If it were any other time, may be the "kidnapping" charges could be appropriate; but not this particular time of utmost want and need in Haiti, when every assistance of any form, type, manner and/or kind should be warmly welcomed. Icheoku would even approve the "kidnapping" of those children if that is what it will take to save them and provide them with a better future somewhere, somehow! But they were never kidnapped as some of the mothers have already publicly acknowledged that they voluntarily and freely gave their children away because the situation is overwhelming. We believe it is the politics of the rescue that is now being recklessly exploited and propagated; not minding the possible backlash that might follow as a result with some people becoming so mad that some of their predecessor-in-rescue were wrongly accused, arrested and detained of a phantom child-running that they turn away from Haiti? This is in a country which some white American men led by Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh have condemned as suffering the consequences of their evil voodoo and idol worshipping; and here are some other white people who do not share in this warped racist ideology, trying to help out and then this fate? Now, what do they get for all their benevolence and trouble but a trumped up charge of children-racketeering and trafficking? Icheoku says, unbelievable! It does not matter whether or not those children were being taken out of Haiti illegally, without proper authorisation, papers, documentations and/or approval of the necessary authority; under the circumstance of a very daunting times in Haiti, any help is a good help and should be appreciated rather than condemned. It is also not a proper and beneficial public relations for the authorities in Port-au-Prince to have arrested those American baptists who were simply trying to take some orphaned children of Haiti to some place where they can still hope and have a life! A country which is laying on its back following the most devastating earthquake disaster of all times, which lost over 200,000 of its citizens already, with another one million plus homeless and hungry, should accept without any complains, all manner of help, irrespective of the guise or form. At least that is 33 less mouths to feed; 33 less bodies to cloth; 33 less heads to rest under a shelter and 33 less persons to take care of. So why, Haiti? Such anticipated help includes a wholesale exportation of her orphans and children to any country where they can have some semblance of sanity and somewhat normal life, after the trauma of the recent earthquake. So it is with hellish-fury that Icheoku frowns at the action of the authorities in Port-au-Prince in arresting those American baptist church people, who attempted to take some orphaned children of Haiti out of the desolate country; thereby denying some orphaned children of Haiti an opportunity of a lifetime to start life anew. Icheoku asks, don't these people at the helm of affairs in Haiti not have enough problem to contend with already to worry about 33 kids being rescued, that they should abort a help from abroad? 
What is going on in Haiti with regards to the present American-baptists' tango with some deprived orphans, is akin to what transpired in Malawi with the last Madonna's adoption of the little girl named Blessing. Icheoku then wrote a comment condemning the excesses of the immigration judge in trying to deny the adoption, all the circumstances considered. However, it ended on a happy note when a more reasonable superior court, on appeal, saw the wisdom in the adoption and gave green light to the little orphaned Malawi girl to go with Madonna; who today is enjoying the parenting of Madonna. It was our position then as it is now, that the little girl had better and brighter future with Madonna than remain behind as one of the countless orphans in Malawi without any hope for the future. Hence our similar sentiment with the Haitian 33. We also contended then as we do today with the Haitians deprived orphans that the Malawi authorities have a plate-full of orphans to take care of and can afford to do without the one mouth removed from their care by reason of the adoption. So with Haiti, the count is 33! Now therefore, what does these guys at the helm of affairs in Port-au-Prince not get; amidst the countless number of people needing their attention in Haiti to worry about these Haitian 33 - from food, water, shelter, health care and possible rebuilding of their completely lost life? If these 33 Haitian kids were allowed to leave Haiti and possibly and eventually migrate to America, Icheoku believe that they will not become too Americanized as to forget their ancestry! America has a lot of Haitian population and communities including the popular musician Wyclef Jean who has neither forgotten his root or his people and has spent a fortune trying to help out. These Haitian 33 can always return back to Haiti whenever circumstances improve to help other Haitian families and by extension the country of Haiti; which will continue to have one form of need or another and possibly for next several tens of years. Icheoku says, chasing off any help including by the arrest of these ten American baptists, whose mission for all intent and purpose is simply humanitarian, is a very dumb and thoughtless action of whoever is in charge of Haitian immigration. We here