YouSaid · the spoken record

Latortue

lines on the record: 40
first: 2005-10-18
most recent: 2006-02-22
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-security-council

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“Finally, I simply wish to tell the Council how pleased I am with the cooperation that the Security Council has extended to my country over the past two years - cooperation on the part of all Council members in support of the actions we have taken. I hope that it will continue and that the entire international community will continue to support Haiti.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“I am already convinced that, in Haiti in the coming months, we will need fewer military personnel but many more engineers - many more men and women dedicated to solving the problems of economic and social development. I wish to reiterate what many others have said before me: the root cause of the problems of instability in Haiti does not have only military solutions. We must search for the deep-rooted cause of instability in the poverty, unemployment and social inequality that exist in Haiti. Because today is surely my last opportunity to speak before the Security Council, I would like all members to take note of these points so that, in the programmes to be established, high priority will be given to the basic infrastructure that is essential for the economic and social development of Haiti.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“From the information that I learned last night, after the World Bank meeting on Haiti's future held yesterday in Washington, I believe that all donors have recognized the need to establish a programme to support democracy in Haiti beyond the elections. Already, in Brussels, at our most recent meeting with the European Union, we have agreed to extend the Interim Cooperation Framework beyond the date initially planned, September 2006, to December 2007. Here again, I appeal urgently to the international community to review the mechanisms for international assistance and cooperation. We must, at all costs, avoid sprinkling little projects here and there and must come up with a comprehensive development plan that could be discussed with the newly elected Government.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“Then we will have to set up a permanent electoral council and thus make permanent the gains of the process now under way. We will also need such assistance in the area of justice. If there is still a weak spot in Haiti today, it is surely the judicial system and the need to professionalize the national police. Those are the two important points that I would like the Council to think about a bit as it takes decisions concerning Haiti in the future: professionalization of the police and reform of the judicial system. We in the Transitional Government have tried very hard to improve the quality of good economic governance. I hope that the new Government will go in the same direction, but it will need the support of the international community in that area as well.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“But that does not prevent us from beginning to think now about a certain number of post-election activities - particularly the assistance that will need to be given to the new democratic institutions, such as the parliament, whose members will need training, the municipalities and communities. True democracy must begin with the communities, continue at the level of the commune, arrive at the Senate and the department level and finally reach the President of the Republic if we are to have democratic management of public affairs. The United Nations already has a mission in Haiti that is studying changes to be made to ensure that there will be a certain number of post-election activities to bolster the new parliamentarians, newly elected officials and new mayors.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“The international community should not make the same mistake that it did 10 years ago by abandoning Haiti to its fate once an elected Government was in place. Democracy is taking its first steps in my country. It needs to be accompanied and supported in order to grow, to develop and, above all, to become irreversible. I welcome the Security Council's decision to extend the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for six months. But I believe that possible new changes to support MINUSTAH will have to be considered, in particular with the new Government. Indeed, resolution 1658 (2006) states that very clearly.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“We will need that support, because today the Haitian people, who wanted to express their devotion to the principles of democracy, need the support of the international community to be able to continue to move in that direction. As Council members know, elections are only a first step along the long path that can lead us to stability, to democracy and to economic and social development. Democracy, as members know, is not simply the organization of an election, however free it may be. Now we need to work to establish and strengthen democratic institutions. I call for the understanding and the solidarity of everyone here. We will need to be accompanied by the international community for some time yet.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“And so, we have a President-elect who will be sworn in on 29 March, Constitution Day. For us, this is the way of symbolically showing that Haiti is returning to a constitutional order. A second round of elections will take place on 19 March to elect deputies and senators, and the President of the Republic will be sworn in before parliament. We hope that there will be no problems and that the second round will take place on 19 March, as planned, and that power will be transferred on 29 March. I would like to take this opportunity to invite the Security Council to visit Haiti - just as it did some months ago. If the Council could only be with us in Port-au-Prince to celebrate this victory for democracy, I am sure that it would be an important sign of the international community's support for the democratic process.