The Condition of Women in the Congo

15th ANNUAL WOMENS AMBASSADORS CONFERENCE

"Recovery from Natural Catastrophes,Wars,and the Financial Crisis"

By: Saran Traore, Research Analyst, Friends Of The Congo

Howard University, the US Congress and the Womens Ambassadors Foundation collaborated on the 15th Annual Womens Ambassadors Conference in the Rayburn Building at the US Congress on April 7th, 2010. The conference had a morning and afternoon session of discussions on different issues facing the global community. Although all the events were informative, the “Recovery from the Financial Crisis” and “Recovery from Wars, the case of the Congo(DRC)” in the afternoon were most eyeopening.

Each session lasted for an hour with panelist giving some overview of the topic then a Q&A after. “Recovery from the Financial Crisis” covered the recent economic crisis that affected the entire international community. Members of the World Bank, experts from Howard university and financial groups were all present to talk about the beginning of the crash, where it started and who was affected the most in comparison to the US. One specific speaker, Mr. Shanta Devarajan from the World Bank, was the expert on the Africa and his take on the affects on the continent as a whole. According to Mr. Devarajan, African was showing great economic improvements not seen in years before the crisis. Overall growth was at 6% before the crash from 4%. Trade and need of commodities was in Africa's favor. Policies were being made across the board for smarter and better economic governance. These improvements then halted after the crash because of the big hit that Africa took. Growth reduced to 1%, Infant Mortality rates grew 30-50 thousand, and millions of people were thrown back into poverty. Although all this sounds severe, Mr. Devarajan says that it could have been worst if Africa had not been on the hot streak that it was on before the crisis. He also emphasis that we should be optimistic, for policy makers are seeing the benefits of prudent policies and many countries are staying the course on these policies.

As I and many other Africans were hopeful of these statements and numbers, I felt the need to ask a very realistic question. With the recorded growth mentioned, distribution of wealth (DOW) in Africa has been and remains a very serious issue. How was it factored into the growth and how was it further effected by the economic crisis? Mr. Devarjan very much agreed with my concerns. According to him, DOW was monitored because in comparison to India, Africa showed a 1.1% in poverty reduction which was better than in India. Once the crash hit, there off course was a drop in income and many people dropped jobs from the formal sector to head to the informal sectors. Also, as remittance is an important part of Africa's economy and wealth distribution, there was a significant drop since those in the Diaspora could no longer afford to send as much back as before the crash. The good news is, remittances are coming back, therefore giving some who have lost jobs some hope for income.

The second session, “Recovery from Wars, the case of Congo (DRC)” was a very powerful one. The panel consisted of Friends of Congo's very own Makeda Crane, a speaker and blogger for FOC, and Jeanne-Martin Cisse who was Guinea-Conakry's first woman Ambassador to the UN and in 1972 was president of the Security Council. Crane spoke of the political, social, and economic crisis that the Congo is experiencing and the millions of lives the have been and continue to be claimed from it. She gave a touching and gripping presentation about her involvement with the Congo and her plight to help the Congo get back on its own feet. She spoke of the fight for minerals in Congo, the tragedy of the amazing women being raped as a result of the war, and the need for social empowerment. In the same tone, she emphasized the political, economic and most importantly human potential of the Congo. Ambassador Cisse echoed in on the same note and spoke of healing Congo and the rest of Africa. She has witnessed the history of Congo and wishes to see a positive change in her lifetime for the country and the entire continent so that the dialogue can change for the better about Africa to the outside world.

“Countries at the Crossroads”

“Countries at the Crossroads”

Political Turmoil and Receding Reform: Democratic Governance in Uncertain Times

By Saran Traore, Research Analyst, the Friends of Congo

Thursday, April 6th, 2010 was a remarkable and exciting day at the Brookings Institute in Washington DC for Freedom House as it hosted the release of the fifth edition of “Countries at the Crossroads.” The Countries at the Crossroads series are an annual assessment of government performance in 70 strategically important countries worldwide that are at a critical crossroad in determining their political future. This edition covered 32 countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Methodology behind these findings was founded by prominent scholars and analysts who are considered experts in the regions covered in the study.