therefore call on President Rene Prevual to pressure his minister to rescind this decision, free those detained Americans and allow those children to migrate to Dominican Republic enroute America? That is the wise and better thing to do, as a better fate await them there more than in a Haiti in ruins. Let this not be another bungled opportunity, evidence of the curse of the blackman, who does not smell an opportunity and cash in on it for the greater good of some Haitian children, the country of Haiti and the United Nations who will have less 33 children to worry about? Please President Rene Prevual, Icheoku begs of you to let those 'sprung' children go, set them free so that they can keep a date with their destiny which made them members of this bunch amongst thousands of possible others who are similarly situated. Posterity will not forgive you and your government, nor will it judge you kindly should you let this opportunity be fleeted away. Moreso, many other would-be-helpers will be scared away from Haiti, spooked by this stupid children-trafficking allegation levelled against some innocent baptists? Please intervene to stop this madness and set those American baptist free. Do it for your name! Do it for Haiti! Do it for those children! Do it for the black race! This is a golden opportunity which must not be allowed to dissipate and an anticipatory thank you for looking out for the people of Haiti and their future. It will be recalled that Haiti suffered a very devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake on January 7, 2010; and that these ten American baptists went to Haiti in answer of plea f
or help. They were taking 33 Haitian kids to their orphanage in Cabarate, the Dominican Republic when they were arrested and accused of children-racketeering? According to the Haitian Social Affairs Minister Yves Christallin, they did not have valid paperwork to effect their immigration out of the country, describing their effort as "an abduction and not an adoption"? Icheoku decries the action of the government of Haiti and says, the minister's statement is a complete baloney, a hogwash and balderdash! In an emergency situation the niceties of a bureaucratic paper-work and documentation should be set aside, and needy children rescued; thereafter the adopting orphanage can come back to formalise whatever papers that Port-au-Prince may require. Like in a fire emergency, the first order of business is first put out the fire and then take stock of what was lost/necessary documentation. It is not smart politics to deny these children a God given opportunity through this Idaho based Baptist Church and their New Life Children's Refuge to migrate out of Haiti, albeit temporarily. In a time of acute need any help is a good help and so the Haitian authorities would have allowed this "adoption" to take place and not in anyway embarrass these American Baptists, who voluntarily offered to help, by accusing them of child-trafficking. Such antagonistic posture has a way of jinxing other would be helpers from setting their foot on Haiti, talk-less of trying to help out or assist those hapless children now orphaned by the earthquake find a meaning in life. Icheoku really does not care if those children's parents are alive or not; whether they were kidnapped or not; what is important is that an opportunity called for their rescue and they should have been allowed to leave for a better life, elsewhere outside the Haiti presently in comatose. Assuming for the sake of argument that some of those children still have parents living, is it possible that those parents needed some relief and will not mind their children being gone with those Baptist people? Icheoku disagrees with the position taken by Amanda Weisbaum, of Save the Children Organization that "the Haitian government was quite right to halt these people at the border if they felt they didn't have the right paperwork; as experience has shown it is better to keep the children in the place, and with the people they know.” What an utter rubbish? Which people does Amanda know that are still alive after the earthquake for these children to be left with? Moreso, Amanda seem to have forgotten that children adapt very easily to any environment and would have adjusted eventually? It becomes more pathetic the reason behind the veil of this useless accusatory posture of the Haitian government, in view of the public acknowledgement by some of these children' mothers that 'they voluntarily gave up their children for a better life elsewhere'! According to their explanation, they are already stretched-thin and overwhelmed, trying to find a way in the jungle of the lost-world created by the earthquake, that they can use any help from anywhere and any form including relieving them the burden of taking care of these 33 children. It is the same wrongful mindset designed to keep Africans down, no matter their location, including in Haiti that this Amanda represents; otherwise who ever offered similar opinion that "those Africans conscripted into slavery four hundred years ago would have been better "left with the people they known back in Africa?" But to accuse these group of baptist humanitarians of child-trafficking is rather a dangerous stretch for which a certain backlash is inevitable; they should therefore be set free, apologised to and possibly allow to carry on with their work of mercy with the Haitian 33.
