I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but after reading what is being written and talking to several sources, I have to do this.
Today, news came that Sakineh Ashtiani’s stoning sentence has been suspended. This prompted some activists to believe that she is safe. This, however, is NOT the case. Sakineh is by no means safe. As a matter of fact, she is in more grave danger than before. To clarify, her sentence has indeed been suspended – pending a review. Some have begun to assert that they are reviewing her stoning sentence. This is NOT true.
The review is not of the stoning sentence or charges of adultery against her. Both of those stand and are NOT being questioned by the government.
The government is reviewing the files that back up the government’s claim that she murdered her husband. This has absolutely nothing to do with the stoning sentence, which will be carried out because the government in its mind has proven that she committed adultery. The sentence is simply not going to be carried out until the government figures out the discrepancy in the files that support charges of murder against her. As confirmed by her son, these murder files have been “lost.”
However, in the meantime, the government is worried about all the media attention about the stoning sentence. It simply wants the world to think that it has succumbed to all the media attention and our outcry. This is a ploy by the Islamic Republic of Iran to quiet down the opposition to her stoning. Once they have accomplished that, they will conveniently stone her to death.
Key facts again:
A) Her stoning is not being questioned by the government it has only been suspended.
B) The sentence of stoning stands.
C) The review is of files relating to murder charges against her not of her stoning.
D) Sakineh is NOT safe.
I hope this clarifies things sufficiently for people.
Cities where protests are taking place will be marked.
1500 GMT
As the day ends, a small government rally ends up in violence against the opposition. I will be posting a summary of the events in a few hours, either on @PajamasMedia or elsewhere.
1320 GMT
According to a reliable source in Iran, Sayed Yaser Khomeini, one of Imam Khomeini’s grandsons, visited Mehdi Karroubi today and expressed his condolences over the attacks on his residence. He also denounced Basijis who attack Karroubi’s housing and called them thugs.
1305 GMT
It has now been confirmed that Ayatollah Dastegheyb’s Ghoba Mosque in Shiraz. According to Rahe Sabz, 200-300 Basij entered the mosque and proceeded to attack the cleric’s students. Clashes inside the mosque continue at this point.
The mosque’s door had been sealed by the government even though students had informed the government that they would gather at the mosque. Dastegheyb is a staunch supporter of the opposition.
1302 GMT
Grant Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani called Mehdi Karroubi today and expressed his support for the besieged opposition leader and praised his resilience, according to reliable sources. He also denounced security forces’ attack on his house and hoped that they would cease their activities.
1239 GMT
Unconfirmed reports suggest that clashes have taken place between students of Ayatollah Dastegheyb and security forces outside Ghoba Mosque in Shiraz. The mosque – usually the center of activities both social and political – has been closed for the past two Quds Days by the government. Both last year and this year, the government did not allow gatherings at the mosque – where the cleric leads prayers and holds undisputed leadersship – for ‘security’ reasons.
Dastegheyb has been an avid supporter of the opposition. Yesterday, he called on the government to allow people their right to freedom of speech and not arrest people for chanting anti-government slogans. So far, this has only been reported by one source. As more news of the clash appears, I’ll be able to fully confirm or deny the story.
1125 GMT
As late afternoon arrives, Tehran is yet to notice the opposition in full force in the streets in Tehran and other cities. The security situation through the country, especially in Tehran, is very tense. In the capital, thousands of policemen, Basijis and plainclothesmen have covered the major squares and roads leading to the squares.
They’ve establish check points and are checking metro train cars and have detained at least 5 people so far on suspicion of being members of the opposition. Whether the opposition shows up at all is uncertain.
Karroubi’s house continues to be surrounded by up to 200 security forces. Videos of damage done to the inside of the house from last night and this morning’s attacks are available showing broken windows and gunshot holes in walls.
The security situation is extremely tight. Thousands of policemen, plainclothesmen, riot police and IRGC are inside the city. Most are out on the streets, while IRGC are reportedly still not out on the streets in large numbers. The government seems to be attempting to prevent the opposition from gathering at all cost. So far, I can confirm at least five arrests of people suspected of being Green Movement supporters.
0905 GMT
Rahe Sabz reports that security forces have flooded Hafte Tir and Enghelab Squares. They have also taken over roads leading to Hafte Tir from the north. Already several people can been in police vans and filling out forms giving out their identity. These people were arrested likely for being part of the opposition. One youth was arrested from Hafte Tir because he was wearing a Green bandana.
The report adds that armed security forces carrying batons are also boarding metro cars in Tehran to seek out any Greens traveling to protest. Security forces have also created checkpoints in Tehran and are stopping and searching people, arresting those with any links with Greens.
0835 GMT
Reports from activists partially confirm that Greens will protest in Tehran today. Unconfirmed reports suggests Shiraz as holding a Green protest as well. Thus far, no Greens have been sighted.
0812 GMT
Mir Hossein Mousavi has reportedly called and spoken with Karroubi. (No news as to how this communication took place as phone lines at Karroubi’s house have been cut). He and his wife have both expressed readiness to join Karroubi in his house.
08:10 GMT
You can watch Ahmadinejad’s speech live here with English translation. His message is anti-Zionism, anti-Israel and anti-US as well as insisting that the current peace talks are a failure. (That was just to save some readers time).
0755 GMT
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in Tehran and is being shown on TV addressing crowds of government supporters in Tehran University.
0745 GMT
Karroubi’s house has been completely surrounded by Basijis since early morning. They have now been joined by plainclothesmen on motorcycles. The government it seems is not ready to let Karroubi join the protests.
0705 GMT
Confirmed reports from Tehran suggest that internet in the city is extremely sluggish. It is close to impossible to access Yahoo!, Facebook, Gmail and other vital communication websites. The government claims it is because of technical difficulties, according to Rahe Sabz.
0655 GMT
Unconfirmed reports suggest Green Movement protesters might have started marching in Tehran already. However, the source has not been too reliable in the past so I’ll look for more sources. For now, I cannot confirm any protests or gatherings.
0650 GMT
Reports indicate that Yahoo and Gmail are both inaccessible at least in the central parts of Tehran. This cannot be fully confirmed as of yet. However, during past opposition protests, the government usually either makes key website inaccessible or cuts down the internet entirely to make communication impossible for dissidents.
0645 GMT
It seems the government is desperately trying to isolate opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi to stop him from joining any opposition protests. After last night’s brazen attack on his house, reports now suggest that phone lines to his house have been cut.
Whether this stops him from joining any protests remains to be seen.
0555 GMT
Today is Quds Day, a day marked by the Iranian government by holding huge public rallies to denounce Israel. Last year’s protest was disrupted when the opposition Green Movement held a protest of their own that drew thousands to the street, chanting anti-government slogans.
We have a confirmation from several activists that the Green Movement has planned yet another countrywide today to decry the government’s actions during and after the election. The opposition seems to have chosen to delay the word from spreading for fear of government tightening security days ahead of today’s Quds Day gatherings. So far, people have not started gathering. However, in the next hour or so, people are expected to come to the streets to take part in the government-held protest against Israel. Whether there will be a Green Movement protest or not remains to be seen.
Security across the capital is tight. I will be updating more as news from Tehran comes in.
0530 GMT
I shall be covering the Green Movement protests in Iran here. Updates will start in 15 minutes time.
(If you wish to read my liveblog of June 12′s events, please CLICK HERE)
The people of Iran today yet again proved that intimidation, imprisonment, torture, rapes, shootings and deaths were not going to deter them from continuing to oppose the Islamic Republic’s brutality and unjust policies. In that sense, it was a clear victory for the Green Movement. They managed to land people on the streets on the day that they wanted and the government – even though it employed thousands of security forces – was unable to stop them. This is despite the fact that opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi had canceled the plans for the protest.
The reason behind this is most probably the fact that the protesters caught the government off-guard and showed incredible resilience. Instead of publicizing their intentions of protesting or declaring their routes of procession beforehand. They quietly let the government feel like they were not going to show up – but did.
Through my sources, I could fully confirm protests in the city of Tehran. I had only partial confirmation, however, of protests in Shiraz, Mashhad, Isfahan and Zahedan. There were six other cities where there were reports of protests. These include Tabriz, Sari, Kerman, Sanandaj, Ahvaz and Aryashahr, but I haven’t been able to confirm any of them, yet.
(Scroll down past the map to read the rest of the analysis)
Sari and Aryashahr are not indicated in the map but there locations have been marked in violet as well.
The government – no matter how surprised – did have the manpower to put up a resistance, though.
In Tehran today, people took to streets after 4 in the afternoon and protests were held in different parts of the city. The students of Tehran University staged a gathering and anti-government slogans as well as the popular slogan, “the student dies; but does not accept humiliation!” Security forces clashed with them and arrested at least six students – injuring many more in the process. Tear gas was fired at protesters, and there were unconfirmed reports of shots being fired, but no injuries were reported from gunshot wounds. Students were injured, though, when they were beaten with batons, kicked and punched by riot police and plainclothesmen who had surrounded the campus.
A second group of protesters tried to converge from different parts of Tehran upon the university to try and break the siege, but security forces managed to hold them back by blocking major streets with thousands of policemen, riot police and plainclothesmen.
Other groups formed at Valiasr Square where at least three were arrested and several were injured in clashes with security forces. Tear gas was used here as well as Vanak Square where more protesters had gathered. Clashes took place there too, but no reports of arrests could be confirmed as of yet. People chanted “Death to the Dictator” and “Death to Khamenei”. At the same time, students at Sharif University gathered inside their campus and chanted “Ya Hossein; Mir Hossein” and “Allah o Akbar”, but were prevented from coming out by security forces.
By far the bloodiest clashes took place in Enghelab Square. The square as well as its adjoining streets was filled by at least 5,000 members of Iran’s security forces. At least 12 protesters were detained here. People also managed to gather in Taleghani Square, Palestine Square, Ferdowsi Square, Hafez Bridge, near Laleh Park, Argentine Park and other areas.
There were reports of arrests near Laleh Park and from other areas, but so far, the confirmed number of arrests stands at 21. The number is almost certainly higher than this. Some sources have claimed the number to be over 100.
Due to the small numbers of videos available, the estimated number of protesters is anyone’s guess. However, it looks like today the streets had at least 10,000 security forces patrolling them – this number I can confirm. I cannot confirm any deaths or anyone getting shot. This is a better development since in the past few protests there have been casualties on the protesters’ side.
There were two unconfirmed reports that merit a mention. The first one claimed that shots were heard from the government-owned broadcasting agency IRIB and that several of its staff members were held hostage by security forces inside the building. The second report claimed that some protesters had managed to break into security forces’ vehicles and managed to take their helmets and other equipment. These are yet to be confirmed.
As far as other cities go, reports are few and far between. However, reliable sources in Tehran and these cities managed to smuggle the news of protests out. There are no videos of protests in these cities so far, but in the next few hours, there probably will be.
Considering the fact that the Iranian government had amassed an army of security personnel to stop protesters from gathering, today’s events are a clear sign that the government is failing as it had failed in the past to quell the uprising. Whether the future holds more victories for the government or the Green Movement is as yet uncertain. But protesters returning from gatherings in Tehran were very optimistic and cheerful. Some indicated on blogs that it was a “great day” while others called it; “the day I learned that we really are countless.”
From all this, one thing looks certain, though,: the successful protests despite the government’s pressure is surely going to give a strong morale boost to the Green Movement and likely make another dent in the cracking walls of the Islamic Republic.
(If you are looking for videos of the protest, please CLICK HERE)
First it was watching retweets of news from Iran in Spanish. Then I slowly started seeing hashtags with Iran and Venezuela mentioned in the same tweet. Finally, I saw a collective twitter account and reading the profile helped me grasp the enormity of what I was witnessing: a student movement like Iran’s relying on the internet to inform people of what is happening inside their country – this time in Venezuela.
I remember a few months ago, as I was tweeting about a protest in Iran and live-blogging, I noticed former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations Diego Arria – a Venezuelan – tweeting information about the protest in Iran. While it surprised me to see such a revered diplomat taking key interest in Iran’s Green Movement, I soon also began to witness mass support from Venezuelan students for the Iranian cause. But more interesting and heartening to me was the fact that they have been on Twitter and other social media outlets for more than a year fighting for their own rights as well.
Theirs is a story much similar to Iran’s. A population subjugated to ill-planned economics, a strongman unwilling to leave power and a government ever more keen to restrict its citizen’s right to freedom of speech.
As protests rocked Venezuela two week ago, news of the protests made its way out not only on the backs of the traditional mainstream media outlets, but also on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Photobucket and other websites once used for entertainment, killing time or just plain ole finding a date. The powerful role that social networking websites have continued to play for getting news out of Iran and organizing events in support of the Green Movement abroad seems to be slowly being harnessed for the Venezuelan students as well.
After coming back from a short vacation, the first thing I noticed on my Twitter account was the varying articles, pictures and videos of Venezuela’s students protesting against the banning of cable station Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) and five other stations for not broadcasting a speech by Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez. I didn’t even have to log onto my usual news websites. It was right there in front of me and I’m sure in front of thousands of others who would’ve otherwise not seen it thanks to celebrity gossip and empty floating balloonesque stories taking over MSM.
And if anyone has any doubts about the success of this movement, they don’t need to look too far for evidence. Already Twitter users who have come out in support of Iran have started tweeting alongside their friends in Venezuela. The movement online is slowly but surely not just attracting support from Venezuelans, but also from foreigners who are interested in upholding human rights no matter where they might be facing the tyranny of a dictator or the arrogance of a supreme leader.
Furthermore, the movement is not disorganized. They have clear outlets on twitter especially under the account studentsvnzla and the eponymous website Venezuela Students Movement. They have a Facebook account “Chavez Tas PonCHAO” with more than 180,000 followers. Already contacts are being established between supporters of the Green Movement online and Venezuelan students. I was surprised when I asked for information on the recent protests on Twitter and instead of my Venezuelan friends on Twitter, supporters of the Green Movement were the first to link me up with up-to-date information on the situation.
The movement has been so successfully that even Chavez himself has acknowledged its importance. An article in Business Insider reports,
Chavez has fought back by declaring that “using Twitter, the internet (and) text messaging” to criticize or oppose his increasingly authoritarian regime “is terrorism,” a comment that recalls the looming threats of his allies in Iran, whose bloody crackdown on physical and electronic dissent may be blazing a trail for the Latin strongman.
Venezuelan journalist Nelson Bocaranda told El Nuevo Herald that the government has launched an army of Twitter users to bring down online networks nd try to infiltrate student groups.
As the Venezuelan movement opposing Chavez takes shape online, it is imperative that human rights activists online take notice of this movement and help it in every way possible to get the voices of Venezuelans out to the world. As in the case of Iran, the Venezuelan cause is slowly becoming more confrontational. (Hey, I fully expect the Iranian Cyber Army to target Venezuelan Twitterers for fun or for other gains.) It needs support and whenever possible, help. So consider this a call to arms.
But perhaps the most important lesson the Venezuelan movement online teaches us is the Twitter Revolution is not one that is going to remain confined to Iran or China. It is here, it is growing in scope and it will soon be used by other groups fighting for their right to freedom of speech. We can either put our lot behind them while there is still time or we can ignore them and then later try to dismiss their success to save our own faces because they’ve proven us wrong. Remember Iran?
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You can follow events in Venezuela on Twitter under the hashtag #FreeVenezuela
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(Apologies for the long absence. I was on vacation from January 23-27. I also took a few days off to recover from reporting the harrowing details of the tragedy in Haiti. I will be writing on the Iranian executions for the Huffington Post in tonight and tomorrow. I will continue to follow the events in Venezuela and will write a piece from time to time as well.)
Another amazing story of survival and miracles from today in Haiti. CNN’s AC360 reports:
A five-year-old boy named Monley was found alive in the rubble of his home today. His mother was killed and his father is missing. Monley was taken to a hospital where doctors say he has no broken bones, but he is suffering from severe dehydration.
Anderson was at the hospital when Monley arrived this afternoon. He got details on the rescue from his family.
“The uncle was actually searching through the rubble, looking for the dead body of his brother, this boy’s father. The uncle, with four of his friends, not some international search and rescue team, pulled out the little boy,” Anderson reported earlier today.
One of the biggest challenges in Haiti has been to figure out just how many people have perished in the aftermath of the apocalyptic earthquake. So far, the numbers are blurry. Reports of total number of victims range from as low as 50,000 to as high as more than 200,000.
The New York Time has a great article on the challenges facing the Haitian government and the international relief agencies in figuring out how many lives have been lost.
The simple truth is that no accurate figure exists. In disasters like Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2003 earthquake in Bam, Iran, the toll habitually swings way up at first, taking a couple of weeks to settle at a final, accepted number.
In countries like the United States or China, with vast resources to handle and count the dead, the numbers are likely to be more accurate than in a poor nation like Haiti, experts said.
The fact that the earthquake, with a magnitude of 7, devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, virtually paralyzing a government that was hard-pressed to count the living in normal times, only compounded the problem.
This time, hopeful tweets from Twitterer associated with Fireside International – a non-profit media company.
