Protests, Vigils to Mark One-Year Anniversary of Coup d'etat in Haiti

What: Haiti Solidarity Week 2005

When: February 20 – 28, 2005

Where: Washington, D.C., Boston, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Portland, ME,

Tucson, Los Angeles, Montreal, and other cities

Advocates of democracy and human rights across the U.S. and Canada are organizing protest marches and other events this week that will focus on Haiti, where democratically-elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a coup on February 29 last year. Organizers hope to raise awareness of the ongoing human rights crisis in Haiti following the January release of report by the Center for the Study of Human Rights documenting the Haitian National Police's extra-judicial killings in the slums around major cities and the imprisonment of hundreds of people in overcrowded cells for indefinite periods.

Events during the week of February 20 – 26 and on February 28th – the anniversary of the coup – will include protests, vigils, film screenings, and religious services focused on calling for an end to rights abuses in Haiti and calling for a return to constitutional democracy. Key among the organizers' demands are for Temporary Protective Status for Haitian refugees fleeing to the U.S., and for a congressional investigation into the U.S. role in the coup.

"One year later and the truth still has not been told," said Tom Ricker, Co-Director of the Quixote Center, which is coordinating many of the Haiti Solidarity Week activities. "The U.S. Congress still has not demanded a thorough accounting of what role the Bush Administration played in ousting Haiti's democratically-elected president. Meanwhile, the U.S. targets Haitian refugees for harsh treatment – including routine detention for extended periods – when they flee the death squads for U.S shores."

See the Haiti Solidarity Week calendar of events online: http://www.quixote.org/hr/campaigns/hsw-2005/body/hsw%20events.php
For more information, contact 301-699-0042
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