The four main areas of performance that Freedom House considers to be the basis of analyzing the state of democratic governance in a country are as follows; Accountability and Public Voice, Civil liberties, Rule of Law, and Anti-corruption and Transparency. Each country is graded on a scale of 0-7. Congo's scores in each of these dimensions are as follows; In Accountability and Public Voice, Congo has an average score of 1.53, with the higher score in the category of 5.34 belonging to Ghana. Civil liberties, Congo has an average of 1.98, Ghana with the highest of 5.33. In the category of Rule of Law, Congo has a 1.15, Ghana yet again having the highest of 4.64. Finally for Anti-Corruption and Transparency, Congo scores a 1.06, while South Africa has the highest of 3.90. These average scores are a compilation of all 32 countries in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Haiti in the Western Hemisphere. The findings also determined Ghana and South Africa as established democracies and found Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania in fragile democratic processes. On the lower spectrum of progress, they found Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda in faltering reforms and Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe as power concentrators. The last category that Congo falls in is simply explaining that undemocratic governance predominates and prospects for democratic gains are “dim.” Although “dim,” this does not imply impossibility of making progress to get Congo on a democratic path. As these numbers and findings may seem disheartening, it should be a motivator and emphasize the importance of the work that we all, stakeholders, are dedicated to in the Congo.

Although these indicators are mostly used by agencies such as the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID) and the Millennium Challenge Account to determine aid recipients, The goal of Freedom House and Jake Dizard, the managing editor of Countries at the Crossroads, is that these findings can be used by policy makers and leaders of these countries as a guide to remedy many of the issues hindering the growth democratic governance.

Thursday's event was a full house of different organizations and a very rich panel of experts to discuss the regional governance challenges in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The panelist included Joel Barkan of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Kevin Casas-Zamora with the Brookings Institute, and Joshua Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations, just to name a few. The presentations by each expert on each region was extremely fascinating, especially Joel Barkan's take on the state of democracy in Africa. Although the focus of the presentation was on Kenya and Uganda, many of his analysis was applicable to other African states such as the Congo. He spoke of checks and balances in government, Rule of Law and the election process being gradually disregarded in many developing countries. So in order to change political infrastructure, it must be done in the wake of elections. The full report and scoring of the countries analyzed is on the Freedom House website along with greater detail about the methodology of the entire project. You can also get the full transcript of Thursdays event at the Brookings institute web address.

Reference

Freedom House

http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=140&edition=9

Brookings Institute

http://www.brookings.edu/events/2010/0407_political_turmoil.aspx

Military Presence and Aid Not the Answer

Increased military presence and aid alone will not prevent another Makombo Massacre.

By Noelle Barber

The tragedy in Northeastern Congo truly deserves our utmost attention and concern. First, the extent and persistence of the slaughter has resulted in an estimated 6 million deaths since 1996. Congolese in the northeast are brutalized and intimidated daily, men women and children live constantly with the threat of kidnap, rape, torture and death. Second, the extermination of the villages such as Makombo is something you and I, our Congress, and any person with a conscious and a piece of modern technology should take personally: This massacre is directly related to the highly profitable plunder of minerals, such as coltan, tungsten and cobalt, vital to our cell phones and computers. Mother Jones 2010: Blood and Treasure.

Indeed, the government in Kinshasa allows these massacres to continue, Rwandan and Ugandan leadership profit when villages of people are wiped out and enslaved to make room for unregulated resource mining. Yet the international community continues to provide the green light for both Kabila in Congo and Kagame in Rwanda and other international profit seekers to go on with their brutal business. Increased military presence and humanitarian aid will treat some of symptoms, but within this course of action, the underlying disease remains. For years to come it will cost a whole lot more than the 10 million dollars proposed in the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act to support and treat the victims of the world’s most brutal and deadly conflict.

It is excellent that the Los Angeles Times has made an effort to expose this horrifying incident to the American public and push for meaningful steps to end the conflict. Allow me to introduce an important perspective, one that cannot be ignored if Congo is to find a sustained and lasting peace within the country and along its borders. It is the voices and insights of the Congolese that must be heard, for in the end, the affairs of the Congo must be determined by the Congolese. Policy alternatives by Congolese.

