Urgent Action Haiti

Stop release of stolen funds to dictator Duvalier

The Swiss government is planing to release of US$ 7.5 million in
stolen funds to the former Haitian dictator Jean Claude Duvalier, on
June 3, 2007.

These monies have been blocked pending judicial investigation since
2002 but Swiss authorities are planning to release them now, arguing
that the Haitian government has not provided evidence of their
illicit character.

This is an unacceptable scandal. It is a terrible blow to the people
of Haiti who continue to endure very difficult economic conditions.
It is also a flagrant contradiction of the Swiss government´s own
promises in relation to similar situations.

We call for urgent actions before JUNE 3, 2007, demanding that the
Swiss government reverse its decision in defense of the human rights
of the Haitian people.
Mobilize public opinion and call, write, and/or visit the Swiss
Embassy in your country, or send a message to the President of the
Foreign Affairs Commission of the National Council of the Swiss
Confederation, Mr. Stamm Luzi, by telephone at +41-31-322-9715 or by
email: paolo.janke@pd.admin.ch.

The following is a sample letter which you may want to use, or you
can send us your NAME, ORGANIZATION and COUNTRY and we will include
it in the list of signatures on this letter which willl be sent to
the appropriate Swiss authorities on the afternoon of June 2, 3 pm
GMT - You will find additional information on the situation at the
end of the letter. Thank you for your prompt reply.


SAMPLE LETTER

Federal and Parliamentary Authorities
Swiss Confederation
Berne, Switzerland
We have recently learned through media reports that Swiss authorities
are planning to un-freeze and release US$ 7.5 million held in a Swiss
bank account by ex-Haitian dictator, Jean-Claude Duvalier, on June 4,
2007.

This is a scandal and an unacceptable blow to the people of Haiti. It
must be stopped.

For years, Switzerland has provided a safe-haven for these funds and
the stolen wealth of many other dictators, to the detriment of the
fundamental human rights of common citizens in dozens of countries.
It must not now further consummate that crime by releasing these
funds to Jean- Claude Duvalier.

We call on the Swiss Government and the entire international
community to act immediately to prevent this new crime against the
people of Haiti and to ensure that all of the monies are instead
released to the Haitian government, which has an urgent need to
bolster its investment in public health and education.

We call on the Swiss government and the entire international
community to take these actions as part of a broader commitment to
end the impunity of economic crimes. Legislative loopholes in Swiss
law must be closed in order to prevent similar scandals in the future
and all of the wealth stolen from the peoples of the South and
stashed away in Northern banks must be returned.


We further call on the Swiss government to work together with others
in the international community to achieve the immediate and
unconditional cancellation of the entire US$ 1.3 billion of debt that
is unjustly claimed of Haiti – an illegitimate, illegal, and odious
debt that was accumulated as a counterpart to the secret bank
accounts of the dictator Duvalier’s family. Support for a
comprehensive Audit of that entire process of indebtedness would be
an important step not only toward that cancellation but also for the
necessary and urgent reparation of the historical, social, and
ecological debt that is due to the people of Haiti.


Respectfully,

Name
Organization
Country

Camille Chalmers
Assembly of Caribbean Peoples (APC) and PAPDA
Haiti

Beverly Keene
Jubilee South/Americas
Argentina