This Story appear on May 2, 2006 and Now New Prime Minister of Haiti is Jacques Edouard Alexis
Haitian officials (Jacques Edouard Alexis) say they're barred from Canada
By Joseph Guyler Delva
Reuters
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - Several former Haitian officials, including President-elect Rene Preval's right-hand man, said on Monday Canada barred them from entering its territory because of what they said were false claims that they committed crimes against humanity.
Officials at the Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince were not immediately available for comment.
"The Canadian government has put my name on a blacklist of perpetrators of crimes against humanity," former Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis told Reuters.
"This is outrageous. It is an insult to all honest Haitians and we demand a public apology from the Canadian government," said Alexis, who served during Preval's first presidency and has been appointed to coordinate his transition team.
Canada is one of Haiti's most important aid donors and has pledged to boost its aid program to the impoverished Caribbean country.
Several other former Cabinet ministers and other officials who served under deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide or Preval were reported to be on the list, including former Health Minister Rudolph Malebranche and Philippe Rouzier, a former adviser to Preval who is now a senior official of the United Nations Development Program in Haiti.
Preval, who was elected in February and is to be inaugurated on May 14, expressed outrage about the measure, according to his entourage.
Preval arrived in Canada on Sunday for a three-day visit and was expected to raise the issue with his hosts, including Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General Michaelle Jean, who was born in Haiti.
Those said to be on the blacklist have never been charged or publicly accused of such crimes in Haiti. Some of them accused political opponents of forging the list and providing it to Canadian authorities.
Alexis said he learned of the blacklist as he prepared to travel with Preval and was told he could not enter Canada. He said Canadian authorities decided finally to grant him a visa for the trip but that he then refused it because he wanted the matter completely cleared before he traveled to Canada.