(In chronological order)
- Medical assistance needed in Darbonne – heading there now w/John Engle to assess the situation. More photos/video will be posted tonight.
- In Leogane: Japanese, Canadians, and Doctors Without Borders are providing medical support
- In Leogane – Catholic Relief Services is doing food distribution
- Heading out to Darbonne now (site of latest quake) to check things out.
- earthquake this morning near Darbonne. I am safe.
- Back at the office. Lots of good things to report. Video and photos coming.
- Major distribution centers are good but they do not reach into the countryside. Need alternatives for moving goods in deeper.
- Leogane: CRS was trying to deliver supplies for the second time. Had trouble with crowds. They had to relocate.
- Voila is setting up wheel-based remote towers to restore communication. Interviewed them at a mobile spot in Leogane today.
- New Mission (Leogane) is hopping. They are hosting a very well organized staff of Haitian doctors and caregivers.
- Haitian spirits high. In camps, children singing & flying kites. Wooden structures going up. Tin roofs where possible.
You can follow Fireside International’s work and get more information about them by CLICKING HERE.
7:45 PM (Haitian Time)
Some news via Twitter. Twitterers Brandt Anderson who is on the ground in Port-au-Prince and helping with relief efforts tweets about the misery that is continuing to engulf the lives of Haitians. However, the situation looks to be slowly improving – for some at least:
(Tweets start oldest first and ends with the latest one.)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton updates the media about the current situation in Haiti as well as efforts that are underway to help Haitians. She also has an update on the situation of Haitian orphans.
More injured Haitians are being flown aboard US ships anchored along the Haitian coast by helicopter and given medical care. In this photo, Medical professional aboard the aboard the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) treat a six-year-old Haitian boy in the casualty receiving room aboard the 1,000-bed hospital ship. The boy transferred to Comfort by helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) for treatment for an injury to his bladder and a hip fracture. The boy is in the intensive care unit aboard Comfort in stable condition. Comfort is supporting Operation Unified Response, a joint operation providing humanitarian assistance to Haiti. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Timothy Wilson/Released)
6:32 PM (Haitian Time)
Another miracle in Port-au-Prince. CNN’s Anderson Cooper reports on the survival of a 70 year old woman for a little over a week under tonnes of rubbles and her dramatic rescue. (Beware, the contents might be graphic to some viewers)
6:25 PM (Haitian Time)
A bit of more hopeful news from Canada yesterday. CDC reports:
The federal government announced Tuesday an additional $80 million for international emergency relief efforts in Haiti as Canadian troops began flying into the southern coastal town of Jacmel, bypassing the clogged airport in the devastated capital, Port-au-Prince.
International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda announced the additional funding for emergency food, water, sanitation, medical treatment, shelter and protection of vulnerable people. That brings the federal commitment to $135 million, including up to $50 million in matching funds for public donations to registered relief organizations. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said public donations exceed $30 million so far.
Canadian Forces personnel set to work in Jacmel, delivering food, water and medical assistance from HMCS Halifax offshore and through the DART — disaster assistance response team — which travelled from Port-au-Prince. The first soldiers also began arriving at the Jacmel airport.
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Updates for January 20 start from here. Below are updates from the last seven days.
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12:00 PM (Haitian Time)
The LA Times has another touching story of a rescue attempt in Haiti:
Newspapers in Mexico this morning carried a happy item about Mexican officials in Haiti finding one of their countrymen who had been missing in the ruins for nearly a week.
But the tale didn’t mention that it was Times correspondent Tracy Wilkinson who came across the victim and relayed his whereabouts to Mexican diplomatic officials here in Mexico City.
Carlos Peralta, a Spanish teacher living in Port-au-Prince, lay writhing in pain on a salvaged pew outside a church when Wilkinson found him Sunday while she was reporting on prayer services in the quake-ravaged city.
Catch Pierre’s livestream with news and live updates from Haiti by clicking here.
11:00 PM (Haitian Time)
Fireside International has more pictures from the tragedy. You can access them by going here. They only ask for your email address, that’s all. CLICK HERE to visit the page. (Be warned, some of the images are going to be very disturbing to some people. Don’t view without understanding that and don’t pass along without a stern warning.)
10:52 PM (Haitian Time)
Search and rescue attempts at Port-au-Prince’s Caribbean Supermarket seemingly ends after seven days. There are people still trapped under the rubble, but hope for their survival has ends as this story from CNN explains.
There is also a video which I am posting:
10:26 PM (Haitian Time)
A little baby has his patched up in Port-au-Prince – his name, Obama – his savior, Dr. Jen.
8:43 PM (Haitian Time)
Amidst all the misery and heartbreak that has been Haiti’s capital for the past week, last night, something of a miracle happened for man and one woman in Port-au-Prince. This video is inspiring, hopeful and just flat out unbelievable:
8:18 PM (Haitian Time)
As more reports of looting arrive from Port-au-Prince, our sources from Twitter and other social media have been reporting that it is not as wide-spread as being portrayed by many mainstream media outlets. But since the situation on the ground is too fragile and reporters are unable to gather information from all parts of the city, it is hard to say what is really going on in the city.
Here’s a report from CNN’s Anderson Cooper on that issue from a couple of days ago. (Beware, the video has graphic images):
7:50 PM (Haitian Time)
The Associated Press sheds some light on Haiti’s situation a week after the quake hit. (I feel like it was just yesterday):
Even as U.S. troops landed in Seahawk helicopters Tuesday on the manicured lawn of the National Palace, the colossal efforts to help Haiti are proving inadequate because of the scale of the disaster and the limitations of the world’s governments. Expectations exceeded what money, will and military might have been able to achieve so far in the face of unimaginable calamity.
Rescue groups continue to work, even though time is running out for those buried by the quake. A Mexican team created after that nation’s 1985 earthquake rescued Ena Zizi, 69. She had survived a week buried in the ruins of the residence of Haiti’s Roman Catholic archbishop, who died. Other teams pulled two women from a collapsed university building.
“TENS OF THOUSANDS OF EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS NEED EMERGENCY SURGICAL CARE NOW!!!!!” said press a release from Partners in Health, co-founded by Dr. Paul Farmer, the deputy U.N. envoy to Haiti. “Our medical director has estimated that 20,000 people are dying each day who could be saved by surgery.” No details were provided on how the figure was determined.
Here’s an on the ground report from a relief worker. It is a personal report and not tailored for the media. The location is close to the epicenter of the earthquake:
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(Updates for January 19 start from here on up. Everything below is from past days)
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3:27 AM (Haiti Time)
More updates on Haitians trapped under the rubble even a week after the earthquake:
A source in Haiti posted this on their Facebook page:
Martine Peirre is still sending messages out! She is alive under the rubbles at Universite Caraibes at Delmas 29 with others send help
(Can someone help? Please?)
3:10 AM (Haiti TIme)
As the earthquake ruins more families and shatters more lives, the people of Port-au-Prince are forced to leave their homes and try to get as far away from the disaster zone as possibel. The New York Times reports on this tragic development:
“I don’t know if I’m coming back,” said Marcelaine Calixte, 20, a student whose house and college had collapsed, sitting on a crowded bus Monday afternoon headed to Les Cayes, a southern town.
The long-term damage to Haiti is going to be staggering and the country will require much more help, as this report from Reuters suggests:
Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez proposed to international donors on Monday the creation of a $2 billion-a-year fund to finance for five years Haiti’s recovery from a devastating earthquake.
“We’d be talking about a five-year program of some $10 billion,” Fernandez told representatives of foreign governments and international financial institutions at a preliminary donors’ conference in Dominican Republic, Haiti’s neighbor on the island of Hispaniola.
The FBI and the National Center for Disaster Fraud have created a hotline to report suspected Haitian earthquake relief fraud. The number is (866) 720-5721, and is staffed 24/7 by a live operator.
1:06 AM (Haitian Time)
After criticism from the French government and the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’ accusations that the US military was ‘occupying’ Haiti and that the US military role was inappropriate, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates today attempted to quell these fears. The Associated Press reports:
Gates said he does not foresee an expanded policing role for the United States, however. The United States is chiefly involved in distributing relief and will support the United Nations in providing security, Gates said. “I haven’t heard of us playing a policing role at any point.”
There are currently 1,000 U.S. troops in Haiti while 3,000 are helping out with relief efforts from aboard their navy ships. 12,000 more US forces are expected to land in Haiti soon.
This all comes at a time when:
A joint statement Saturday from the Haitian president and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton referred to an expanded U.S. security role.
“President Preval, on behalf of the Government and people of Haiti, welcomes as essential the efforts in Haiti by the government and people of the United States to support the immediate recovery, stability and long-term rebuilding of Haiti and requests the United States to assist as needed in augmenting security in support of the government and people of Haiti and the United Nations, international partners and organizations on the ground,” the document reads.
12:34 AM (Haitian Time)
Haiti Year 0, Day 7
After the Red Cross created a page to help find survivors and Google, Inc. released a tool to help in the same cause, CNN has now also created a web page to assist in the location of lost loved ones in Haiti.
More reports coming in from Haiti give many hope of finding more survivors trapped under the rubble in the Caribbean Supermarket in Port-au-Prince. According to Twitter user firesideint, Haitians trapped beneath the walls of the market have been able to survive this long because they had access to some food and water that was entombed with them under the concrete and metal.
(Hopefully, more rescue workers will get there in time to help these people.)
11:31 PM (Haitian Time)
A reliable Twitter source firesideint tweets about the situation in Haiti, personal feelings and comments on news, (eye-opening):
(I’m posting the tweets as is, starting from the earliest to the latest)
- Just got back from Darbonne (epicenter). Passed about 12 UN relief vehicles LOADED with rice & supplies as we were leaving. YES!
- Aid is finally being delivered in mass quantity.
- Changed my underwear today. The first time in 5 days. Someone had given my other ones away. Thanks, Kent, for bringing new ones!
- I had a COMPLETE meltdown today. My first one. Very cathartic. Talked to my kids on phone. I popped.
- Found out that part of the delay is the reception of expired food & meds. @ airport, they have to sort through donated items first.
- Do not believe the hype. Things are relatively stable here. I’ve been in the thick of it. But I don’t have sponsors to please, do I?
- An earthquake moves adoptions along (http://bit.ly/8TeeIr). How bad do you have to be at your job to get bested by an earthquake?
- I am not sending out my family because we are scared of Haitians. Then why? We don’t need to be using up their precious resources.
- All we need is Love… and Transparency.
- Begging stopped when the earthquake hit. A few kids begged from me today. It’s nice to see things getting back to normal.
- The other night I got stuck downtown and asked a Haitian family for a ride. They declined but then gave me money to hire one. I was humbled.
- “Some are saying” often means there is no source. Any journalist worth his weight can hand over a direct source. Be critical.
10:38 PM (Haitian Time)
The New York Times has an emotional and eye-opening report on the current situation in Haiti. Their reporter talks to an 80-member urban search and rescue team from New York City, some of who worked on the wreckage of the World Trade Centers in 2001 during the rescue attempts:
One firefighter says:
“I can’t forget the smell of death from New York… and I can smell it right now. Sniff in the air. That’s it. Once it’s in your head it doesn’t come out.”
Another one tells the NY Times:
“At least in 9/11, you had a place to go to get away from the hole,” he said, preferring, like some others on the team, to speak anonymously in discussing personal feelings on such circumstances. “This is like 9/11 on the whole island of Manhattan. There’s nothing left. How are they going to come back after this? This place needs to be leveled. None of this is saveable.”
Looking at all the hungry people gathered around, he said: “Last time I’ll be throwing any food away at home. I’ll be looking at things a lot different when I get back.”
CLICK HERE to read the full article. (Can be mildly disturbing. No harrowing pictures, though.)
9:29 PM (Haitian Time)
We’ve all been fawning over CNN’s Sanjay Gupta for his heroic work in saving lives. But CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who is accompanying Gupta in Haiti, has also stepped up and proven that CNN’s correspondents can put their job aside and help out when it is needed.
Today, amidst the looting of shops in Port-au-Prince, Cooper walked in to save a little Haitian boy from a mob and carry him away from violence. I’m not posting the pictures here as they are disturbing. But you can CLICK HERE for the pictures and the full story.
8:55 PM (Haitian Time)
Situation in Haiti is growing more desperate by the minute. CNN reports on the looting and violence from inside the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince:
8:14 PM (Haitian Time)
The Boston Globe has released new images from the 6th day after the earthquake in Haiti:
Haiti remains a place of profound need, anguish, desperation and danger, with a few glimmers of hope and slowly growing capabilities to receive and distribute the international aid now flowing in. Sporadic looting, sometimes violent, was met with force by security oficials and ordinary citizens, resulting in a number of further deaths and injuries. The tenuous security situation has led to at least one temporary evacuation of a medical facility, to protect the care-givers. Despite the long time since the earthquake, at least five people were pulled from the rubble alive this weekend, including a young girl trapped inside a supermarket who was fortunately surrounded by food, and survived on fruit snacks. (Click Here to See Photos)
Disclaimer: Some of the photos are incredibly disturbing. Be very cautious before you pass them on or look yourself.
7:43 PM (Haitian Time)
The death toll just keeps mounting in Haiti, the Associated Press reports:
The staggering scope of Haiti’s nightmare came into sharper focus Monday as authorities estimated 200,000 dead and 1.5 million homeless in the heart of this luckless land… “Have we been abandoned? Where is the food?” shouted one man, Jean Michel Jeantet, in a downtown street.
“I know that aid cannot come soon enough,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in New York after returning from Haiti.
“Unplug the bottlenecks,” he urged.
European Commission analysts estimate 250,000 were injured… Evidence of the shortfall could be found at a makeshift camp of 50,000 displaced people spread over a hillside golf course overlooking the city. Leaders there said the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division had been able to deliver food to only half of the people. American forces were to be reinforced by 2,000 Marines arriving off Haiti’s shores aboard three amphibious landing ships.
7:14 PM (Haitian Time)
More dramatic rescues from under the rubble in Haiti; looting and violence and more pictures. CNN reports:
… 6-year-old Jessica Hartelin was pulled from the rubble by local residents and rushed to a field hospital set up by Israelis at a Port-au-Prince soccer field. On Sunday, five people were rescued from the rubble of a grocery store, officials said, 24 hours after the effort to reach them began.
Three of the people trapped in the ruins of the Caribbean Supermarket — a man, a 13-year-old girl and a 50-year-old American woman — were rescued during the day by a joint New York fire and police department search-and-rescue team.
Earlier Monday, several hundred Haitians broke into a damaged supply store in downtown Port-au-Prince, looting it in a sign of growing desperation six days after an earthquake toppled much of the city. Fights broke out among some of the looters. Young men holding two-by-fours with nails hammered into them began attacking each other. CNN’s Anderson Cooper saw one man beaten until one of his arms started bleeding.
6:50 PM (Haitian Time)
Heads of different international organizations give a dire assessement of the situation in Haiti:
“Help has been arriving. More is coming in. But for those who have lost everything, I know that aid cannot come soon enough,” Ban Ki-moon told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York today, adding that the most important challenge is coordination of the relief effort.
“This disaster ranks among the most devastating and logistically challenging in recent history,” Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said today. “We are seeing the difficulties that arise when disaster strikes an already disastrous public health situation.”
“It is vital that the response from the global humanitarian community matches the immense needs of the people of Haiti,” said Executive Director Josette Sheeran of the WFP. “Within the next week, WFP aims to move the equivalent of 10 million ready-to-eat meals so that people whose homes have been destroyed, and who have no access to cooking facilities can feed their families.”
6:26 PM (Haitian Time)
As night falls, Haiti’s capital looks like an agglomeration of refugee camps in a battle zone.
Photos from Operation Blessing International's humanitarian aid efforts in Haiti.
6:07 PM (Haitian Time)
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visited American Red Cross workers Monday, January 18, 2010 in the disaster operations center at Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C. The President and First Lady toured the disaster operations center, escorted by Red Cross Chairman Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, and asked each staff person’s name and role in the Haiti earthquake response. Photo Credit: Dennis Drenner/American Red Cross
_______________________________
Updates for January 18 start from here on up.
_______________________________
10:35 PM (Haitian Time)
CBS has an extremely informative video on the condition inside Haiti today. Please beware, the images are gut-wrenchingly depressing. Do not watch it if you have already seen enough. Best option is to fast forward the first 2/3s of the video.
The TimesOnline reports on medical challenges on the ground in Haiti and immigration hassles for Haitian children who are being evacuated to the US:
US immigration officials had been refusing to allow children into the country until next weekend. However, as Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, arrived to assure Haitians that America stood ready to help “in any way we can”, doctors managed to persuade the US authorities to allow in Jean, a four-month-old Haitian girl for treatment. The orphaned child has cut through immigration rules used to bar entry to the US for Haitians even in extreme circumstances.
The charity Medishare had been considering defying US immigration by putting Jean physically in the giant hands of Alonzo Mourning, a basketball star, who has given millions to the charity and spent three days last week clearing rubbish in its tented clinic in Port-au-Prince. However, by Saturday night only 23 Haitians had been admitted to US hospitals.
Click Here to read the full entry. (The story is pretty disturbing, so caution is advised.)