Congolese Women Appeal to the Global Community

Congolese Women Offer Prescriptions for Ending Sexual Violence in Congo
By
Bibiane Aningina Tshefu, Women’s Coordinator & Adviser, Friends of the Congo and
Kambale Musavuli, Student Coordinator & Spokesperson, Friends of the Congo

During the week of March 1-12, 2010, several women from the D.R. Congo came to New York to participate at the United Nations 54th Commission on the Status of Women. This is a high level annual international Women’s Forum. The Congolese women represented both government and non-government sectors as well as different provinces of their country. They had ample opportunity to raise their concerns to the gathering during assembly, speak to United Nations officials, policy-makers, members of the New York civil society and community, as well as key members of President Obama’s administration.

The women came with a singular focus, to articulate how Congolese women felt the global community could best address the fourteen-year conflict in the D.R. Congo. Wherever the women ventured, whether it was a community forum in Harlem, gathering at local churches, forums at the United Nations or meetings with Obama administration officials, they articulated a consistent and resolute message. Listen to the Congolese for a change: as “we have repeatedly shared with the international community how they can optimally participate in bringing an end to the geo-strategic resource war in the Congo.”

Western based Think Tanks, humanitarian institutions and policy makers often argue that they have tried everything to bring an end to the conflict. However, a cursory look at the policies that have been prescribed or implemented reveals that almost every policy option tried, has avoided core grassroots women recommendations. Policies implemented by the international community are marked by a reluctance to pressure U.S. and British allies Rwanda, led by Paul Kagame and Uganda, headed by Yoweri Museveni. Also, in spite of the myriad United Nations studies, there has been deadly silence around the role of western mining interests in the perpetuation of the conflict.

The Congolese women shared the following prescriptions to bring an end to the conflict:
1. Call for an Inter-Rwandan dialogue between Rwanda’s Tutsi leadership and Hutu rebels inside Congo. There are no military solutions to what is essentially a political crisis.

2. Opening and expansion of democratic space inside both Rwanda and Uganda so their internal conflicts will cease being fought on the bodies of Congolese women.

3. Greater participation in political life and the decision-making process on the part of Congolese women.

4. Redirection of focus on the part of the global community from targeting the symptoms or effects of the conflict to addressing the root causes - primarily a foreign resource war being waged inside Congo to the detriment of innocent civilians.

In the final analysis, Sexual violence is a consequence of war, therefore, in order to end the violence against women, the conflict must end which requires an end to impunity inside the Congo and in the international community’s involvement in the Congo.

Click on below links to read the messages from the women:

Senator Eve Bazaiba Masudi – "The Political Implication of Congolese Women, for Change and the Promotion of Good Governance in the DRC "

Mme Annie Matundu Mbambi - "The Role and Involvement of Women in the Congolese Peace Process"

Mme Jeanine Gabrielle Ngungu - "The Problematic of Violence Against Women: A Major Challenge in the National Reconstruction Process"

Mme Marie-Claire Faray - "A Message From Congolese Women on the 8th March International Women's Day"

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) message from Congolese women. Video message read by Katherin Machalek, WILPF consultant.

Remember to join Friends of Congo on the Break the Silence Tour. Click here to see tour stops!

Congolese Women Message to the UK Parliament

1. Although the title of this event is stating that there is “Still no News on Congo”, we Congolese women have the following information for you; that we bring from the west and east of the country that human insecurity continue in DRC, because of poverty, corruption and lack of rule of law, illicit trafficking and proliferation of small arms, illegal exploitation of natural resources by multinational corporations in violation of OECD guidelines. Add to this, the inhumane treatment of soldiers. The Congolese soldiers are accused of being perpetrators, but we forget that they are also human beings and as well as victims who need and deserve special attention. The FARDC is made up of mixed rebels and non rebels men and women who have been abused by a vicious capitalist system, that is now asking the international community to train them while knowing that they are inhumanely treated, with no salary, homeless, no contact with their family and no sanitation. Furthermore the chain of command of the DRC army is one that is dictated by those who serve the interest of the multinational corporations that pillage the country while creating human insecurity. Sexual violence is not cultural or traditional in the D.R. Congo.

