[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 126 Referred in House (RFH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. CON. RES. 126


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 2000

          Referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should support free 
         and fair elections and respect for democracy in Haiti.

Whereas the legacy of fiat and abuse of the Duvalier dictatorship led the 
        framers of the 1987 Haitian constitution to provide for clear separation 
        of powers;
Whereas the 1987 Haitian constitution permanently vests all legislative 
        authority in an independent National Assembly;
Whereas national and local elections were held in Haiti on May 21, 2000, which 
        were intended to restore the independent legislature which was dismissed 
        by Haiti's President, Rene Preval Garcia, in January 1999;
Whereas the Haitian people are to be congratulated for patiently and peacefully 
        voting in large numbers on May 21, 2000, despite an unfavorable 
        electoral environment;
Whereas the legitimacy of the May 21, 2000, elections has been compromised by 
        organizational flaws, political murders, the involvement of the Haitian 
        National Police in the arrest and intimidation of opposition figures, 
        manipulation of the independent Provisional Electoral Council by the 
        Government of Haiti and the ruling Fanmi Lavalas party, and the 
        publication of fraudulent results;
Whereas the Provisional Electoral Council has been compromised by Fanmi Lavalas 
        partisans operating within the Council and inappropriate pressure and 
        threats made against members of the Council from the highest levels of 
        the Haitian government to induce the Council to issue fraudulent 
        results;
Whereas Leon Manus, President of the Provisional Electoral Council, was forced 
        to flee Haiti in fear for his life and in a statement released June 21, 
        2000 noted that the opposition had made ``legitimate'' challenges to the 
        credibility of the electoral process and that the Council ``was often 
        plagued with traps and attacks'' and fought ``slanders and threats'' 
        that came ``most often from state actors'' and received ``from the 
        highest level of the government, unequivocal messages on the 
        consequences that would follow if [he] refused to publish supposed final 
        results'';
Whereas the Provisional Electoral Council is no longer viewed as credible or 
        independent by a broad spectrum of political parties and civil society 
        groups in Haiti;
Whereas Haitian organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, political 
        parties, the Association of Haitian Industrialists, the Roman Catholic 
        Bishops Conference, and the Protestant Federation have strongly 
        protested the publication of election results that do not correspond to 
        the provisions of Haiti's electoral law and generally accepted norms and 
        which have also been contested by the president of the Provisional 
        Electoral Council;
Whereas the international community, including the United States, Canada, 
        France, the United Nations, and the Organization of American States, has 
        condemned attempts to manipulate the May 21, 2000, electoral process in 
        Haiti; and
Whereas the absence of free and fair elections and the resultant failure to 
        constitute a duly elected legislative body in Haiti constitutes a major 
        setback for the Haitian people's aspirations for peace and democracy, 
        could result in instability in Haiti, and directly jeopardizes United 
        States anti-narcotics objectives in Haiti and the region: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) condemns the electoral fraud being perpetrated against 
        the Haitian people and the continuing interruption of 
        democratic institutions in Haiti;
            (2) calls on the Government of Haiti forthwith to end its 
        manipulation of the electoral process and take immediate steps 
        to reverse the fraudulent results announced by the remaining 
        members of the Provisional Electoral Council;
            (3) calls on the Government of Haiti to immediately engage 
        in a thorough and verifiable process involving the National 
        Observation Council (CNO), all concerned Haitian political 
        parties, as well as private sector and other civil society 
        organizations, to review all reported irregularities and 
        allegations of fraud and authenticate the true results of the 
        election so that a legitimate, democratically-elected National 
        Assembly and local councils can be seated;
            (4) urges the Organization of American States (OAS) to 
        consider joint actions by its members states to bring about a 
        return to democracy in Haiti; and
            (5) calls on the President of the United States to--
                    (A) terminate United States assistance to the 
                discredited Provisional Electoral Council;
                    (B) review and modify as appropriate United States 
                political, economic, and law enforcement relations with 
                Haiti, if Haitian authorities persist in their current 
                path; and
                    (C) work with other democracies in the Western 
                Hemisphere and elsewhere toward a restoration of 
                democracy in Haiti.
    Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this 
concurrent resolution to the President.

            Passed the Senate July 19, 2000.

            Attest:

                                                    GARY SISCO,

                                                             Secretary.