rape and molestation to Haiti behind the disenfranchisement of 9 million blacks by the 2004 Bush regime change and current UN occupation, all, in the name of bringing stability, democracy and humanitarian aid to Haiti. ( Minimum Wage, Maximum Outrage and Haiti's Holocaust and Middle Passage Continues.)

The world needs to wake up to the voiceless poor's plight in Haiti. That is why Ezili's HLLN shall continue explaining these concerns to the world and go, people-to-people, as we just did with this Perlitz case, as the Haitian public does not seem to be getting anywhere with those in power, or who have taken power illegally (the more than 10,000 NGOs in Haiti and the UN forces) and who are supposed to be protecting and defending democracy, justice, and Haitian welfare.

Ezili Dantò/HLLN
October 28, 2009

____________________________________
Recommended HLLN Links:

Documents Say Abuse Suspect Tried To Buy Off Victims
By EDMUND H. MAHONY, The Hartford Courant, October 29, 2009

Photos of Haitians speaking out on Douglas Perlitz case outside the courthouse -
Chris Simmons Mirror's photostream


Ex-Fairfielder accused of abusing Haitian boys drops bond bid
By Michael P. Mayko, STAFF WRITER, Connecticut Post, Oct. 28, 2009

Perlitz detained without prejudice, defense plans to eventually ask for release
by Chris Simmons, Fairfield Mirror, Oct. 28, 2009

Feds: Haiti abuse suspect sought boys while in US

Direct from Okap: Lakounewyork interview with Cyrus Sibert on Perlitz case

New motions filed in Perlitz case

Fr. Paul Carrier, S.J. Near The End Of The Line, Posted by Good Jesuit, Bad Jesuit blog

Haiti's Holocaust and Middle Passage Continues

Thank you: Haitian children had no public voice in this process until you came on the scene

Help Haiti's children - Demand that accused US pedophile, Doug Perlitz, not be set free on bond

Oil in Haiti - Economic Reasons for the UN/US occupation by Ezili Dantò

Sex scandal in Haiti hits U.N. mission

The 'Father Teresa' of Haiti – Armand Huard - was convicted on sex abuse charges against minors in Haiti orphanage

A Swiss accused pedophile was arrested in Haiti

The Slavery in Haiti the Media Won't Expose

Video Child Abuse/Molestation by white tourists in Kenya

Video Paradise for Pedophiles - Senegal

Video Peacekeepers 'abusing children' in Haiti - 27 Sep 08

Video 108 sri lankan troops accused of sexual abuse in haiti UN


Take action
Contact your local newspaper or congress people:

Please continue writing to Judge Margolis and attend the Dec. 2nd bond hearing, ask your local media to report on this case.

Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers

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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Ex-Priest Faces Charges in Canada for Sexually Molesting Children in Haiti

The international community has evidently concluded that there is no justice in Haiti. Sexual predators who have been operating with impunity in Haiti are being extradited to their countries of origin to face criminal charges. Douglas Perlitz was extradited to the US. Now John Duarte, a priest who has reportedly been abusing young boys in Port-au-Prince hotels for years--is to be extradited to Canada from the Dominican Republic. The Windsor Star has more on the story.
___________________________________
Ex-Windsor priest John Duarte arrested for alleged child sex abuse in Haiti
By Don Lajoie, The Windsor Star | October 21, 2009
Joao Jose Correira Duarte, a former Windsor priest, is now facing extradition to Canada, where he's expected to face 12 charges in the sexual abuse of Haitian youths, age 12 to 17, the Immigration Office and National Drug Control Directorate said in a statement sent to Canwest News Service.

Joao Jose Correira Duarte, a former Windsor priest, is now facing extradition to Canada, where he's expected to face 12 charges in the sexual abuse of Haitian youths, age 12 to 17, the Immigration Office and National Drug Control Directorate said in a statement sent to Canwest News Service.
Photograph by: Handout, CNS

A former local priest, who founded a mission to aid the poor in Haiti, has been arrested in the Dominican Republic and is awaiting extradition to Canada to face charges of sexually abusing teenage Haitian boys.

John Duarte, 43, former leader of the Windsor-based Hearts Together For Haiti, was picked up Tuesday in the city of Puerto Plata by Dominican authorities on a warrant issued in Canada, according to a statement released by the Dominican Immigration Office and National Drug Control Directorate.

It is alleged Duarte had been engaging in sexual relations with a group of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 in Port-au-Prince.

He faces 12 charges of sexual abuse.

Duarte is accused of seeking sexual encounters with the youths in the city’s hotel rooms in exchange for favours, such as buying them clothes or paying for better lodging for the victims’ families in the sprawling slums of the Haitian capital.

The statement said Duarte is being held in a Dominican prison where he will await the trip back to Canada.

Duarte had worked as a missionary off and on in Haiti since the 1990s, while also serving as a parish priest in Windsor and Essex County — most recently at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and previously at St. Michael’s Church in Leamington.

It took the Dominican authorities four weeks to apprehend Duarte after receiving a diplomatic note from the Canadian Embassy Sept. 28. The arrest warrant was signed by a Windsor justice of the peace. The embassy was informed of the arrest Wednesday.

Read the whole story at the Windsor Star.

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Monday, October 12, 2009

Haiti: Accused Child Predator Perlitz Faces Arraignment in CT

Help Haiti's children - Demand that accused US pedophile, Doug Perlitz, not be set free on bond

On October 19, 2009 at 10 a.m., accused US pedophile, Doug Perlitz will face, in New Haven Connecticut, U.S. Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis and either be released on bond or held pending his trial. (See, Haiti program founder's release may hinge on higher bond, Connecticut Post, Oct. 8, 2009; Man charged with Haiti sex abuse pleads not guilty By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN (AP); and School Founder Arraigned In Abuse Charges, wfsb.com, Founder Of Haitian School Is Accused Of Sexually Abusing Nine Former Students.)

