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[CDNAct] Haitian Solidarity Protester Gets Pettigrew Red-Handed




More on Yves' arrest and his statement below.



PLEASE FORWARD!



PIERRE PETTIGREW SPLATTERED WITH RED PAINT AT MONTREAL
CONFERENCE ON HAITI; A SYMBOL OF THE HAITIAN BLOOD ON THE
HANDS OF THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT

Statement of Arrested Activist Yves Engler below


MONTREAL, June 17 2005 -- Yves Engler, an activist with
Haiti Action Montreal, interrupted a press conference at the
Montreal International Conference on Haiti to splatter red
paint -- a symbol of Haitian blood -- on the hands of
Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew. Shouting
"Pettigrew Lies, Haitians Die!", Engler was tackled to the
floor by several RCMP agents and arrested. He is currently
being held at the prison at 980 Guy (just south of Rene
Levesque) where a crowd of Haitian Montrealers and other
solidarity activists have already gathered to demand for his
release. Engler will appear before a judge tomorrow.
Pettigrew and his handlers are already trying to slander
Engler as one who has a longstanding personal grudge against
the Foreign Minister. Do not be fooled -- Engler and Haiti
Action Montreal formed in the aftermath of the Febuary 29,
2004 coup that overthrew the elected government, which
Canada has supported ever since. It was Engler's attempt to
bring this foreign policy scandal to light, and put the
Canadian-backed suffering of the Haitian people to the
forefront of national attention.

Attached is a photo of today's action. Many more to follow.
A full video recording of the action at the press conference
will be available shortly.  Members of the media interested
in obtaining a copy of this video or speaking to a
spokesperson for Haiti Action Montreal may call Aaron Maté
at (514) 286-9275, Kevin Skerrett at (613) 864-1590, or Jean
Saint-Vil at (613) 661-8474.

Below is a statement written by Yves Engler shortly before
his arrest:


It is completely understandable that Canadians may be
offended by the action taken this afternoon. I only ask them
to consider whether they are offended by the real blood that
is being spilled in Haiti every day, with the full support
of Pierre Pettigrew and the Canadian government. Mr.
Pettigrew has said nothing to condemn the overthrow of the
democratically elected government of Haiti in February 2004
- -- not just President Jean Bertrand Aristide, but the entire
elected government. Likewise, he has said nothing about the
barbaric actions of the Haitian police that Canada is
currently funding and training.

Mr. Pettigrew and the Canadian government have had plenty of
opportunity to learn about the horrors of what they are
supporting. In February, I personally handed him a copy of
an extensive report by the University of Miami's Center for
Human Rights. Copies of the report will be handed out to
members of the media today. The report details the
widespread abuses of the Haitian police, and the sham of a
judicial system that Canada is directly funding.

Most recently, the Haitian Supreme Court ordered the release
of Louis Jodel Chamblain, convicted for the 1994 massacre of
slum residents in Raboteau.  The former death-squad leader
was acquitted in a hasty overnight trial that Amnesty
International denounced as "an insult to justice" and a
"mockery." The University of Miami reports that police and
paramilitaries "routinely enter [poor neighborhoods] to
conduct operations which are often murderous attacks"
leaving victims that ³prefer to die at home untreated rather
than risk arrest at the hospital. When I visited Haiti in
December 2004, I heard many gruesome testimonies of these
operations first-hand.

At almost every major Haitian demonstration that has called
for the return of their democratically elected President,
Canada-trained police have shot and killed protesters. It is
tragically commonplace to read news stories -- few of which
have found their way beyond the back pages of the North
American corporate media, if reported at all -- that begin
such as these:

* Associated Press, April 27 2005: "Police fired on
protesters demanding the release of detainees loyal to
Haiti's ousted president Wednesday, killing at least five
demonstrators, U.N. officials and witnesses said."

* Associated Press, March 24 2005: "Police opened fire
Thursday during a street  march in Haiti's capital to demand
the return of ousted resident Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Witnesses said at least one person was killed."

* Miami Herald, March 1 2005: "Haitian police opened fire
on peaceful protesters Monday, killing two, wounding others
and scattering an estimated 2,000 people marching through
the capital to mark the first anniversary of President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide's ouster."

As Mr. Pettigrew continues his complete silence about these
abuses, and the mainstream media continues to shield the
public from knowing about them, we can no longer remain
silent. The fake blood on Mr. Pettigrew's suit can be
removed; he can return to this sham of an international
conference and continue about shmoozing and enjoying fancy
meals with an illegitimate government and its international
accomplices, including the US, France, the World Bank and
IMF. But they must know that there are concerned citizens
who will be standing up on behalf of the starving,
impoverished Haitians that they are doing nothing to help.

Haiti is the poorest country in the hemisphere. It needs our
support, -- which we can give by simply respecting its
democracy, respecting the will of its majority. The people
of Haiti have suffered long enough from foreign-backed
tyranny. Canada should immediately denounce the killings
that it has been supporting, and immediately call for the
reinstatement of Haiti's democratically elected
government. I ask all Canadians to back this call.  And
lastly, I ask you to open up your hearts and minds to the
plight of Haiti's suffering poor, suffering that our
government is directly supporting, and suffering that
together we can stop.

Yves Engler, Haiti Action Montreal, June 17 2005.


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