Haiti’s National Popular Party fund appeal

The circumstances surrounding the June 26 lynching of two leaders of the National Popular Party in northern Haiti are still unclear. Adrien Michel and Prad Rémy Jean Vernet (Pèd) also worked with Haïti-Progrès, the newspaper which presents the views of the PPN.

The PPN is a national, anti-imperialist party with particularly strong ties to the peasants in northern Haiti. It evolved out of the mass movement known as the National Popular Assembly.

The PPN has asked the local authorities for permission to have an autopsy performed on the body of Adrien Michel in order to determine the cause of death. He died under police custody in a hospital in Cap Haitien, the major city in northern Haiti.

There is only one coroner in Haiti, who lives in Port-au-Prince, and therefore would have to travel to Cap Haitien to perform the autopsy.

The body of Pèd, killed on the spot, was dumped into the cemetery in St. Raphäel. His comrades and family would like to see him re-buried.

The families of the lynched men, Haïti-Progrès and the PPN have had to hire lawyers in Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien, as well as pay around $40 a day to keep Michel’s body in the morgue. They will also have to pay very high costs for the autopsy, if one is authorized.

They intend to hold demonstrations throughout northern Haiti to push the local authorities to perform a careful investigation, especially since an underground propaganda campaign is being waged against the PPN and these two martyred militants.

All of this costs money—money that a struggle-oriented organization in a very poor country doesn’t have. That is why “the PPN and Haïti-Progrès are appealing to all their sympathizers, progressives and democrats [to] ... rise to the occasion with financial assistance,” according to an appeal they just issued. Beside the respect they are due, Pèd and Adrien Michel left behind families, wives and children who also need support.

Contributions can be sent to or dropped off at Haïti-Progrès, 1400 Flatbush Ave., 2nd Floor, Brooklyn NY 11210 (718-434-8100) or mailed to Haiti at #22, 1ère Impasse Lavaud, étage Lope de Vega, Port-au-Prince, Haiti 34-64-7845.

Make checks payable to Haïti-Progrès with PPN/St. Raphael on the memo line.