Demonstrations protest massacre of Haitians

San Francisco—Led by members of a trade union delegation that recently returned from Haiti, nearly 100 demonstrators rallied and marched July 21 to protest the recent massacre of at least 23 people in Haiti’s Cité Soleil neighborhood. Organizers of the protest announced that Father Gerard Jean-Juste, a leader of the Lavalas movement, had been severely beaten and imprisoned earlier that day after attending the funeral of well-known journalist Jacques Roches. According to the Haiti Action Committee, the organizers of the protest, Cité Soleil has been the focus of attacks by both UN forces and the Haitian police because it is a stronghold of support for the democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was kidnapped and exiled last year by U.S. authorities. Coordinated demonstrations were held in 13 U.S. and Canadian cities.

Above, Pierre Laboissiere, founder and leader of the Haiti Action Committee, urges the crowd to redouble their efforts to end the U.S./UN occupation of Haiti and restore democracy in that country.

—Photo and story by Judy Greenspan