wfn.org | NCC HEAD PROTESTS TREATMENT OF HAITIANS AT GUANTANAMO

[PCUSA_NEWS@ecunet.org]

18-Jan-95

95004 NCC HEAD PROTESTS TREATMENT OF HAITIANS AT GUANTANAMO 
 
                     by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
NEW YORK CITY--The general secretary of the National Council of 
Churches has lodged a protest with the U.S. government over the 
hasty repatriation of Haitian refugees from the Guantanamo Naval 
Base in Cuba to Haiti. 
 
     In letters to Attorney General Janet Reno and U.S. State 
Department officer Phyllis Oakley dated Jan. 6, the Rev. Joan Brown 
Campbell said the U.S. government "is seeking to return Haitians 
to Haiti without adequate safeguards for their safety." 
 
     Campbell acknowledged that the situation in Haiti has improved 
with the return of President Aristide.  But, she said, "the 
situation is still unsettled and reports of human rights abuses, 
particularly in the countryside, are widespread." 
 
     Campbell also called into question the "rapid implementation" 
of a screening process for the repatriation, minimal training of 
Immigration and Naturalization Service personnel for the screening 
and the "uncertain involvement" of United Nations High Commission 
on Refugees (UNHCR) in the screening. 
 
     "Most of all," she continued, "the central role of the 
military and the secrecy with which the entire operation has been 
planned and is being carried out is deeply troubling." 
 
     Campbell asked that the repatriation procedures be reviewed, 
that UNHCR officials be included in the screening process and that 
non-governmental observers be allowed to be present.  "The 
credibility of the United States in upholding international 
standards for refugee protection and, most importantly, the lives 
of Haitians are at stake," she concluded.  
 
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