We urge all who are in the East Coast of the US to be in that court room to support the case of the children of Haiti who are being so maligned by Perlitz's many supporters. Haiti is under occupation with a weak government, some say, that is mostly concerned with pleasing foreigners, not with protecting Haitian rights and domestic development. These Haitian children have no voice, unless we stand up for them. (UN Peacekeepers and Humanitarian Aid Workers raping, molesting and abusing Haitian children).

Recently, I spoke to an audience about the raping and molesting of Haiti's children and women, and in particular about the Doug Perlitz case, where one white man stood up and said, in sum, that Haiti was such a "hellhole," its children getting sodomized is not such a sin if Doug Perlitz the pedophile was also providing them with food and schooling! This is the attitude of Doug Perlitz's supporters in the United States. Please show up in court on October 19 at 10.a.m. and stand for these Haitian children, who have no Haitian government or Haitian institutions that will support their human rights, their innocence, their childhood, their right not to be violated by sex tourists and fake charity workers and UN "peacekeepers."

This is insupportable. Lend a hand in the case of Douglas Perlitz.
You may view a copy of the federal indictment here. Here's are some relevant points in the Douglas Perlitz case:

"1. Between 2002 and 2008, more than $2 million was transferred from the Haiti Fund to an account Douglas Perlitz controlled in Haiti.

"These monies did not include other significant capital expenses and other expenses that were directly paid by the Haiti Fund for Project Pierre Toussaint," Assistant U.S. Attorney Krishna Patel said in court papers. "Perlitz had access to an enormous sum of money ... and thus far there does not appear to be an accurate accounting of what happened to these monies."

The Haiti investigation into Douglas Perlitz began in 2007. Western Union records confirm that from 2008 through 2009, "Perlitz was sending money" to individuals in Haiti formerly enrolled in his program.

2. According to the federal indictment, in order to entice and persuade the children to comply with sex acts, Douglas Perlitz provided the promise of food and shelter and provided monetary and other benefits, including but not limited to, U.S. and foreign currency, cellphones, other electronics, shoes, clothes and other items.

Perlitz is accused of grooming the orphaned and desperately hungry street children for sexual acts, exposing them to homosexual pornography and plying them with alcoholic beverages in an effort to persuade them to spend the night in his private residence. According to the indictment, Perlitz told children not to be ashamed during sex acts; other times, he told them he was "crazy."

3. If minors refused to engage in sex acts, Douglas Perlitz would at times withhold necessities, such as bed linen or threaten to expel them from the program.

4. After allegations of almost 10-year long misconduct of sexual abuse by Perlitz surfaced in 2007, Perlitz tried to block the investigation using his relationship with a religious leader who had influence with Board Members of the Haiti Fund to continue to conceal and attempt to conceal his illegal sexual conduct, the indictment says.

5. According to court papers: "The prosecutor also charged that beginning in July 2008 and continuing until March, Perlitz traveled to the Dominican Republic to meet with some of the children and adults associated with his program, shuttered recently because of lack of funds. On the night before Perlitz's Sept. 16 arrest in Colorado, Patel said he admitted receiving 17 calls from Haiti."

6. The Haitian national police department, which began investigating Perlitz's activities in 2007, has a warrant for his arrest.

7. Also according to US court papers: During a conversation with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, Douglas Perlitz denied sexually abusing any of the children. But he allegedly said "molestation would be tough" and that the small victims "should just GET OVER IT ... He said he got over his father's death and even though it was tough he moved on ..." (See also, Haiti program founder's release may hinge on higher bond, Connecticut Post, Oct. 8, 2009).

What to do:
1. Attend the Court Hearings - Contact Ezili's HLLN [erzilidanto@yahoo.com] if you or your organization wishes to put together a bus load or groups of concerned citizens to attend the Oct. 19th or any of the other New Haven, CT, court hearings for accused US pedophile, Douglas Perlitz.

2. Contact - Write or fax a letter to the presiding judge -

The Honorable Joan G. Margolis, United States Magistrate Judge
Richard C. Lee UNITED STATES COURT HOUSE
141 Church Street
New Haven, Connecticut 06510

Chambers Tele: (203) 773-2350 -- Fax: (203) 773-2304
Clerk's Office Tele: (203) 773-2140 -- Fax: (203) 773-2334

SAMPLE LETTER TO THE JUDGE:
The Honorable Joan G. Margolis, United States Magistrate Judge
Richard C. Lee UNITED STATES COURT HOUSE
141 Church Street
New Haven, Connecticut 06510

DATE: ____, 2009

Dear Honorable Joan G. Margolis,

I am writing to request that you do not release accused pedophile Douglas Perlitz pending trial, because of the gravity of the charges - sexually abusing nine of the children he was helping in Haiti for close to ten years. Douglas Perlitz is a danger to children everywhere and there is no guarantee this compulsion that he is accused of is limited to just Haitian children in Haiti. If Douglas Perlitz is released on bond, despite the gravity of these charges, all children in the US communities he is released into may be in imminent danger, including Haitian children living in these US communities.

Court papers disclose that during a conversation with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, Douglas Perlitz denied sexually abusing any of the children. But he allegedly admitted "molestation would be tough" and that the Haitian children who were molested "should just get over it ... He said he got over his father's death and even though it was tough he moved on ..."

It would be a dereliction of duty to release Douglas Perlitz on bond based on this depraved indifference alone.

What is "tough" right now for the (local, national and international) community affected by this case, is that Douglas Perlitz's release is even being contemplated. The Court ought to clearly tell Perlitz to "get over it" and detain him pending trial because he is a danger to the community, a flight risk, and based on the indictment, he has virtually admitted to molestation. Moreover, if Douglas Perlitz is released on bond, this will cause greater fear among the victims who were abused as well as allow Perlitz more opportunity to continue his campaigns to stop the victims from testifying. Perlitz will have unlimited access via prepaid cell phones to continue to intimidate these children, most of whom are already vulnerable orphans with no parents, no shelter, little State protection in Haiti. If released Perlitz may use his mobility, access and connections to disappear the street children, put them in greater danger or otherwise prevent them from testifying. Please do not release Douglas Perlitz on bond.