2. Sexual violence is a consequence and a strategy of war. It has been used as a tool of war, humiliation, destabilization and displacement of our communities. We cannot combat sexual violence without addressing the war and its roots causes. Statistics show that since 1997, the rate of sexual violence has increased proportionally to occurrence of the war and armed violence. There appears to be an internationally driven strategy to legitimize armed violence in the DRC provoking a low intensity war that is creating human insecurity and catastrophic humanitarian disasters through the displacement of entire populations. The atrocities and barbarity inflicted on the reproductive system of Congolese women was designed to negatively affect production for food security and reproduction of future generations of Congolese. This control of population growth in the DRC is an act of genocide. If you don’t want to call it that way, we Congolese are telling you that it is a 400 years old strategy to enslave and kill grassroots Congolese people in order to access precious and strategic natural resources. This is a strategy to stop human development of the Congolese people in particular and the Africa continent in general.

3. In order for change to occur in the DRC and to end this epidemic of sexual violence, we need to restore the rule of law and the human rights.

4. Today the DRC population is paying from the mismanagement of the 1994 Rwanda fratricide We. all share a passion to support Women in the Congo. We have have to support Congolese women who are working for change that entail building social, economic and political structures that will serveas foundations for genuine freedom, sustainable peace and development. This is a shared common vision and agenda to bring a definite end to the perpetration of the colonial relationship that exists between Congo and the West. Its time that the global community listen to grassroots Congolese, let Congolese drive the change required for human development and proceed with them on equal term as set by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

5. The international community, particularly the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, are invited to demonstrate a political will to end the conflict in the Great Lakes region of Africa. They are invited to demonstrate their commitment to peace by delegitimizing armed violence and ending the militarization and the support of oppressive regimes in the Great Lakes region of Africa, particularly Rwanda and Uganda. The U.K. and U.S. governments are particularly invited to stop applying a double standard by following the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) guidelines and to call for effective inter-Rwadan and inter- Ugandan dialogues necessary for peace, security, good governance, economic development and regional stability. It is only by ending war and restoring the rule of law through distributive justice that sexual violence will be effectively addressed in the D.R. Congo.

A Message From Congolese Women on the 8th March International Women’s Day

Only Congolese will initiate and bring change in the D.R.C.
Despite all local challenges and harmful international interference in R.D.Congo for the past 400 years, the biggest courage is the one demonstrated to overcome fear of the oppression and to act for change. The courage demonstrated by grassroots Congolese women to resist and overcome the fear of their local and international oppressors will always remain marked in the history of Africa . At this moment, many Congolese women are rising and sacrificing themselves in rewriting history and to liberate themselves completely from the bondage of those who continue to oppress them, in order to give themselves and their children a chance of survival as well as a better future to new generations.

Congolese women are rejecting the victimhood stereotype that is conferred to them by many local and international NGOs. Congolsese women , particularly those who have suffered from atrocious human rights violations (sexual violence), want to have some dignity and be known for their mental strength and ability to survive hardship. Congolese women refuse to be used as a propaganda tools by politicians or NGOs, and feel that the pictures of their nudity and poverty as well as that of their children should not be exposed in such as way in America and Europe to draw sympathy and money that will never even reach the recipients.

Furthermore, Congolese women deplore the fact that today many international NGOs are using the victims of sexual violence as a commercial tool to build the administrative capacity of their organisations while ignoring completely the need of Congolese women as well as undermining the effort of local grassroots women and disempowering them.

Sexual violence is not cultural or traditional in the DRC but has been used as a tool of war, humiliation, destabilization and displacement of communities. They want the international community to know that that Sexual violence will only end by the restoration of peace and the application of rule of law in the DRC.

The international, communities, particularly the permanent members of the UN SC are invited to demonstrate a political will to end the conflict in the Great Lakes region of Africa . They are invited to demonstrate their commitment to peace by deligitimising armed violence, ending the militarization and the support of oppressive regimes in the Great Lakes region of Africa . The UK and US governments are particularly invited to stop double standard by following the OECD guidelines and to call for an effective interRwandan and InterUgandan dialogues necessary for Peace, Security, Good Governance, Economic Development and Regional Stability for eastern DRC, hence the Great Lakes Region. It is only by ending war and restoring the rule of law through distributive justice that sexual violence will be effectively addressed in the D.R.Congo.

