Free my supporters - Aristide
2005-04-19 14:14
Pretoria - Ousted Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide has called for the release of his supporters in jail and for those in exile and hiding to return home. He also called for national dialogue and elections.
Aristide said in Pretoria, free, fair and democratic elections were not possible while thousands of members of his Lavalas party were not free.
He also called for the repression, which he said had killed 10 000 people in his country, to end immediately.
Claiming to speak on behalf of the Haitian people, Aristide said elections must be organised in an environment where the "majority" of people were not excluded or repressed "as they have been up until today".
Aristide said the voices of those holding "peaceful demonstrations" calling for his return and the restoration of constitutional order must be heard.
"Racism should not maintain a black holocaust in Haiti, where African descendants proclaimed their independence 200 years ago."
- SAPA