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STATEMENT ON HAITI (CORE GROUP)

The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States reproduces, below, the communiqué on Haiti issued by six Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Core Group:


STATEMENT ON HAITI

Following the special sessions held on 6 January by both the United Nations Security Council and the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States, Foreign Ministers representing State members of the Core Group held consultations to carefully consider the recent developments in Haiti and agreed to the following:

We strongly support the decision made by the Transitional Government of Haiti (TGoH) and the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) to hold the first round of the presidential and legislative elections on 7 February, with a second round on 19 March 2006, if necessary. We are confident that these are realistic and technically feasible dates and we believe they must now be maintained.

We continue to support fully the efforts made by all international stakeholders, particularly the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH ) and the OAS Special Mission in Haiti, to provide the necessary technical, administrative and logistical assistance to the CEP. All necessary measures must be taken to ensure that all outstanding operational difficulties will be overcome in the immediate future.

A secure and stable environment is an essential ingredient for legitimate elections. In this regard, we welcome MINUSTAH’s renewed determination and commitment to work together with the TGoH to improve public security in Port-au-Prince. We welcome the Mission’s most recent military and police operations aimed at fighting all forms of violence, including kidnappings, while respecting human rights and international humanitarian law. We condemn the use of violence as a means of political intimidation and call on all Haitians to work towards a more peaceful and united democracy.

We lament the untimely death of General Urano Bacellar and continue to support the Brazilian military command of MINUSTAH. We welcome the offer of the Government of Brazil to present candidates to the position of MINUSTAH Force Commander. We strongly urge all Haitians to support and cooperate with MINUSTAH, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, and the OAS Special Mission. We are currently considering sending a mission of senior officials to Haiti in the near future.

The international community is committed to ensuring that the Haitian people are allowed to elect their new Government.

We also believe that the efforts to avoid a return to the past must continue well beyond the upcoming elections. In this regard, we call on all political, business, and civil society leaders to come together – in the spirit of the Code of Conduct and the Governance Pact that most of them have signed – to reflect on post-electoral stability, which will permit the new elected Government to assume its responsibilities and the democratic political opposition to play its proper role.

We congratulate the Haitian people who, by responding positively to the voter registration process and participating in the ongoing activities related to the electoral campaign, are once again confirming their desire to live in peace and democracy. We urge all citizens to continue to fulfill their civic responsibilities by collecting their National Identity Card and participating fully in the electoral process.

We reaffirm our commitment to continue to accompany the Haitian people and their legitimate authorities in their path towards sustainable democracy.


Issued by

The Secretary of State of the United States of America
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of France

Reference: CG1-ENG