|
May 25, 2013 - No. 20 Montreal,
May
25,
1968
45th Anniversary of the Historic Reorganization of The Internationalists  Significant
Dates
in
the
Struggles
33rd
Anniversary
of
Gwangju
People's
Uprising |
 Hardial Bains Founder and Leader of CPC(M-L) |
We arrived in Montreal May 1, 1968. Awkward, perhaps, is the word to describe a situation when coming to a city with a handicap, an obstruction in the form of a close collaborator who at the particular time was not totally dedicated to the aim for which we had arrived. This awkwardness over aim was to become a continuous source of irritation and disruption for years to come. It is important to choose with whom one goes into battle but history gave us no choice at the time.
The city appeared quite inhospitable during the afternoon bus ride from Dorval Airport downtown to the Queen Elizabeth Hotel and the slow walk to the McGill Ghetto. With our entire earthly belongings dangling from our bodies, it felt as if everyone were looking at us, wanting to know why we had come to Montreal. Some might consider me overly sensitive or self-conscious, but I hope never again to repeat such an experience. After a terrible night at the home of some émigrés transplanted from Vancouver, we set to work.
The same streets, which had looked so inhospitable the day before, now seemed inviting. A call echoed through the cavernous streets: "The Internationalists are here; The Internationalists are here." Within days, the ranks of our organization began to swell. Individuals joined us from as far away as Vancouver but the greatest response came from the inhabitants of the City of Montreal.
When we held our first public meeting May 25, 1968 the old house on Jeanne Mance Street was bubbling with energy. The adjoining living and dining rooms and long hallway were so packed people had to be turned away at the door. The old cliché declares "nothing succeeds like success" and that certainly was the case May 25. Like most clichés, it fails to describe how our success was based and dependent on, besides other factors, our own serious, honest and conscious work. Success does not come about without serious planning in accordance with the actual conditions. The Jeanne Mance meeting was a crucial one; it would determine just how deep and successful our initial organizing work in Montreal and in Quebec would be. We were confident but one can never be sure when dealing with actual people in the heat of the moment. A feature of the meeting, besides so many unfamiliar faces, was the enthusiasm for The Internationalists and the many many questions participants wanted us to answer.
After the historic Montreal
May 25 meeting, word swept
the city that The
Internationalists were everywhere, in their hundreds! The second
meeting held
just a week later was once again a resounding success. Inside, the
meeting
discussed the ideological offensive being waged through decadent
culture,
while outside a demonstration organized against us by some hippies
defended
that ideological offensive. Not by coincidence the main organizer of
the
demonstration was a transplant from Victoria, British Columbia, who was
extremely upset that The Internationalists had stolen his thunder. He
wanted
to disrupt our meeting to show how "tough" he was but we did not want
such
altercations. After making some noise, they left without swaying the
youth.
The behaviour of the police at the time must be noted and emphasized
because
it became a general feature. The police did not intervene to stop the
demonstration against us and from then on whenever our meetings were
disrupted the police were nowhere to be seen unless we took action to
end the
disruption when the police would suddenly appear to attack us.
Revolutionary politics developed with great speed that
summer and the
ranks of The Internationalists grew rapidly. By the end of December
1968,
close to seventy delegates attended our First National Conference, with
organizations either established or in the process of being founded in
all
provinces except the Maritimes. Most healthy forces were uniting around
The
Internationalists with many more to follow later. This rapid advance
had an
objective basis. Those who joined us had emerged out of the same
conditions
as The Internationalists, and gravitated towards an organization that
was stable
and strong ideologically, organizationally and in political line.
Furthermore, the
organization beckoned everyone to embark on the revolutionary
Marxist-Leninist road that belonged to us all. The Internationalists
were not a
sect but an organization of the working class dedicated to the victory
of
revolution and socialism.
The Internationalists were a national organization called a "Marxist-Leninist youth and student movement" but with all the attributes of a genuine Marxist-Leninist Communist Party. Marxism-Leninism was the ideological basis of the organization, democratic centralism the organizational principle with proletarian internationalism at the core of its practice. The Internationalists had not yet established ourselves as the Party because we wanted to win over some other groups who called themselves Marxist-Leninist to found one Party of the working class. We did not want to unilaterally declare a Party. Such a move would have been considered disruptive for the movement, and in retrospect, history has fully corroborated that opinion.
 In October 1968, the Sir George Williams University Student Movement played an important part in the struggle against the racist activities of the university authorities. |
This group invited us to a meeting of one of its committees. We sat through the meeting quietly. The proceedings confirmed our opinion that this group suffered ideological confusion. This was very particular and came from mixing up one's own interests with the aims of the movement in a manner where personal interests become the aim of the movement. At the conclusion of the meeting I was literally commanded to give my impressions and opinions of the gathering and their organization. I told them very nicely and in a cool-headed manner that they would have to excuse me because to give opinions about another organization is a very delicate matter and we would have an opportunity soon to exchange opinions at a meeting between delegations of the two organizations.