What is going on in Haiti with regards to the present American-baptists' tango with some deprived orphans, is akin to what transpired in Malawi with the last Madonna's adoption of the little girl named Blessing. Icheoku then wrote a comment condemning the excesses of the immigration judge in trying to deny the adoption, all the circumstances considered. However, it ended on a happy note when a more reasonable superior court, on appeal, saw the wisdom in the adoption and gave green light to the little orphaned Malawi girl to go with Madonna; who today is enjoying the parenting of Madonna. It was our position then as it is now, that the little girl had better and brighter future with Madonna than remain behind as one of the countless orphans in Malawi without any hope for the future. Hence our similar sentiment with the Haitian 33. We also contended then as we do today with the Haitians deprived orphans that the Malawi authorities have a plate-full of orphans to take care of and can afford to do without the one mouth removed from their care by reason of the adoption. So with Haiti, the count is 33! Now therefore, what does these guys at the helm of affairs in Port-au-Prince not get; amidst the countless number of people needing their attention in Haiti to worry about these Haitian 33 - from food, water, shelter, health care and possible rebuilding of their completely lost life? If these 33 Haitian kids were allowed to leave Haiti and possibly and eventually migrate to America, Icheoku believe that they will not become too Americanized as to forget their ancestry! America has a lot of Haitian population and communities including the popular musician Wyclef Jean who has neither forgotten his root or his people and has spent a fortune trying to help out. These Haitian 33 can always return back to Haiti whenever circumstances improve to help other Haitian families and by extension the country of Haiti; which will continue to have one form of need or another and possibly for next several tens of years. Icheoku says, chasing off any help including by the arrest of these ten American baptists, whose mission for all intent and purpose is simply humanitarian, is a very dumb and thoughtless action of whoever is in charge of Haitian immigration. We here therefore call on President Rene Prevual to pressure his minister to rescind this decision, free those detained Americans and allow those children to migrate to Dominican Republic enroute America? That is the wise and better thing to do, as a better fate await them there more than in a Haiti in ruins. Let this not be another bungled opportunity, evidence of the curse of the blackman, who does not smell an opportunity and cash in on it for the greater good of some Haitian children, the country of Haiti and the United Nations who will have less 33 children to worry about? Please President Rene Prevual, Icheoku begs of you to let those 'sprung' children go, set them free so that they can keep a date with their destiny which made them members of this bunch amongst thousands of possible others who are similarly situated. Posterity will not forgive you and your government, nor will it judge you kindly should you let this opportunity be fleeted away. Moreso, many other would-be-helpers will be scared away from Haiti, spooked by this stupid children-trafficking allegation levelled against some innocent baptists? Please intervene to stop this madness and set those American baptist free. Do it for your name! Do it for Haiti! Do it for those children! Do it for the black race! This is a golden opportunity which must not be allowed to dissipate and an anticipatory thank you for looking out for the people of Haiti and their future. It will be recalled that Haiti suffered a very devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake on January 7, 2010; and that these ten American baptists went to Haiti in answer of plea f
or help. They were taking 33 Haitian kids to their orphanage in Cabarate, the Dominican Republic when they were arrested and accused of children-racketeering? According to the Haitian Social Affairs Minister Yves Christallin, they did not have valid paperwork to effect their immigration out of the country, describing their effort as "an abduction and not an adoption"? Icheoku decries the action of the government of Haiti and says, the minister's statement is a complete baloney, a hogwash and balderdash! In an emergency situation the niceties of a bureaucratic paper-work and documentation should be set aside, and needy children rescued; thereafter the adopting orphanage can come back to formalise whatever papers that Port-au-Prince may require. Like in a fire emergency, the first order of business is first put out the fire and then take stock of what was lost/necessary documentation. It is not smart politics to deny these children a God given opportunity through this Idaho based Baptist Church and their New Life Children's Refuge to migrate out of Haiti, albeit temporarily. In a time of acute need any help is a good help and so the Haitian authorities would have allowed this "adoption" to take place and not in anyway embarrass these American Baptists, who voluntarily offered to help, by accusing them of child-trafficking. Such antagonistic posture has a way of jinxing other would be helpers from setting their foot on