Sincerely,
Your name and contact information

_________________________________

*************
cc: Ezili Dantò/Marguerite Laurent, Esq.
President, Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network ("HLLN")
Phone: (203) 829-7210
P. O. Box 3573
Stamford, CT 06905
e-mail: ezilidanto@yahoo.com
www.ezilidanto.com


Background information
108 sri lankan troops accused of sexual abuse in haiti UN

Peacekeepers 'abusing children' in Haiti - 27 Sep 08

UN Peacekeepers and Humanitarian Aid Workers raping, molesting and abusing Haitian children

Child Abuse/Molestation by white tourists in Kenya

Video Report: Child Abuse by Humanitarian Workers


Paradise for Pedophiles - Senegal

As a matter of power, money, inequality and access White-sexual abusers, pedophiles and perverted Catholic priests are not just in Haiti, destroying children innocence and lives, but African children are suffering from the pain of sexual abuse throughout the world from sexual tourism or abuse and molestation by Catholic priests/pedophiles fleeing the US after indictments or exposure and by all sorts of charity and humanitarian aid workers.

Please view this video - (Child Abuse/Molestation by white tourists in Kenya) about white-sex assault on children in Kenya as young as 6-years old. No one will tell these stories if we don't. There is an explosion of child sexual abuse in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya The same trend is taking place in Ghana, Senegal, Ghoree Island, and East Africa. The Kenyan clip provides insight into the white-sex assault on our children in Kenya. (See, video reports from Haiti on UN Peacekeepers & Humanitarian aid workers ) raping and abusing Haitian children in exchange for food, schooling or money.)


Ezili Dantò/Marguerite Laurent
President, Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network ("HLLN")
October 10, 2009*

_________________________________
Update: 10.20.2009

Ezili Dantò's Note:

Folks,

I just got this message from the Court that the bond hearing for Douglas Perlitz has been changed from October 15 to October 28 at 11: a.m.

This is a sign of the intense efforts on the parts of Perlitz' people to get him off on bond. They know we had intended to be in court on the 19th in full force. Please do not let this postponement stop our efforts to give voice to the voiceless children of Haiti affected by the Doug Perlitz case. Let's redouble our efforts, keep sending letters to the judge. And let's all schedule to show up in court on Oct. 28. Thank you so much everyone. It may be your writing efforts and that of others victim's rights organizations that is putting pressure on these folks to delay perhaps in an effort to bolster Perlilz's bond case some more.

Men anpil chay pa lou - Many hands make light a heavy load.

*******************
Forwarded Message:
Re: HLLN letter to the Judge on the Douglas Perlitz case
Thursday, October 15, 2009 1:22 PM
From: usdoj.gov

To:erzilidanto@yahoo.com

Attorney Danto

This email is being sent to you to advise you that at the detention hearing for Douglas Perlitz has been changed, at the defendant’s request, to October 28, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. before the Honorable Joan G. Margolis, US Magistrate Judge, at 141 Church St., New Haven, CT.

United States Attorney’s Office

Forwarded by Ezili's Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
_____________________________________________
Subscribe to Ezili Danto's list for updates on this case and
other issues concerning Haiti---contact her at erzilidanto@yahoo.com.

News Stories about the Scandal

_________________________________
Haiti program founder's release may hinge on higher bond
Judge hints higher bond may be OK
By Michael P. Mayko, Connecticut Post, Oct. 9, 2009



Douglas Perlitz


The Rev. Paul Carrier

NEW HAVEN -- Real estate in three states worth $2.3 million, a part-time job with a Fairfield lawyer and residence at a retired Fairfield lawyer's home were not enough to secure Doug Perlitz's release on bond Thursday.

But another $3 million, as well as an additional custodian or two, might get the founder of a charitable program in Haiti out of jail until his trial on charges of sexually abusing nine of the children he was helping.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis continued the hearing to Oct. 19 after indicating she might be more receptive to a $4 million to $5 million bond with more local involvement "given the gravity of the charges."

Perlitz, a thin, sandy-haired man dressed in prison khakis, waved to supporters who packed a side of the courtroom to witness him plead not guilty to seven charges of traveling overseas to engage in sexual conduct with minors and three charges of engaging in illegal sexual conduct with minors. Each charge carries a maximum 30-year prison term.

Perlitz, 39, formerly of Fairfield, is held at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, R.I.

The arraignment was the calmest part of the 90-minute proceeding.

Margolis heard William F. Dow III, Perlitz's lawyer, disclose the "government is extremely interested in Paul Carrier," the Jesuit priest who served as Fairfield University's director of campus ministry and community service as well as headed the Haiti Fund, which raised millions for Perlitz's Project Pierre Toussaint program.

The program, which began as a street clinic grew into a residential school for street boys in Cap Haitian, Haiti, also built a two-story home where Perlitz lived. He was referred to as the "King of Project Pierre Toussaint."

Dow said if Perlitz were released on bond he could work part time in the law office of Thomas Tisdale on Spruce Street, Fairfield, and live with Anthony and Laura Sirianni in Fairfield while wearing an electronic monitoring device.

"Short of putting him in a police station, handcuffed and strapped to a radiator, this is about as tight a control to put on any person," the defense lawyer said.

But it wasn't enough for Assistant U.S. Attorney Krishna Patel, who said she knows of "no studies that those who molest children stop when they cross" a continent.

Patel, who specializes in prosecuting sexual-abuse cases, said she never had "a hands-on sex offender released by the court."

The prosecutor further advised the judge she would like to question any person who comes forward as a third-party custodian or agrees to post bond for Perlitz, as well determine who is paying for Perlitz's defense. Perlitz told a federal agent he only has "about $1,000," according to court documents.

Tisdale as well as any other "current or former board members "of the Haiti Fund could clearly be a witness in the case," Patel said. "Certain board members engaged in conduct of a very disturbing nature."

The federal probe determined more than $2 million was transferred from the Haiti Fund to an account Perlitz controlled in Haiti.

"These monies did not include other significant capital expenses and other expenses that were directly paid by the Haiti Fund for Project Pierre Toussaint," Patel said in court papers. "Perlitz had access to an enormous sum of money ... and thus far there does not appear to be an accurate accounting of what happened to these monies."