There was no stopping some of them. A very ugly atmosphere was created with a few members accusing me of cowardice for not wanting to speak in front of them. I was forced to say something. And of course, when you are in such exalted company, anything you do or say will be used against you. I began:
"You have very good sentiments, and your aim is very good..."
"Get to the point," a real boor shouted from the back.
I had kept my cool so far. Very gently, I let them know that their ideology was liberal bourgeois but before I could finish my sentence someone shouted: "We will kill you if you repeat that."
To myself I said, "Trotskyite, typical petty bourgeois" and drawing myself up to my full height sternly shot back at the man who had voiced the threat: "That would be quite a feat for a petty bourgeois like you!" I then worked hard to cool the situation down.
The person who was so bold and haughty at that time later became a real careerist, a professor in psychology or some similar field and soon disappeared from progressive politics. However, in the political heat of that Montreal summer, he along with all the others belonging to that organization joined The Internationalists.
Others in Montreal who called themselves Marxist-Leninists were connected with the Progressive Workers' Movement from Vancouver. They spent all of 1968 trying without success to keep people away from The Internationalists and to cause a split in our ranks. Meanwhile the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) had all but dissipated while the unilinguists were trying to whip up racist hysteria.
The main opposition to The Internationalists during the summer was centred at McGill University. The Students for a Democratic University (SDU) was decomposing after a period of sit-ins and occupations in the fall of 1967. Although nostalgia surrounded the SDU for the previous actions, there were also recriminations and the healthy elements gravitated towards us. From the death-throes of the SDU came a "socialist" group. The word "socialist" had become a cover for all those who did not want to really deal with the question of socialism and organize to bring it about through revolution. This anti-Leninist opposition culminated in a diversionary "McGill Français" campaign, the leader of which disappeared after the War Measures Act of October 1970.
 In October, 1968, The Internationalists joined forces with the workers in the struggle of the Murray Hill taxi drivers at Dorval airport. |
Those days in Montreal were crucial for the building of the Party. One cannot imagine a Canadian Marxist-Leninist Communist Party without the workers from Quebec. To build the Party when we arrived in Montreal, besides uniting the various groups, the missing element was precisely the Quebec workers. The summer seemed to have an air of great events in the making and while time passed very slowly, events moved quickly. One day, one afternoon or even one hour could make the difference, could change things in a significant way. Barely six days passed from our arrival on May 1 to the reorganization of The Internationalists on May 7. A battle raged over the organizational principle of democratic centralism. The debate centred on the key point whether an individual is subordinate to the organization or not. We strongly upheld the view that the individual is subordinate to the collective, and we practised that principle. Even though we were a small organization at the time, we knew that it was crucial to stand on guard for our principles. That stand on principles would later be essential for building and expanding the organization.
The May 25 meeting took place just 24 days after our arrival. The Internationalists already had mass appeal. They were a topic of discussion in all circles, a focal point for the unity of all Marxist-Leninists across Canada to found the new Party. July 26 was another important date, a milestone when hundreds participated in our weekend conference held at Sir George Williams University (since merged with Loyola College to form Concordia University), where the broad masses approved our political and ideological program.
Many events followed in that tumultuous summer of '68, and for those who directly experienced the period their fragrance is still so very fresh. If we were to ask what was so important about that particular summer, we would have to talk not just about one but all its varied aspects. The Internationalists were strengthened in every way -- ideologically, organizationally, politically and in quantity. The Internationalists irresistibly attracted all those thinking about taking that decision to join the revolutionary Marxist-Leninists. It appeared as if they were just waiting for us. It was the mother liquid waiting for that one crystal, and there you are -- everything is crystallized. Such was the freshness and purity of what transpired that summer. It strengthened our direction and gave us more confidence. It verified the path we had been working out for more than five years, a direction which was the summation of a period transformed into the form of a real advance, the reorganization and consolidation of The Internationalists as a Marxist-Leninist organization in every sense of the word.
The summer of '68 had such a far-reaching impact that even today, if anyone becomes a traitor, they have to first violate the decisions and spirit of that period. It has been observed that the same individuals who became passive or betrayed the organization have tried to throw mud at that period and its predecessor and have become emotionally unstable as a result. It is not possible to purge one's system of the truth and fill it with falsehoods without facing dire consequences to one's emotional well-being.
(Unpublished manuscript written in 1989. © 2013 Hardial Bains Memorial Archives. All rights reserved.)