9:54 PM (Haitian Time)
USAID updates on the humanitarian efforts, successes/failures in Haiti. Their estimate of deaths overall is 65,000:
Key Developments
- As of 1700 hours local time on January 17, U.S. Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams had rescued 30 individuals from collapsed buildings, including one individual rescued at approximately 1615 hours local time and three individuals rescued overnight from the Caribbean Market. To date, international USAR teams have rescued a total of 62 individuals throughout Port-au-Prince.
- On January 17, USAID/OFDA, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), facilitated the delivery to Port-au-Prince of 9,600 10-liter water containers to serve 19,200 people, 3,840 hygiene kits to benefit 19,200 people for two weeks, and 200 rolls of plastic sheeting to meet the shelter needs of 10,000 people.
- To date, USAID/OFDA has provided nearly $63.3 million in humanitarian assistance to Haiti, including a total of $22 million committed on January 17 to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO), and the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) to support emergency relief supply distributions, emergency health interventions, and humanitarian air service and logistics.
- On January 17, a ship carrying 2,100 metric tons (MT) of P.L. Title II emergency food assistance provided by USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) arrived in Port-au-Prince. USAID coordinated closely with the U.S. military to ensure safe passage of the vessel through the port and to provide security for the vessel and crew.
USAID released a new map, showing the intensity of the earthquake in Haiti. As it is too large, I’m simply going to link to it and you can check out on your browser.Disturbingly, even though the earthquake was over 10 miles away from Port-au-Prince, the capital has still been reduced to rubble.
The Italian government will cancel Haiti’s debt of 40 million Euros, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini announced in Rome today.
“We are ready from now to cancel Haiti’s debt to Italy,” Frattini said on his arrival at Rome’s Ciampino airport after returning from a mission in Africa.
The cancellation, he said, may represent a “first step for the beginning of reconstruction” of the Caribbean island devastated by the earthquake that has claimed tens of thousands dead. Italy has already announced a shipment of five million euros to aid necessities.
(Hopefully, more countries will join in soon.)
9:01 PM (Haitian Time)
CNN’s Soledad O’Brien reports from Haiti:
I spent the day in a tent city. Folks are calm but definitely stressed. They all mention the lack of food and it seems there’s no organized system for getting it in this tent city that has grown, in this one part of Port au Prince.
We estimated more than 20 thousand people are in around this park alone. And this is just one of what must be dozens… Some of the camps are massive and sprawling. Some small and contained.
The big problem in the tent city, besides the food: the injuries. The survivors languish in a hot sun, covered by sheets and blankets on clotheslines. They huddle–entire families–in these encampments, waiting.
“How long will you wait,” I ask?
“It’s up to God,” many tell me.
Care Pedre yet again has invaluable news and a cry for help. Rescuers need to react to these pleas as they are the only reliable way of finding more survivors:
In Bel-Air area, there are 7 nuns still alive under the rubbles. They were praying with their students in the chapel. They need HELP!
If you know someone who can help, please contact Carel on Twitter. He has more information about more survivors too.
8:03 PM (Haitiain Time)
Against all odds and days of hunger, thirst and bleeding, people are still alive, trapped under the rubble in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Twitter users continue to plead for rescuers to pay more attention to Hotel Montana where there’s said to be several people still trapped – but alive:
We’ve now triaged all 1,500 patients at the general hospital in Port-au-Prince.
7:56 PM (Haitian Time)
More hopeful news! Four critically injured Haitians flown to Pennsylvania, US are all recovering except for one who is in critical condition:
7:29 PM (Haitian Time)
Two days ago, I reported about the US 802 Airborne arriving in Haiti. Today, I got word that they are doing a heroic job. Anyone who has a son or daughter serving in the 802 Airborne deserves to be proud. Here’s a tweet from a reliable twitterer from inside Haiti describing their work:
More reports of survivors still trapped under the rubble. Haitian journalist Carel Pedre tweets:
Paule Cameau is Still alive under the rubbles at 8 Rue Oswald Durand. Save her life.
5:56 PM (Haitian Time)
President Barack Obama is going to use the Army Reserve to help speed up the recovery effort in Haiti, the Washington Post reported:
President Barack Obama has issued an order allowing selected members of the military’s reserves to be called up to support earthquake relief and recovery operations in Haiti.
Signed on Saturday and released by the White House on Sunday, the executive order permits the Defense Department and Homeland Security Department to tap reserve medical personnel and a Coast Guard unit that will help provide port security.
A White House press release says the authority will be used on a limited basis, but doesn’t provide numbers or the names of units.
(Thank you, Barry)
5:46 PM (Haitian Time)
Another glimmer of hope. Twitter user fredodupoux reports:
just got back from the grand rue. the LA search and rescue team saved a 18yo girl from the rubbles.
5:11 PM (Haitian Time)
Great news for Haitian immigrants facing legal issues in Canada. Citizenship and Immigration Canada released a statement yesterday that gives many in the Haitian community there hope:
Canada will expedite immigration applications from Haitians with family in this country, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today. Haitians in Canada temporarily will also be allowed to extend their stay.
Effective immediately, priority will be given to new and existing sponsorship applications from Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons who have close family members in Haiti. They must, however, identify themselves as being directly and significantly affected by the current situation and notify Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). Priority consideration will also be given to pending adoption cases with the visa office in Port-au-Prince.
USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) is currently off the coast of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations along with USS Higgins (DDG 76), USS Underwood (FFG 36), and USS Normandy (CG 60). These units are providing assistance with H-53 Sea Stallion and H-60 Seahawk sea-based helicopters. Higgins, homeported in San Diego, is providing afloat logistical services for U.S. Coast Guard helicopters participating in relief efforts.
Carl Vinson received seven injured Haitian civilians at approximately 7:30 p.m. EST Jan. 16 when a Coast Guard MH-60J Jayhawk helicopter on a MEDEVAC mission was forced to divert due to weather. Carl Vinson medical personnel are currently treating the seven Haitians, including an infant. The helicopter was taking the earthquake victims from Port-Au-Prince to a hospital near Cape Haitien on the island’s northern coast.
To date, more than 75,000 bottles of water were delivered to Haitian civilians as part of relief efforts Jan. 16. Every opportunity is being taken to bring this needed commodity ashore.
4:32 PM (Haitian Time)
CBC has a new update on security and hospitals in Port-au-Prince:
The World Health Organization said eight hospitals in Port-au-Prince were destroyed or damaged when the 7.0-magnitude quake hit on Jan. 12. The largest hospital in the city, l’Hôpital Général, was functioning but was overwhelmed by fatalities and casualties on the weekend, according to World Vision. A number of donor countries have set up field hospitals to take the pressure off very limited medical resources.
Security is also a logistical nightmare in Haiti. The country has no army and its police force has all but collapsed. About 2,000 international troops and police are maintaining law and order in Port-au-Prince. Some of a 1,000-strong Canadian Forces contingent expected to arrive early in the coming week are to assist in the task. On Sunday, the bodies of two men could be seen on the street with their hands tied up after being shot by unidentified men who accused them of looting in the Delmas area of Port-au-Prince.
4:24 PM (Haitian Time)
As search and rescue operations continued, amidst hope, there is a grim reality – the loss of life is staggering. ABC reports:
International search-and-rescue teams have pulled more than 70 people from the rubble of Haiti’s earthquake — a record for urban search-and-rescue missions following such a disaster, the U.N. claimed.
But though limited food, water and medical supplies finally are reaching victims in desperate need, Haiti’s prime minister said at least 70,000 dead bodies have been collected. And some unofficial estimates of the death toll have ranged between 150,000 and 200,000.
According to the U.N., 40 international teams containing nearly 1,800 rescue workers and more than 160 dogs, will not stop until the job is done.
3:42 PM (Haitian Time)
FOX News confirmed today that at least 16 American citizens have lost their lives in Haiti’s devastating earthquake:
Sixteen Americans are confirmed dead in the wake of Tuesday’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, the US state department said Sunday.The victims include 15 private American citizens and one US government employee, the department said.The US Embassy in Haiti, meanwhile, has reported that at least 70 Americans remain unaccounted for.
3:37 PM (Haitian Time)
Even after almost five days, people are still being pulled out from under the rubble in Haiti. The latest survivor is Isabel Azou, 58, who was pulled out by Delray Beach fire department and the Rapid Latino America Search and Rescue Team.
Sadly, her three children are still trapped under the rubble and presumed to have died in the tragedy. (I do not want to post the picture here because it is far too graphic and hope is what we all need at this hour.)
3:36 PM (Haitian Time)
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has reportedly landed in Port-au-Prince moments ago with other officials on a brief visit.He will be only staying in Haiti for a few hours.
So far, there are little details about his visit out. Will update as soon as I have more.
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End Updates for January 16
2:15 AM (Haitian Time)
I will resume live-blogging tomorrow. For now, good night and good luck.
1:32 AM (Haitian Time)
More cries for help at Hotel Montana now. Twitter users from Haiti are repeatedly calling for rescuers to divert more attention to this establishment. According to them, they have been in touch with some people who are still trapped under the rubble.
Help needed!
1:22 AM (Haitian Time)
Desperate cries for help from the Caribbean Supermarket in the Haitian capital through cell phones. Many people on Twitter and on alternative media continue to try and get rescuers attention to this part of town where many people might still be trapped and alive.
Senegal’s president says he will offer free land and “repatriation” to people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. “The president is offering voluntary repatriation to any Haitian that wants to return to their origin,” said Mr Wade’s spokesman, Mamadou Bemba Ndiaye.
The spokesman emphasised that if a region was given, it would be in a fertile part of the country rather than in its parched deserts, the Associated Press news agency reported.
(Let’s try and help Haitians in Haiti – I think.)
12:45 AM (Haitian Time)
CNN shows footage of food distribution and the frenzy that follows (Disturbing to some viewers).
12:34 AM (Haitian Time)
More reports of gunshots being heard in Port-au-Prince:
exchanging gun shots can still be heard and most of the people are sleeping outside.
12:18 AM (Haitian Time)
The Sacramento Bee has released new aerial images of the Haitian capital. Here are some of them:
12:00 PM (Haitian Time)
A video from yesterday and last night on CNN. (The images are VERY VERY disturbing. Please DO NOT watch and DO NOT pass it along without a VERY stern warning.)
11:49 PM (Haitian Time)
FOX News reports on more people being rescued from under the rubble.
Rescuers recovered the body of veteran diplomat Hedi Annabi, who was in charge of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti when the earthquake struck and collapsed the U.N. headquarters building, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Saturday. Ban said the bodies of Annabi’s deputy, Luiz Carlos da Costa, and the mission’s acting police commissioner, Doug Coates, were also found.
11:18 PM (Haitian Time)
The Haitian government claims that they have buried more than 20,000 people so far and many more people remain to be buried. So the death toll for now is at least confirmed to be 20,000. The number is most probably going to go much higher.
The Wall Street Journal Reports:
…Mr. Préval came in a jeep and gave an impromptu press conference. Asked about the death toll, Mr. Préval said, “There are schools collapsed – 200 or 300 [dead] here. Factories collapsed – 1,000 [dead] there. I couldn’t even hazard a guess at the figure.”
Coordinating aid is no small task. The prime minister, Mr. Bellerive, said the government believes 300,000 families are living on the streets of the capital. The top priority is relocating people to places where they can better get them food and water, he said.
He said the government has taken over two private water-treatment plants and is beginning to send water to the capital in 50 trucks. He said that in about a week he expects the government will be distributing 600,000 gallons of water a day in the capital.
11:08 PM (Haitian Time)
Twitter userjoshuahaynes reports more hopeful news:
heard from friend in #haiti that people in the caribbean supermarket in Delmas are texting that they are alive and trapped in the rubble.
In a fresh estimate, the Pan American Health Organization said 50,000 to 100,000 people perished in the quake. Bellerive said 100,000 would “seem to be the minimum.” Truckloads of corpses were being trundled to mass graves.
A U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman declared the quake the worst disaster the international organization has ever faced, since so much government and U.N. capacity in the country was demolished. In that way, Elisabeth Byrs said in Geneva, it’s worse than the cataclysmic Asian tsunami of 2004: “Everything is damaged.”
But for the estimated 300,000 newly homeless in the streets, plazas and parks of Port-au-Prince, help was far from assured. “They’re already starting to deliver food and water, but it’s mayhem. People are hungry, everybody is asking for water,” said Alain Denis, a resident of the Thomassin district.
(I covered the Asian Tsunami and believe me, I personally have not been around to witness something more horrific than this.)
10:41 PM (Haitian Time)
Reports coming in through the social media speak of severe shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel. Currently the most important item for Haitians is water. Reports of survivors remaining thirsty of hours are emerging not just on social media, but on mainstream media as well.While videos of people going through empty cardboard boxes to find any traces of food were being shown on CNN.
Fuel!Running out. Have an ER doc from Boston. No RedCross. Just came by bus. Have 2 get him2hospital inAM but no fuel.
10:35 PM (Haitian Time)
Save the Children has a new blog post on the situation of children in Haiti:
Our first stop was to the General Hospital in the center of town – this is one of the only “functioning” hospitals.
The scene there was dire in terms of the huge needs. Patients overflowed from the hospital building and were lying in the compound awaiting treatment. The hospital is still receiving patients but they are chronically short of supplies and staff.
When we left the hospital we saw two makeshift camps where people had gathered. In one there with 5,000 people and only four latrines. All of these latrines were already full so no longer in use.
This is the second time that gunshots are being reported from the Haitian capital. There is not real confirmation of these events from the mainstream media, but Twitter sources inside Haiti have been very reliable as far as news goes so far. Worrying signs emerging, slowly.
10:29 PM (Haitian Time)
Video of Hillary Clinton speaking at Port-au-Prince airport:
“We will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead.”
New pictures of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Haiti, meeting with President Rene Preval, answering questions and visiting victims of the earthquake.
friend said that her aunt was on the phone with her,prisoners r shooting at people at rue colette ROUTES FRERERS, fone died.
(I cannot confirm this information at this hour. But there have been reports all day that tensions are running high in Port-au-Prince. Hopefully, with the arrival of US and international troops, the security situation could be under control sooner.)
08:30 PM (Haitian TIme)
The US Air Force is flying over Haiti, assessing the damage to the Haitian capital:
The RQ-4 Global Hawk’s photos are providing critical assessment data for earthquake recovery efforts and will inform the U.S. military where they can position assets, Air Force Col. Bradley G. Butz told reporters during a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable today. Butz is vice commander of the 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Va.
The Global Hawk flew 14 hours yesterday and will log another 16 hours today, providing about 2,000 images of some 1,000 targets, Butz said. “I think we have pretty good coverage of the entire situation and across the spectrum of capabilities,” he added.
The priority is to capture the condition of key infrastructure such as airstrips, bridges and ports throughout the country, where relief agencies may be able to gain entrance to reach injured and trapped people. The clarity of the high-altitude images is good enough, Butz said, “to determine a go [or] no-go,” for the use of airport facilities.
“The bleak tally now at 50,000 dead, 250,000 injured and 1.5 million homeless…”
08:08 PM (Haitian Time)
Woman rescued by Red Cross:
Jesula was just rescued after she was trapped under a collapsed university building in Petionville for 5 days. A Red Cross worker was in the ambulance with her.
08:00 PM (Haitian Time)
Haitian Twitterati are trying to get help to where it is needed frantically:
We finally found Lovelie Versiere, she is alive but injured.
The United States Coast Guard reports more hopeful news:
An Air Station Clearwater, Fla., helicopter crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma assisted in the delivery of a Haitian newborn on the cutter Saturday afternoon. A pregnant Haitian citizen went into labor on the flight deck as the helicopter was refueling aboard the cutter. The rescue swimmer from Coast Guard HH-60 helicopter CG6024 then delivered the child. (Both mother and child are out of danger.)
07:55 PM (Haitian Time)
US doing everything it can to help Haiti, Time reports:
Only the U.S. military has enough aluminum matting to boost the runway capacity of Port-au-Prince airport. Only the U.S. military has the surveillance capability to quickly assess additional Haitian airfields and seaports for use in rescue relief operations. Only the U.S. military has the wide variety of vessels and aircraft to utilize those fields and ports, including air-cushioned vehicles capable of ferrying 60 tons of supplies from ship to shore at 40 knots.
But the limits of U.S. capability can also be seen: The Pentagon diverted an unmanned Global Hawk drone bound for Afghanistan to Haiti instead, to photograph the damage there. “We were about to send that Global Hawk over to the war” until the earthquake, explained Air Force Col. Bradley Butz. “It will stay here until the President says it’s time to send it forward.”
06:55 PM (Haitian Time)
NJ.com has hopeful news about Americans trapped in Haiti as many are being evacuated:
Five cargo planes of evacuees have arrived at the base in the last 24 hours, delivering some 430 evacuees, primarily American citizens, many of them of Haitian descent.
Survivors were met on the tarmac by Creole-speaking interpreters from the Willingboro-based Haitian Foundation of New Jersey and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, before being ferried to a makeshift shelter set up in the base’s main gymnasium. Evacuees were examined by a doctor, given warm clothing and offered mental health counseling.