Western Union records confirm that from 2008 through 2009, "Perlitz was sending money" to individuals in Haiti formerly enrolled in his program, she said.

The prosecutor also charged that beginning in July 2008 and continuing until March, Perlitz traveled to the Dominican Republic to meet with some of the children and adults associated with his program, shuttered recently because of lack of funds. On the night before Perlitz's Sept. 16 arrest in Colorado, Patel said he admitted receiving 17 calls from Haiti.

The Haitian national police department, which began investigating Perlitz's activities, has a warrant for his arrest.

During a conversation with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, Perlitz denied sexually abusing any of the children. But he allegedly said "molestation would be tough" but the victims "should just get over it ... He said he got over his father's death and even though it was tough he moved on ..." Patel disclosed in court papers.

Dow downplayed the allegations, claiming they arose out of a rift between differing groups of people operating the Haiti Fund and Project Pierre Toussaint.

"There are a number of people who support and believe fervently in his innocence and the good works he's done," Dow said.

______________________

Who’s who in the Perlitz scandal
By Chris Simmons, September 23, 2009, The Mirror

The Main Players:

Doug Perlitz:


Douglas Perlitz

The focus of an investigation into allegations of child abuse in Haiti. A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Perlitz, who is now facing 10 charges: seven counts of traveling outside the United States for the purpose of engaging in sex with minors and three counts of engaging in sexual conduct in foreign places with minors. Each charge carries a maximum 30-year prison term and a $250,000 fine. Perlitz graduated from Fairfield in 1992 and started a charitable school in Haiti. Fairfield has had an indirection connection with the charity for years. Perlitz was awarded an honorary degree in 2002 and delivered the commencement speech the same year.


Paul Kendrick:



Paul Kendrick
An advocate for victims of child abuse, specifically those abused by members of the Catholic Church. He first alerted The Mirror to these allegations last year. He also wrote numerous e-mails to various faculty members asking them to speak out against Perlitz. He was issued a restraining order last year against the Bishop in Portland, ME for his protests. He has planned to protest outside the school sometime in early October.



Paul Carrier:



Fr. Paul Carrier
The former director of Campus Ministry for Fairfield, Carrier was the chairman of the board of directors for the Haiti Fund, which raised millions for Perlitz’s Project carrier Pierre Toussaint. Perlitz was also the vice president of the Haiti Fund. Perlitz and Carrier’s relationship has come under scrutiny as the allegations have been public. Carrier has not been charged with a crime nor has he been reached to comment on the situation. Last year, Carrier was removed as the chairman of the fund’s board of directors. There was some controversy when Carrier was reassigned from Fairfield by the Provincial, Fr. Thomas Regan, a former Fairfield teacher, but Fairfield has said the two situations are not related.

Other Fairfield Players:

Mark Reed:
The vice president of Student Administrative and Student Affairs, Reed met last year with The Mirror to discuss the allegations, but off the record. He has borne the brunt of Kendrick’s e-mails. The Connecticut Post also reported that Reed handled monetary support for the Haiti Fund from Fairfield.

Deb Picarazzi:
The operation assistant for Campus Ministry is also a board member for the Haiti Fund. She did not comment for this story because she is currently under a subpoena for the upcoming trial.

Larry Miners:
An economics professor, Miners was on the board of directors for the Haiti Fund.

Sue Macavoy:
A former nursing professor, Macavoy was on the board of directors for the Haiti Fund.

Fred Wheeler:
The vice president for development at Fairfield, Wheeler was on the board of directors for the Haiti Fund.

Cathy Lozier:
A former assistant tennis coach at Fairfield, Lozier was on the board of directors for the Haiti Fund.

Similar Posts:
* Government files pretrial motion to detain Perlitz
* Perlitz Trial Moving Forward
* Did the University try to cover up Perlitz allegations?
* Fairfield alum indicted for sexual abuse in Haiti
* University, local leaders tied to Perlitz indictment
* University responds to Perlitz scandal
* Words from the Web: Discussing Doug Perlitz

______________________


Man charged with Haiti sex abuse pleads not guilty
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN (AP), Oct. 8, 2009

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A former Connecticut man charged with sexually abusing nine boys at a school for poor children he founded in Haiti should not be released from prison because he poses a "clear and continuing danger,"federal prosecutors said.

A detention hearing was planned Thursday in New Haven to determine whether 39-year-old Douglas Perlitz, founder of the Project Pierre Toussaint school in Cap-Haitien, should continue to be held in prison.

Perlitz, who formerly lived in Fairfield County, Conn., was arrested at his home in Eagle, Colo., last month.

Authorities accused him of enticing children into sex acts by promising food, shelter, cash, cell phones, electronics, shoes and clothing.

He also withheld benefits and threatened to expel the boys if they refused to have sexual relations, prosecutors said.

Perlitz's attorney, William Dow III, said his client intends to plead not guilty and will argue he should be released from prison pending trial.

Perlitz has surrendered his passport and would be monitored electronically if released
from prison, Dow said. "There's no evidence, no claim that anyone in the United States has been endangered by my client," Dow said Thursday.

"He is a man not only with a clean record but an admirable record who enjoys the support of many many people in the face of these allegations."

In court papers filed Wednesday, prosecutors call Perlitz a sexual predator who used a charitable institution to sexually molest vulnerable children for a decade. Electronic monitoring only tells authorities where a person is, not what they are doing, prosecutors said.

There are simply no conditions of release that can assure the safety of children in the community and his appearance in court," prosecutors wrote, citing the length of the alleged crimes, Perlitz' extensive international travel and access he had to millions of dollars in donations.

Perlitz continued to visit and contact former students amid the investigation, prosecutors said."He clearly is very focused on either controlling these individuals or has little control over his sexual impulses towards minors," authorities wrote. "In either case, he presents a clear and continuing danger."While authorities allege Perlitz sexually abused nine boys, they said "many more" told Haitian authorities they were sexually abused by Perlitz for a separate investigation. Perlitz told an investigator victims of molestation "need to move on and get over it," prosecutors wrote.