33rd Anniversary of Gwangju People's Uprising
Korean People's Fight for Democracy and an
End to U.S. Dictate
Continues
One of the popular rallies that marked the democratic uprising in Gwangju, Korea in May 1980.
May 18, 2013 marked the 33rd anniversary of the heroic Gwangju People's Uprising which took place in the city of Gwangju, south Korea from May 18-28, 1980. In those 10 days the students, workers, women and youth -- people from all walks of life -- took over the city and held it by force of arms against the military dictatorship of General Chun Doo-hwan, who had come to power through a U.S.-engineered military coup that overthrew the three-month-old government of President Choi Kyu-hah. The significance of the Gwangju People's Uprising was that it delivered a decisive blow against U.S. imperialism and its subjugation and oppression of the Korean people since forcefully dividing the country following the Second World War. The Gwangju People's Uprising also symbolized the determination of the south Korean people to resist U.S. domination of south Korea which goes on to this day and gave impetus to their collective struggle for self-determination, democracy, independence and the reunification of their dismembered country. Last but not least, the Gwangju People's Uprising also serves to inspire all humanity that is joined in struggle to rid the world of Anglo-American imperialism, the scourge of humanity, and to build a modern world free of wars of aggression and oppression.
The spirit of the Gwangju
People's Uprising, also known
as the Gwangju
Democratization Movement, finds expression today in the collective
actions of
the south Korean citizens who are waging a determined struggle to end
south
Korea's subservience to U.S. interests. This includes opposition to
U.S. war
games and the demand that the U.S. sign a peace treaty to end the
Korean
War, as well the fight to stop the construction of the naval base on
Jeju Island
and the demand that the U.S. remove its 28,000 troops and arsenal
including
nuclear weapons from south Korea.
A well-known song in south Korea, "Imeul wihan
Haengjingog," known
in English as "March for the Beloved," was composed and dedicated to a
couple who were killed by the U.S.-deployed government troops during
the
Gwangju Uprising -- in total, some 2,000 people were killed. This song
is also
a fixture at workers' rallies and at other protests, often with fists
raised in
militant salute. The recently elected government of President Park
Geun-hye,
declined to have "March for the Beloved" sung in unison (i.e., by all
participants present) at this year's state commemoration of the Gwangju
People's Uprising and instead it was
sung by
only a choir. This refusal of government officials to publicly sing
this well-known patriotic song conveys the new government's antipathy
to not only
the
workers, but also to the Korean people's social, political and economic
aspirations, including national reunification and an end to U.S.
imperialist
domination of south Korea and interference in Korean affairs.
On May 18, 2013, some 3,000 workers from across the country rallied in Gwangju to mark the anniversary. (Tongil News)
The collective singing of "March for the Beloved" was established as the norm from 2003-2008 when the annual commemoration of the Gwangju Uprising was upgraded to a state-organized event in 2003 under the administration of President Roh Moo-hyun. This ceased to be the practice following the election of Lee Myung-bak in 2009, whose ignominious administration distinguished itself with various acts of national betrayal and abject servility to U.S. interests that did much damage to the honour and dignity of the Korean nation, and sabotaged the work for national reunification. A government official quoted by Yonhap News, in denial of the precedent set when the state ceremony was established, gave the feeble excuse, "We decided it is difficult to accept the demand for unison singing as some have raised objections that it is inappropriate for participants in a government-organized ceremony to sing the song while waving their fists."
Victims' groups strongly protested the decision and vowed to boycott the ceremony. Other civic groups in Gwangju held sit-ins and took other actions to protest the decision. The Gwangju city government also said the city-run choir, which had been scheduled to sing the song at the ceremony, would not attend the event and said the Patriots Affairs Ministry should look for another choir. The Democratic Party, other opposition parties and people from all walks of life denounced the government's decision as a desecration of history.
Rodong Sinmun, official organ of the Workers Party of Korea of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), condemned the decision of the Park government and pointed out that even worse, "the puppet clique is putting pressure not to depict the military fascist clique's brutal murder of brave resisters in literary and art works."
On the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the Gwangju
People's Uprising, TML calls
on the Canadian working class and people
to stand with the heroic Korean people in their just struggle against
the U.S. military occupation of south Korea, to resolutely oppose the
U.S. nuclear blackmail and military provocations against the DPRK and
demand that the U.S. sign a permanent peace treaty. Support the
Korean people's ardent desire and struggle to realize the independent
and peaceful reunification of their divided country through their own
efforts!
Hail the 33rd Anniversary of the Heroic
Gwangju
People's Uprising!
U.S. Troops Out of Korea!