06:46 PM (Haitian Time)
Bloomberg has more details on Sec. Clinton’s visit to Port-au-Prince:
“We are here at the invitation of your government to help you,” Clinton said, addressing the people of Haiti. “As President Obama has said, we will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead.”
Speaking to reporters on the plane before arriving in Haiti, Clinton said she is hopeful that the Haitian Parliament will issue an emergency decree to give the government the authority to impose curfews and to delegate relief responsibility to aid groups and foreign government workers who are on the ground.
Apparently, the joint communique will be released tomorrow by Pres. Preval and Sec. Clinton.
Haiti journalist Carel Pedre reports a touching statement by Clinton:
“We will be in Haiti today, tomorrow and forever.”
06:41 PM (Haitian Time)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Haitian President Rene Preval have released a joint statement which I will be updating here on soon. News has also arrived that the plane carrying Sec. Clinton was also carrying tonnes of supplies bound for Haiti.
Aa group of Dominicans in a pickup. No UN. No Red Cross. Crossed border w/bread, water to give away.
06:35 PM (Haitian Time)
More Americans are headed to Haiti to help:
In the continued effort to use all assets available within the Department of Defense, the U.S. Southern Command is sending a special Air Force medical team to help the people in Haiti.
Within the next 24 hours, an Expeditionary Medical Support, or EMEDS, team will be arriving to provide for more much-needed medical support to those awaiting medical care after the devastating 7-pointer that left Haiti helpless in its quake, Jan 12.
The United Nations has now confirmed that its top diplomats in Haiti are among the victims of Haiti’s earthquake. UN Special Representative Hédi Annabi and his deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa are now confirmed to be dead.
05: 28 PM (Haitian Time)
NPR has just released the video of a dramatic rescue. A pregnant woman in Port-au-Prince is rescued from under the rubble after almost three days of being trapped:
05:07 PM (Haitian Time)
After Pat Robertson’s idiotic and inhuman comments about Haiti a few days ago, Satan decided to write him a letter which the Minneapolis Star-Tribune decided to publish.
“Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth — glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven’t you seen “Crossroads”? Or “Damn Yankees”?”
More pictures from the ground in Haiti have arrived, showing just how destructive nature has been to Haiti. (Beware, some of the pictures are very disturbing. Do not pass them around without a warning.)
As helps arrives in Haiti, desperate calls for more help are ringing through the streets of Port-au-Prince and online. This blog entry is one of the more hopeful ones:
If someone with disaster relief experience can contact me – we need your help! We cannot figure out what to do with the trash at the makeshift hospital that we have set up at the soccer field here at Matthew 25. We also need structural engineers desperately – so that we can have someone assess the building that we are living in as well as the other buildings that will be used for relief efforts here.
I also need vehicles! We have set up a transport system here and we have all of the people in place to run the system but we need vehicles! If you know of NGO’s or others working in Haiti who can allow us ot use their vehicles, please contact melinda miles at Konpay or David Diggs at Beyon Borders. They can contact me directly, here.
We also need satellite phones.
05:49 PM (Haitian Time)
Tracy Kidder of Partners in Health speaks to Rachel Maddow about the catastrophe in Haiti. It is perhaps one of the most honest assessments of what is going on in Haiti and what has been going on in Haiti. He does get a bit political in the end:
As images and footage from the Haitian capital comes in in trickles, Google has stepped in to help concerned citizens get a better view of what the destruction has brought upon the people of Haiti.
They have updated Google Earth so that the damage to buildings in Port-au-Prince is visible from a bird’s eye view. You can visit Mashable’s link and learn how you can use the tool to view the updated version.
05:46 GMT
FOX News speaks with an American missionary Joel Tremble in Haiti and shows videos and images from Haiti’s capital. (Images are very disturbing.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz4-556tAR8
05:24 GMT
Hundreds of pictures from the calamity that has struck Haiti on Yahoo News!
(Caution is advised. Some of the photos are EXTREMELY disturbing. Do not pass them on without a stern warning.)
Started to do some shopping today to feed journalists.Someone opened a market for us.one of few not damaged.
Communication is frustrating.Can’t reach people in Jacmel to get news.Can’t reach people around PauP.People are still remarkably calm
Workers trickling in,so many have lost their homes,all their belongings.How many have lost family,home,job,neighbors? Now what? Stay?
I’m hearing that they’re stacking up bodies along Nazon.I saw picture of a morgue and it was a blanket of bodies.Got some help at St Gerard!
if you send people to the stadium,they’re going to need some basics.if you send people to ChampMars,they’re going to need some basics.Water?
I’m finally able to get to my office.many journalists.internet is getting a bit slow.Bodies in piles.bodies along the road.body committees..
I don’t hear as much singing and praying tonight but I do hear planes in the distance.Help is on the wayThere were approx 2 million in PauP
04:19 GMT
Twitter user @TroyLiveSay reports that people are still being found alive under the rubble. He reports that some people have been found alive in Port-au-Prince’s market. There is no news yet of other survivors from other sources. Hopefully, more will be rescued soon.
03:49 GMT
Wyclef Jean – Haitian-born American musician speaks from Port-au-Prince Aiport. Jean emotionally appeals to the world to help Haiti.
A video from Haiti showing just SOME of the devastation. It’s easy to see what the rest of the capital looks like when you see concrete walls crumbling.
Roberto Stephenson posts pictures of the devastation that has been caused by the earthquake in Haiti’s capital. Please follow this link to see the images.
(Caution: Some of the images are very disturbing so be careful before you click and view or pass the link around to other people.)
Fourteen guests and workers are pulled alive from the landmark Montana Hotel, which was largely flattened. 70 more remain trapped.
Finding and helping survivors is the first priority, but Haitians are having to dig through the rubble with their hands, with little help from specialist teams.
(Just a note: there are still hundreds of people trapped under the rubble – possibly thousands.)
Telecommunications charity Telecoms Sans Frontieres is providing support. Communications will also improve as more aid workers and foreign journalists arrive with satellite telephones. The World Food Programme (WFP) said it was airlifting 86 metric tonnes of high-energy biscuits – enough for half a million emergency meals – from a hub in El Salvador.
The United States was sending 3,500 soldiers and 300 medical personnel to help with disaster relief and security in the devastated Caribbean capital, with the first of those scheduled to arrive on Thursday. The Pentagon was also sending an aircraft carrier and three amphibious ships, including one that can carry up to 2,000 Marines.
Members of the US 82nd Airborne are on the ground in Port-au-Prince. So are Los Angeles and Fairfax search and rescue teams, according to an update from the White House. Three aircraft landed today with search and rescue teams, and five more are expected to land this evening, carrying rescue teams, dogs, medical supplies and pallets. The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson arrives tomorrow with 19 helicopters.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced today that 250 of its people are deploying to Haiti and a total of more than 12,000 may eventually assist.
The medical teams include doctors, nurses, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, emergency medical and surgical physicians, and other medical personnel. These personnel will be accompanied by 22,000 pounds of medical equipment and supplies. In addition, experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will assist with checking the water and food supply.
02:11 GMT
The UN is now reporting that at least three dozen of its staffers in the Haitian capital have died. The number is most probably going to rise as new reports emerge.
On the streets of Haiti, people are hungry, thirsty, sick, injured and dying. People desperately need clean drinking water, food, medical supplies and tents.
ABCNews reports that people have built roadblocks from the bodies of their dead friends and relatives, angry over aid has not reached people yet. The scenes are described by some twitter users as ‘horrific’ and ‘heart-breaking’.
Even though so far $5.9 million have been gathered through SMS services, people in Port-au-Prince are in desperate need of direct aid. As the night falls, more and more people are suffering through nature’s misery, waiting for the world to reach out to them.
00:08 GMT
The Wall Street Journal reports key facts about US efforts in Haiti at the moment:
- Haiti’s main airport in Port-au-Prince is now fully operational.
- President Obama has pledged an initial donation of $100 million for Haiti.
- The US is also actively evacuating US nationals stuck in Haiti
23:52 GMT
International Medical Corp releases photos of victims being treated for injuries in Port-au-Prince.
CaribNews has more updates on the situation in Haiti:
“The Hospital in Jimani, Dominican Republic has become the first stop for the wounded in Haiti. http://tinyurl.com/yc3v9ty
The US State Department has confirmed the first American death in Haiti. At least 164 US citizens have been evacuated since the quake hit.”
CNN earlier quoted UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon saying that at least 150 UN staff members remained unaccounted for in the wake of the tragedy.
23:08 GMT
Disturbing news has emerged of looting and rioting in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. CBS news reports, “Video footage from the city showed bands of Haitian youths armed with machetes wandering the streets looting, as the local police were largely invisible.
“There is no other way to get provisions,” he told The Associated Press. “Even if you have money, those resources are going to be exhausted in a few days.” But some think the looting is becoming a more serious threat.
“It is dangerous at night. Lootings were widespread and some markets were ransacked,” Oxfam spokesman Cedric Perus said in a statement to the AP. And the problem will likely get worse in the absence of more effective relief.
22:44 GMT
Pictures related to Haiti:
- Pictures from on the ground in Port-au-Prince:
(Reminder, these pictures are extremely disturbing. Please make sure you click knowing that you will be seeing dead bodies and horrific scenes of destruction. Don’t pass them on without a warning.)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34845446/from/ET/
- The Huffington Post has pictures of the Haitian capital and the destruction that has been caused by the earthquake.
- Injured Americans arriving at Guantanamo Bay after being rescued from Haiti: http://twitpic.com/y2cmy
22:13 GMT
Initial estimates for the death toll are hard to come by. The BBC reports that up to 50,000 people may have lost their lives. Reports coming in from Haiti suggest that thousands of bodies are in hospital morgues while more are awaiting to be picked up from the roads and outside hospitals in Port-au-Prince. There is no reliable information regarding the casualties of the earthquake just yet.The death toll is certainly going to rise higher and higher as the days go by.
22:05 GMT
CARE reports that the main airport at Santo-Domingo, Dominican Republic is overloaded with help arriving from all corners of the world for victims of Haiti’s earthquake.
21:41 GMT
Several sources claiming that the situation in Port-au-Prince so far is pretty calm. However, there are unconfirmed reports that tensions might be rising. No such report could be verified at all.
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, is underway and expected to arrive off the coast of Haiti Thursday. The ship has 19 helicopters aboard.
The USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group is set to deploy to Haiti. The group includes USS Bataan, USS Fort McHenry, USS Carter Hall and the 2,200-person 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. The ships will also include an assortment of helicopters (#’s not finalized)
Two additional ships, USS Underwood and USS Normandy are also headed to help. The hospital ship USNS Comfort is also preparing to deploy. SOUTHCOM is closely monitoring the situation and is working with the U.S. State Department, United States Agency for International Development and the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance and other national and international agencies to determine how to best respond to this crisis.
“Planes carrying teams from China, France and Spain flew into the Port-au-Prince airport with searchers and tons of food, medicine and other supplies — with far more promised soon from around the globe.
Search and rescue squads from Iceland and Fairfax County, Virginia, had arrived the day before and some groups — from Cuba’s government and Doctors Without Borders — used staff already in the country to offer aid immediately after the magnitude-7 quake struck on Tuesday.”
The report adds that there is an immediate need for efforts to provide water and food to the survivors as well as more medical teams.
21:24 GMT
TPM also reported an hour-long meeting the US president held in the White House Situation Room:
“The President met with senior civilian and military personnel who are coordinating our relief efforts in Haiti. The meeting was held in the White House Situation room from 7:15-8:20pm. The President received a comprehensive briefing from each of the agencies, including the State Department, USAID, DoD, JCS, SOUTHCOM, and USUN. Each leader discussed the resources that have reached Haiti, and the additional resources that are on their way.
21:21 GMT
US President Barack Obama has been working round the clock to help the survivors of the horrific Haiti earthquake.
“President Obama spoke with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, President Lula of Brazil, Prime Minister Harper of Canada, President Calderon of Mexico, President Bachelet of Chile, and the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, Ken Merten, about the on-going efforts to assist Haiti in the wake of yesterday’s earthquake.”
However, so far, he has been unable to speak to President Rene Preval of Haiti.
AIRPORT status Port au Prince Toussaint L’Ouverture International Airport (TMTPP) and Cap Haitien International Airport (MTCH):
Runway usable
Currently visual landing / radio-assisted only
Air Traffic Control is responding to incoming aircraft, but with limited capabilities: max number of aircraft is 4 at a time;
Runway usable
No availability of refuelling, cargo and aircraft handling equipment.
Airports are only open for humanitarian, military and private flights only, and not for commercial flights.
Flights to Port au Prince in particular are delayed and have to stay in lengthy airborne holding patterns (sometimes 2hrs and more) due to overcrowded airport ramp space.
In addition, there is no space for bigger aircraft to remain overnight.
As the city is very badly damaged there is no safe crew accommodation.
SEAPORT status Port au Prince:
The Port is currently non operational with three cranes (one container crane, two gantry cranes) all destroyed
Quayside is badly damaged, with unknown debris under the water line
The Southern part of the port may be workable for discharge from self-geared vessels
A US Coastguard Vessel is currently making an assessment;
ROAD conditions update:
All main roads (including the airport road) are being cleared by MINUSTAH and the Brazilian battalion.
3 airlifts with operation support equipment (ex-Panama UNHRD) arrived in Port au Prince this morning.
Another flight from the Spanish Cooperation (flight also ex-Panama) was due to arrive in Port au Prince this afternoon. (arrival to be confirmed)
Advise for arriving humanitarian teams:
International Teams arriving in Santo Domingo are requested to contact Franklin Polanco (tel +8098 56 66 000), a Government official coordinating support to incoming teams.
Another urgent request for help from three orphanages in Port-au-Prince within a mile of Port-au-Prince. Joanne Stocker of Help Haiti Heal has updates on both:
The orphanages are Foyer Notre Dame Nativite in Fonta Mara Orphanage, Foyer Notre Dame Nativite in Fonta Mara Orphanage and Foyer des Filles de Dieu Orphanage (Home for the Girls of God). If you have any means of getting these children out of harms way and providing them with more supplies, please do so.
(This request is especially intended for the US troops who’ve been helping out greatly with the search and rescue efforts, as well as other relief efforts inside the Haitian Capital.)
If you would like to help – and it would be greatly appreciated – please check the full information on these orphanages by CLICK HERE or contacting Joanne of Help Haiti Heal.
Please help if you can – at least 55 little girls have already died in these orphanages in the past few days.
1:00 PM (Haitian Time)
Six planes carrying vital medical supplies belonging to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have been re-routed to the Dominican Republic from Port-au-Prince Airport. These planes were carrying 85 tonnes of supplies badly needed in Haiti to help with the efforts of MSF’s medical staff to treat injured and sick Haitians. MSF has a report on this:
12:23 PM (Haitian Time)
As the scope of the calamity in Haiti became clearer every day, the American people stepped up to the challenge by getting involved both financially and physically to help the people of Haiti. One of these was by making donations through text-messages. One of these was texting “Haiti” to 90999. The US Department of State’s official blog DipNote has an update on this story that gives us all hope:
On January 20, 2010, the text “Haiti” to “90999” campaign passed the $25 million mark. This is the largest mobile donation campaign to date and a true testament of the generosity of the American people. On behalf of everyone at the State Department, we thank you for your contributions.
Within hours of the earthquake, the Department helped launch this mobile fund-raising initiative in partnership with the American Red Cross, Mobile Accord and the mGive Foundation. Donations will appear on customers’ monthly bills or be debited from a prepaid account balance, and 100 percent of the proceeds from this campaign support Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. As a friend, a partner, and a supporter, the United States will continue to assist the people and government of Haiti in every way we can. This is a long-term commitment that will extend beyond the current emergency.
Montreal journalist Pierre Cote is looking for an agency to ship on an immediate basis 25 palettes of water. In the longer term unlimited amounts of water too specific contacts in Haiti who know how to get the water to the people as opposed to how to park the water at the airport where it never sees the light of day.
Please contact your local NGOs, once you have an agreement in principle, then contact:
Pierre Cote 514 702 7180 He speaks English. Take this as urgent. There are also innumerable other requests in to him concernings specific needs for supplies in specific areas of Haiti. There is a lot riding on this.
Now you may say what Pres Bush said. Just give cash. Well we gave cash. Stuff is not getting to people, and people are dying. Think about it.
11:13 PM (Haitian Time)
As many people grapple with the fact that desperation has driven some Haitians to looting, NPR sheds some light on the ethics of the act:
Philosopher Naomi Zack gets it right in the Preface to Ethics for Disaster, essays exploring what it means to be a good person in the context of public emergencies: “If we have to live through disasters, we should not too easily give up our ordinary moral intuitions.” I would go further, though, and insist that some ordinary moral intuitions should not be compromised at all.
In fact there are still moral absolutes in disasters. The breakdown of a society, even one that was already pretty broken down as Haiti was, could not justify gratuitous rape or reckless gun play, for example. But the demise of critical infrastructure can justify maiming and theft. You are not a doctor, but you have to amputate your neighbor’s hand to rescue her from a house on the verge of collapse. You then have to steal sheeting for warmth and gauze for bandages. The extreme circumstances turn you into a hero, not a criminal.
