Revolutionary journalist Kiilu Nyasha attended the recent rally for Lovinsky in San Francisco, where Haiti Action Committee member Leslie Mullin said, “We are here to keep up pressure on those who hold power in Haiti, and that’s the U.N. and the United States.”

Javad Jahi of the Malcom X Grassroots Movement, who recently returned from Port-au-Prince, where he attended the trial - on trumped up charges - of activist priest Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste, told the crowd that what he saw in Port-au-Prince was "systematic terrorism going on." He encouraged everyone to educate friends and co-workers about the truth in Haiti: "We have people who rose up in arms about South Africa. How come people are not rising up about Haiti?"

Jahi condemned the U.N. role in Haiti, denouncing the international body for "shut[ting] down hospitals and schools ... [to house] U.N. troops." U.N. "peacekeepers" have been charged in recent scandals with sex trafficking and abuse of Haitian women and girls as well as several massacres in poor neighborhoods where support remains strong for exiled President Jean Bertrand Aristide.

Joining a rolling fast begun in November by Martin Sheen, Danny Glover and other activists in Los Angeles and London, members of the Haiti Action Committee forgo food each Wednesday to bring international attention to prominent human rights advocate Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, abducted Aug. 12.

Adding its voice to the cries of concern, Amnesty International on Dec. 18 issued an alert on behalf of Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, 54, and his colleague, human rights worker Wilson Mesilien, 39, whose life has been threatened.

San Francisco resident Robert Roth will fast Wednesday. "I will be fasting, along with many others, to express my deep concern over the disappearance of Haitian human rights advocate, Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine," Roth said. "It has been more than four months since he was last seen or heard from. We are calling on the Haitian government, the U.S. and the U.N. occupying forces to do all in their power to insure his safe and peaceful return."

According to the Amnesty International statement, "Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine has not been seen since Aug. 12, after he had left the company of a delegation of human rights activists visiting Haiti. The car he was driving was found abandoned near the neighborhood Delmas 18.

"Days before his abduction, Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine had announced his intention to stand as senator in the elections initially scheduled for December 2007 under the banner of the Fanmi Lavalas Party." Fanmi Lavalas is the party of ousted Haitian President Aristide.

Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine

Co-founder of the Trant Septanm (Sept. 30) Foundation in Haiti, Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine has provided medical and psychological assistance to the victims of violence in some of Haiti's poorest slums.

Amnesty International also expressed concern for Wilson Mesilien, who has temporarily taken Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine's place at the helm of the Trant Septanm Foundation.

"The life of Wilson Mesilien ... may be at risk due to his continued work in defending the rights of the victims of the 1991-1994 military coup," according to the Amnesty statement.

What is a rolling fast? A rolling fast allows people to fast for a number of hours during a 24-hour period. Participants fast for the entire time or commit to a shorter period. Fasters will overlap in order to cover the 24-hour period and wear red armbands to invite others at work, at school or about town to ask questions and discuss their fast and the disappearance of Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine.

Vigils and hunger strikes are also being held in London and Barcelona. Global Women's Strike helped shepherd a resolution calling for Lovinsky's return through the British Parliament, and its Women of Color Committee has posted a petition for Lovinsky at www.petitiononline.com/august/petition.html.

Readers are urged to ask Haitian President Rene Preval to take every possible step to ensure Lovinsky's safe return to his family and community. Write President Preval at Palais National, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, phone 011-509-245-0474, fax (206) 350-7986 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Bay View staff contributed to this report from "What Happened to Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine?" by Ben Terrall and Bill Carpenter at www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/12/14/18466938.php. For more information, go to www.haitisolidarity.net. See the full Amnesty International text at www.amnestyusa.org/By_Country/Haiti/page.do?id=1011166&n1=3&n2=30&n3=916.

Exiled President Aristide hails Lovinsky in New Year message

In his address to the people of Haiti for the New Year, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, living in exile in South Africa, begins with a poetic lament and appeal for the return of his friend and stalwart ally, Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine. The beginning of the message, entitled "One love," is translated from Creole. Read the full message, untranslated, at www.hayti.net.

If Lovinsky Pierre Antoine were free to speak, he would say:
My brother, do not wish me Happy New Year; wait for my return.
If Lovinsky Pierre Antoine were free to speak, he would say:
The year 2007 is gone, gone for good, never to return.
Does that mean that I will be gone too, just like 2007?

If Lovinsky Pierre Antoine were free to run,
How fast he would run to return very quickly!
I am certain he would arrive before the year 2008.

On this day, all the victims, their relatives and friends
Would collectively raise their voices as one to wish each other:
Happy New Year 2008! Happy New Year 2008!
If Lovinsky, Lovinsky, Lovinsky ...

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