A citizens’ group from Gwangju holds a sit-in at the Gate of Democracy that leads to the National 5.18 Cemetary as part of the opposition to the government's decision to minimize the singing of the "March of the Beloved." (Tongil News)
Slideshow of Gwangju People's Uprising Set to "March for the Beloved"
Gwanju People's Uprising
Gwangju, Korea, May 18, 1980: Soldiers are deployed against the people to brutally quell the Gwangju Democratic Uprising.
The Gwangju People's Uprising took place in the city of Gwangju, south Korea, from May 18-28, 1980. It was a glorious revolutionary action undertaken to oppose the brutal military dictatorship of General Chun Doo-hwan. Chun had come to power through a U.S.-engineered military coup that overthrew the government of President Choi Kyu-hah and imposed martial law in south Korea in May 1980.
According to various news and eye-witness reports, the Gwangju People's Uprising was triggered by student demonstrations on the morning of May 18 in defiance of the new military edict closing the universities and stifling any political dissent. The police were unable to hold the organized resistance of the people so a Special Forces unit trained for assault missions was dispatched to smash the uprising. The Special Forces used tear gas, batons and rubber bullets to try and suppress the uprising but still workers, shopkeepers, and parents took to the streets to defend their children. Then the military opened fire, killing close to two hundred people and wounding hundreds more.
 Memorial in Gwangju, Korea, dedicated to those who gave their lives during the democratic uprising of May 1980. (ChrisJ/TrekEarth) |
On May 20, some 10,000 people demonstrated in Gwangju. Due to the widespread militarization of the society, most major workplaces in south Korea had caches of weapons. Protestors seized these weapons, buses, taxis and even armoured personnel carriers, forming armed militias to fight the army. On May 21, the Special Forces were forced to withdraw and the city fell to the citizens.
The next five days were unprecedented in south Korean history. The people organized themselves into citizens' committees to ensure the well-being and security of everyone. Food, medical and transportation systems were organized and lively political discussions took place where the people gathered to discuss their future and their opposition to the U.S. occupation of south Korea and the military dictatorship.
On May 24, 15,000 people attended a memorial service in memory of those who died at the beginning of the uprising at the hands of Special Forces. On May 25, about 50,000 people gathered for a rally in Gwangju and adopted a resolution calling for the abolition of martial law and the release of Kim Dae Jung. (Kim, who passed away in August 2009, was at the time of the uprising a well-known political prisoner. He would later become the eighth President of the Republic of Korea and play a significant role in moving forward the north-south dialogue for reunification. Along with the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong Il, Kim Dae Jung co-signed the historic June 15 North-South Joint Declaration which paved the way for a new period in the struggle for Korean reunification.)
Soon after this, the U.S. government of Jimmy Carter intervened because the Gwangju Uprising was seen as a threat to U.S. strategic interests on the Korean peninsula and Asia. The U.S. ordered the Chun regime to move troops from the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) separating north and south Korea and to re-occupy Gwangju. On May 27, at 3:30 am, the army swarmed Gwangju in Operation Fascinating Vacations. The people of Gwangju resisted courageously against this act of state-terror.
In the ensuing battle, thousands of civilians were killed and close to 15,000 people were injured. More than 1,500 people were taken into custody and many were tortured. Seven people were executed and 14 received life sentences for taking a stand against the U.S.-sponsored military dictatorship and to demand their rights.
The Gwangju People's Uprising delivered a decisive blow to U.S. imperialism on the Korean peninsula and signalled a turning point in the struggle of the Korean people's collective will to rid their nation of the U.S. military occupation of the south.
It was also a decisive battle in the Korean peoples'
project of national
reunification, their fight for democratic reforms and an end to
U.S.-installed
military dictatorships in the south.
210th Anniversary of Haitian Flag Day
Haitian People Continue to Fight for Empowerment
On May 8, tens of thousands of Haitians poured into the streets to escort former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the Palace of Justice in Port-au-Prince after he was summoned to be questioned about the murder of internationally known journalist, Jean Leopold Dominique. Dominique was shot in the courtyard of his radio station in 2000. Aristide was "invited" to appear in court by Judge Ivikiel Dabrezil, the tenth judge appointed to investigate the murder since 2000.
Aristide was overthrown by a coup d'etat organized and financed by the U.S., Canada and France in March 2004. He returned to Haiti in January of 2011 after living in exile, which is outlawed by the Haitian Constitution, in South Africa.