10:16 PM (Haitian Time)
Are you a non-believer? Do you feel uncomfortable if you donate to charities that are run by religious organizations? Well, there’s a charity just for you if you want to help Haiti. It’s called Non-Believers Giving Aid. They are here specifically to cater to the needs of those of us who do not believe in a deity and would rather pay money to organizations that are not religious because we feel uncomfortable.
(Note: I’m an atheist, but I honestly don’t see an qualms in giving donations to religious organizations who are helping Haitians. I think they’re wonderful people and some of them have spent decades of their lives trying to make the lives of others better.)
10:00 PM (Haitian Time)
Joanne Stocker of Help Haiti Heal has this report on the situation in Foyer des Filles de Dieu Orphanage in Delmas, which currently needs immediate supplies of medicine, water and food. (There was an update and request for help on this yesterday on this blog.)
Spoke with a contact for the orphanage. They are still awaiting word on aid, but the orphanage hospital, equipped to treat about 35-45 patients, is treating over 150. They still need basic necessities, such as food and water, and do not have proper medical equipment.
The orphanage is asking for donations in the form of medicine (Tylenol, antibiotics from doctors, Motrin, anti-diarrhea), bandages and medical supplies, diapers, and baby clothing. The clothing can be used, as long as it is clean.
Donations should be sent to: Notre Dame Outreach
316 Venice Blvd.
West Palm Beach, Fl 33411
If you are on twitter, you can get in touch with Joanne by clicking here or by someone at the orphanage by clicking here.
8:49 PM (Haitian Time)
Heartline Ministries has been doing much work inside Haiti as I have blogged before. They have a new update on the current medical situation inside the quake zone as well as information about their efforts:
It has been a busy day and although it is difficult to believe, so many of the injuries that we saw today were worse than what we saw yesterday. I am amazed at the extent of peoples injuries even after one week after the earth quake shook Haiti. We are seeing people with severe infections, open wound, and broken and fractured bones. Today we saw a injury unrelated to the earthquake as a young man was brought to the clinic after having his hand cut off in a machete fight. The doctors had to amputate several inches above where the hand used to be.
The Lord continues to bring in supplies and medical people. We had a good amount of supplies come in today along with some medical people and we have more supplies and medical people coming in tomorrow and on Friday.
Tomorrow we will begin to take people in from the infamous slum Cite Soleil and we expect to continue to see people with severe neglected injuries.
We have a great group of medical people who have joined with Heartline and we are so thrilled to have them. They are such a blessing to us. And for most of them they have never seen such injuries yet they continue to work in less than ideal situations and they just go with the flow.
I have encouraged our team to be like teflon and not like velcro; to be diligent to go with the flow in a difficult situation.
We have lots of pictures to post and some videos as well. We simply have not yet had the time.
Please pray and thank you for all that you are doing.
You can donate by clicking here, as our expenses are continuing to grow.
John
8:40 PM (Haitian Time)
As news of more injured Haitians scrambling to find medical help spreads, there is hope. The Israeli Defense Force and aid delegation sent from Israel have a field hospital operational in Port-au-Prince. You can locate them by click on this LINK. They also have xray machines – something that many people have been asking me about. Please get the injured there. They have been helping for several days and are willing to help more.
They have already treated 383 people including dozens of children. They have performed 140 life-saving surgeries and have delivered seven babies. They are currently treating 60 patients.
You can follow their updates on Twitter by following IDFinHaiti.
7:33 PM (Haitian Time)
Yele Haiti founder and famous Haitian-born American singer Wyclef Jean explains the extent of the calamity in Haiti on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
7:17 PM (Haitian Time)
USAID is coordinating relief efforts of the US government in Haiti. They tweet on their current activities:
- As of today more than 5,000 patients have been treated by Disaster Medical Assistance Teams from the Dept of Health & Human Services.
- As of today, appx 11,500 military personnel (2,000 ashore & 9,500 afloat) are part of the Haiti relief effort.
- US military aircraft & vessels are giving highest priority to the shipment of water.
- 152,000 liters of bulk water & more than 165,000 water bottles were delievered to Haiti yesterday.
- The U.S. Coast Guard (@uscoastguard) has distributed a total of 38.5 tons of water (62,880 bottles) to date.
- The USNS Comfort arrived in Haiti today, serving as a hospital with more than 1,000 beds. It is receiving patients via helicopter.
7:04 PM (Haitian Time)
As US forces continue to help out in the search, rescue and relief efforts in Port-au-Prince, one member sends this emotional yet defiant blog about their resolve to help the people of Haiti:
There is no “easing” into the day here at the military encampment at the Port au Prince airport. Navy and Marine helos hit the deck here at 0630 sharp. There’s no snooze button on that alarm. You roll out of your cot, put the same uniform on that you’ve worn for the last 3 or 4 days. Does it stink? Who knows, everyone is in the same boat. This ain’t no formal dinner. These are bare base operations. Our focus is mission. Our mission is saving lives.
You learn to tune out the incessant and essential cacophony the ever-busy flightline offers. The word “noisy” doesn’t do this environment justice. At times it is deafening. The hum of the flightline means life saving supplies, equipment and personnel are on their way to the Haitian citizens who need them. One life at a time. That’s all we can do. Save one life at a time.
The Red Cross reports on one of its main shelters on the main road running to Port-au-Prince airport:
The staff and volunteers of the Haitian Red Cross, along with the Red Cross Societies of Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg and France, are busy distributing non-food items at a temporary shelter known as Daihatsu – along the main artery that leads to the airport in Port-au-Prince.
Red Cross teams continue to visit temporary shelter sites across Port-au-Prince to identify and assess the needs of those made homeless due to the earthquake. Many people whose houses are still standing have also opted to stay at these shelters for fear of aftershocks and the uncertainty of the stability of their homes.
6:50 PM (Haitian Time)
The World Food Program is slowly beefing up its presence and scope of distribution in Haiti as communication improves. In the coming days WFP aims to deliver 5 day rations to 100,000 people a day.
If you want to help WFP out in increasing their capacity, please donate by CLICKING HERE.
6:42 PM (Haitian Time)
Amid reports that Haitians have started wide-spread looting – some of which has been captured on video -, Canadian charities yesterday released a report praising the conduct of many Haitians for showing calm and reason as the situation inside the country becomes more desperate. CDC reports:
Leaders of four Canadian relief organizations said they are managing to help thousands of people in Haiti despite an aid supply bottleneck at the Port-au-Prince airport and delays in co-ordinating international efforts. They are getting around the “choke point” by using supplies purchased in Haiti, brought in overland from Dominican Republic or shipped from Miami.
They also spoke in a conference call with reporters Tuesday about how their aid workers are finding the vast majority of Haitians organized and calm. David Morley, president of Save the Children Canada, said Haitians “have shown remarkable restraint and orderliness in the face of this horrific destruction.”
Doctors Without Broders (MSF) has released a video showing there activities on the ground in Haiti. (Warning, the images are disturbing.)
11:09 PM (Haitian Time)
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) report on their day’s work in Haiti:
Loris De Filippi, the coordinator for MSF’s work in Choscal hospital in Cite Soleil, says the situation is dire: “Every time we go out of the operating theatre, we see faces imploring us for treatment. And they are begging us there in front of the hospital. It’s a very unacceptable situation. What we are trying to do is to expand our capacity to answer these calls. But we need supplies to get to the airport—and we don’t know why the planes are being re-directed.”
In Carrefour hospital, Paul McMaster, a surgeon, says that the needs are all too obvious: “We’ve not been able to get the equipment we need in the hospital because of these delivery problems. We’re running out. On Saturday we didn’t have one of our anesthetists. We’ve run out of plaster of Paris for fractures and we’ve no crepe bandages at the moment. So it’s just a nightmare to get these basic materials.”
MSF is currently operating in a host of locations in and around the capital. More than 1,500 patients have received treatment at an MSF hospital in Martissant, to name just one, and 120 of them are receiving inpatient care. MSF recently began working in Port-au-Prince’s General Hospital, where staff found a working dialysis machine and immediately began putting it to use. MSF’s nephrology team carried out its first treatment on Monday and will expand their work when new dialysis machines arrive by road from the Dominican Republic. After numerous delays, the construction of an inflatable hospital has finally begun as well; when complete, it will have room for 100 beds and will house two operating theatres.
In Leogane, one of the hardest hit towns outside the capitol, a team is working in a nursing school where, prior to MSF’s arrival, the staff had been struggling to provide basic care. Another team in Leogane is preparing four surgical wards in what was a missionary hospital to accept the large number of referral cases in the area. In Jacmel, another battered town, an MSF team is performing surgery in the hospital’s operating theater.
10:34 PM (Haitian Time)
Nate Loucks has an urgent appeal for transportation to Jacmel, southwest of Port-au-Prince from Santo-Domingo.
If you know of anyone going from DR to Jacmel, write me and I will coordinate with Nate Loucks.
Contact Kristin or Nate on Twitter by clicking HERE and HERE if you can help provide transporation for these doctors. As you know, lives depend on them in Haiti.
9:31 PM (Haitian Time)
- Update on this situation -
UN and US South Command have been notified and have said they will try to help.
EMERGENCY SITUATION
There is disturbing news from an orphanage in Delmas close to Port-au-Prince. Twitter user Amiee McCaffrey is asking for immediate help to save lives in her orphanage:
The place: Foyer des Filles de Dieu Orphanage
How to get there: The name is written on the wall surrounding the compound in 2-foot high letters, about a block away from Delmas 19. Lattitude:18.55659574576912 / Longitude:-72.30873942375183
Story about the orphanage from CBC. CLICK HERE to read.
65 orphans, 3 have died. They need water.
They have “full guardianship” and have been adopted.
If you know anyone who can help these children, please contact Amy on Twitter.
8:58 PM (Haitian Time)
A reliable Twitter source has sent a request here for food, water and medication in Jacmel, southwest of Port-au-Prince. If you have any way of getting these supplies through, please call Patrice Mabouya on 36488040, Keith Angus or David Belle 3463 8005
7:56 PM (Haitian Time)
It has been frustrating to see aid not get to Haitians as quickly as we all would have liked to see. This report by Associated Press gives some great reasons as to why aid coordination has been facing major hurdles:
• Both national and international authorities suffered great losses in the quake, taking out many of the leaders best suited to organize a response;
• Woefully inadequate infrastructure and a near-complete failure in telephone and Internet communications complicate efforts to reach millions of people forced from homes turned into piles of rubble;
• Fears of looting and violence keep aid groups and governments from moving as quickly as they’d like;
• Pre-existing poverty and malnutrition put some at risk even before the quake hit.
7:35 PM (Haitian Time)
More doctors getting to Haiti at last. Medical Teams International has been doing a great job of providing emergency medical help to Haitians in need and they are soon flying more staff there to help with the medical emergency:
Medical Teams International volunteer doctors and nurses are performing orthopedic surgeries and treating hundreds of people each day at the 350-bed Kings Hospital, just outside Port-au-Prince.
Three doctors, two nurses and an emergency logistician leave on Wed., Jan. 20 to join the six doctors and three nurses already in Haiti. Doctors leaving tomorrow include: Marie Angele Theard (Oregon Anesthesiology Group), Steve Boyer (Oregon Emergency Physicians) and Bob Gibson (Portland physician). Nurses are Carol Caudle (Willamette Falls Hospital, OR) and Kris Repp, (self-employed emergency RN, Renton, WA.) Dr. Theard was born in Haiti but lives and practices in Portland.
The team leaving on Wed. will fly to Port-au-Prince on a private jet supplied by TEC Equipment Inc., who owns VOLVO and MACK truck dealerships on the West Coast. Dave Thompson, TEC Equipment Inc.’s president, made the decision to donate the flight after his employees and VOLVO and MACK Trucks North America donated the funds to pay for the fuel.
One of the volunteers leaving on Wed. is Andrew Davidson, president and CEO of the Oregon Association of Hospital and Health Systems (OAHHS). Davidson is an expert in health logistics and operations in diverse health care delivery settings. In addition, OAHHS, and its counterpart the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA), has committed to raise more than $560,000 in cash and medicines to help Medical Teams International respond to the Haiti crisis.
People can give an automatic $10 gift by texting HOPE to 253-83; on-line at www.medicalteams.org, calling 1-800-959-4325; or mailing a gift to P.O. Box 10, Portland, OR 97207.
7:25 PM (Haitian Time)
Finally, everyone cries and prayers for the elderly Haitians dying of hunger, thirst and medical supplies in Port-au-Prince Municipal Nursing home has been answered:
HelpAge has seen news reports of older people in nursing homes in desperate need. We are concerned for the immediate welfare of the residents of the Port-au-Prince Municipal Nursing Home.
HelpAge has alerted the Mayor of Port-au-Prince to their plight and we are doing our utmost to get emergency supplies there today. Over the next eight days, our partner CARPA will provide two doctors and four nurses to the Municipal Home and other homes most in need. We will also supply much-needed transport to get ill older people into the nearest available hospitals.
You can donate to HelpAge by visiting their donation by CLICKING HERE.
6:40 PM (Haitian Time)
The need for surgeons is profound being felt in Haiti as more survivors struggle to cope with their injuries:
ShaunKing and his church are willing to pay for neurosurgeons to go work with Sanjay Gupta. You can call Shaun directly on 404 461 9850 or e-mail shaunking@courageous.tv
The people of Gaza held a fundraiser for the people of Haiti today. They are sending, money, medicine, blankets and other supplies. Hopefully, Israel will help in getting these supplies to Haiti. (The report is from PressTV in Iran.)
3:00 AM (Haitian Time)
As people in Haiti continue to hastily bury victims of the earthquake for fear of health risks, BBC reports on the myths and realities of the supposed health risk and the emotional trauma hasty burials will cause the family of the victims:
“There is this myth that bodies have to be disposed of incredibly quickly, which often leads to bodies being shoved into pits without any form of identification,” Sir Nicholas Young, British Red Cross chief executive and a trustee of the main fundraising group, the Disasters Emergency Committee, told the BBC. “[This makes it] impossible for the relatives to grieve. Impossible to know how many people died and impossible for people to identify their relatives. This is a terrible shame.
“The risk is absolutely minimal, unless there is disease in the population. This is a mistake and a waste of resources.” The charity has its own guidelines on cadaver management for disaster zones and signs up to 2009 advice from the Pan American branch of the World Health Organisations – Management of Dead Bodies After Disasters: A Field Manual for First Responders.
You can access the field manual on the Red Cross’ website by CLICK HERE.
2:35 AM (Haitian Time)
NEW UPDATE on this situation. Shaun King‘s people are reportedly going to make a visit there tomorrow. (Thank you for the compassion!)
Foyer de Sion Orphanage in Port-au-Prince is running out of water and in desperate need of it, according to one twitterer who is in touch with them. If you know someone who can get water to their facilities, please get in touch with twitter user robinbauer. They had earlier received some aid from the LDS church:
With gratitude we are glad to announce that food, water and medical supplies arrived from the LDS church and the children are receiving it. Praise God!. Prayers precede miracles and we thank you for your prayers. Satisfied tummies tonight.
Thanks for everyone’s support. Still much to be done. In the meantime please help with our Haiti Relief Fund. http://www.foyerdesion.org/donations-GiftsOfHope.php We are finding ways to get that help to Guesno.
1:50 AM (Haitian Time)
Convoy of Hope has released a new report explaining Haitians immediate needs and what they have done so far:
Food supplies are running low in Haiti and show no signs of improving anytime soon. But even when food is available—as it is in limited amounts on some street corners from vendors—many families simply do not have the cash to pay for it. “My house is damaged, I need food, but I have no money to buy it,” says Ralph, a twenty-something-year-old who could be speaking for tens of thousands of hungry Haitians.
“The situation regarding food and water remains dire,” says Kevin Rose, Haiti director for Convoy of Hope. “The lack of fuel and security issues has made it very difficult to move food around the city. But through our network of partners we are getting food into some of the most desperate places.” Rose says the food being distributed to earthquake victims is inventory from Convoy of Hope’s warehouse that is used to feed 7,000 children each day who are a part of Convoy of Hope’s feeding initiative in Haiti.
“That supply will last 10 to 14 more days,” admits Rose. “So, we need to replenish the warehouse as fast as we can to ensure that we can keep feeding the children in our program while also continuing to provide food for those who are suffering from the earthquake.” Hundreds of desperate Haitians are in line waiting for food at Quisqueya Chapel—Convoy of Hope’s main distribution point in Port-au-Prince. Yesterday, the Convoy of Hope team distributed 100,000 meals here and at five other distribution points.
“Having partners like Haiti 1, the national Assemblies of God church and Mission of Hope has allowed us access to parts of the city we could have never gotten into,” says Paul Coroleuski, Convoy of Hope’s director of field services who is in Haiti. “Without our partners we would be like many other relief organizations who have food and supplies in country but are facing enormous logistical and security problems getting those items distributed.”
You can help Convoy of Hope help more Haitians by CLICKING HERE and donating.