Perlitz admitted "some boundaries were crossed" when he allowed children to stay overnight in his room but he denied any sexual contact with children, according to court papers.The indictment lists seven counts of traveling outside of the United States with the intent to engage in sexual conduct with minors and three counts of engaging in sexual conduct in foreign places with minors.

The educational program initially served mostly street children as young as 6 years old, and later expanded to include a residential program for high school-aged children. Children were offered meals, sports, classroom instruction and access to running water for baths.

Volunteers and staff members were scared to come forward with the allegations, the indictment says, because Perlitz controlled the school's operations and "utilized the fear of unemployment and the difficult economic situation in Haiti.

Each count in the indictment carries up to 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

______________________
School Founder Arraigned In Abuse Charges,
wfsb.com
Founder Of Haitian School Is Accused Of Sexually Abusing Nine Former Students, Oct. 8, 2009

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A United States district courtroom in New Haven was packed with supporters for Douglas Perlitz on Thursday.

Perlitz is accused of sexually abusing nine students at a school that he founded in Haiti. At his arraignment and detention hearing on Thursday, he plead not guilty.

In addition to calling the case circumstantial, Perlitz’s attorney said that his family offered $2 million worth of property to secure his release until trial, and a Fairfield family would let Perlitz stay with them under house arrest with an ankle bracelet.

The assistant U.S. Attorney said that he should not be released because since he had been forced out of the Haitian school, he remained in contact with former pupils, visiting them in the Dominican Republic.

The judge wants to hear more from both sides, with a higher amount of money posted for Perlitz to be released. The detention hearing was continued until the end of October.
______________________
Perlitz arraigned
By Chris Simmons,
The Mirror
, October 10, 2009

Douglas Perlitz ‘92 appeared in court for the first time on Thursday to be arraigned on 10 counts involving sexually abusing children in Haiti.

In front of a packed courtroom at the Richard C. Lee Federal Courthouse in New Haven, Perlitz, dressed in prison khakis, stood with his hands clasped behind his back and leaned forward to plead not guilty to seven charges of traveling overseas to engage in sexual conduct with minors and three charges of engaging in illegal sexual conduct with minors. Each charge carries a maximum 30-year prison term and a $250,000 fine.

But first, arguments were heard on a motion filed by the government to detain Perlitz until his trial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Krishna Patel argued that Perlitz was a flight risk, a danger to the community, and needed to be detained until his trial. William F. Dow III, Perlitz’s attorney, responded by saying that Perlitz has no criminal record, except for a DUI this year in Colorado.

Dow also put together a package to try to secure Perlitz’s release. Perlitz’s mother offered to put up two houses, his brother another one and his uncle a fourth house for a total worth of 1.9-2.3 million dollars. Dow also argued that Perlitz’s community was 2,000 miles away in Haiti, so therefore Perlitz was no danger to the Fairfield community. Dow also said that the government has no tangible evidence and that this is a “credibility case.”

He painted a picture of Project Pierre Tousaint turning into a “Hatfield-McCoy situation” in which the group split over the allegations against Perlitz. He also noted that the Haitian National Police interrogated the boys, and according to a U.S. government study, the HNP is underfunded, under-trained and unreliable.

Dow also proposed that Perlitz be released to a third party custodian. Anthony and Mary Sirianni of Fairfield have offered to house Perlitz and monitor him if he should be released before his trial. He also proposed that Thomas Tisdale ‘78, a Southport lawyer and former board member of the Haiti Fund, could hire Perlitz on a limited basis until his trial. He finally argued that housing Perlitz in Rhode Island until his trial would interfere with his 6th Amendment right to counsel because contact with his attorneys would be limited at such a far distance.

An officer for the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services System also recommended Perlitz be released. He thought the financial package was sufficient and that while “it isn’t a perfect system, but it’s the most reliable and the risk can be minimized.”

Patel had numerous problems with this proposal for Perlitz’s release. She wanted to make sure that Perlitz has no contact with potential witnesses or anyone involved in the trial, including all board members, some of whom “engaged in conduct of a very disturbing nature,” according to Patel.

At the hearing, Patel also questioned Mary Sirianni, the woman who offered to house Perlitz should he be released. Sirianni is a registered nurse while her husband, Anthony, is a wheelchair-bound retired lawyer with multiple sclerosis. Sirianni said she is receiving no compensation for offering to house Perlitz and that she and her husband were looking for a way to give back to the community. She admitted that she knew the Tisdales, who support Perlitz’s innocence, and that she met Perlitz once for 10 minutes at a birthday party. She also said that she had spoken to Fr. Paul Carrier, S.J. multiple times.

After an hour and twenty minutes of debate, U.S. Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis continued the hearing to Oct. 19 at 10 a.m. She also indicated that it is likely Perlitz will be released on bail, but with substantially more money involved, most likely between $4-5 million. She also wants more third-party custodians. The government will question all third-party individuals as well to ensure they have no connection to the Haiti Fund.

Jury selection for the trial is scheduled for Dec. 2.

Jesuits break silence

Since a Bridgeport jury returned an indictment for Doug Perlitz ‘92 on Sept. 15, questions have arisen about the role of Carrier, the former director of campus ministry. The indictment refers to “a religious leader, who had met and befriended Perlitz while Perlitz attended college in Connecticut and who frequently communicated with and visited Perlitz in Haiti.” This religious leader chose the board members of the Haiti Fund, which operated as the fund-raising arm of the charity and raised large sums of money.

“The Society has been in direct contact with the U.S. Attorney’s office and has informed that office of Father Carrier’s whereabouts, ”the Society of Jesus said in an e-mail sent to the Connecticut Post by Kelly Lynch, a spokesman for the Jesuits. “The Society is cooperating fully with law enforcement in the investigation.”

Lynch also said that Carrier “currently has no assignment and is not performing any public ministry.”