Aristide's trip to court
was only the second time he has left his residence
since returning to Haiti. Two months prior Aristide was summoned to
court in
another case. The summons are being viewed as attempts to discredit
President
Aristide's reputation at a time when the current Haitian government
backed up
by a U.S./UN military force is in the process of bringing back the
repressive
institutions of the Duvalier regime, including the paramilitary and
Haitian
Army. The efforts to link Aristide to the assassination of Jean
Dominique -- a
journalist beloved by the people for his unbending criticism of U.S.
interference in Haiti -- are attempts to undermine the unity of
Haitians against
foreign domination and their organized coherence. The summons also
comes
following the tour of a Haitian Senator to Argentina and Brazil to call
for an
immediate end to the UN MINUSTAH mission in Haiti on the basis that it
is
being used to impose U.S. imperialist interests.
Despite these attempts to divide Haitians and even bans on demonstrations that oppose the summons, the Haitian people in their thousands poured onto the streets of Port-au-Prince and other cities across Haiti in order to make their presence known and put the government on notice that they will not permit persecution of their leaders. Haitians organized a popular escort for Aristide's car to the court and back to his home. Hundreds even slept outside of his home in order to ensure his safety.
According to the Haiti Action Committee, an organization
working in
solidarity with Haiti from the United States with close connections to
the
people in Haiti, the actions mark the beginning of a sustained campaign
for the
people's full participation in the running of their country.
(photos: Jean
Anis Cesaire)
Just Demand for Reparations for
Slavery and Colonialism
Action in Paris in March 2013 to demand reparations from France for its crimes of slavery and forcing the freed slaves
to pay "damages" to France after Haiti won its independence.
May 18, 2013 marked the 210th anniversary of Haitian Flag Day, an important date in the revolutionary Haitian people's fight to free themselves from slavery. This year's anniversary comes amidst renewed demands that France pay reparations to the descendants of slaves who live in Haiti and France's overseas territories. In the case of Haiti, reparations are owed not only for the crime of enslaving the people, but for the crushing indemnities France imposed on Haiti claiming the "losses" of its slave labour force and access to Haiti's natural resources.
On May 10, French President François Hollande shamelessly used the occasion of France's slavery remembrance day to dismiss the just demand for reparations. "What happened, happened," Hollande said in a speech in Paris to mark the day. "History cannot be rubbed out. It cannot be subjected to an accounting process that ... would be impossible to complete." Hollande's claim that France's past actions are history and nothing is to be gained by dwelling on them covers up its responsibility for the crimes being committed today against the Haitian people. France was a co-conspirator with the U.S. and Canada in the coup d'etat that kidnapped President Artistide and rained misfortune on the people. Before that, it propped up the murderous Duvalier dictatorship, first of Papa Doc and then Baby Doc. The crime of slavery and the theft of Haiti's wealth are not crimes of the past but of the present as well. Hollande's words plainly show the unrepentant and racist colonial outlook of France's ruling circles. This outlook also guided France's military intervention in Mali in the most recent example.
France's Representative Council of Black Associations (CRAN) decried President Hollande's arrogant remarks. "There are many ways France can repair its past errors. It could build a museum dedicated to slavery, it could promote education around the issue, it could pay reparations to Haiti. But Hollande refuses to do anything," Luis-Georges Tin, CRAN's president, told FRANCE 24.
CRAN stated that it would push ahead with plans to sue the state-owned bank Caisse des dépôts over profits from the colonial-era slave trade and "reparations" France extorted from Haiti. After the slaves liberated themselves and Haiti declared its independence from France in 1804, Haiti was forced to pay the French government 90 million gold francs in exchange for recognition of Haiti's autonomy and to compensate European slave-owners for their financial losses. The bank is accused of collecting these payments.
"Haiti was the victim of a double crime. First the crime of slavery, and then this 'ransom' for its independence," Tin said, adding that the so-called reparations, which continued to be paid until 1946, was equivalent to $90 billion.
Tin said that his organization had received a promise from French Prime Minister Jean Marc Ayrault in October 2012 that the government would pursue a policy of reparations with Haiti, but these words have turned out to be an empty commitment. "This is why we have decided to resolve this political issue in the courts," Tin said of the impending lawsuit.
In an interview with The Local, an English-language newspaper in France, Tin elaborated further, "Paying reparations is a simple matter of justice. When a crime has been committed, there is a need to pay reparations. That's the case for any crime." Tin continued:
"The French committed a crime against humanity in its role in the slave trade, so reparations are needed. By refusing to pay, François Hollande is showing he lacks humanity.
"The history of countries like Haiti is obvious. It was devastated by France. At one point it was the richest colony in the world but under France it became the poorest country in the world and Hollande thinks people will be happy if he just offers them a few words? It's a slap in their face. These people are poor, they have nothing to eat. It is unacceptable. [...]
"The French say we are isolated in our demands, but 63 percent of people in the former colonies are demanding compensation. We also have Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln and Malcolm X on our side. We are not isolated, it's just that the French aren't listening.