12:39 AM (Haitian Time)
Pastor Jean Romain of Good Shepherd’s Love Orphanage located on 15 October Blvd, Tabarre Haiti Goureau in Delmas – Port-au-Prince has sent a call for help. There are children and other survivors there in immediate need of assistance and supplies. If you have a way of getting medical supplies, food and water to these people, please get in touch with Pastor Romain by calling 011-509-3462-0624 or 011-509-3874-5726 or emailing jeanromain56@yahoo.fr.
Please hurry, time is of the essence.
12:29 AM (Haitian Time)
Thanks to your generous donations, Mercy Corps was able to raise more money through Western Union for Haiti. They blog:
Over the holiday weekend, the Western Union Foundation gave us $50,000 to match donations to our Haiti Earthquake Fund. We finished the challenge on Martin Luther King Day. Thanks to everyone who gave through Twitter and helped us finish the match.
(Thank you, citizens of earth!)
12:08 AM (Haitian Time)
Hospice Saint Josesph also have a new update on their medical work in Haiti. Though they are not an organization as large as the Red Cross, CARE International or MSF, they are still doing what they can to help Haitians – because life matters. You can read there update by clicking here or visit their website by clicking here.
Haiti… Year 0, Day 7
11:50 PM (Haitian Time)
Allegations that Wyclef Jean used money from his chariy Yele Haiti for personal use has been found to be false. CNN reports:
As musician Wyclef Jean tearfully denied recent allegations that he misappropriated funds from his Yele Haiti charity, experts on non-profits said they couldn’t find serious wrongdoing, except for a lapse of discipline in filing his taxes. The accusations stem from the tax forms for Jean’s charity, Yele Haiti, that came under scrutiny after being made public.
Referring to the forms, Web site The Smoking Gun claimed the Haitian-born musician was using money raised by his foundation to fund personal projects, including his production company, recording studio and a live performance. Meanwhile, Charity Navigator, which evaluates non-profit organizations, pointed out that Yele Haiti was late in filing three years worth of taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.
In the largest transaction noted by The Smoking Gun, Yele Haiti’s 2006 tax filing said it purchased $250,000 worth of “TV airtime and production services from Telemax, S.A which is a for-profit company located in Haiti and which two board members (Wyclef Jean and co-musician Jerry Duplessis) own a controlling interest in.” But tax experts say it’s routine for individuals to charge their own charities, so long as services are being provided in return. “The tax rules do not prohibit related party transactions,” said Marcus Owen, former chief of the IRS unit that oversees non-profits.
(Shame on the Smoking Gun)
11:27 PM (Haitian Time)
New Doctors Without Borders update about the situation in Haiti:
MSF has given primary care to an estimated 3,000 people in the capital and performed more than 400 surgeries. The most common and most serious injuries are open fractures, head injuries and infected wounds that need amputation. Marie-Christine Ferir, an MSF Emergency Coordinator, says that the overall situation is still very difficult and that injured people in the city are still waiting too long to receive care. “The hospitals that remain standing are full. Although there is a slight increase in surgical capacity in Port-au-Prince with MSF expanding its capacity and other organizations arriving, it is still far from enough to absorb the number of patients in desperate need of surgery. We are having to focus on people with very serious injuries, where surgical interventions can save lives.”
MSF has begun to build an inflatable hospital with two operating theaters and 100-bed capacity in an open field not far from the airport. Though its arrival was delayed by air traffic congestion, the parts are finally arriving in Port-au-Prince. Some came on a plane that was able to land in the capital on Sunday while the rest was transported overland from the Dominican Republic. MSF will have this facility operational as soon as possible.
Other MSF teams have traveled to areas outside of the city and have found very substantial damage and large numbers of injured people, some of whom fled the capital looking for treatment, food, and shelter. In Jacmel, a town on the southern coast, near earthquake’s epicenter, around 60% of all buildings were destroyed. Jacmel’s hospital had partially collapsed but MSF determined that the operating theatre was still usable and will begin working there as soon as it can. The roads are blocked, however, so supplies must be brought in by helicopter.
10:28 PM (Haitian Time)
Desperate cry for help to get laptops for aid workers to help in coordinating the relief efforts from Shaun King, lead pastor of The Courageous Church:
I have not asked for any money from anybody for Haiti. However, I now have an extremely URGENT request. Let me clarify. When I say urgent, I mean LIFE & DEATH. I have not asked for any money from anybody for Haiti. However, I now have an extremely URGENT request. Let me clarify. When I say urgent, I mean LIFE & DEATH.
Several of my friends in Haiti are in desperate, immediate (as in yesterday) need of high power, military-grade laptop computers. We need four of them. Current failures of communications systems there is making the distribution of aid, the reporting of injuries, and much more AMAZINGLY DIFFICULT. These laptops will be used for many purposes – including creating a mobile phone bank, a portable command center, and more.
These laptops will multiply the value of the aid and assistance.
You can donate to help Shaun procure these laptops by visiting his page. You do not have to pay the full amount, but as mentioned before, this is of immediate and vital importance. CLICK HERE to visit his page and donate.
10:23 PM (Haitian Time)
The power of Twitter. Ann Curry reports that Twitterati got into action to force the airport in Port-au-Prince be opened up so that planes carrying aid could land. The US Airforce is currently in-charge of the airport, but since there are far too many planes coming in and flying out of the airport, keeping the traffic flowing is becoming more and more difficult as the days go by.
FOX News reports that orphaned Haitian children might now find it easier to come to the US, considering the calamity that has just struck Haiti:
Orphaned children from Haiti will be allowed to enter the U.S. temporarily on a case-by-case basis to ensure they received proper care, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State announced Monday. “We are committed to doing everything we can to help reunite families in Haiti during this very difficult time,” DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement. “While we remain focused on family reunification in Haiti, authorizing the use of humanitarian parole for orphans who are eligible for adoption in the United States will allow them to receive the care they need here.”
Under the plan, humanitarian parole into the U.S may be granted to the following children: those who have been legally confirmed as orphans eligible for intercountry adoption by the government of Haiti and are being adopted by U.S. citizens; or children who have been previously identified by an adoption service provider or facilitator as eligible for intercountry adoption and have been matched to U.S. citizen prospective adoptive parents.
9:58 PM (Haitian Time)
Convenient store chain Wawa Inc. and Starbucks are now accepting donations on behalf of the Red Cross to help the survivors of Haiti’s apocalyptic earthquake. If you are a frequent shopper at Wawa, you can visit their website and statement here and see how you could help.
Starbucks shoppers can ask the cashiers or visit this page if they are looking to make donations to the Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
9:31 PM (Haitian Time)
United Nations trucks slowly arriving in Haiti:
9:10 PM (Haitian Time)
The Red Cross has so far received $21 million in donations from individual donations. Social media has been acknowledged to have played a great part in the accumulation of those donations. CNN reports:
“It’s blown me away and it continues to,” said Wendy Harman, the director of social media for the Red Cross. Harman said the campaign, which raised more than $3 million in its first 24 hours last week, had topped the $21 million mark by 11 p.m. Sunday. The total has obliterated the nearly $4 million that, according to the Red Cross, was donated to all charities by mobile texts in 2009.
In all, the Red Cross had raised about $112 million for Haiti relief by 5 p.m. Monday, according to spokeswoman Abi Weaver. Spurred in part by the text campaign, Red Cross fundraising for Haiti relief has started at a record pace. In the first 48 hours of the campaign, the amount of money raised was greater than the Red Cross brought in during similar periods after Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami disasters, Weaver said.
Earlier President Obama visited Red Cross offices in Washington D.C. and commended them on their job as well as thanked USAID for their work.
8:32 PM (Haitian Time)
Former President Bill Clinton spoke in Haiti on his trip there. Agence France Press reports:
“I’ll be surprised and disappointed if 48 hours from now we’re not feeding and bringing fresh water to dramatically larger amounts of people,” The former US president was whisked to the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince and given a first-hand look at the ruined city and the misery facing survivors and those treating them after last week’s cataclysmic quake. “They have done an amazing job given the adversity they have faced,” Clinton told AFP of the medical personnel as he walked through the crowded hospital largely unrecognized by most of the ailing Haitians around him.
Before leaving, Clinton was supposed to meet with President Rene Preval and other Haitian leaders at the Port-au-Prince airport to discuss ways to more effectively coordinate the distribution of aid. “We are trying to be very targeted with what we’re bringing in,” he told AFP at the hospital, referring to the water, food, medical supplies, and other supplies such as solar flashlights, portable radios and generators being provided by The Clinton Foundation.
You can donate to the William J. Clinton Foundation or the Clinton Bush Fund for Haiti here by clicking here or here.
8: 24 PM (Haitian Time)
CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta continues to be a hero in the aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake. Today, he performed a brain surgery on an injured Haitian girl aboard the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) near Port-au-Prince. During the surgery, Dr. Gupta removed sharpnel from the girl’s skull, potentially saving her life.
Relief efforts continue as the scope increases to encompass more people who have been affected by the tragedy in Hait. The Associated Press reports:
“I know that aid cannot come soon enough,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in New York after returning from Haiti. “Unplug the bottlenecks,” he urged. In one step to reassure frustrated aid groups, the U.S. military agreed to give aid deliveries priority over military flights at the now-U.S.-run airport here, the WFP announced in Rome. The Americans’ handling of civilian flights had angered some humanitarian officials.
The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) said it expected to boost operations from feeding 67,000 people on Sunday to 97,000 on Monday. But it needs 100 million prepared meals over the next 30 days, and it appealed for more government donations. Hard-pressed medical teams sometimes had to take time away from quake victims to deal with gunshot wounds, said Loris de Filippi of Doctors Without Borders. In the Montrissant neighborhood, Red Cross doctors working in shipping containers and saying they “cannot cope” lost 50 patients over two days, said international Red Cross spokesman Simon Schorno.
The U.N. humanitarian chief, John Holmes, said in New York not all 15 U.N. food distribution points were up and running yet. “That’s a question of people, trucks, fuel, but the aid is scaling up very rapidly,” he said.
Evidence of the shortfall could be found at a makeshift camp of 50,000 displaced people spread over a hillside golf course overlooking the city. Getting clean water into people’s hands was still a dire concern. “People can survive a few days without food but we must try to avoid major outbreaks of waterborne disease,” Feagans said. Clinton and accompanying daughter, Chelsea, pitched in, helping unload cases of bottled water from their plane to a U.N. truck.
7:19 PM (Haitian Time)
Hospital 75 miles north of Haiti is fully functional; can anyone get patients from Port-au-Prince there? Helicopters badly needed:
From Tim Traynor at Hopital Sacre Coeur in Milot:
I am sitting at Hopital Sacre Coeur in Milot, Haiti, 75 miles north of PAP waiting for patients that have yet to arrive. I have a 7 member trauma/ general surgery team that arrived from the States earlier this afternoon and have received only 4 people from PAP. Those that made it by USCGS helo were so septic that they would have died had they not been transported to us early this PM. We have 6 Orthopedic surgeons arriving at noon tomorrow and we have no patients for them. We have created space for one hundred people and have differed all non-emergency cases until we have handled the crisis. I am told that within three to four days all those injured in the quake will be dead and the extraordinary efforts accomplished by these generous doctors will have been wasted. What in the name of God can we do or who can we talk to in an effort to alleviate the misery and keep this tragedy from turning into one of the biggest calamities in our time.
The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, today allocated some US$100 million to boost humanitarian response in 14 neglected emergencies around the world, where people are suffering the effects of hunger, malnutrition, disease and conflict… Humanitarian actors in Colombia, Eritrea, Haiti and the Philippines will each receive $3 million to bolster their emergency programmes. (Haiti’s full funding needs are being re-evaluated in light of the tragic earthquake. Another $25 million was allocated to humanitarian agencies in Haiti last week..)
6:29 PM (Haitian Time)
From MSF Website (Audio Transcript also available in that link):
Benoit Leduc, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) operations manager for Haiti, and Loris de Filippi, MSF operational coordinator in Port-au-Prince, participated in a teleconference with press regarding MSF’s response to the January 12, 2010, earthquake.
“So that’s the first thing, the structures. Now, we have five structures in which three of them it’s possible to do surgery. We are clearly seeing altogether over a thousand patients. Registration was a bit chaotic but we’re pretty sure that this amount were able to reach us. And perform 300 surgical operations
Access is pretty difficult; they had to hire a helicopter to go there. Basically, a lot of destruction in the town and no health capacity, no treatment operational, and it’s again the same—they need surgery and the trauma, it is a very urgent thing. Then of course in town, a lot of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, difficult to count, difficult to get accurate figures. Most probably, when we talk of over 200,000 people sleeping in the streets, in any open space, any empty space they can find. You have groups of like several hundred families, thousands of people, sleeping there on the plastic sheeting.
We are now in 3 places where we perform surgery, day and night, in 2 different operating theaters. So, all these places run at full speed, and you make the calculation if they can perform per OT 10 vital surgeries per day. Already we can say that hundreds of people might go away, we might lose them, either they will be amputated with the risk of septicemia after 6 days of infected wounds. So this is basic – and it’s hundreds. These are vital operations. When we talk about septicemia, it means we are going to lose some of those people in the coming days, after 10 days–2 weeks. We are afraid. And I come back to the previous question from one of your colleagues, that our halls in the hospitals might be full.”
To read full transcript or listen to the audio version CLICK HERE.
Songs for Haiti benefit Concert to be held in Portland, Oregon.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
7:30 pm – Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Avenue, Portland
$30 all tickets – available through Ticketmaster – tickets go on sale 10 am Tuesday!!
Appearing in performance will be pianist Thomas Lauderdale (of Pink Martini), Cool Nutz, Portland Cello Project, Grammy nominated pianist Janice Scroggins, Holcombe Waller. Oregon Symphony concertmaster Jun Iwasaki, with pianist Grace Fong, Broadway veteran, baritone Douglas Webster, Flash Choir, PHAME. and the Grant High School Royal Blues … and Portland sensation Storm Large! Also additional musical guests from genres including classical, indie rock/pop and hip-hop.
Stephen Marc Beaudoin and Tom Sessa are event co-producers.
10:00 PM (Haitian Time)
Do you have American Express Membership points, feel generous and feel like helping Haiti? Well, the International Rescue Committe can help. IRC tweets:
For every 1,000 Membership Rewards points, AmericanExpress will donate $10 to IRC or your charity of choice in Haiti.
9:05 PM (Haitian Time)
Have you already donated or don’t have the money to donate? Do you feel a burning desire to help the poor people of Haiti get help? Are you good with copy-pasting material and clicking buttons online? Well, then, there’s just a thing for you now. All you have to do is go to this page: http://haiti.com/ and help locate areas that need help by checking Twitter updates that are already on the page. If you notice an emergency, just place it on the map and someone will hopefully get there after finding that information. It is quick and trust me, gratifying.
8:49 PM (Haitian Time)
The Baptist Haiti Mission is another little known relief organization that has been working tirelessly to help Haitian survivors cling onto life. Part of their recent update:
With daily flights of relief supplies coming in through Samaritan’s Purse and more on the way with ISOH/IMPACT, many of the basic needs are being covered. But water is one precious resource that remains all too scarce. The importance of clean, safe drinking water can’t be exaggerated in the days following the total devastation brought on by the 7.0 earthquake.
Today, members of Samaritan’s Purse and our missionaries worked tirelessly to install a water filtration system that will turn the irrigation pond water into a life-giving source for the hospital patients and all living at our headquarters in Fermathe, Haiti. The water should be enough to last at least a week.
And here’s the water filtration system that they installed.
8:45 PM (Haitian Time)
Medical Teams International has a very experienced team of six people on the ground in Haiti including Dr. Dan Diamond. They landed Friday, January 15 and are currently providing emergency care at the UN field hospital.
“We started out by going to the UN field hospital to tell them that we thought we had a workable solution for the lack of operating rooms… Without functioning operating rooms many of these people will be dead in a matter of days. Tomorrow we are going to do what we can to get ours open and King’s Hospital” Dr. Dan Diamond (read more at Dr. Diamond’s blog)
7:40 PM (Haitiain Time)
USAID has compiled a list of websites and other useful links for people who wish to donate or help in other ways. You can visit their page by clicking here.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid: the development assistance programs created and funded by the U.S. Congress through the Foreign Assistance Act, annual funds appropriation acts, and other legislation.
7:00 PM (Haitian Time)
Doctors Without Borders has a new update on their work in Haiti on the fifth day after the disaster:
In its newly established hospital in the Carrefour district, an MSF surgical team has carried out 90 operations since beginning work there. Another team carried out 20 surgeries in a converted shipping container. More capacity is on its way, but the arrival of the inflatable hospital with its two operating theatres has been delayed because one of the planes carrying its components did not get permission to land at Port-au-Prince airport on January 16. The plane, which was re-routed to the Dominican Republic, was unloaded earlier today and its cargo is being trucked into Haiti. The plane carrying the other half of the hospital did land today in Port-au-Prince, but MSF is still concerned that the delivery of vital supplies are still being delayed.
The teams on the ground say that conditions are not improving yet and that the streets are full of desperate people. The lack of food and clean water is causing further stress.