When questioning Siranni, Patel asked if she knew Carrier, and during an objection, Dow said that “the government is extremely interested in him.” The U.S. Attorneys office would only say that the investigation is ongoing and they could not comment.

Forwarded By Ezili's Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network

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Friday, September 18, 2009

Dr. Gupta, did you give that little girl in Haiti a hug?

In 2007 CNN aired a report called:
Invisible Chains: Sex, Work and Slavery
"The world's largest employment category for children under 16 is domestic work in the homes of others."

In this 2007 CNN report, a segment by correspondent Joe Johns is from the Dominican Republic. It is about the exploitation of Haitian laborers in the DR's sugar cane fields.

"JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's very early in the Dominican Republic. There in the predawn shadows, you see men with machetes and water jugs. They're going to work at one of the hardest jobs in the world. They cut sugar cane the same way it's cut in other parts of the Caribbean.

It looks like a scene from slavery in the United States more than 140 years ago. The overseers on horseback. Some are armed. The cane piled high. Much of the sugar ultimately shipped to the United States.

What we found here was not slavery. Instead, we found people who are enslaved by their circumstances. Most are Haitians who have crossed the border into the Dominican Republic to work.

They have no rights. They live in squalor. Many earn just enough to eat if they're lucky.

Look at this. It's a called a bate[ey], a shanty settlement.

Hard to believe, but this man is only in his 50s. He worked in the cane fields for nearly 40 years. His shack is filthy. He hasn't eaten in four days. With no work in Haiti, he came here as a teenager and now he's sick and alone, on crutches and living on handouts from people who can't afford to give them.

We found this man cutting cane on a Sunday. With five children back in Haiti to feed, he works seven days a week.

We also met children. They tell us they started in the cane fields at age 7. For less than a penny an hour, they plant rows of cane shoots 100 yards long. They were happy to have the work."

The film "The Price of Sugar" was a landmark documentary which exposed the "plight of Haitians toiling on sugar plantations in the Dominican Republic." A priest who became an advocate for the laborers was the film's central protagonist. In the documentary, Father Christopher Hartley calls the worker's conditions "quasi-slavery."

sanjay gupta, cnn, child labor, haiti

On July 13, 2009 Dr. Sanjay Gupta aired his own report on "slavery" from a Port-au-Prince, Haiti slum. He called it, "A capacity for cruelty is never justified." In this report, Gupta has a different opinion of what constitutes slavery. It seems that location matters. Gupta expresses a harsher view of child labor as it is practiced in Haiti.

"I'm in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Many people know of Haiti as being the poorest, and the least developed country in the Western Hemisphere.

While there are some beautiful spots in this country. A lot of the country does looks like this.

What you are looking at here is a marketplace. It's in one of the slums surrounding Port-au-Prince. This is the way of life for so many people here. Buying and trading goods. Forced to live in conditions somewhat like this.

But there is a bleak irony here, as well, this was a country founded out of a slave revolution. This is a country that was founded out of a slave revolution [and] became the first free Black republic anywhere in the world. But despite all that there are still forms of modern slavery today. In the form of these children that are known as Restaveks. Ask someone what that means and they'll tell you it means a child laborer or a child slave.

Like the child there Deana. This is a girl who's forced to carry these 5 gallon tubs of water on her head almost half a mile every single day. Several times a day. She's on her knees mopping floors, cleaning out dishes. And that is just her side job. That is when her owners lends her out. She goes back and does those same jobs for her owner as well. Works morning to night, never gets paid and and barely gets scraps of food. All of this under the constant threat of mental and physical abuse. She told me she never received a hug or any displays of affection until the age of fourteen."

Dr. Gupta will you expose child labor (or child slavery) as practiced in your ancestral country of India? This would be a good follow up on your series from Haiti. You must do a comprehensive follow up if you are serious about tackling this insidious worldwide child labor problem. The unfortunate young children in China's factories may not understand, so you probably should not ask them if they have been hugged lately -- they might think it's weird.

child labor - the history place
It is hypocritical in my opinion, for CNN to send reporters periodically to "expose" Haiti's poverty driven deprivations in a bubble of ignorance, including child labor. For one thing, newsflash CNN, child labor is an unfortunate consequence of poverty and its attending miseries. The "bleak reality" is, child labor was commonplace in the US when it was a "developing" country (here are some pictures from 1908-1912). It was customary for American children to work on family farms and to "never get paid." Is that so scandalous? Also, children labored in US factories before labor laws against it were passed. I would bet that these working kids even got severely beaten at times. My opinion is that even spanking a child is wrong. It is disrepecting another human being. Child labor is wrong and should be outlawed in Haiti, but to call child labor as it is practiced in Haiti slavery, is also wrong.

In Haiti, Restavek means "to stay with." It is a long tradition that is practiced for the most part in families. A family in the countryside will send their child to family members in the city. By the way, in Haiti, children are expected to be totally obedient to adults, be they close relatives or not. This is a Haitian tradition. Also, in the countryside, children at a very tender age are given chores to perform -- drawing and bringing water home is considered a child's chore. As in any system, there are abuses of Restavek children. The Restavek system, although it is a voluntary and familial social system, should be closely monitored for abuses. This is a responsibility of the Haitian government and law enforcement. The government must protect children from abusers and punish those criminals who abuse children.

That said, if CNN is getting into the social justice arena, the following are stories about Haiti that need some exposure from the US media:

Where is the exposé on CNN on the "slave" wages paid to Haitian factory workers (22¢ per hour). Perhaps CNN could propose that the US, a trade "partner" and powerful "friend" of Haiti insist on some labor laws to discourage the gross abuses by the sweatshop owners in Haiti -- maybe urge that they provide food, regular breaks, overtime pay or decent hours? After all, US companies buy the goods produced by men, women and children paid slave wages and working under unfair labor conditions.

How about the children crowded in unsanitary jails suffering from disease and malnutrition? Since the overthrow of Haiti's democracy and this current brutal UN occupation, the number of prisoners literally on a death watch in Haiti's jails have more than doubled "rising from 3,500 shortly before the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to 8,000 today. Has CNN sent a reporter to interview them and asked when was the last time they ate, bathed, saw a lawyer, had a hearing, do they even have charges filed against them?