"We have many ways to make it happen, one of which is going to court. Even if we don't get a positive result against those French banks who were involved in the slave trade, we are at least damaging their image.
"We have the truth and that is always the best way to put pressure on people."
Two days after Hollande's remarks, French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira expressed agreement with one of CRAN's demands for reparations, namely that the French government undertake land redistribution in its Caribbean territories to try and compensate the descendants of French slaves.
"In the overseas territories there was a land grab, the general result was that the descendants of slaves were left without access to land. Therefore we should think about -- without sparking a civil war -- regrouping properties that were divided and about land reform," said Taubira.
"There are steps that should be taken, without expropriations, and clearly explaining the reason behind the state's push to purchase land," she added.
Taubira authored the French law that designated slavery a crime against humanity in 2001, while representing her native French Guiana as a Member of Parliament.
Tin pointed out that "It would be very easy to
distribute land. All you need
to do is make a list of the available land that belongs to the state
and say we
will give a certain amount of it to the poorest people. It wouldn't
cost
anything, it's a simple measure." He added that Taubira's land reform
proposal would not lead to expropriations since the French state owns
vast tracts of unused land in its overseas territories.
He went on to describe the French government's policy towards its overseas territories:
"The policy of France towards its overseas territories is shameful and there is more than an element of racism involved. In 2008 Eurostat, the EU data agency, revealed that the four poorest departments in Europe are not in Greece or Portugal but in France and of course they are its overseas departments.
"People in France speak about the poverty in the 'banlieues' [housing projects on city outskirts -- TML Ed. Note] but on the island of Réunion there is 60 per cent youth unemployment.
"People talk about social housing in France, but in Martinique we talk about slums. The only thing to compare the living conditions of some people in Martinique to is the situation of the Roma people living in makeshift camps and squats in France."
"Our colleagues overseas have heard the announcement
loud and clear we
all expect to be contacted quickly by Mrs. Taubira and the government
to
figure out how to put this policy in place," PressTV quoted Tin saying.
Tin added that the
new
announcement would in no way dissuade his group from suing the Caisse
des dépôts.
Submissions to European Parliament
Kim Ives, writing for Haïti Liberté reported that on May 16 and 17, the London-based Pan-Afrikan Society Community Forum (PASCF) was scheduled to address the European Parliament on the issue of reparations for slavery and colonialism.
"We see the case of Haiti as central to the argument for reparations," Omowale Ru Pert-em-Hru, PASCF's Executive Director of Operations, told Haïti Liberté.
For their presentation before the European Parliament,
PASCF requested
supporting letters from other organizations in the UK and around the
world.
Posted below are two such letters, from Haïti Liberté
and the
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.
Right One of History's Greatest Wrongs
Restitute Haiti's Independence Debt
- Statement of Haïti Liberté -
Haiti's current economic crisis and political turmoil have their roots in the "odious debt" of 150 million gold francs (later reduced to 90 million) which France imposed on the newborn republic with gunboats in 1825.
The sum was supposed to compensate French planters for their losses of slaves and property during Haiti's 1791-1804 revolution, which gave birth to the world's first slavery-free, and hence truly free, republic. It is the only case in world history where the victor of a major war paid the loser reparations.
In fact, French colonial losses were only an estimated 100 million gold francs, if one stoops to placing monetary value on human slaves.
This extortion, perhaps more than any other 19th century agreement, laid bare the hypocrisy of France's 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man, modeled on the 1776 American Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed: "Men are born free and remain free and equal in rights." The U.S., which assumed the debt in 1922, proved itself equally insincere in respecting this fundamental democratic principle for which it claims paternity.
It took Haiti 122 years, until 1947, to pay off both the original ransom to France and the tens of millions more in interest payments borrowed from French banks to meet the deadlines.
In 2003, Haiti became the world's first former colony to demand reparations (in the form of debt restitution) from a former colonial power. Then President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government conservatively calculated the value of the restitution due at some $21.7 billion. Although the French parliament had unanimously approved a law recognizing the slave trade as a crime against humanity in 2001, just two years later France responded to Haiti's petition with fury. It angrily rejected the lawsuit and joined with Washington in brazenly fomenting a coup d'état against Aristide, who was ousted on Feb. 29, 2004.
For the past nine years since then, the U.S. and France have orchestrated the deployment of some 9,000 United Nations troops to militarily occupy Haiti, a mission which costs about $850 million annually. Known as MINUSTAH, the force has been responsible for massacres, rapes, and, most tragically, the October 2010 importation of cholera, which has now killed some 8,500 people and sickened close to 700,000 others. It is now the world's worst cholera epidemic, and the UN refused in April to pay reparations to cholera victims who petitioned for it in November 2011.