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“Imagine, as I said a few minutes ago, these voters who left their homes at three o'clock in the morning, who sometimes walked two or three hours and who waited three hours to vote. One can guess that they did not do that in order to submit a blank ballot. It was to express their will. The results of the presidential election were finally announced, and Mr. Rene Preval, former President of the Republic, leader of the Lespwa party and former Prime Minister under Mr. Aristide, was declared the winner of the elections, with 51.2 per cent of the votes that were cast. The second candidate, after him, obtained barely 11 per cent of the votes. I think that the choice of the Haitian people was clear, unambiguous and in accordance with a legal interpretation of the Constitution.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“Despite a message to the nation in which I pointed out to the people that the Government was completely neutral and would respect the people's will, people did not believe this, and things almost turned sour. But happily the Provisional Electoral Council, in its wisdom, was able to find a formula that made it possible to announce the results, by sharing the blank ballots in a proportional way. Here, perhaps, an explanation is needed. Our Constitution demands that all blank ballots have to be counted, without specifying how they are to be counted. At some voting stations, there sometimes were almost 40 per cent of blank ballots. Now, I am sure that all members know that blank ballots are a way for a sophisticated electorat to express rejection. But that is not the case in Haiti.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“Well, the partial results began in Port-au-Prince, where one of the candidates, Mr. Rene Preval, was unquestionably the most popular. In some neighbourhoods in Port-au-Prince he managed to get almost 80 or 85 per cent of the votes. But as one moved away from Port-au-Prince and as the votes came in from the interior, this percentage decreased. Then too, the Director of the Provisional Electoral Council had announced that the results would be proclaimed in three days. Five days went by without the Council being able to get the final results, and Mr. Preval's percentage declined every time. This created a problem. The population thought that the time beyond the three days was time that the Government wanted to use in order to steal Mr. Preval's victory.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“Nothing is happening" - as if something only happens when that something is bad. Well, to the world's great surprise, Haitians showed their good faith and, above all, their confidence in the democratic process, and that they had recognized the need to vote for the candidate of their choice. The concern for transparency in organizing the elections almost led to a lack of understanding on the part of the people. Why? Because using rather advanced technology for the first time in an election campaign, the Electoral Council, with the help of the Organization of American States and MINUSTAH, decided not to proclaim the results at one time, when all of the ballots had been gathered. They decided to provide partial results, and this led to enormous problems. How did this happen?”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“Elections took place smoothly, with a bit of a delay at the start of the operations. This was due primarily to a lack of organizational ability, which exists in all Haitian institutions. Instead of beginning at 6 a.m., the voting really began around 8.30 or 9.00. In spite of everything Haitian voters proved to be very patient. Imagine this - voters who left home at 3 am. and sometimes walked for two hours in order to arrive at 5 am. at a voting centre that did not open until 9a.m. And still, all you had to do was see the conviviality in the faces of the voters. There was no sign of impatience, there was no sign of violence. In fact, a large number of foreign journalists who were expecting to see blood and violence in Port-au-Prince that day wondered, "Well, what did we come to look for in this country?”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“The Haitians knew that their votes would count and that there would be no attempt on the part of the Government to manipulate the expression of their will. Once again, we have to say that the results exceeded all of our expectations. The participation rate was greater than 65 per cent of registered voters. As the Council knows, this percentage is rarely achieved, even in countries with a long democratic tradition. But the Haitian people understood - and the Government told them as well - that the only way that we could bring about change in Haiti was to vote. Personally, on many occasions I reminded the Haitian people that there was only one really effective weapon to bring about the desired change, and that was their ballot. The Haitian people showed this in a remarkable way.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“For a long time, we were afraid that that insecurity would lead to a very low participation rate, which, as the Council can imagine, would have undermined the legitimacy of the process. Fortunately, however, once again MINUSTAH did a wonderful job, and, thanks to cooperation with the national police, under the leadership of Mr. Mario Andresol, we were able to maintain a level of security that made it possible for the people to go and vote in large numbers. Press reports all stated that Haitian people from every walk of life voted in large numbers on the day of the elections. Of course, they did so because there was security, but there was another reason as well: the Haitian population trusted the Transitional Government, which, on many occasions, had reaffirmed its neutrality vis-a-vis the electoral process.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“I can inform the Council this afternoon that that mission was accomplished even more successfully than we had hoped. There were many threats to the holding of the elections - primarily institutional and organizational problems, which made people fear, until the very last minute, that it would be impossible successfully to hold the elections. I should like to thank the Security Council, which last month issued a statement by its then President, the Ambassador of Tanzania. Indeed, the Council supported the holding of the elections, which were scheduled to take place on 7 February at the latest. There were other problems as well, such as insecurity, which affected a number of neighbourhoods in the capital.