CNN will you expose the fueling role that US foreign policy has on the worldwide food crisis which is currently affecting "developing" countries like Haiti?

"The current global food system, which was designed by US-based agribusiness conglomerates like Cargill, Monsanto and ADM and forced into place by the US government and its allies at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, has planted the seeds of disaster by pressuring farmers here and abroad to produce cash crops for export and alternative fuels rather than grow healthy food for local consumption and regional stability."

What about some meaty stories on privatization, sweatshops, kidnappings in the service of a coup (Haiti, Venezuela), political prisoners, disappearances... où sont-ils?

Perhaps you could also do a series on the negative repercussions of neoliberalism or globalization as these concepts are practiced by institutions run by US banking entities like the IMF and World Bank? When will your viewing audience see this title on a story: "How has "structural adjustment programs" negatively affected developing countries?"

Have you heard this really interesting story? The one about the report put out by the Kennedy Center and Paul Farmer's "Zanmi Lasante" about how the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has committed human rights abuses in Haiti? Non? That reminds me of the title of your report - "A capacity for cruelty is never justified."

CNN, what is the purpose of reporting that the poor of Haiti have a hard life that requires extreme sacrifices? Haitians already know that. In 2007, Haiti collected $1.83 billion in remittances from the Haitian diaspora, according to the Inter-American Development Bank. Charity and loans from NGOs, governments and others is the new slavery that comes with the shackles of debt and dependency. The new slavery model:

A genocide is going on in Haiti right now. When only a handful of Haitians are working, when theres 70% unemployment and those actually formally working are only making 22 cents (70 gourdes) an hour and forced to pay the Haitian Oligarchs for food to eat at high U.S. import prices, starvation is a given. It's economic slavery. The slavery in Haiti the media won't expose.

Where is the coverage on CNN of Haiti's most recent political crisis? Why doesn't CNN tell the truth about the fact that two US coups in 1990 and again in 2004 removed the first democratically elected president of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide? CNN, please report on these US sponsored coups and the right-wing Republican agencies and personalities providing the funding and support!

As a result of the 2004 intervention, 8,000+ have died, 35,000+ have been raped. It's in a Lancet report -- that's a highly respected British medical journal. Since the coup, political activist have been disappeared and many still remain in filthy, disease ridden jails without a hearing or charges. Where is your report from Haiti on that?

Also as a result of these interventions, the US can boast that it runs Haiti by way of the US selected president, Rene Preval. After all, Haiti is a failed state. Elements in the US government have always asserted that Black people cannot rule themselves and have intervened regularly in Haitian politics. From their point-of-view, it was the humanitarian duty of civilized nations (US, France and Canada) to intervene and protect its interests from barbarians like these slaveholding Haitians.

In his article about the 2004 coup Peter Hallward writes about "Option Zezo in Haiti," describing the prevailing attitude (and racism) of the international media and Western nations in supporting and carrying out the intervention:

Libération gloated at the dissolution of ‘the pathetic carnival over which Aristide had proclaimed himself king’. For the New York Times the invasion was a fine example of how allies can ‘find common ground and play to their strengths’. All that remained was for Bush to call and thank Chirac, expressing his delight at ‘the excellent French–American cooperation’. [5]

The Western media had prepared the way for another ‘humanitarian intervention’ according to the now familiar formula. Confronted by repeated allegations of corruption, patronage, drugs, human rights abuses, autocracy, etc., the casual consumer of mainstream commentary was encouraged to believe that what was at stake had nothing to do with a protracted battle between the poor majority and a tiny elite but was instead just a convoluted free-for-all in which each side was equally at fault.

Unfortunately, one thing we can glean from Dr. Gupta's report, five years out from the US financed coup in 2004 (backed by the UN, France and Canada), things have not substantively improved for Haitians and their children. Looks like the US government is pretty hands-on in this failing state business. Helping Haitians to better their lives is not a part of the equation. The goal is to protect US interests.

As it stands, this propaganda piece by CNN's Sanjay Gupta is merely serving the purpose of reinforcing the perception that Haitians are uncivilized and unworthy to carry on the legacy of freedom carved out by their ancestors who succeeded in breaking the shackles of slavery to wage the first and only successful slave rebellion the world has ever witnessed. Indeed, Haitians simply have no rights that Western civilization must respect. Look at how they enslave their own children!

CNN, if you really want to tackle improving the lives of the poor in Haiti it will first require that the US change its policies and show some respect for the sovereignty of Haiti. Haiti is a country that has paid a heavy price to be free. Show some respect.

It is cowardly, hypocritical and shameful that CNN bypassed other stories with long-term consequence for the Haitian poor, as well as stories that affect the immediate welfare of Haiti's poor children, in order to "expose" that Haiti (in CNN's opinion) is a country which practices "slavery" in the form of child labor, a practice that was prevalent in the US just a few short decades ago.

CNN, if you have an interest in exposing slavery, may I respectfully suggest that you investigate "modern day" slavery in America?

By the way, Dr. Gupta did you give that poor little Haitian girl a hug?

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Healthcare Reform Also Requires Food System Reform


Health care reform demands U.S. food policy and agricultural reform
By Ezili Danto
September 16, 2009

"Lance Armstrong serves on the President's Cancer Panel, which released a report this year concluding that processed forms of corn and soybeans - heavily subsidized commodity crops- are known contributors to obesity and chronic diseases, including cancer. The upcoming reauthorization of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (the Farm Bill) provides an opportunity that must not be missed to strongly increase support for fruit and vegetable farmers."
There is a connection between farm subsidies, health, and food security -- in both the United States and in countries like Haiti. The US government's food policies and profit priorities harm the planet, as well as the people who eat processed foods, which are full of contaminants such as pesticides, additives, and bacteria from processing. This non-green diet makes us sick and the chronic diseases it causes drive up health care spending.

"That's why our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately depends on whether Washington can summon the political will to take on and reform a second, even more powerful industry: the food industry." (Big Food vs. Big Insurance.)