Europeans and North Americans regularly dismiss demands for reparations, saying the crimes of slavery and colonialism were committed by their ancestors. If we accept the logic that responsibility for these crimes does not belong to the current generation, then we must also conclude that the great wealth reaped from those crimes -- which facilitated Europe's and North America's primitive accumulation of capital and world dominance today -- should also not belong to the descendants of slave-owners and colonists.
Why couldn't and shouldn't the billions now spent on policing, intimidating, and repressing the Haitian people be invested in the Haitian police, agriculture, education, and healthcare? This is what most Haitians ask today.
Europe should support, not the sending of UN troops, but
the restitution
for Haiti's Independence Debt and just reparations for the crimes of
slavery
and colonialism. This would allow the Haitian people to rebuild their
country
as they see fit, not according to the blue-prints drawn up by
multinational
banks and foundations based in the former colonial and slave-owning
nations.
In short, restitution would allow self-determination.
"Le Negre Marron" (The Black Maroon; in Creole, "Neg Mawon"), Port-au-Prince, Haiti, shown with left leg extended (broken chain on ankle) and a machete in right hand. The conch shell was often used as a trumpet to assemble people. Created by Haitian sculptor Albert Mangones to commemorate the slaves who revolted against France from 1791 to 1804.
Restitution of Haiti's Independence Debt
- Statement of the BAI and IJDH -
The restitution of the independence debt imposed on Haiti by France in 1825 is the one fair and lasting solution to Haiti's grinding poverty. The debt dwarfs current aid commitments and its payment would allow Haitians to develop their economy without the attached strings that keep poor countries dependent on international aid.
Haiti won its independence from France in 1804, through a bloody 12-year war, becoming the second independent country in the Americas and the only nation in history born of a successful slave revolt. But world powers forced Haiti to pay a second price for entrance into the international community. They refused to recognize Haiti's independence, while French warships remained off its coasts, threatening to invade and reinstitute slavery.
After 21 years of resisting, Haiti capitulated to France`s terms: in exchange for diplomatic recognition, Haiti's government agreed to compensate French plantation owners for their loss of "property," including the freed slaves; compensation to be paid with a loan from a designated French bank. The debt was ten times Haiti`s total 1825 revenue and twice what the United States paid France in 1803 for the Louisiana Purchase, which contained seventy-four times more land.
The debt was a crushing burden on Haiti's economy. The government was forced to redirect all economic activity to repay it. A huge percentage of government revenues -- 80 percent in some years -- went to debt service, at the expense of investment in education, healthcare and infrastructure. The tax code and other laws channeled private and public enterprise to export crops such as tropical hardwoods and sugar which brought in foreign currency for the bank but left the mountainsides barren, the soil depleted and the population hungry.
Haiti did not pay off the independence debt until 1947. Over a century after the global slave trade was eliminated as the evil it was, Haitians were still paying their ancestors' masters for their freedom. After the debt was paid, Haitians were left with a chronically undeveloped economy, rampant poverty, and a spent land -- today relatively minor environmental stresses like tropical storms cause catastrophic damage in vulnerable Haiti.
Economic instability has engendered political instability. Haitians have endured more than 30 coups since 1825, and most of the resulting rulers have been malignant dictatorships. It has also engendered outsized vulnerability to natural disasters, as Haiti's January 2010 earthquake demonstrated.
The independence debt was not only immoral and onerous, it was also illegal. In 1825 aggression and oppression did not violate international law, but the reintroduction of slavery -- the threat underlying the debt agreement -- did. It had been banned by three treaties that France had signed by 1815.
If the international community really wants to help Haiti, repayment of the independence debt will be at the top of the agenda, not off the table. A just repayment of the independence debt, by contrast, would allow Haiti to develop the way today's wealthy countries did -- based on national priorities set inside the country. It would also right a historical wrong, and set a strong example of a powerful country respecting the rule of law with respect to a less powerful country.
Sincerely,
Mario Joseph, Av.
Managing Attorney
Bureau des Avocats Internationaux
Brian Concannon Jr., Esq.
Director
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
Diagram showing the interior of an 18th century slave ship.
Creation of the Haitian Flag
This year marks the 210th anniversary of Haitian Flag Day, a day of significance in the Haitian people's struggle for emancipation and independence which continues to this day.
The website Haitian Treasures writes, "One of the primary symbols of Haitian freedom is the Haitian flag created in Arcahaie, a town located outside of Port-au-Prince on May 18, 1803. Since then, May 18th has been observed as the Haitian Flag Day as it has become a symbol of pride, unity, and individual liberty. In Haiti, Flag Day is a major national holiday celebrated with great fanfare on the grounds of the national palace and all cities in the country and in other countries with a large number of Haitians. In the United States, Haitians pay homage to the blue and red flag by carrying it around with them for at least a week. As a matter of fact, the Haitian flag is tightly linked to a history of struggle and freedom.