In peace
Marie-Claire Faray

Nii Akuetteh’s Letter to Nicholas Kristof

Mr. Kristof:

Your just-concluded Congo series is superb. Thanks. Its two central questions outshine its many other gems: Given the millions already dead and the widespread rape and massive other suffering, why does the Eastern Congo catastrophe receive so little attention--compared to say Haiti or Darfur? And how can Americans ameliorate the situation?

For what they are worth, here are my insights.

Haiti receives big attention mostly because its devastation gives everyone great opportunity to play a beloved role—superior and compassionate Messiahs to the rescue. Because nature is to blame, non-Haitians need feel no guilt. The dramatic TV videos of French and American rescuers pulling out dying Haitians serve an even greater purpose. Those powerful pictures obliterate any possibility of imagining or believing an inconvenient historical truth—that for 200 years and counting, France and America have been ruthlessly strangling Haiti.

Darfur, like Haiti, received massive attention. There Westerners struck even bigger poses as saviors. Witness the largest American coalition calling itself “Save Darfur.” The apparent paradox--Darfur’s shocking devastation is largely man-made—is easily explained: In the age of the war against Islamic terror, what could be better than to give great publicity to bad Muslims killing good Muslims in Darfur?

Though its devastation is even greater, Congo differs in other respects. Unlike Haiti, the Congolese catastrophe is man-made. And unlike Darfur, the villains in Congo are not enemies of the West. Rather the Congo depredations are traceable to the countless “friendly tyrants” in Africa that US and French leaders have continued to nurture, protect and praise since the height of the Cold War. Exhibit A consists of Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni today. Exhibit B: Joseph Mobutu sese Seko yesterday. Thus in the Congo, the West collectively will find the Messiah role impossible to pull off. Consequently, it is expecting too much that Western leaders would voluntarily confess their costly Congo blunders to their decent, no-nonsense publics, even if the Congo death toll has exceeded six million.

The sound 4-point plan you present will improve the Congo situation immensely—PROVIDED Washington implements it. Implementation demands strong political will. Translation: We need intense grassroots pressure not unlike the Free South Africa Movement that, 25 years ago, overwhelmed Ronald Reagan’s support of apartheid South Africa.

Your column and The Times have a golden fleeting opportunity to help build today’s movement. Here is how.

Kambale Musavuli is a courageous Congolese studying in the US. With help from concerned Americans, he and other young Congolese have created Friends of the Congo, an advocacy group. It has just started the “Break the Silence” campaign. The aim is to get American campuses discussing events in the Congo.

Publicity. That is the campaign’s sorely-needed oxygen. My key suggestion Mr. Kristof is that your column and the entire New York Times organization should give the campaign significant publicity. This is will turn the young people’s spark into a steady flame.

Thereafter, the flame must be transformed into a fire, a national conversation. Its topic? A thorough review of America’s friendly tyrant policy and its role in the Congo during and since the Cold War.

I admit the conversation will be quite controversial. Inevitably, ideologues and opportunists on the right will try to intimidate critics with charges of hating America. Still, courageous, patriotic Americans must stand firm and the conversation must happen.

If and when it happens, the conversation would entail excruciating American self-examination. However, in Gdansk last September, Angela Merkel demonstrated that painful national self-examination is doable, liberating and beneficial.

Another reason for the American conversation is that Congo’s dead and dying need it. It is a vital first step. Unless it happens, Congo’s agony will be prolonged for an unconscionably long time.

After the conversation starts, subsequent steps must include the four you outline plus vigorous other American policies that hold Mr. Kagame and Mr. Museveni accountable--at least for their direct and indirect actions in the Congo.

So once more thank you very much shining a light on the Congo.

Could you now publicize and help transform the Break the Silence campaign?

Pleeease.

Contact Mr. Akuetteh at niiakuetteh12@yahoo.com

Why Nicholas Kristof is Wrong on Congo

In Nicholas Kristof's latest (February 11, 2010 NY Times Commentary) prescriptions for the Congo he gets a lot wrong. He would benefit a great deal by truly listening to the aspirations of the Congolese people.