(You can donate to Doctors Without Borders by clicking here)
6:48 PM (Haitian Time)
Just got word back from the medical team in Milot, 75 miles north of Port-au-Prince. They’ll look to see if they can find information on help for the elderly residents of Port-au-Prince Municipal Nursing Home which is only a mile north of Port-au-Prince city who are in urgent need of water, food and medical help. (The pictures from there are too disturbing to post again). Many are dying of hunger alone. Please, if you know anyone, contact me or let them know or give them the information so these people could be helped.
(You can contact me on twitter @JShahryar or email josh at dailyniteowl.com)
6:31 PM (Haitian Time)
Paul Conneally of the Red Cross tweets updates from Red Cross’ work in Haiti and general news about the relief effort. At this hour, relief workers with laptops are the best reporters. (I have edited the tweets just a tad so non-Twitterati can understand better):
Successfully crossed into #haiti. Heat and dust trucks with aid as far as the eye can see. Nearly there. Battery nearly dead!
Arrived in Haiti yesterday afternoon and mucked in to set up new base camp in an abandoned warehouse. Big challenges. No water, power etc.
Slept underneath the stars last night. Heavy aftershocks @ 4am.
People in our neighborhood Cité du Soleil screaming with fear and then sang and clapped till 6am. Incredible. We are in Cité du soleil Port-au-Prince.
Cite du Soleil is one of the hardest hit areas in PAP. Relief distributions and water distributions already underway.
Norwegian colleagues putting up field hospital @ University hospital + our surgeons, nurses already working hard. Vital medicines given.
Spanish Redcross doing amazing work providing clean water. 200k litres today, double that tomorrow and so on the next day.
We are not witnessing violence or rioting, the opposite. Calm Q’s 4 water and relief items. Extremely harrowing scenes in the hospitals.
Big reinforcement of staff and equipment, relief items again today. We are more than 100 at base camp with one toilet which does not work!
Had the pleasure to talk @length with Mme. Gideon of haitian Red Cross. Amazing lady. She tells me as many as 10’000 volunteers working now.
Haitian Red Cross (HRCS) offices + blood bank destroyed. Many staff still missing presumed … lots of Haitians offering help HRCS.
Trying 2 explain to media the need 2 focus on life-saving priorities in a situ where 3ml are in desperate need of support.
big focus is still on surgical care for the wounded, clean water and rebuilding the capacity of the Haitian Red Cross
Red Cross has now managed to get 8 planes of relief + equip into #Haiti, only 3 of these thru PAP the others thru Santo Domingo.
Aid effort undeniably slower than we would want but the reality is what it is. No infrastructure. Little central control (govn. in a tent).
Port-au-Prince airport can only handle 4 planes an hour (or less) when we need a plane a minute. Massive bottleneck so Santo Domingo notta bad option.
Red Cross President and Secretary General planning to visit PAP in the coming days to meet Haitian RC staff and see activities on the grnd.
Staying positive. Focused on the reason we are here despite setbacks + obstacles. The human cost must remain our main focus Red Cross Haiti
Gennike my colleague from Trinidad + Tobago penned this report ¦ http://bit.ly/8gvW67 ¦ we will up our output as and from 2morro.
We are also putting as many of our photos as we can get uploaded here http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifrc ¦ xtrmely diff to get images out
3,000 Haitians are currently living in this camp. Many of them have lost their homes when a 7.3 eartquake struck Port-au-Prince on January 2010. Other don't dare returning to their houses because of fear of aftershocks.
5:23 PM (Haitian Time)
Convoy of Hope, which is currently on the ground helping Haitians, have released a new video pleading for more donations. At this time, many people want to personally go to Haiti to help. However, the security situation is rather grim and the money spent on flight expenses could be worth much more if spent on water, food and medecine for the devastated humans holding onto dear life in this crisis.
Some more good news. AmeriCares is delivering $5 million worth of medical aid and a team of relief workers are en route to help earthquake survivors in Haiti. (Let’s hope they reach their in time for many survivors).
Here’s an AmeriCares plane which just flew to Haiti:
UNICEF on the other hand has been helping Haiti non-stop for decades and has reached out in this time of need to concerned citizens for more help. You can donate and read their message here.
They have already landed several planes packed with supplies in Port-au-Prince and are planning on delivering more aid in the coming days. Be a part of it.
4:22 PM (Haitian Time)
Water is in short supply in Haiti as I have updated before. Convoy of Hope released this report today:
Water is scarce in Port-au-Prince. So much so, that if relief groups advertised they had clean water to distribute they would, according to officials here, be overrun. So, one Convoy of Hope team worked behind the scenes on Saturday to provide clean water for the residents of Port-au-Prince by installing two modified bio-sand filters at an orphanage in the capital city.
US National Football League giants the San Diego Chargers are urging their fans again to donate money to help the humanitarian efforts. They released a statement on January 14 already which I’m reposting:
How to donate to relief efforts in Haiti
On January 12, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the island of Haiti causing widespread death and destruction. Thousands are homeless and the death toll is rising. There is an immediate need for food, water, temporary shelter and medical services for the victims of this devastating natural disaster.
The San Diego Chargers are urging all NFL fans to reach out and help the American Red Cross bring desperately-needed supplies into this area.
Please help today by texting “HAITI” to 90999 and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts; the charge will appear on the next cell phone bill.
The American Red Cross is also accepting other forms of monetary donations to support relief efforts. Donors may send checks to the local chapter, designating Haiti Relief to: American Red Cross of San Diego/Imperial Counties, 3950 Calle Fortunada, San Diego, CA 92123, or by calling (858) 309-1200.
You can also click on this link for the local chapter of the American Red Cross at www.sdarc.org and make a donation through their secure website.
The people in Haiti need our help today. Please join with the Chargers and support the important work of the American Red Cross.
3:55 PM (Haitian Time)
Democracy Now! just received this email from a medical worker at Hopital Sacre Coeur in Milot, 75 miles north of Port-Au-Prince.
From Tim Traynor at Hopital Sacre Coeur in Milot:
I am sitting at Hopital Sacre Coeur in Milot, Haiti, 75 miles north of PAP waiting for patients that have yet to arrive. I have a 7 member trauma/ general surgery team that arrived from the States earlier this afternoon and have received only 4 people from PAP. Those that made it by USCGS helo were so septic that they would have died had they not been transported to us early this PM. We have 6 Orthopedic surgeons arriving at noon tomorrow and we have no patients for them. We have created space for one hundred people and have differed all non-emergency cases until we have handled the crisis. I am told that within three to four days all those injured in the quake will be dead and the extraordinary efforts accomplished by these generous doctors will have been wasted. What in the name of God can we do or who can we talk to in an effort to alleviate the misery and keep this tragedy from turning into one of the biggest calamities in our time.
Thanks,
Tim Traynor
Volunteer
3:43 PM (Haitian Time)
WFP is yet again pleading for donations from citizens of the world as the people of Haiti battle with hunger, thirst and lack of medical supplies. If you’re feeling generous, visit: https://www.wfp.org/donate/haiti
WFP has been actively helping out with taking care of the survivors of Haiti’s devastating earthquake. CBS earlier quoted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acknowledging that WFP was feeding more than 40,000 Haitians who have no hope for a meal but from charities.
3:35 PM (Haitian Time)
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) has released new pictures of their medical staff helping Haitians on the ground. The pictures show the misery that has been wrought upon Haiti by nature. You can view more pictures by clicking on the main picture screen. (Beware, the pictures are definitely disturbing. Do not pass them on without a warning.)
3:33 PM (Haitian Time)
News has just arrived that Israeli medical teams are on the ground in Port-au-Prince finally. Israel had two days ago pledged to send aid and medical teams to Haiti to assist in the humanitarian effort.
——————————————
End Updates for January 16
2:16 AM (Haitian Time)
I will resume live-blogging tomorrow. For now, good night and good luck.
2:00 AM (Haitian Time)
There is now a Facebook group for people trying to find news about their loved ones in the aftermath of the tragedy in Haiti. You can join this group if you have a Facebook account by visiting their page here. If the link does not work, please search for “Haiti Earthquake” on Facebook and you will be directed to it.
12:12 AM (Haitian Time)
Haiti Medical has released a list of working hospitals in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other cities in Haiti.
Port-au-Prince:
Hopital de l’ Universite d’Etat d’Haiti
Rue Monseigneur Guilloux
Port-au-Prince, HAITI
Phone: 509-222-1221 or 509-223-4254
Centre Obstetrico Gynecologique Isaie Jeanty-Leon Audain
Chancerelles,
Port-au-Prince, HAITI
Phone: 509-222-2757
Hopital du Canape-Vert
Rte du Canape-Vert
Port-au-Prince, HAITI
Phone: 509-245-1053 or 509-245-0205
AmeriCares disaster relief experts are on the ground in Port-au-Prince working around the clock preparing for the arrival of AmeriCares first emergency airlift into Haiti. Our aid workers are coordinating the distribution of $5 million worth of lifesaving medical aid to help Haitian survivors of the catastrophic earthquake. AmeriCares has pledged $15 million in aid over the days, weeks and months ahead and a second airlift is planned in the coming days. Help Support AmeriCares >>
11:06 PM (Haitian Time)
NBA’s Only Haitian-Born Player Samuel Dalembert Donates $100, 000 in Support of Relief Efforts
Unemployed Portland man gives half his life-savings to Mercy Corps for Haiti. Click here to read this touching story and watch the man who opened his heart for the people of Haiti.
09:13 PM (Haitian Time)
A US law firm is providing limited pro-bono help to Haitian out-of-status immigrants in the wake of the earthquake who are already in the US. You can contact the office of Alex T. Roshuk or pass the information on to your friends in need.
UNICEF has successfully landed another plane load of supplies in Port-au-Prince:
A plane loaded with UNICEF emergency relief supplies arrived in Port-au-Prince this morning. This is the second plane load of UNICEF water and sanitation supplies to arrive in Haiti in the past 24 hours. The shipment contained oral rehydration salts, water purification tablets and jerry cans. Additionally, two UNICEF water and sanitation experts arrived in Haiti today.
Two more UNICEF planes loaded with 70 metric tons of tents, tarpaulin, and medicines, are currently awaiting clearance to fly to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for distribution in Haiti.
08: 15 PM (Haitian Time)
Samaritan Purse’s planes arrive with more aid for Haitians – way to go:
Several Samaritan’s Purse cargo planes have arrived in Haiti, and more are on the way with critically-needed relief supplies for victims of the massive earthquake that rocked the country on Tuesday.
The initial shipment that arrived Wednesday included shelter material, hygiene kits, and water purification kits, as well as members of our disaster response team. Three more flights with personnel and critically needed relief supplies landed Friday. Staff arriving included our team leader, two water engineers, and eight medical personnel.
“The streets are full of people that have no home to go back to,” said Dr. David Gettle, medical advisor. “They’re running out of food, fuel, and water. The situation is desperate and tense, and there is tremendous suffering.”
Doctors Without Borders has new updates on what they’ve been doing in Port-au-Prince:
An MSF surgical team that relocated to Chocsal Hospital after its facility in Martissant was badly damaged has been working non-stop since early on Friday. At Trinité trauma hospital, where the team is treating people under canvas on the grounds of the medical facility that was hit by the earthquake, surgery has been taking place in an improvised operating theater. In Carrefour, a district that was very badly affected, MSF has just started working in a hospital with two operating theatres.
One of MSF’s operational coordinators in Port-au-Prince, Hans van Dillen, says there was an immediate reaction when people found out that we were starting medical activities in Carrefour. People began crowding around the entrance. Patients are being brought in by wheelbarrow and on others’ backs. There are other hospitals in the area but they are already overflowing with injured people and have limited numbers of Haitian staff or supplies.
MSF has managed to get more than 70 additional staff into Port-au-Prince, mostly through neighboring Dominican Republic. They are beginning to take some of the strain off the teams who were already there when the quake struck.
06:52 PM (Haitian Time)
That’s Church reports that the orphans that they are taking care of in Haiti are in desperate need of clean drinking water. If anyone is in touch with organizations helping to get water to Haitians, please let them know about this and forward the contact information which you can access by clicking here.
Dr. Steve Smith needs medical supplies urgent!!!! call 50935883411, 50934540848, 50937104867.
06:18 PM (Haitian Time)
The International Medical Corps has released new information on the situation on the ground in Haiti’s hospitals. You can find out how you can help by visiting their website here:
Our emergency medical team is working at the De’l Universite d’etat d’Haiti Rue Monseigneur Guilloux Pau P, Haiti, a 700 bed hospital that is barely functioning. Hundreds of patients are waiting for medical care. Yesterday, only four Haitian doctors were working at the hospital – everyone else is caring for their own families, missing or dead.
We delivered desperately needed medical supplies to the hospital yesterday. More supplies are expect today, including emergency medical kits and food.
We are also working out of our hotel — Villa Creole — which has been turned into a make-shift clinic. See pictures under the MEDIA tab on the left.
The team is treating crush victims, trauma, basic wound care, shock and other critical cases with the few available supplies. A lot of patients with broken bones, fractures and ruptures.
We are currently treating teenage sisters today. They arrived at the hospital without their parents – we expect they are missing. Both have serious injuries and we are worried one may lose her foot. They are just two of the many people who need our help.
We have 16 more physicians and nurses arriving today.
06:16 PM (Haitian Time)
UNICEF releases new video mixed with hope and pain:
06:13 PM (Haitian Time)
Google Inc. and the US State Department release a new tool which will hopefully help in finding survivors and reconnect people with their families. You can help by embedding this tool to your websites, blogs and other accounts to help in the search in rescue effort. Visit this link to know how.
06:09 PM (Haitian Time)
Two more source one and two update on the situation of health care in Petion-Ville:
Petion-Ville: Hotel Villa Creole, Pétion-Ville now make-shift Hospital Port au Prince: at the Villa Creole Mike Stewart from Hope for Haiti has set up an intake trauma ward. 4 nurses and 4 doctors set to join him today.
05:57 PM (Haitian Time)
Our friend Donna Weber has set up a very helpful website for people seeking information about where to get help inside Haiti. Here’s her page on the status of hospitals inside Haiti and information about who is available in case you have a medical emergency.
05:53 PM (Haitian Time)
Please help people in Haiti find where there is a reliable source of clean drinking water and food by visiting and helping out here:
To post information about working hospitals, visit here.
And if you have information about shelter, click here.
If you are inside Haiti, you can post information about where you received supplies so others could get help as well.
Doctors Without Borders has treated 2,000+ in tents outside damaged hospital. Needs for more complex surgery growing.
05:37 PM (Haitian Time)
The US State Department has set up a seperate Twitter account in order to help in the rescue and humanitarian efforts in Haiti. You can follow them by clicking here.
Some of their recent updates:
- Sec. Hillary Clinton is meeting with Haitian President Preval in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
- For those trying to contact U.S. citizen friends and relatives in Haiti, email inquiries to: Haiti-Earthquake@State.Gov
Wyclef Jean releases touching video in response to accusations by detractors against Yele Haiti:
05:32 PM (Haitian Time)
Convoy of Hope has been distributing supplies in Haiti since the earthquake struck. Their newest update: “Convoy of Hope has 50,000 meals in Haiti that are being distributed.” You can follow them on twitter by clicking here.
05:22 PM (Haitian Time)
The Red Cross’ website for identification of survivors of Haiti’s quake is the best place to post information so your relatives outside Haiti could know about your safety and whereabouts in case you cannot get in touch with them through phone. The instructions on how to register can be found on this page. The Red Cross website is here.
There is also useful information on the first link for US citizens in Haiti or US citizens with relatives in Haiti.
05:11 PM (Haitian Time)
Former president Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have created a joint Clinton Bush Fund in order to help the survivors of Haiti’s devastating earthquake. To find out how you can help please visit: http://www.clintonbushhaitifund.org/
Part of their message is:
“Through the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, we will work to provide immediate relief and long-term support to earthquake survivors. We will channel the collective goodwill around the globe to help the people of Haiti rebuild their cities, their neighborhoods, and their families.”
06:14 PM (Haitian Time)
WFP has released a new update on transportation inside Haiti:
Update: Haiti Earthquake 2010
Update Jan 15 1530z
AIRPORT status Santo Domingo Las Americas Airport (SDQ)
Increased congestion at international airport.
WFP AIR OPS update
WFP’s UNHAS will begin a 10-seat Cessna Caravan shuttle between Santo-Domingo and Port-au-Prince. To be operational in the next 24 – 48 hours. Schedule to be confirmed.
ROAD conditions
The route from Jacmel to Port-au-Prince (204) is open for ‘all terrain’ vehicles only.
The route from Santo-Domingo to Port-au-Prince (305) is open but congested.
SEAPORT updates
Cap Haiten port is operational – currently containerized cargo only. Unconfirmed reports say that only one privately owned shore crane is available. Any vessel going in needs to be self-geared.
06:10 PM (Haitian Time)
United Methodist Committee on Relief has released instructions on how to assemble and send a basic health kit to Haitians in dire need of medical supplies. You can buy most of the supplies at your local medical store and assemble them, then, send to UMCoR and they will get it to Haiti. The health kit costs very little money, but it goes a long way – it is imperative and necessary to keep people from contracting infectious diseases in the aftermath of the earthquake.