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“I must also congratulate in particular the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ambassador Juan Gabriel Valdes, who, as the civilian Head of MINUSTAH, was able to establish relations with the various segments of Haitian society - in the public and private sectors alike - that have made it possible truly to achieve the highest level of effectiveness in the work that MINUSTAH is doing in Haiti. After two years of a transition that was more eventful than we would have liked, the time of reckoning has come. The Council is aware that the main task facing the Transitional Government was to organize free, fair, democratic, transparent and, most important, inclusive elections with the participation of all Haitian political actors.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“I should like in particular to express my condolences to the Government and the people of Brazil in connection with the death of the Brazilian general killed in circumstances we are familiar with. This spirit of solidarity on the part of the Haitian people has a real value, especially in times of tension, such as when accusations were made that led to an improvement in the relations between MINUSTAH forces and the Haitian national police and helped us in particular to make their joint action more effective.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“Indeed, the Council adopted a number of resolutions that made it possible to set up the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and enabled cooperation with Haiti. I wish in particular to thank the Council for its most recent resolution - resolution 1658 (2006). I should like to convey the gratitude of the Haitian people to the 43 countries, representing all continents, that are contributing troops and police to ensure the country's stability. I take this opportunity to reiterate once again the condolences and to convey the sympathy of the Haitian people in connection with those MINUSTAH soldiers - those soldiers of peace - who gave their lives in the accomplishment of their noble mission.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“Mr. Latortue (Haiti) (spoke in French): Allow me at the outset to thank you, Mr. President, for having invited me here today, which will allow me not only to provide the Council with firsthand information on Haiti but also give me the opportunity to correct the wrong impression that is sometimes given by the headlines of the international press, which has long been accustomed to projecting a negative image of Haiti and which sometimes has trouble grasping and conveying the real and deep-seated changes that have been taking place in that country, especially during the last two years of democratic transition. I should like to thank in particular the Security Council, as well as the international community, which, in two years, have not once hesitated to come to the rescue of my country.”
2006-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5377 (2006) · source
“I wanted to share that idea with the Council and to express, on behalf of the Government and the people of Haiti, the heartfelt gratitude of the Haitian nation for the efforts of members of the Security Council to contribute to the stabilization and development of Haiti.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“In conclusion, I take this opportunity to thank the Security Council for having supported us, most recently in June by renewing MINUSTAH's mandate until 15 February 2006. But I must tell Council members that 15 February will be eight days after the arrival of the new Government, which will still need MINUSTAH's presence for a certain period of time, if not a long time. Since to govern is to plan, I should like to alert the Council now to the need to begin to consider, in preparing 2006 budgets, that Haiti will still need the continuation of the MINUSTAH programme for at least a certain period of time.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“But in Haiti we have a country in crisis, a country that was virtually threatened with civil war. If we could speed up the bureaucracy a little, that would be good. There are organizations that have made considerable efforts. I know, for example, that the Inter-American Development Bank has tried very hard, under the presidency of Mr. Iglesias, to move faster to ensure the right of non-objection, even in Port-au- Prince. But there are still very lengthy procedures there that slow things down. That does not prevent projects from being approved, which pleases us. Even if we do not have the opportunity to begin work, at least the next Government, following the principle of State continuity, will have a basis upon which it can continue to work to improve Haitians' living conditions.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“In particular, since the expansion of the European Union, European funds are arriving with much greater difficulty. I venture to hope that in the meetings we will have with the European Union in Brussels next Thursday and Friday, we will be able to consider together how to improve the situation, because there are cases that sometimes really cause problems for us. For example, more than a year ago, we announced the funding of the road from Cap-Haitien to the Dominican border at Dajabon. Everyone talked about it; they told us we were going to begin at one time or another. A year has passed, and we have still not begun to build even one kilometre of road. We all know that the international bureaucracy is slow, and efforts are being made to speed up in Haiti's case.