Too many people have had family members die of cancer or know someone very close who died of cancer. It's an unspeakable experience. It certainly makes your faith in scientific advancement falter.

Here's a case in point. For many Haitians living abroad it's extremely ironic to see that the generation of our grandparents and great grandparents actually lived longer than our own parents and relatives who immigrated, work and live in the US all their lives. It happened and is happening in this writer's family.

Both my grandmothers who lived their entire lives in a rural town in Southern Haiti and many of their generation survived or are surviving into and past their 80s. My grandmothers lived longer in Haiti than my mother who immigrated to America. So many folks in America are dying young from cancer, diabetes, and/or heart disease. Part of it is the American diet.

In great grandma's Haitian countryside meat was a luxury indulged in just occasionally and dairy was not a daily staple. The old Haitian diet was organic and there was no US government "trying to help the defense industry move over to a civilian use of their nitrate explosives which became fertilizer, and their nerve gas, which became herbicides and pesticides."

That's why taking on the medical cost of health care is one thing, but there is something seriously wrong with the Western food diet, not to mention the US domestic and international harm done by farm subsidies that force US farmers to grow commodity crops such as rice, soy, corn, sugar and tobacco, and use toxic fertilizer that harms the environment, seeps into the river system and kills the fish.

In the article The Carbon Trade , Janet Gilles makes the point, inter alia, that:
"the government pays to pollute the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The United Nations Environmental Group says nitrate pollution is the greatest threat to our fisheries worldwide.


In exchange for cheap corn fed beef, fish, chicken, and pork, which have little nutritional value as the animals are no longer getting the rich assortment of greens from their natural diet, we are killing the wild fish.


Right now, farmers are paid for the number of acres under cultivation for “commodity crops”, which are crops that go to a manufacturer, such as Archer Daniels Midlands, before they go to the table.


Real foods, fruits and vegetables and nuts, are not subsidized. In fact, if a farmer getting his $200,000 a year for growing soy or corn decides to grow a few acres of food for the table (specialty foods in the legislation), say he decides to grow some tomatoes, he loses his entire $200K.


No more crop rotation. Only industrial agriculture gets the subsidy." (The Carbon Trade by Janet Gilles, Sept 11, 2009.)
US farm subsidies don't just hurt US citizens, our children, US food security and the environment, but of course, also other nations these toxic foods are shipped to, like Haiti.

US subsidized rice is inferior to the organically-grown Haitian rice and is actually killing Haitians in Haiti. Here's an example:

In Haiti, the little food that is given to prisoners at the National Penitentiary is U.S.-processed rice. The subsidized US rice that is flooded into the Haitian market destroyed much of traditional Haitian farm life which was the soul and lifeblood of our grandmamas' Haiti. Free trade with its sweatshop factory jobs and subsidized rice pushed farmers off their land and into Haiti's capital in search for factory jobs in the 70s and 80s, eventually creating slums, like Site Soley, in Port-au-Prince when the factories closed shop and left Haiti in the late 1980s.

Sweatshop jobs at free trade wages created the slum of Site Soley that 9,000 UN soldiers aLinkre now in Haiti to "stabilize." (See: UN troops to remain in crisis-ridden Haiti.) Today's indefinitely warehoused UN prisoners at Haiti's national penitentiary mostly come from Site Soley, practically all of them have never been convicted of any crime. But, in addition to the inhumane conditions in the overcrowded prison, the abuse and the infectious diseases that incubate in crowded prisons, many are dying of Beriberi because of the lack of nutrition in the US rice they are fed.

"Beri-beri appeared to be devastating the overcrowded prison population... Packed together in squalid conditions and provided meager, irregular meals, Haitian prisoners were fed a diet of rice that ...had lost its natural B1 vitamin/thiamin content, leading to the ultimately harmful (Beri-beri) effects. All the Haitian rice production, which Haitians traditionally grew and consumed as a staple, was a healthy, whole-grain, vitamin B-packed, and native crop. But, due to U.S. policies since the early 1980's preferring U.S. rice producers over Haitians' own sustainable agriculture, tariffs were forced to drop, and U.S. rice flooded the Haitian market.” (HAITI: Mysterious Prison Ailment Traced to U.S. Rice.)

Sustainable US health care reform also demands agricultural and farm policy (subsidy) reform and food system reforms. But so far, food system reform has not figured in the national conversation about health care reform. It doesn't make sense for the US to promote and subsidize universal health care while subsidizing the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup that causes diabetes and heart diseases or nitrate-glazed foods and nutrition-free rice that causes beriberi. US agricultural and food system policies should encourage food whose nutritional value promotes health rather than disease.

US policies should support wholesome domestic agriculture in the US, in Haiti, and elsewhere. Green food that is produced in an environmentally sound manner – that adds nutrients to the soil, that mitigates climate change, that uses less nonrenewable resources, that gives us better air to breathe and water to drink -- helps the planet.

In this interconnected world that we live in, US subsidies to US farmers for growing organic foods, fruits and vegetables would reduce health care spending, benefit the environment, and improve people's health, while also benefiting the long term food security interests of both the US and storm-ravaged Haiti.

Ezili Dantò/HLLN



"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

— Albert Einstein


HAITI: Mysterious Prison Ailment Traced to U.S. Rice

STOP THE FARM BILL

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Our communities are flooded with cheap, unhealthy foods that ultimately are helping drive healthcare costs through the roof,” said Dr. David Wallinga, director of the Food and Health Program at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Seeking Balance in U.S. Farm and Food Policy

Over 300 Doctors, Health Professionals Call For Healthy Farm Bill

Author's Bio: Human Rights Lawyer, Ezili Danto/Marguerite Laurent is dedicated toLink correcting the media lies and colonial narratives about Haiti. A writer, performance poet and lawyer, Ezili Danto is founder of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, runs the Ezili Danto website, listserve, eyewitness project, FreeHaitiMovement and the on-line journal, Haitian Perspectives.

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Forwarded by Ezili's Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
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Please donate to support this Ezili's HLLN work CLICK HERE.

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