ham lui Policy of Forced
R patriation Ignore Human
Plight of Haitian Refugee
e consi tent polic Stt s to driv« the B sh Ad i istration's
ppr 4 b to Haiti: .r. J.jfi ,.de,. for ordi II,., H itia s-
whether th .y are stru Img to survive at 1J0me escape by sea or luep
lip hop ;71 barbed- ire refi' tt camps.
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. Tear off and mail form to: Haiti Campaign, NAACP ational Office, 4805 Mt. Hope Drive, Baltimore, MD 21215 I
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"About 90 Haitians were reported to have died at
sea on unday when their small boat capsized and
sank about 20 miles to the north of the capital
[Port-Au-Prince, Haiti] ..... "
New JOn Times, July 22, 1992
mcan AmerIcans and others from across
the country will come together on
, September 9, 1992 to demonstrate our
outrage at the uncons ionable policy that Pre ident
Bush has directed toward Haitians. Over 38,000
have been forcibly returned to the land of political
persecution, torture and killings.
If this were not cruel enough, on' May 24, 1992,
President Bush blocked all Haitians from exercising
their legal right to seek asylum in the United States
by instructing the Coast Guard to pick up Haitians
at sea and return them immediately to Haiti.
The 11,000 Haitian who made it through the
initial screening al 0 face great ri k , bccau: e even
they will face expulsion in the coming month .
We need to make sure that every H itian who
seeks political asylum has an opportunity to leave
their country and receive a free and fair hearing.
WHAT YOU
CANDO NOW
TransAfrica and the NAACP are u'lJing Co'ngress
to act before final adjournment in October.
WE SUPPORT:
*
Temporary Protected Status for Haitians
presently in the U.S. This is the same protec­
tion offered in the past to Cubans;
Vietnamese, Hungarians and Chinese stu­
dents. H.R. 5267, introduced by Rep. John
Conyers (D-MI), would accomplish this.'
*
An end to the forced return of Haitian
refugees without benefit of hearings on their
claims to political asylum. H.R. 5360,
introduced by Rep. Stephen Solarz (D- NY)
and S.2826, introduced by en. .dward
Kennedy (D-MA) de crve broad upport.
*
Strengtben sanctions against the' illegal mil­
itary regime, including restrictions on visas
to the U.S. and freezing assets owned by
Haiti's elite who backed the coup.
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ptember 30, 1991: President J ean­
Bertr nd Aristide is ousted by a military
coup after seven months as H iti' first
democratically elected leader.
he State Department's claims that
Haitians returned to their homeland do
not have "a well-founded fear of persecu­
tion" is simply contrary to the. findings of the
human rights experts who have assessed the
situation.
Americ Watch, National Coalition for Haitian
Refugee and Physicians for Murnan Rights, in
Rett�rn to the Darkest Days: Human Riehts in Haiti
Since the Coup, December 31, 1991, report that:
Ianuary 31. 1992:' U .. .Suprem ·COut·
di solves injunctions. Within hours, the
U. '. Coast Guard re urnes repatriati�g
Haitians. .
- "in the period immediately following the
coup, massacre and widespread killings were the
order of the day. Since then, techniques have
become more refined more refined but similarly
brutal. Selected assassinations, disappearances,
severe beatings and political arrests continue."
FCQruary 27, 1992: The U.S. House of
Representative yates to d.clay rep .tri�j9n
of all Haitians in the U.s. for six months,
Critics charge that few Haitians:wo'4p::.b.: .��; -. � .. :
fit, since most had already been .. ;. '�t- Qa�lf< .
c : ' �o �.� ti. ....•.. } ..••.. :. ; : \ .: ,!< :"�(';'if :if: ;;;;
May 24, 1992: The BU$� ·A�tnini�'r�(�gp::://·
announces that it will return Haitian asyluI�¥,. ::.
eeker without a hearing on their claim fbi' .
refugee tatus,
- "Common people are arrested merely for hav­
ing photographs of President Aristide in their homes
or for the p ssession of pro- Aristide literature."
- "Entire neighborhoods, particularly in the
poor and populous shantytowns of Port-Au­
Prince and across the countryside that voted for
Aristide almost unanimously, have been targeted
for particularly brutal and concentrated attacks."
- "the army has hunted down a broad range
of people perceived as threatening its aspirations
to· power. Some of these were marked as Aristide
supporters. Others were deemed to resist military
rule. But such open opposition was hardly neces­
sary to become the army's victim. Many of those
targeted were nothing more than members of
popular organizations."
"Se« also Haiti: The Human Ri6htt Trlf8EtI:$
Human Ri8hts Violations Since the CoNI, Amnesty
International, January 1992.
, .
Iuly, 1992: Of the more than 38,000
Haitian who have sought refuge In the
'to ·U.S., more than 24,000 have been forcibly
returned. The 11,000 Haitian who have. ... .;.
been "screened in" for initial processing of
their claims face great .risk .p.f.�xp�1 J9Q . iIi :'
. . ". the coming months, ·�rn�s.: ;�P.�$.·::;l;�9��'Y::::f :::».
" .• '. th��d. .'. :..' ." .... :. !,.:': '."i.:::: ... · ), if) ;1;1,:;\\;\1;;\\;;\': �i�f
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RESPONSE FORM Pleiae Print
N�E: � � ___
ADDRESS: ---------- � � __
TELEPHONE: ( __ ) _
1) Arc you committed to changing U .� .. foreign policy towards Haiti by participating in the civil diso .
dience campaign on September 9, 1992, in Washington, D.C.? Yes No _
2) Arc you willing to be arrested in front of the White House in protest of U.S. policy towards Haitians?
Yes No ___
3) Please make a contribution to the Haiti Campaign. Please enclose a che-ck in the.amount of
__ $100 __ 50 __ $20 __ Other (Make checks payable to NAACP Haiti Campaign)