Haiti, 2001

On behalf

of the President of the Republic of Haiti and of the

Haitian delegation, I should like at the outset to

congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth

session. You may rest assured of the full support of the

Haitian delegation as you carry out your functions.

I should also like to pay tribute to your

predecessor, Mr. Harri Holkeri, on the efficacy and

talent he displayed in conducting the work of the

Millennium Assembly.

Allow me furthermore to offer my warmest

congratulations to Secretary-General Kofi Annan and

to the Organization on their receiving the Nobel Peace

Prize. Above and beyond any other consideration, this

reflects recognition of the efforts of the Secretary-

General and the Organization to promote peace and

development.

I also take this opportunity to convey, on behalf

of the people and Government of Haiti, our sincere

condolences to the bereaved families, and in particular

to the Government and brotherly people of the

Dominican Republic, following the tragic aeroplane

accident in Queens, New York, on 12 November.

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The Government of the Republic of Haiti firmly

condemns the hateful acts carried out on 11 September

in Manhattan, New York, Washington, D.C., and

Pennsylvania, which claimed thousands of victims. On

this occasion, the Government offers its solidarity to

the American people and Government and its support

in the fight against terrorism in all its forms and

manifestations, wherever it may occur and whomever

its perpetrators, victims and promoters may be. These

inhuman and blind acts, while eliciting grief and

despair, attack the very underpinnings of the

democratic system and do violence to international

peace and security, freedom, human rights and the

search for well-being and prosperity.

The international community already has at its

disposal 10 conventions, complemented by two

protocols, addressing terrorism in its various

manifestations, not to mention two additional

initiatives under consideration on the issue. The

international legal instruments were recently

strengthened by Security Council resolution 1373

(2001), which provides the major guidelines for our

common struggle. We all stand to gain by adhering to

international legality. In that vein, the Haitian

Government, notwithstanding its meagre resources, is

committed to taking the measures necessary to ratify

and implement these relevant legal instruments.

These legal instruments are indispensable to our

common struggle against this scourge, to be sure, but it

is also of the utmost importance that we begin to

consider the social, economic, political and other

factors that might spawn terrorism. The international

community, under the auspices of the United Nations

and the banner of tolerance and solidarity, must build a

grand coalition against poverty, ignorance, want,

hunger, social exclusion and marginalization. That task

is more urgent now than ever.

It is time for the members of the international

community to reach a consensus on Security Council

reform. It is necessary to increase the number of the

Council’s permanent members on the basis of better

geographic distribution. We must undertake an in-depth

re-evaluation of the right of veto, the current form of

which is barely relevant to international relations and

the exigencies of the democratic imperative. We must

also institutionalize transparency in the Council’s

working methods and procedures. The achievement of

these goals will make the Organization more effective

and strengthen its legitimacy and authority.

The Republic of Haiti urges States and peoples in

conflict, especially in the Middle East, to embrace

dialogue in order to find lasting peace.

Today, in a world led by financial markets, trade

exchanges and investments of unprecedented scope, a

number of developing countries are being marginalized

from world economic developments. We must

refashion cooperation for development if we wish to

reverse their slide into marginalization and extreme

poverty. We must, in partnership with the international

community and all the actors concerned, revise our

strategies and propose a common approach that will

tackle the problem of inequality during the new

millennium.

Thus, we are afforded the opportunity to

implement all the commitments undertaken by our

heads of State and Government during the Millennium

Summit. More than 147 heads of State and Government

solemnly committed themselves to deliver humanity

from want, and to make the right to development a

reality for all. It is incumbent on us to translate these

commitments into concrete deeds.

The benefits of trade for development are

recognized, but it is perhaps still necessary to ask

ourselves if in the context of globalization the least

developed countries do not find themselves in a

dilemma. How can we seriously speak of free trade

with countries that, for the most part, have little to

trade. It is also necessary to increase their production

and export capacities.

It is essential that these countries have access to

markets where they can sell their products. There is the

“Everything but arms” initiative of the European

Commission, which we welcome, and we invite our

developing country partners to do the same.

The Haitian Government welcomes the holding of

the Conference on Financing for Development, which

will take place during the first quarter of 2002 in

Monterrey, Mexico. That Conference gives us the

opportunity to formulate recommendations on the

reorientation of cooperation for development, in

particular concrete measures in the area of debt

management, technological cooperation, trade,

investment and the international financial system. The

Haitian Government also welcomes the organizing of

the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which

will take place next September in Johannesburg, and

invites its partners to accept this concept of

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partnership, in which the interlocutors hold dialogues

as equals in a framework of mutual respect.

