Jan. 13th, 2009

bcholmes: (haiti)

Keith Yearman, an assistant professor of Geography filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the U.S. State Department to obtain a number of documents regarding the July 6th, 2005 MINUSTAH attack on Site Soley. This is the action in which Dred Wilme was killed.

Dred Wilme was almost certainly a local gang leader (but some dispute this label), but he'd also organized something of a resistance to MINUSTAH's actions. In the course of the raid, MINUSTAH fired 22,000 rounds into a heavily populated poor neighbourhood. Even today, most of that area of Site Soley is pock-marked with the holes of indiscriminate gun fire. Houses, churches, etc. -- all carry the marks of MINUSTAH bullets. I've seen video interviews with people who lost family members or who were themselves shot.

Yearman writes:

While the world's attention was focused on the London subway bombings in July 2005, Brazilian soldiers with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) was busy wreaking havoc on the city of Cite Soleil. The assault on the city resulted in numerous civilian deaths, although the exact number remains a source of controversy. Now, one year after the massacre, the State Department has released several cables surrounding the Cite Soleil massacre. These heavily-excised documents, requested under the Freedom of Information Act, suggest Cite Soleil was to be the target of at least one more assault. Additionally, they raise the question as to whether United Nations forces knew their actions on July 6 would result in heavy civilian casualties. Cite Soleil had been under UN attack for the months preceding the massacre. Dread Wilme, the primary target of the July 6 mission, was named a "gang leader" by the US government, the Haitian regime and the United Nations.

[...]

The July 6 raid was, according to a July 20, 2005 cable from the United States Mission at the United Nations, "meant to be a surgical operation to detain [Wilme]... the aim was not to kill Wilme or his supporters... MINUSTAH's soldiers went into the area on July 6 for only 5 to 6 minutes to complete the operation." The cable, written by Deputy Chief of Mission Anne Patterson, blames the massacre on gangs which "'went crazy' and retaliated against some Cite Soleil residents who were rumored to by MINUSTAH informants."

[...]

"MINUSTAH's after action report stated that the firefight lasted over seven hours during which time their forces expended over 22,000 rounds of ammunition and received heavy fire in return…As the operation was a raid, MINUSTAH did not remain in the area to do an assessment of civilian or gang member casualties, nor were they able to recover any of the gang members' bodies."

There's a Haitian saying, bay kou bliye, pote mak sonje: The giver of the blow forgets; the bearer of the scar remembers. This is as big an event to Haiti as many terrorist actions are to the rest of the world.

bcholmes: (politics and strange bedfellows)

Canada stood alone before a United Nations human rights council yesterday, the only one among 47 nations to oppose a motion condemning the Israeli military offensive in Gaza.

Toronto Star

We all remember Harper's praise of Israel's "measured response" against Lebanon in 2006.

It's probably note-worthy that the US is not a member of this particular council, and I suspect we're being the mouth of the US in this instance.

Kamics

Jan. 13th, 2009 11:18 pm
bcholmes: I’m covered in bees! (bee sea)

I've signed up for another comic-making course at George Brown. I've kinda wanted to take another course, and York is all strike-y (not to mention that the continuing education film offerings from Atkinson are kinda meagre).

Really, I was kinda interested in taking a course on 3-D modelling. I know nothing about it, and I'm kinda interested. Couldn't find a course that fit my schedule, though.

So I'm taking "The Art of the Comic Book" at George Brown College. It has the same teacher as all the cartooning courses (and he's really good).

I've also been practising a bit. Digging out my pen nibs, and such. I've decided that I'm no good with the Croquill #102, and I'm gonna stop using it. So there. Off with its head!

Profile

bcholmes: (Default)
BC Holmes

February 2025

S M T W T F S
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
2324252627 28 

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios