APPENDIX III :

Building a Society of Law

President Aristide’s speech, at the 48th Ordinary Session of the General Assembly of the Organisation of the United Nations, on October 28, 1993

Address by Mr. Jean Bertrand Aristide,
President of the Republic of Haiti,
at the Forty-Eighth Ordinary Session
of the United Nations General Assembly,
on October 28, 1993.

When political science as a separate
professional discipline focused its attention
on the state, it gave some rational guidelines
for building a state of law.

UNITED NATIONS October 28, 1993

Mister President,
Mister Secretary-General,
Distinguished Diplomats,
Dear Friends,

I am happy to greet you on behalf of the Haitian people!

Together with Prime Minister Robert Malval and the Haitian ministers and diplomats present here, I offer my thanks to the United Nations and to all those who are with us on the road to restoring democracy to Haiti.

Particular thanks go to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), President Bill Clinton, Special Envoy Dante Caputo, Special Advisor Lawrence Pezzullo and the four friendly countries of Canada, France, Venezuela, and the United States of America.

I cannot fail to mention all the other friends in the Caribbean, America, Europe and Asia who are so dear to us and have given us such a warm welcome. Among others, we refer to the Republic of China in Taiwan, which we hope will soon regain its place in the great family of the United Nations.

In 1492, the peoples of Africa reached the new world. Half a millenniumhas already elapsed since then — 500 years of history that have reaped abundant cultural and liberating harvests. From 1791 to 1804, under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Haiti won its independence and the life-force of freedom has become blood of our blood and flesh of our flesh.

We are alive.
Haiti will live.
Haiti is us.
We are Haiti.

Undoubtedly there have been ups and downs and there will continue to be. Nevertheless, nothing can prevent us from defending our inalienable and undeniable right to life, to liberty and to the quest for happiness in accordance with our Act of Independence of 1804 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.

It is with great joy that we find these same fundamental values set forth in the American Declaration of Independence, namely:

“… that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…”

Haiti, which was the richest French colony in the eighteenth century, must be a nation that is socially just, economically free and politically independent.

When political science as a
separate professional discipline
focused its attention
on the state,
it gave some rational guidelines
for building a State of law.

Over and above political storms in our country we shall re-establish a stable State built on law. Democratic restoration implies: ideological pluralism, political change, and economic growth. The scientific underpinnings of this process, let us repeat, involve a political equation to be drawn between reconciliation and justice. Reconciliation among all and justice for all.

What is at stake is peace — at the national level, in the hemisphere, and in the world. We cannot sketch the main outlines of the new world order without of necessity involving democracy.

Democracy and nonviolence are inextricably connected. Democracy and institutionalized violence are incompatible. Haiti is now suffering from structural and age-old violence. The coup d’état brought about a real genocide. In legal language the assassination of a people can only be called one thing, and that is genocide.

The purpose is to annihilate
in order to dominate!

To dominate in order to do away with the democratic process and replace it by neocolonialism. If we can accept slavery, we can accept anything, Abraham Lincoln said in 1864.

Likewise we see Pétion, President of the Republic of Haiti, welcoming Bolivar, who had been vanquished by the troops of Ferdinand VII, and providing him with asylum and assistance in order to do away with slavery in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru.

Today, as at Crête-à-Pierrot, Dessalines would heroically restate: “We will all die for freedom.”

• Captain Fritz Pierre-Louis died for freedom and democracy;
• Our brother Antoine Izméry died for freedom and democracy;
• Our brother Guy Malary, Minister of Justice, died for freedom and democracy;
• More than 4,000 Haitians have died for freedom and democracy.

May they all rest in peace.

This institutionalized violence prevents the free exercise of the human rights which are formally guaranteed by the Constitution. Fortunately, by restoring democracy we intend to promote the dawn of Haitian creativity and the transformation of our living conditions. Slowly but surely we will pass from destitution to poverty with dignity.

Our 6,900,000 compatriots, of whom 2 million live in urban areas and 4,900,000 in rural areas, will reap the harvest of peace and joy.

The quality of life will be better.

• The infant mortality rate will no longer be 94 per 1,000.
• Unemployment will no longer vary between 70 and 80 percent.
• Ninety percent of the urban population will no longer live in shantytowns.

We will no longer have one soldier per 1,000 inhabitants, 1.8 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants, or an army of 7,000 people absorbing 40 percent of the national budget.

The quality of life will be better.