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“There is no deficit and no recourse to the central bank. That was difficult to accomplish, especially in a period of crisis, but it was essential in order to restore the kind of credibility that Haiti had 20 or 25 years ago. The support that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are giving us today is the most eloquent proof that the Transitional Government's good economic and financial management is beginning to bear fruit. Of course, the Interim Cooperation Framework has made a certain quantity of resources available to us. Resources have not always been made available to us at the right time. But on the whole, the Interim Cooperation Framework has helped significantly to strengthen stability and create jobs in Haiti. A number of infrastructure projects have been established. The funds have been slow in coming.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“In the context of recommencing cooperation with France, the area of justice will be a priority in the discussions I will have with the French Prime Minister on Thursday. We in the Government are certain - and we hope that the Government that succeeds us will continue in the same direction - that, without justice, we cannot have development, and without justice, we cannot have the rule of law, for which we are all working. Another point related to justice brings me to the humanitarian situation and the issue of development in Haiti. The humanitarian situation remains precarious. Considerable efforts have been made by the Government, thanks to good political and economic governance. This year, we were once again able to submit the new budget - for the fiscal year 2005-2006 - by the 1 October deadline. That budget is balanced.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“But we want the international community to give high priority to justice in its cooperation programme with Haiti. Technical assistance from the international community must help us reform our justice system, train judges and create working conditions for magistrates that will ensure their independence. The political will is there, but the resources are not always available, and attitudes must change. This is a long-term effort. I am pleased that a number of countries in the international community, such as France and Canada, have already indicated their intention to help us in this area. Our judicial system was inherited from the Napoleonic Code, and I will be in Paris tomorrow to meet with French officials.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“There may be setbacks and blunders, but be assured that if we discover them and there is proof, the National Police, under the command of its new chief and with the support of the Minister of Justice, are prepared to pursue all those who deliberately give themselves the right to violate human rights. The arrest of those 15 police officers is additional proof of the Government's resolve to ensure respect for human rights. As we are discussing human rights, there is, however, one aspect that I must dwell on for a moment: the whole issue of justice in Haiti. We live in a country where the judicial system has, for various reasons, been corrupt for decades. One can well imagine that in a little less than two years, the Transitional Government has not been able to right all the wrongs of the past.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“The line between defending human rights and the fight against impunity is sometimes rather blurry. I have seen attacks in the international press not just against the National Police, but also against MINUSTAH, accusing those institutions of violating the human rights of gang members. I can assure members that if there is any semblance of human rights violations, those violations are not deliberate. MINUSTAH is trying to protect the Haitian population; MINUSTAH is trying to protect the innocent people who are being attacked. And the National Police is joining forces with MINUSTAH to ensure that security prevails in Haiti.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“In other words, one should not be misled by the apparent calm reigning in Haiti today. There are still forces opposed to democracy and to the transfer of power through transparent and free elections. It is up to us, together, to do everything in our power and to strengthen security during the electoral process. On the topic of security, I should not fail to mention the problem of human rights and the human rights situation in Haiti. This is always a very ticklish subject; it depends on which side you approach it from. On one side there are gangs that can arrest, kill or torture people with complete impunity. On the other side is the National Police, not always very strong or very well armed, but who, helped by MINUSTAH, are responsible for suppressing such acts of violence.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“I take pleasure in thanking MINUSTAH. When MINUSTAH understood the situation, it sent us their own police officers to help ensure the security of our new police chief. I believe that we are now headed in the right direction. Now, of course, we have to try still harder to maintain the security environment during the electoral process. We have appealed to the European Union to see if they can make police officers available to us just for that period. Tomorrow I will be in Paris, and I will meet with President Diouf, Secretary-General of the International Organization of la Francophonie. He has also promised to assist us in finding a number of French-speaking police officers who could join in MINUSTAH's efforts as reinforcements during the electoral process. Canada has also just sent us a few additional police officers.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“However, one thing that the Government observed was that some gangs were working in complicity with agents of the National Police. Fortunately, the new Director General for the National Police was courageous enough to put his own house in order. Indeed, he told me just a few days ago that one source of insecurity was corrupt police officers recruited under the former regime. Because of the impunity they enjoyed, those officers were able to extort money from the population and kidnapped innocent civilians. Last Saturday the Director General arrested 15 police officers. The house cleaning continues. Those gangs were able to function above all thanks to the complicity they enjoyed with the police. Purging the department is extremely important and delicate work that jeopardizes the very life of our new Director General.