Mr. Kristof has one thing right but true to his symptomatic approach around the Congo he has almost everything else wrong. Yes, the United States certainly need to lead a global diplomatic push, it’s the least it can do considering the destructive policies it has had in the Congo for the last 50 years – CIA role in the assassination of democratically elected Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, the installation and backing of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, Backing of two invasions (1996 & 1998) of the Congo by its allies Rwanda and Uganda, the carte blanche it has given Rwanda and Uganda in spite of their decade-long destabilization of the Congo, the silence around U.S. corporate looting of Congo’s minerals and its repeated backing of the militarization (President Obama should dismantle the Bush-Rumsfeld initiated AFRICOM http://www.resistafricom.org) of the Congo.

The Four step approach that would work best to end the conflict is:

1. Listen to the Congolese (http://www.change.org/friendsofthecongo). The last thing the Congolese need is yet more Western imposed solutions which are intrinsically limited because almost all these solutions seek to protect and prioritize U.S. strategic and Corporate interests in Central Africa at the expense of the people.

2. President Obama needs to change the way he along with both the Bush and Clinton administrations has engaged in Congo. Jim D ought to know that the US is already in the Congo and spending money there (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/world/africa/07congo.html?_r=1). It’s that they have prioritized military options as opposed to diplomacy and a political path and of course they have prioritized profit over the people. Those western corporations (http://conflictminerals.org/us-canadian-companies-involved-in-congo/)that have pilfered Congo over the past 14 years should be held to account and provide restitution to the Congolese people.

3. The United States need to hold its allies Rwanda and Uganda (The International Court of Justice ruled in 2005 that Congo is entitled to $10 billion in reparations from Uganda (http://www.globalpolicy.org/intljustice/icj/2007/0726ugandapayup.htm) because of its looting of Congo’s wealth and commission of crimes against humanity) accountable in a similar fashion to the manner in which Sweden and Netherlands did in 2008 by withholding aid from Rwanda because of its destabilization efforts in Congo. The United States can do this by enforcing the laws it already has on its books. Public law 109-456, Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006, section 105 calls for the Secretary of State to withhold foreign assistance to neighboring countries that destabilize the Congo.

4. President Obama can break from the past and establish a new relationship with Africa by finally genuinely supporting the non-violent democratic forces in the Congo. President Obama should make good on his words in his Ghana speech of July 2009 (http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/July/20090711110050abretnuh0.1079783.html) when he noted that he aims to support strong institutions and not strong men. Well, he can start by drastically curbing support for US strongmen Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame (an international arrest warrant (http://jicj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/6/5/1003) is out on 40 of his top officials by a Spanish court for committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Congo; Kagame would be on the list too if he were not a sitting head of state). He can in turn support and help strengthen local institutions in the Congo and while making the US a partner for democracy in the Congo by using its diplomatic heft to assure free and transparent elections in 2011.

Haiti Needs Your Support: Message by Wyclef Jean

“Haiti today faced a natural disaster of unprecedented proportion, an earthquake unlike anything the country has ever experienced.

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake – and several very strong aftershocks – struck only 10 miles from Port-au-Prince.

I cannot stress enough what a human disaster this is, and idle hands will only make this tragedy worse. The over 2 million people in Port-au-Prince tonight face catastrophe alone. We must act now.

President Obama has already said that the U.S. stands ‘ready to assist’ the Haitian people. The U.S. Military is the only group trained and prepared to offer that assistance immediately. They must do so as soon as possible. The international community must also rise to the occasion and help the Haitian people in every way possible.”

Many people have already reached out to see what they can do right now. We are asking those interested to please do one of two things: Either you can use your cell phone to text “Yele” to 501501, which will automatically donate $5 to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund (it will be charged to your cell phone bill), or you can click here to DONATE.

Wyclef Jean

Articles and Historical Sources on Haiti:
Haiti: the land where children eat mud By Alex von Tunzelmann
Country Without a Net by Tracy Kidder
How the U.S. impoverished Haiti by Jean Damu

Black Jacobins by C. L. R. James
Toussaint l'Ouverture biography
Jean-Jacques Dessalines Biography
Naomi Klein on Haiti Disaster Capitalism