Haiti, talk-less of trying to help out or assist those hapless children now orphaned by the earthquake find a meaning in life. Icheoku really does not care if those children's parents are alive or not; whether they were kidnapped or not; what is important is that an opportunity called for their rescue and they should have been allowed to leave for a better life, elsewhere outside the Haiti presently in comatose. Assuming for the sake of argument that some of those children still have parents living, is it possible that those parents needed some relief and will not mind their children being gone with those Baptist people? Icheoku disagrees with the position taken by Amanda Weisbaum, of Save the Children Organization that "the Haitian government was quite right to halt these people at the border if they felt they didn't have the right paperwork; as experience has shown it is better to keep the children in the place, and with the people they know.” What an utter rubbish? Which people does Amanda know that are still alive after the earthquake for these children to be left with? Moreso, Amanda seem to have forgotten that children adapt very easily to any environment and would have adjusted eventually? It becomes more pathetic the reason behind the veil of this useless accusatory posture of the Haitian government, in view of the public acknowledgement by some of these children' mothers that 'they voluntarily gave up their children for a better life elsewhere'! According to their explanation, they are already stretched-thin and overwhelmed, trying to find a way in the jungle of the lost-world created by the earthquake, that they can use any help from anywhere and any form including relieving them the burden of taking care of these 33 children. It is the same wrongful mindset designed to keep Africans down, no matter their location, including in Haiti that this Amanda represents; otherwise who ever offered similar opinion that "those Africans conscripted into slavery four hundred years ago would have been better "left with the people they known back in Africa?" But to accuse these group of baptist humanitarians of child-trafficking is rather a dangerous stretch for which a certain backlash is inevitable; they should therefore be set free, apologised to and possibly allow to carry on with their work of mercy with the Haitian 33.
In the light of the new information about this "issue", are you sticking to your positions laid out in this article? No need to respect the rules of law, go into a country, kidnap the kids in the name of helping earthquake victims...., then do the documentation later...., open a fake orphanage in the neighboring country. Why do we always glorify illegalities in the name of doing God's work?
ReplyDeletedear commentator,
ReplyDeleteour answer is yes to the preceeeding question above. icheoku reiterates that if kidnapping a person will set him or her free from the horrific situation in haiti, then if i am haitian, i don't want to be freed from such kidnappers! what is important here is the state of mind of the 'kidnappers', they did not do what they did with malice afore-thought but only with intent to help some stranded children of haiti, who were staring a dark gloomy future in their crystal ball. icheoku says, if kidnapping is for instance asking icheoku to be kidnapped by lady oprah winfrey, bill gates, warren buffet, angelina jolie and such other men and women of extended means, then icheoku says, bring it on, let icheoku be kidnapped and let no one arrest, charge or prosecute them. these baptists meant well and ernestly were only facilitating these haitian 33 better future, period! circumstances dictate conscience and so it is that under the prevailing hopelessness in haiti, the need for a formalised immigration documentation should have been waived and let those children grow up and later seek their haitian roots if they like. what is 33 persons compared to the over 200,000 dead, dumped and partially covered in dirt in mass graves? icheoku maintains, with due respect to the views expressed here above, that the ten american baptists are not guilty of any offense and should immediately be released, apologised to and set free. what the law judges is the criminal intent which does not exist in their case. a mistake, may be, but definitely not a crime for which the present hullabalo is being raised. thank you.
facilitator, icheoku.com
I cannot believe this. The airwaves is awash with all the past "deeds" of the Lady that led the "Haiti children Baptist rescue team". She has a lot of issues back in the United States including bankruptcy, a fake orphanage in the Dominican republic (CNN News report), all the other nine (9) members of the team does not know what they volunteered for. She was also warned severally against the steps she was taking but she will not budge. Even before the earthquake Haiti has been witnessing a lot of child trafficking incidences and this particular case fits the mode(I guess that does not matter to you.) I salute those who are helping the Haitian children in a legal and Godly manner (by the way there are a lot of them on ground at the moment). Every single Life counts, so to say what is 33 kids to 200,000 dead is to demean Gods' creation and cheapen the issues at stake. The issues at stake are Morality, Legality and Godliness.