My Government reaffirms its faith in a

democratic future for Haiti, and, out of conviction, will

do everything necessary to consolidate and strengthen

the rule of law. Democracy will thus remain one of the

pillars of the Haitian Government’s policies.

Haiti is now undergoing a crisis situation, which

is the result of an electoral controversy. In fact, after

the elections of 21 May 2000 for the reconstitution of

the Chamber of Deputies, more than two thirds of the

Senate and all of our local offices, the electoral

observer mission of the Organization of American

States (OAS), while acknowledging in a report that the

elections took place in an acceptable and credible way,

still uncovered certain irregularities in the way that the

absolute majority required for the election of the eight

candidates to the Senate had been calculated. What

followed was the suspension of international

assistance, the resumption of which is still conditional

on resolving the post-electoral crisis.

As soon as he was elected, and even before his

inauguration, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide

committed himself to the path of dialogue, convinced

that opposition is necessary for the proper functioning

of institutions. It was in this context that President

Aristide’s eight-point letter of December 2000 was sent

to the then President of the United States, Mr. William

Jefferson Clinton. In fact, in his search for a negotiated

solution, President Aristide encouraged initiatives on

the part of sectors of civil society.

In addition, during the participation of the Haitian

delegation at the Quebec Summit, where the member

States of the OAS took note of the efforts made by the

Government, our head of State reiterated once again his

determination to find a negotiated solution to the crisis

in Haiti.

Once again, in Costa Rica, during the twenty-first

session of the OAS General Assembly in June 2001,

President Aristide, in a letter to the President of the

Assembly made proposals that were incorporated into a

resolution adopted by the 34 members of the

organization as recommendations for crisis resolution.

Since then, the head of State and the Government of

Haiti have done everything possible to effectively

implement these recommendations.

The Haitian Government and the political

organization Fanmi Lavalas, with a mediation role

played the OAS general secretariat, have begun

negotiations with Democratic Convergence, a political

opposition group, with a view to reaching an agreement

in the framework of the commitments made in Costa

Rica.

During those negotiations, various proposals have

been put forward, particularly: the resignation of the

seven senators concerned in the OAS report; the

shortening by two years of the term of office of all

deputies; the shortening of the term of office of the

senators elected on 21 May 2000; the putting together

of a future provisional electoral council; the holding in

November 2002 of early elections for all of the

members of parliament involved in the points that I

have just mentioned; and the holding of elections

during the first quarter of 2003 for the local offices

whose terms will expire in November 2003.

President Aristide, the Government and the

Fanmi Lavalas party have demonstrated much

flexibility in the framework of negotiations.

Unfortunately, the Convergence remains intransigent

and challenges the wording of the two last points, on

the holding of elections. The Convergence is frozen in

its position, called “option zero”, which consists in

simply annulling the elections of 21 May 2000. Thus,

the impasse still exists; international assistance is still

suspended.

Meanwhile, poverty rages in Haiti. The AIDS

pandemic, having claimed 260,000 victims, means a

loss in terms of the life expectancy of our population,

which had been painstakingly increased. Maternal and

infant mortality is clearly progressing. The figure of

500 out of 100,000 dying in childbirth and the infant

mortality rate, which has risen to 61 out of every 1,000

births, remain very alarming. Given that children,

women and men — an entire population — are dying

for lack of means, of financial resources, would it be an

exaggeration to speak of another form of economic

terrorism that none dare reveal?

Can one justify the link between a contested

method of tallying votes and the freeze on financing

given to my country in the form of loans — loans on

which we continue, despite everything, to pay

interest — especially since we know that the legislative

and local elections of 21 May 2000 were held to fill

7,500 vacant posts, that 29,000 candidates took part in

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these elections, and that voter participation of 60 per

cent was the highest since 1990?

The Republic of Haiti remains confident of its

destiny. It appeals to the international community so

that its members will understand that the survival of

the people cannot be tied only to political manoeuvres.

The Haitian Government is committed to a process of

strengthening institutions and remains open to dialogue

and all proposals that do not undermine the dignity of

the Haitian people. Against this background, we

welcome with satisfaction the letter of the Black

Caucus of the United States Congress, of 9 November

2001, addressed to the current President of the United

States, Mr. George W. Bush, which denounces the

inflexible policies vis-à-vis Haiti that make economic

cooperation dependent on unblocking the political

process.

The Government is ready to do everything in its

power to resolve the post-election crisis and put the

country back on the path of development, but this

cannot be done without the cooperation of the

international community. To this end, it invites this

community to join it in its daily struggle for survival,

reconciliation and peace.