VZCZCXRO2463
OO RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #2031/01 3651545
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 311545Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7423
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1734
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1548
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 0971
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1384

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 002031 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR 
S/CRS 
INL FOR KEVIN BROWN AND ANGELIC YOUNG 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: HA PGOV PHUM PREL KCRM KWMN KTEX
SUBJECT: HAITI MONTHLY: DECEMBER, 2007 
 
PORT AU PR 00002031  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified -- please 
protect accordingly. 
 
¶2. (U) Summary: This is a monthly report on various topics 
of interest which do not merit a full reporting cable. End 
summary. 
 
¶3.  (U)  PARLIAMENT TO CONSIDER NEW WOMEN'S RIGHTS LAWS. 
The Ministry of Women's Affairs presented to Parliament 
December 11 three pieces of legislation aimed at 
institutionalizin women's rights.  The draft laws cover 
equal rigts for domestic workers, rules and rights for 
coples in common law marriages, and "responsible 
ftherhood" - codifying the idea that men have some 
responsibilities when it comes to parenting, even f the 
are not married to the mother.  Minister f Women's Affairs 
Marie Laurence Jocelyn-Lassegu noted that the laws are the 
result of more thanten years of consultations between 
women's organzations and the parliament.  Ministry Director 
Geeral Myriam Merlet told Poloff December 5 tat the support 
for the laws in Parliament is "very good," and that the only 
opposition comes from some religious fundamentalists opposed 
to common law marriages.  Senator Cemephise Gilles, President 
of the Senate Committee on Women's Affairs, told Poloff 
December 20 the Senate strongly supports the laws and will 
likely pass all three in January. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) PRIME MINISTER WARNS CHIEF PROSECUTOR AND CHIEF OF 
POLICE. 
After a hearing before the Senate Committee on Public 
Security, PM Alexis told the press that Port au Prince Chief 
Prosecutor Claudy Gassant and Haitian National Police (HNP) 
Director Mario Andresol must resolve their differences, or 
else the government would intervene with "administrative 
measures."  Alexis also disputed contentions from certain 
Senators that the dispute between the two had contributed to 
an increase in crime including kidnappings in the capital 
over the last few months.  Alexis, who appeared with Justice 
Minister Magloire and Secretary of State for Public Security 
Eucher-Luc Joseph before the Senate committee, thus attempted 
to put a stop to a long-standing rivalry that has intensified 
in recent months.  The most recent incident in that dispute 
was the convocation by an investigative judge, acting with 
the support of Chief Prosecutor Gassant, of HNP DG Andresol 
to answer questions about the 2000 murder of journalist Jean 
Dominique.  Gassant in November released over one-hundred 
long-term detainees with the justification that many of them 
had not been charged or that they faced health issues.  Human 
rights groups charged that some of those released were 
dangerous criminals, and Andresol promptly rearrested at 
least one of them, whom Gassant then immediately ordered to 
be re-released. 
 
¶5.  (U)  PRESIDENT PREVAL PRESSES FOR U.S. HELP TO IDENTIFY 
AND PROSECUTE FINANCIAL CRIMES CASES. 
In a December 18 meeting with U.S. Treasury financial crimes 
advisors, President Preval emphasized his interest in 
obtaining "quick results" on cases involving corruption and 
money laundering.  Preval said that although corruption is 
widespread in Haiti, most of the cases that are identified 
represent minor crimes, such as favors for services.  A 
concentrated focus on rapidly identifying and prosecuting 
egregious cases is greatly needed, Preval said.  He 
encouraged the advisors to get to work quickly to train GoH 
financial crimes analysts, investigators and prosecutors. 
 
¶6. (U) U.S. CBP HOPE TRAINING FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS. 
 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief of Textile 
Operations Branch Bob Abels, sponsored by USAID, on December 
13-14 trained representatives from the public and private 
sectors on Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through 
Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE) implementation.  In a 
two-day workshop-style setting, Abels trained over a dozen 
representatives from the Ministry of Commerce, Haitian 
Customs and several members from the private sector (mostly 
apparel factory representatives).  Abels, for a day and half 
with the public sector, focused mostly on circumvention and 
 
PORT AU PR 00002031  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
transshipment issues, HOPE visa regulations and clarifying 
CBP requirements.  For a half day, Abels gave an abbreviated 
presentation to the private sector clarifying the 
often-interpreted ambiguous wovens versus knits HOPE 
requirements.  Representatives from both the public and 
private sector wholly appreciated the training and requested 
additional HOPE training in the future. 
 
¶7. (SBU) DEPORTEES ARRESTED ON KIDNAPPING CHARGES. 
On December 20, the Haitian National Police arrested two 
Haitian deportees from the U.S., Pierre Emmanuel and Patrick 
Fenelon, in connection with the December 18 kidnapping of 
Vanessa Paul, a German citizen and employee of the World 
Bank.  Despite the strong anti-deportee sentiment in Haiti, 
Yves Stanley Joseph, the chief of staff at the Ministry of 
Interior that handles the deportee portfolio, told Poloff on 
December 21 that he does not believe that the GoH will resume 
incarcerating criminal deportees upon arrival to Haiti. 
 
¶8. (U) KIDNAPPERS THREATEN VICTIMS WITH DEATH IF THEY GO TO 
THE POLICE. 
Yves Stanley Joseph, the Chief of Staff at the Ministry of 
the Interior, on December 21 told Poloff that kidnappers were 
threatening their victims and their families with murder if 
they contacted the Haitian National Police.  Joseph claimed 
that this is especially the case among victims from the elite 
or industrial class.  Stanley claimed to know personally four 
kidnapping victims who were threatened in this way by 
kidnappers who appeared to have mapped out their travel 
routines and family relationships.  These threats contribute 
to the underreporting of kidnappings that are currently 
plaguing the capital. 
 
¶9. (U) FORMER HEAD OF ANTI-KIDNAPPING UNIT CLEARED OF 
KIDNAPPING AND MURDER CHARGES. 
Judge Jean Carvesse cleared Michael Lucius, the former 
commissaire of the HNP's anti-kidnapping unit, of all charges 
of being an accomplice to kidnapping and murder.  The 
December 3 order was made official by the Port-au-Prince 
parquet on December 21.  Lucius, who is in Paris, implicated 
two members of the government prosecutor for Port-au-Prince's 
(Claudy Gassant) security detail in the September 25 
assassination attempt against him. 
 
¶10. (U) HAITI SIGNS EPA WITH THE EU. 
Minister of Commerce Maguy Durce at a lunch debate entitled 
"European Union Economic Partnership Agreements and Caribbean 
Countries:  Opportunities and Challenges for Haiti" on 
December 17 confirmed that CARIFORUM countries, including 
Haiti, on December 16 signed an Economic Partnership 
Agreement (EPA) with the EU.  The EPA offers duty- and 
quota-free treatment for all CARIFORUM goods, excluding rice 
and sugar, entering Europe as of January 1, 2008.  The EU 
allowed Haiti to be a signatory country to full EPA benefits 
with the understanding that the GoH has six months to fulfill 
its partnership requirements. 
TIGHE