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“That cooperation was made possible by the Government's decision to appoint a new Director General for the National Police, one with a better understanding of what such a partnership entails. Today that partnership guarantees that security is not such a serious problem in Haiti as it was when we first met. Of course, there still remains the major problem of disarmament. We have disarmament, demobilization and reintegration teams in place and they are beginning to make headway. It should be remembered, unfortunately, that in the area of disarmament the solutions achieved by some countries cannot always be applied wholesale in another. MINUSTAH and the National Police are working in close collaboration to disarm the gangs that existed in Haiti, and during the past year they have made noteworthy progress.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“In the area of security, I can say that since the Security Council's decree of new measures in June, with the strengthening of MINUSTAH's mandate and, above all, with the promises and recommendations for greater cooperation and coordination between MINUSTAH and the National Police, things are going much better. Currently in Haiti we are speaking less and less of security problems. If one or two pockets of insecurity remain, they have been reduced to a minimum, and I think that with the upcoming arrival of 700 police officers from Jordan those problems will be behind us. We owe that success to the excellent cooperation between MINUSTAH and the National Police.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“We are very pleased to see that the whole international community present in Haiti witnessed the investiture of the new Director General and gave him the necessary support so that today he can speed up the electoral process. In terms of legislation, we have also taken a whole series of measures to reduce the time for litigation, to eliminate any constraints that could have slowed it down. As soon as I get back to Haiti next week - and certainly as soon as Mr. Valdes gets back, as we work closely together - we will definitely be in a position to submit a new electoral timetable to guarantee the handing over of power on 7 February.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“We have met with some delay in the electoral process, owing in particular to the fact that the Provisional Electoral Council did not grasp the true nature of its functions, that the nine Counsellors were part of an electoral council, and as with any council, the members should not be concerned with the day-to- day management of the electoral process. The Council is there to set the major guidelines, to define objectives and strategies and to monitor. The execution of those functions, however, should be carried out by an executive structure. That has now been done. Last Saturday, we installed a new Director General of the Provisional Electoral Council, who will oversee implementation of all the major decisions adopted by Council. That decision was taken in close cooperation with MINUSTAH.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“I believe that this is a first in the political history of our country. We are also pleased to inform you that we have done our utmost to ensure that all political parties are included in the electoral process. Indeed, today all parties are represented, and there are fewer and fewer problems with the political parties in Haiti. In fact, just today political parties met to set up an electoral safeguards commission. Obviously, for our new President to be able to take power on 7 February, first we need to hold elections.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“I, in turn, will pass on my authority to whosoever is approved by Parliament. The political situation in Haiti has, I believe, evolved in the right direction since I was last here. I say the "right direction" because, even as we have more than 40 political parties and more than 30 presidential candidates in Haiti today, I am pleased to inform the Council that the political parties are working very well together. They are now talking to each other. I wish here to thank the Government of Norway, which has organized several meetings in Norway to which every political party has been invited and where they have all learned to work together. They have signed a governability pact guaranteeing that, whichever party is elected and whosoever may become President after the elections, they will work with the opposition and acknowledge its rights.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“First, with respect to the political environment, I reaffirm the commitment of the Transitional Government to ensuring the transfer of power on 7 February 2006, the constitutionally agreed date. The President of the Republic, I and all the members of the Government consider our commitment to be a guarantee of the Government's credibility. Alongside MINUSTAH and the other international organizations assisting us - including the Organization of American States, the International Organization of la Francophonie and the many donors - we have sought to ensure that the elections and the transfer of power will take place smoothly on 7 February. The President of the Republic will transfer power to the president elect and, several days later, I hope, the new President will form his Government and appoint a new Prime Minister.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source
“Mr. Latortue (Haiti) (spoke in French): This is the second time this year that I have had the opportunity to meet with the members of the Security Council and to discuss the situation in Haiti with them. I have read with interest the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) as it relates to the political environment in Haiti, the preparations for elections, and every aspect of security and safety. With respect to those three points, I should like to make some brief comments and to convey the gratitude of the Government of Haiti for the support being provided by the United Nations system through MINUSTAH.”
2005-10-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5284 (2005) · source