Mon Fritzner Gaspard
Chargé d'Affaires
Embassy of the Republic of Haiti
10, Rue Théodule Ribot
75017 Paris
France
Dear Ambassador
On behalf of the TUC General Council, I write to express our shock and outrage over the death of Mr Louis Jean Filibert at the hands of the Haitian police on 8 October 2010.
Our information is that Mr Filibert - a mathematics teacher and member of the Union nationale des normaliens d'Haïti (UNNOH) - was taking part in a demonstration organised by a coalition conducting an awareness-raising campaign on the need for education of Haitian children when he was hit in the head by a bullet fired by a police officer outside the Ministry of Education.
The assaults on trade unionists over activities pertaining to the exercise of their legitimate rights and duties are a gross violation of the ILO Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Moreover, your country, which ratified Convention 98(1957) and Convention 87 (1979), is obliged to observe the workers' rights enshrined in them. Furthermore, these incidents will, no doubt, tarnish the image of your country in the eyes of the international community supporting your efforts at reconstruction of the country following the earthquake.
I urge you to use your influence with the Government of Haiti to ensure that those responsible for the killing are brought to justice without delay and that trade unionists and other citizens are allowed to exercise freely their fundamental rights.
Yours sincerely
BRENDAN BARBER
General Secretary
Want to hear about our latest news and blogs?
Sign up now to get it straight to your inbox
To access the admin area, you will need to setup two-factor authentication (TFA).