It is our hope that the technical assistance wehave requested fromthe United Nations will make it possible at last to make the army professional. I should like to take this occasion to send a message of peace to the officers and men of the army of Haiti. As guarantor of national independence and territorial integrity, the President of the Republic recalls that the armed forces are non-political — article 265; and the police were created to maintain public order and to protect the life and property of citizens — article 269.

On 15 October last the armed forces and the police should finally have been free of their superior officers.

Late, but not too late. They will have to leave.

This flagrant violation of the Governors Island Agreement can only dramatically accelerate the headlong rush to national breakdown.

Late, but not too late.
They will have to leave.

The end of the cold war has sounded the death knell of dictatorship and has opened the way to responsible negotiation. No human being can live in a ridiculous and chaotic world. We must build a state of law ensuring the separation and harmonious distribution of the powers of the state to serve the fundamental interests of the nation at large.

In this context we deem it necessary to recall the six proposals which were shared last July with the private sector in Haiti. Once we have returned we shall do the following: first, take effective steps at the mesoeconomic level, that is, measures that will establish a relationship between the macroeconomic and microeconomic levels, which will have a direct impact on the daily life of the people and will lead to the necessary degree of decentralization; secondly, set in motion a legal process for the rational management of state resources, for budgetary readjustments and in order to reform the tax and banking systems; thirdly, create a state of law with a judicious macroeconomic policy that will encourage the creation of productive and remunerative jobs; fourthly, revamp the synergetic relationship between the public and private sectors; fifthly, correct market deficiencies by combating drugs, corruption and smuggling; and, sixthly, make it possible for the market to function properly by ensuring that there is free competition.

In this connection, article 245 of the Constitution states:

“Economic freedom is guaranteed as long as it is not opposed to social interests. The State protects private enterprise and does everything to ensure that it develops under the conditions necessary to increase national wealth in order to ensure that the largest number of people share in the benefits of that wealth.”

Dear friends, James in the Black Jacobins wrote that no part of the world, as far as its surface was concerned, had so much wealth as the colony of Santo Domingo. That is quite true. It is also true that Haiti today is one of the wealthiest pieces of land in the world: it is rich in human, cultural, and artistic values.

Ala yon bon pèp!
Nou tèlman bon
Nou tounen bonbon
Nan lestomakmachin vyolans
la.

Ala yon bon pèp!
Tank li bon,
Se tank li santi bon!!
Mh!!!

The most realistic projections for the year 2000 indicate that 2,600,000 inhabitants — that is, 65 percent of the urban population — will have no prospects whatsoever of access to drinking water. The implementation of our economic policy should avert this catastrophe. In the year 2000 more than 60 percent of children under the age of 12 months will be unable to receive vaccinations. This is another challenge to take up. Within seven years our forests will have disappeared. Two years ago only 1.5 percent of our forest cover was left, which is why we lose every year 36.6 million metric tons of land.

Only the restoration of democracy can save our country from this ecological catastrophe. Let us not even mention the massive outflow of boat people. Once we have returned to the land of our birth we shall restore peace, and then the sea will no longer claim our soil and souls.

We said before :
“Boat people, nevermore.”
Upon our return we shall say:
“Boat people, nevermore.”

We shall say again: “License to traffic in drugs, nevermore.” Only the restoration of democracy can prevent Haiti from being the second country in the hemisphere in terms of involvement in drug trafficking. Since the coup d’état about 48 metric tons of cocaine have passed through Haiti every year. Their destination? North America, above all. The annual market value of this drug adds up to $1.2 billion, of which more than $200 million goes to the putschists and their allies. When we return to the land of our birth, the Haitian and United States Governments, united as always, will protect each other from this violent scourge.

When we return to the land of our birth, by mobilizing all our human resources and making optimal use of the assistance of friendly countries, we shall be able to implement an urgent employment program, which will involve,

first, refurbishment of the roadway infrastructure, comprising 1,406 kilometers;

secondly, protection of drinking-water supply systems for 1 million inhabitants;

thirdly, protection of agricultural irrigation systems covering 200,000 plots of land;

fourthly, shoring up of the main towns and protection of the areas threatened by erosion, including, in particular, 300 kilometers of ravines; and,

fifthly, promotion of integrated rural development.