"On August 21, 1791 the Haitian Revolution began its struggle against the French occupation. From 1791 to about 1793, the revolt became more widespread and gave rise to a number of large groups still fighting independently. In those times, each main leader would use any piece of cloth as a flag. Slowly the slave movement found some synergy and came to follow the leadership of one main person: Toussaint Louverture. He had led his whole war with the French tricolor: the blue, white and red flag. After the capture of Toussaint, Jean-Jacques Dessalines had taken up the torch in 1802 with the same color flag, but with a slight difference: the general had simply removed the French rooster and the initials RF for 'République de France' which at that time were found on the white band of the flag of the French Republic.
"At that time, an original Haitian flag was not yet created. The fact that the rebel army was carrying a French flag was presented by the press of the time under the title of 'Proclamation.' The headquarters of the French army in Saint Domingue pretended that this tricolor flag, carried as a rallying sign by the indigenous army, was proof that the insurgents were not fighting for the independence of Saint Domingue but only to keep their liberty, just like the French of the home land, a liberty that the First Consul, the dictator Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to take from them.
"During a famous battle in the Cul-du-Sac, a plain not far from Port-au-Prince, on December 1, 1802, Alexandre Pétion confronted the colonial troops of Gilbert Gérard.
  Toussaint L'Ouverture (left) and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, legendary leaders of the Haitian Revolution. |
"This confrontation was not successful for the rebel army and in the course of retreat, they lost the tricolor flag which was quickly seized by the enemy as a prize of war. This served to reinforce the determination of Pétion about the necessity for the rebels to have their own flag. In February 1803, when Pétion happened upon this newspaper which contained the story of his flag lost during the battle of December 1, he raced to get the newspaper in question to the headquarters of Dessalines, the commander-in-chief, in Petite-Rivière de L'Artibonite; he carefully explained the affair in detail and took the opportunity to advise the commander-in-chief that the revolutionary army urgently needed to adopt a different flag.
"Dessalines immediately reacted to Pétion's recommendation. He grabbed a red, white and blue flag, and with a sharp jerk, ripped the white stripe to pieces and joined the blue and red together, making the first Haitian flag, symbolizing the union of the mulattoes and the blacks against the colonialist, pro-slavery France. That is how the famous national bicolor was born between the end of February and the beginning of March 1803.
"Pétion wanted to hold a big meeting with all the high ranking officers where this new flag would be adopted after debate. Pétion finished by convincing Dessalines and his principal lieutenants, in particular his private secretary and confidant Boisrond Tonnerre, to hold a major meeting during May in Arcahaie.
"This meeting, known as the Congress of Arcahaie, was set for May 14 to 18, 1803; the agenda had two essential points: the establishment of a united command of the revolutionary army under the supreme authority of Jean- Jacques Dessalines, and the adoption of a flag by the indigenous army. The two principal leaders at this time, Dessalines and Pétion, jointly drew up this agenda. On May 14, 1803, military delegations flocked to Arcahaie [...]
"Dessalines was appointed general-in-chief of the insurrection army.
"The question of the new Haitian Flag came up on the last day, May 18. The new Commander General suggested the old slogan 'Live Free or Die' be replaced by 'Liberty or Death.' The debate over the proclamation of the creation of a new Haitian flag lasted a whole day. It was only in the evening that the Congress of Arcahaie definitively adopted the new Flag of Haiti. The white stripe was eliminated, while the remaining red and blue bands were attached together. The removal of the white stripe symbolizes the abolition of the White Man's control and the union of blacks and mulattoes in Haiti. The arms are composed of a palm tree surmounted by the Phrygian cap of liberty and ornamented with trophies with a banner across the bottom saying 'L'Union Fait La Force' (through Unity there is Strength).
"By this gesture, they publicly designated that this country no longer wanted to be recognized as a French territory and that the people who lived on this land preferred to be dead rather than be slaves. [...]
"Haiti's first flag was sewn by a lady named Catherine Flon at the Congress.
"The French troops were defeated during the battle of Vertieres (November 18, 1803). Their capitulation allowed the proclamation of Haiti's independence on January 1st , 1804. Haiti's new flag [was] raised proudly all over the country. [...]
"As we celebrate the Haitian Flag Day, we need to
remember that our
ancestors created this bicolor blue and red as a symbol of unity among
all of
us of Haitian descent to fight colonialism and live free forever."
Monument in Cap Hatien dedicated to those who fought in the Battle of Vertière in November 1803,
where the decisive defeat of the French led to Haiti's independence.
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