ReplyDeleteHaiti judge to free U.S. missionaries
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Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Twitter Yahoo! Bookmarks Print Reuters – U.S. missionaries accused of kidnapping children, leave a Judicial Police office in Port-au-Prince February …
Slideshow:Americans charged with kidnapping in Haiti Play Video Earthquakes Video:Elgin School Takes Seismograph Of Earthquake CBS 2 Chicago Play Video Earthquakes Video:Quake A Rude Awakening For Thousands CBS 2 Chicago By Joseph Guyler Delva Joseph Guyler Delva – 2 hrs 26 mins ago
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – A Haitian judge has decided to release 10 U.S. missionaries accused of kidnapping 33 children and trying to spirit them out of the earthquake- stricken country, a judicial source said on Wednesday.
The source said the missionaries, who have been in jail since they were stopped at Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic on January 29, could be released as early as Thursday.
"The order will be to release them," the source, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. The decision has not yet been made public.
"One thing an investigating judge seeks in a criminal investigation is criminal intentions on the part of the people involved and there is nothing that shows that criminal intention on the part of the Americans," the source said.
The missionaries, most of whom belong to an Idaho-based Baptist church, were arrested trying to take the children across the border to the Dominican Republic 17 days after a magnitude 7 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
The five men and five women have denied any intentional wrongdoing and said they were only trying to help orphans left destitute by the quake, which shattered the Haitian capital and left more than 1 million homeless. But evidence has come to light showing most of the children still had living parents.
As part of Haiti's legal requirements, investigating Judge Bernard Sainvil must send a notice of his decision to the prosecutor. That will be done on Thursday, the source said.
PARENTS PLEAD FOR RELEASE
Once he receives the order, the prosecutor could offer an opinion that one or more of the Americans should be held but that would have no legal effect on the judge's decision, the source said.
During hearings in the case, Sainvil heard from 10 parents of children handed over to the Americans. They said they had turned over their children because they had no food or water to give them, and believed they would have a better life elsewhere.
"All of them pleaded for the release of the Americans," the source said.
The case has been a distraction to the Haitian government as it tries to cope with the aftermath of the earthquake and was diplomatically sensitive for the United States as it spearheads a massive international effort to feed and shelter Haitian quake survivors.
The U.S. government had said it was providing the Americans with consular access and monitoring their case, but made clear it did not want to interfere.
"Obviously this is a matter for the Haitian judicial system," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in Washington on Saturday.
Haiti's beleaguered government had warned that unscrupulous traffickers could try to take advantage of the chaos that followed the quake by taking away vulnerable children, and it tightened adoption procedures.
Haiti tosses kidnapping charges against Americans
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AP – FILE - In this March 8, 2010 file photo, US missionary Laura Silsby, 40, of Meridian, Idaho, is escorted …
Slideshow:Americans charged with kidnapping in Haiti
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By FRANK BAJAK, Associated Press Writer – Mon Apr 26, 6:33 pm ET
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A Haitian judge said Monday he has dismissed kidnapping and criminal association charges against 10 American missionaries detained for trying to take a busload of children out of the country after the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said Laura Silsby, the last of the 10 missionaries jailed in Haiti, still faced a lesser charge for allegedly organizing the effort to transport the 33 children to an orphanage they were setting up in the Dominican Republic.
Silsby faces up to three years in prison if convicted on the remaining charge, the "organization of irregular trips," from a 1980 statute restricting travel out of Haiti signed by then-dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier.
Silsby declined comment from her jail cell. Shiller Roi, a lawyer for Silsby, declined comment, saying he hadn't yet received the judge's written decision.
The judge told The Associated Press that the charge of organizing the trip was also pending against Jean Sainvil, a Haitian-born pastor from Atlanta who also helped organize the venture. Sainvil did not immediately respond to message left on his voicemail.
The judge, who spoke to AP in a brief phone interview, did not explain the reasons for his decisions.