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LETTER
FROM THE GLOBAL WOMEN'S STRIKE TO THE
Ambassador Carlos Augusto R Santos-Neves Brazilian Embassy 32 Green Street London W1K 7AT 13 March 2008 Your Excellency,
As you know, we have been holding a weekly fast and vigil in front of the Brazilian Embassy in London for Mr Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, the internationally respected Haitian human rights activist kidnapped on 12 August 2007 in Haiti. This dear friend and colleague has been missing for nearly seven months, and we have written to ask the Brazilian government, currently heading UN forces responsible for law and order in Haiti, to do everything in their power to help find and free him, and to let us know what progress is being made.
On 5 March a man who identified himself as Demétrio and who on previous occasions has identified himself as Mr Carvalho, came out of the Embassy and told Ms Maggie Ronayne (a lecturer at the National University of Ireland who was on the Vigil) that Mr Pierre-Antoine had been killed but that his body had not been found.
As you can imagine, Ms Ronayne was deeply shocked and asked where this information had come from. Mr Carvalho replied that people in Haiti have said this, but that it was ”unofficial”. He said he worked in the trade section of the Embassy and that we should speak to the political affairs department. We have since learned that Mr Demétrio Bueno Carvalho heads the trade section.
We have been asking the Embassy for some months for any information they may have regarding Mr Pierre-Antoine. We have met a stony wall of silence and worse. We got the distinct impression that Brazil wants to wash its hands of this matter despite its prominent role as head of the UN forces. In one instance Maria Ikeda, the human rights officer, told us we were barking up the wrong tree and should approach the UN, the IMF or World Bank, to ask them to put resources into reconstructing Haiti to prevent such things from happening again. More recently, an admin officer was sent to tell us that the Embassy had no information and that it was not up to them as they were “just doing their jobs”.
We urgently request a meeting to clarify this matter. We are not aware of any statement from MINUSTAH, the local police or any of the authorities in Haiti. Mr Pierre-Antoine’s family, his colleagues, Amnesty International, the MPs who issued an Early Day Motion, the churches which have held special services, and thousands of concerned people around the world have a right to know what information the Embassy has regarding Mr Pierre-Antoine.
We look forward to hearing from you as a matter of urgency.
Yours sincerely,
Sara Callaway
Cc Ms Michelle Pierre-Antoine Haiti Action Group John McDonnell MP Danny Glover Margaret Prescod Congresswoman Maxine Waters Vanessa Redgrave And all who have signed the petition calling for Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine’s safe return |