Let us recall that 63 percent of the active population is employed in the rural areas, whence comes 27 percent of the gross national product. The industrial sector, on the other hand, employs 5.7 percent of the active population and produces 15 percent of the gross national product. Working with the private sector in Haiti, we shall have to find the best way to provide many more jobs for both the medium and the long term.

Since the coup d’état we have lost 30,000 jobs in the assembly and export industries. Relaunching tourism will provide 1,000 jobs. Building schools and repairing 1,200 schools in disadvantaged areas will contribute to reducing the ranks of the unemployed.

The first mission of the state and of the territorial collectives is to provide schooling for the masses; this is the only way we can develop the country. The state and the territorial collectives must make free schooling available to all: articles 32.1 and 32.2.

Furthermore, the Head of State, as the guarantor of respect for the Constitution, will endeavor to strengthen the democratic institutions set out inthe Constitution.

Justice for all;
transparency in all;
participation by all.

The Head of State will also reinforce the independence of the legislative power by helping the members of Parliament prepare themselves and by fostering harmonious relations between the two branches. There will soon have to be a permanent electoral council to organize legislative elections for 1994. I take this opportunity to urge the political parties and the members of the opposition to stimulate the democratic process for the nation’s well-being.

As the President of each and every Haitian, I urge all to transcend political differences and build unity in diversity. Young people of Haiti, women of Haiti, peasants’ groups, trade unions, people’s organizations, social and professional organizations: let us all march together. Rich or poor, military or civilian: let us say no to vengeance, no to violence, no to impunity, yes to reconciliation, yes to justice. Let us all march together.

There is strength in union.
Fouchèt divizyon pa bwè soup demokrasi.

Yes, geopolitical evolution depends on unity. On the threshold of a new era, tolerance and active benevolence benefit all mankind. Geopolitical evolution depends both on the relationship between economic forces and on democratic growth. Yes, from humanity there can arise a new world order based on mutual respect and new structures that are intended to guarantee peace, security, and dialogue. Dialogue between men and women will be the top most of our national and international priorities, a dialogue between men and women whose intelligence is a guiding light for democratic civilization. There will be dialogue between all of us, dialogue between the members of this Assembly, who are intelligent.

Vis consili expers mole ruit sua:
force without intelligence is crushed by its own weight,
as Horace said.

Guided by the light of intelligence, men and women of Haiti will easily understand that:

Nou kase randevou lakay
Lakay se lakay
Ane pa tiye n, jou paka tiye n.
Lakay se lakay!

Nou kase randevou lakay
Pititkay k ap pasetray lakay,kouray.
Nou kase randevou lakay
Jou sa a va bèlpou noutout.

Jou va,jou vyen,jou sa a! a a a

Yes, we Haitians, we who desire peace and who shall create peace, easily understand the importance of reconciliation and justice. This is why, first, we respected from the outset the Governors Island Agreement; secondly, we ask for a total blockade, which is necessary — nay, absolutely essential; thirdly, if tomorrow morning General Cédras, the members of the High Command and the Military Staff, and Colonel Michel François and his allies leave, then tomorrow afternoon I shall, in agreement with the Presidents of the Senate andthe House of Deputies, summon Parliament to vote on the bill regarding the police and the one onamnesty, inaccordance with article 147 of the Constitution, the Governors Island Agreement and the New York Pact.

Fourthly, the Prime Minister and the members of the Ministerial Cabinet, to whom we would address our warmest congratulations, are invited not to resign, in solidarity with the people of Haiti. On October 30, it is not a matter of choice between returning or not returning. It is a choice between departure and lateness.

Balon retou a nan pye nou tout.
Woule l sou teren mobilizasyon an.
Lonje l nan filè demokrasi a paske Abraham di sètase.
Tou priyè gen Amen.

Men and women of Haiti, the horizons of the future are wide open.
Upright like the palm-bearer of freedom, let us march together.

Let us build peace.
Let us construct law.
Let us restore democracy.

All, sons and daughters of the motherland of Toussaint Louverture and
Jean-Jacques Dessalines, let us be united for the rebirth of the nation.

To all of you, peace, love and happiness.

Se pou you lavalas rekonsilyasyon
Ak you lavalas jistis
Desann sou nou tout.

Yon sèl nou fèb,
Ansanm nou fò,
Ansanm, ansanm,
nou se lavalas.

Fanm vanyan,
Pale mwa d sa!
Gason vanyan,
Pale mwa d sa!

Tout priyè gen amen.
Li lè pou n di amen.

Jou sa a!a a a