The health kit includes the very basic health supplies such as:
1 hand towel (15″ x 25″ up to 17″ x 27″, No kitchen towels)
1 washcloth
1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)
1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)
And other materials. Here’s there page on how to prepare and send the kit: Click Here
6:27 GMT
Brazilian NGO Viva Rio also has a page on Haiti now in Portuguese. Please check their website and see how you can help if you are in Brazil. Click Here
The Embassy of Haiti in Brazil is also taking donations:
Nome: Embaixada da República do Haiti
Banco: Banco do Brasil
Agência: 1606-3
CC: 91000-7
CNPJ: 04170237/0001-71
Hollywood stars have opened up their hearts and pockets to help the people in Haiti. Here’s how much each star has donated or pledged and those who have asked for donations:
- Supermodel Gisele Bundchen yesterday wrote a $1.5 million check to the Red Cross
- Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders
- Alyssa Milano has donated $50,000 to UNICEF
- Actor George Clooney will host a telethon on MTV next week to raise funds for Haiti
- Shakira asked her fans for donations to help rebuild Haiti to be channeled through UNICEF and Wyclef Jean’s foundation, Yele.
- Coldplay musician Chris Martin called for donations through Oxfam
- Scarlett Johansson, a global ambassador for OXFAM, also appealed for contributions for Haiti
- Oprah Winfrey got involved on Wednesday by asking viewers of her popular show to donate to the Red Cross
- Ben Stiller also made an appeal on Larry King Live for $10 donations charged to phone bills by texting “Haiti” to 90999
- Cycling superstar Lance Armstrong’s LiveStrong Foundation also pledged $250,000 to Doctors Without Borders and Partners in Health, and will be used in Haiti
04:23 GMT
According to Business Wire, JP Morgan Chase will be offering $1 million in for relief works in Haiti:
JPMorgan Chase will provide a total of $250,000 for urgent relief care from humanitarian aid organizations The American Red Cross and CARE. This will assist with efforts such as setting up temporary shelters, offering medical assistance, helping with sanitation and handling the most pressing issues immediately following the disaster.
The bank will donate an additional $500,000 for future recovery and rebuilding efforts, split between CARE, The American Red Cross and aid organization World Vision. Exact allocations will be determined in the coming weeks following a full assessment of the earthquake’s damage and the country’s needs.
04:16 GMT
In order to aid in finding survivors or loved ones inside Haiti, ICRC has developed a page and list of names of Haitians. If you have a friend or relatives in Haiti that you are worried about, you can try their page. Let us hope everyone finds their loved ones and that not too many lives are lost in this catastrophe.
Heartline Ministries, Inc. is also accepting donations and would like to receive from those who want to. They have been working inside Haiti for the past 20 years and money donated to them would go where it is most needed. You can follow their efforts or donate by checking their website here.
03:01 GMT
The William J. Clinton Foundation is also accepting donations and help from people willing to contribute money, time and energy to victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake.
You can get in touch with them or donate by clicking here.
02:50 GMT
The World Food Program updates on the airport in Port-au-Prince and the one in the northern city of Cap Haitien and the roads in Port-au-Prince:
Runway usable
Currently visual landing / radio-assisted only
Air Traffic Control is responding to incoming aircraft, but with limited capabilities: max number of aircraft is 4 at a time;
Runway usable
No availability of refuelling, cargo and aircraft handling equipment.
Airports are only open for humanitarian, military and private flights only, and not for commercial flights.
Flights to Port au Prince in particular are delayed and have to stay in lengthy airborne holding patterns (sometimes 2hrs and more) due to overcrowded airport ramp space.
In addition, there is no space for bigger aircraft to remain overnight.
As the city is very badly damaged there is no safe crew accommodation.
SEAPORT status Port au Prince:
The Port is currently non operational with three cranes (one container crane, two gantry cranes) all destroyed
Quayside is badly damaged, with unknown debris under the water line
The Southern part of the port may be workable for discharge from self-geared vessels
A US Coastguard Vessel is currently making an assessment
Yele Haiti is still accepting your donations through text messages. Text YELE to 501501 to donate $5.
You can also visit their website at http://www.yelehaiti.org.
Yele Haiti is a grassroots organization mostly run by Haitians helping their own people. Money sent to them would be directly used to help Haitians in desperate need of help.
02:23 GMT
The Federal Aviation Authority releases instructions on flight and control: Click To See
Raw Text:
ATCSCC ADVZY 059 DCC 1/14/10 MTPP GROUND STOP
GROUND STOP ALL FAA FACILITIES FOR FLIGHTS TO MTPP IS EXTENDED UNTIL
0100Z.
AIRBORNE HOLDING IN EXCESS OF 2 HOURS CONTINUES IN ZMA AIRSPACE.
RAMP CONGESTION AT MTPP CONTINUES WITH MINIMAL SPACE FOR ADDITIONAL
ACFT. PORT AU PRINCE ATC IS SLOWLY ACCEPTING ACFT BUT UNLESS ACFT
BEGIN TO DEPART MTPP IT IS EXPECTED THEY WILL STOP TAKING ARRIVALS
SHORTLY. PIREPS REPORT APPROX 10-12 ACFT PARKED ON THE RAMP WITH AN
ADDITIONAL 20 ACFT PARKED ON THE GRASS AND SURROUNDING AREAS.
HUMANITARIAN FIGHTS ARE RELEASED ON INDIVIDUAL BASIS DEPENDING ON
THEIR PRIORITY AND THE AIRPORT ABILITY TO EXCEPT FLIGHTS. FOR
APPROVAL WITH THESE HUMANITARIAN FLIGHTS, PLEASE CALL FAA RECOVERY
DESK AT 703-925-3011 OR 866-654-2005.
WILL PROVIDE UPDATES WHEN AVAILABLE.
142220-150459
10/01/14 22:25
02:04 GMT
Here’s some small ways you can help. There’s a plane leaving for Haiti in four days. You can help with very meager supplies. Click Here to know how it works.
Partners in Health (PIH) have a new page devoted to Haiti: Click Here for link.
00:15 GMT
If you do not have the financial means to help Haiti or you are unable to offer volunteer help in person, then Yele Haiti has a way for you to help. Please visit SocialVibe‘s page about Yele Haiti and see what you can do to help the victims of the earthquake.
23:49 GMT
More updates from charities and international relief organizations working to help Haitians in their time of need:
The Salvation Army Haiti Earthquake Relief has a new update on their activities and what you can do to help more: http://bit.ly/8CWS6n – They also warn that rumors circulating about UPS free shipping to Haiti are NOT true.
ACFUSA tweet that ACF’s teams have mobilized to ensure access to safe water and sanitation to earthquake victims in Haiti: http://bit.ly/7b3J7T
RedCross announces that close to $35 million have been donated to it by concerned citizens.
(Let’s keep that going!)
23:37 GMT
If you can offer help in evacuating these children, please do: http://thatschurch.com/ — also spread the word around if you can.
23:33 GMT
@HelpIranHeal has created a wonderful website for Haitians looking to help out their brothers and sisters in the aftermath of the tragic event. The website has instructions on how to provide first aid in Haitian Creole, the language most used in Haiti. Here’s a link: http://helpiranheal.wordpress.com/ — Please pass it around.
23:11 GMT
- Another update from American Airlines: They cannot fly individual doctors or nurses into Haiti. Please get in touch with the Red Cross as AA is also working with them to provide aid.The International Red Cross will coordinate all humanitarian aid to Haiti from Dominican Republic.
- In case you are in Puerto Rico, here is a list of the Haiti collection centers in Puerto Rico. http://tinyurl.com/yhg3azl
The United Methodist Committee for Relief has also set up a page for donations and help. If you are affiliated with the church or want to donate anyway or offer any kind of assistance, you can check the page for more information.
21:44 GMT
The Salvation Army has released a statement on their Facebook account offering help and support to victims of Haiti’s earthquake.
The Salvation Army is preparing to send more than 44,000 lbs of pre-packaged emergency rations to the country and is working with other agencies to identify appropriate transportation for the food. Critical needs in Haiti include bottled water, medical teams with supplies and food. No time table has been set for the arrival of these goods because assessment teams have been unable to reach the country to arrange for these shipments.
Check the link for more information and if you want to offer your support.
21:32 GMT
Please beware of receiving this email: http://bit.ly/6ypHwj <— It’s a scam. Please report the sender to your email provider.
-Lowe’s will be donating $1 million to the Red Cross for Haiti. If you do not want to donate online, you can donate at your local Lowe’s store for the disaster relief fund for Haiti. The money will go to the Red Cross.
-Follow @NationalNurses for addional information for RN to volunteer for Haiti Relief effort
-The Red Cross so far donated $10 million to the Haiti disaster’s survivors. Visit http://www.redcross.com
-US-CERT released a security warning about Haiti relief scams http://bit.ly/2bMemH
Here is a COMPREHENSIVE list of reliable organizations that you can donate to or offer help in other ways http://bit.ly/61jQ9e
For Search and Rescue Efforts
CNN has uplinked a page, http://cnn.com/haitimissing to help the search for missing people. Photos can be uploaded to help in identification.
The State Department has established a toll-free number (888-407-4747) for people seeking information about family members in Haiti. The government advises that some callers may receive a recording because of the heavy volume of inquiries.
If you are wondering how you could help with the relief efforts in Haiti, Catholic Relief might be of help:
If you have a cell phone and you want to help survivors of the earthquake in Haiti, please text RELIEF to 30644 and follow the instructions.
Finally, if you are looking for a relief organization where your money would be spent most productively then follow @YeleHaiti on Twitter or visit their website here: YeleHaiti.org
The State Department has established a toll-free number (888-407-4747) for people seeking information about family members in Haiti. The government advises that some callers may receive a recording because of the heavy volume of inquiries.
If you are wondering how you could help with the relief efforts in Haiti, Catholic Relief might be of help:
Amir Abbas Fakhravar is a US-based Iranian student leader, activist and former political prisoner.
36 parliamentarians in Iran today proposed a bill that would ensure that anyone designated by the courts as a ‘combatant’ be executed within five days. The bill seeks to amend an existing law that states that anyone who ‘tampers’ with public opinion [mostly used these days to indicate calling for protests or joining them] can be designated as a combatant. If passed, this won’t be the first time the government would be taking harsh actions against the Green Movement. Iranian protesters are being accused of treason and for attempting to stage a ‘velvet revolution’ even though all they’re asking for is their rights granted to them by the constitution.
But while observers inside and outside the Iran are baffled by the claims of such a revolution, the Iranian government has some reasons to claim so. Not that any of those reasons are based on facts but because certain foreigners and Iranians outside the country not only know little about what is going on inside Iran, but are also giving the regime what it needs to prosecute peaceful protesters who demand nothing but their rights by making harmful claims.
One such individual is Amir Abbas Fakhravar – a US-based Iranian student activist – who has lately been making the rounds in the Western media and is being credited as one of the insiders of the Green Movement – if not one of the leaders. Here, I don’t wish to doubt his story of how he was arrested multiple times in Iran, nor do I wish to question his credentials as a bona fide activist fighting for human rights in Iran or his status as a student leader. What I do wish to point out here is that not only are the statements he is making hurting the Green Movement’s cause in Iran, but are also spreading disinformation and ignoring key facts.
Noting 72 percent of Iranians are under 30 years of age, Fakhravar contends many young people are prepared to join the opposition. “We have the ability inside,” he said. “This is the silent army inside Iran, and we need the media to encourage them. American policy should trust us. We could do it.”
His most recent article published in the New York Daily News is more of the same:
Months before the 2009 presidential elections, they decided to use the mullahs’ own tactics against them – and to seize and own all of the icons of the Islamic Republic and give them a new identity… So when there was massive fraud in Ahmadinejad’s reelection, the people were ready.
The planning of all those years planted the seeds; the brutality provided the spark. The Green Movement finally gained a complete identity with powerful symbols – even with its own martyrs.
If you haven’t followed the news from Iran, these statements don’t really stand out as dangerous. But they are fuel for the inferno that the Iranian regime is stoking for the Green Movement. Consider the first statement, regarding the ‘silent army’ from 2007. There is little evidence to suggest that three years ago, Iranians were readying up to take to streets for anything. This simply allows the Islamic regime to gather people up for planning protests from as far back as 2007. Hey, they have the evidence. Here’s a student leader saying they were. This is conclusive evidence to a regime that kills people for committing crimes when they are under the age of 16.
The second statement is even more damning. So month before the election, people were ready to take onto streets. For what exactly? Did people know that there would be fraud in the election? The protests didn’t start as a backlash against the oppression of the regime, but because of perceived fraud in the election. How could one know for sure there would be fraud during an election and prepare for millions to march to overthrow a regime?
So far what we have seen is anything but that. Almost no one really expected the Iranians to take to the streets in protest. People knew there might be fraud, but almost no one expected it to be this wide-spread and barely anyone expected such mass protests. So in the face of all of that, Fakhravar steps in and claims that this was the plan all along. And that it was imminent that Iranians would take to streets to overthrow the regime.
In the New York Daily News article, he gives further credence to the government’s claims of a ‘velvet revolution’ against the regime.
What we are witnessing on the streets of Tehran and other cities is nothing short of a revolution – a carefully orchestrated, years-in-the-making attempt to overthrow a corrupt and repressive regime and replace it with something fundamentally more free, democratic and secular.
That’s just perfect. So yes, there was a ‘velvet revolution’, according to Fakhravar. The Green Movement’s current de-fact leader Mir Hossein Mousavi continues to chant that they only want reform and here is Fakhravar claiming that this is a ‘revolution’. The problem is, this can very well turn into a revolution, but at the moment, it is a movement for reform. Wishful thinking is not going to change that.
And we still blame the Iranian Revolutionary Guard for claiming that there is a ‘velvet revolution’. How could we when we have someone like Fakhravar claiming that Iranians had indeed planned for a revolution?
But his final two statements that I’ll quote here really prove how misinformed he is of the circumstances inside Iran.
Amir Abbas Fakhravar, 35, a former student leader who spent several years in prison in Iran and now lives in the Washington area, said contacts are taking place on Facebook and Skype and that activists plan to create a “revolutionary council” of about 15 people inside and outside Iran to lead the “Iranian Green Revolution.”
Fakhravar: This movement doesn’t have a leader, but things like Facebook help. We use social media to help organize events inside Iran. For instance, we are planning a demonstration in February to coincide with the 31st anniversary of the Iranian revolution. Earlier this year, I was giving a speech before Congress and I said, “Iranians don’t want a war. All we need are cell phones, cameras and computers.” Some of the Senators laughed at that. But it has happened. We are close to a cyber revolution in Iran.
The first important point is, whether the West likes it or not, Mir Hossein Mousavi and to a large extent Mehdi Karroubi are the leaders of the Green Movement. Yes, I agree completely that these men have a dirty past. I also agree that under them, it would be almost impossible to ask for a completely secular society, but too bad. That’s just what it is.
Fakhravar’s opinion does not change the fact that when Mousavi or Karroubi join the protests, they are welcomed like leaders. Neither does it change the fact that people openly chant Karroubi and Mousavi’s names during protests even when they are not present. And it does not explain green graffiti exalting Mousavi and Karroubi on Tehran’s walls.
As for the revolutionary councils inside and outside Iran, if there ever is one formed inside Iran, the members are going to be promptly arrested and tried and you cannot do much with a council outside Iran but have tea and watch the protests on CNN.
The second important point is that contrary to what some people believe, most social networking websites are banned in Iran. Their usage inside Iran is extremely limited and only possible through the use of anti-internet filtering software. From my friends in the US and Europe that actively supply these softwares to Iranians, I know that the number of people who actually have access to these websites is pathetically low.
How can you expect hundreds of thousands of people to come out on the streets simply because Iranians abroad are posting information for them on websites that they cannot even access? It’s just a misunderstanding caused by the incorrect usage of the word “Twitter Revolution” by the mainstream western media. Twitter Revolution simply means that social networking media are used by people to quickly inform each other of news. It could have been used as a tool to organize protests in Iran, but since they’re banned, they can’t be.
That is the reason why protests are planned weeks in advance to so people could have time to prepare and get everyone involved and spread the news on the streets of Tehran.
In conclusion, I have no wish or desire to question Mr. Fakhravar’s credentials or his intentions. What I want to point out are two very key facts: One, his statements about the Green Movement are at the very least, inaccurate. Secondly, he does not seem to know or acknowledge important facts about the current situation in Iran.
While the second one can be neglected, the first one is being and will be used to persecute peaceful protesters by the Iranian regime. If people like Fakhravar really care for human rights and democracy, they would spend some time studying what is going on inside Iran and then make informed and undamaging statements instead of spreading disinformation and hurting people inside Iran directly by what they say.
Iranians are already facing enough peril. Let’s not make it harder on them.
The flag of Chinese activists supporting the Green Movement
When I joined the ‘Twitter Revolution’ more than six months ago, all I cared about was letting people know just what exactly was happening in Iran. I would not have joined had the mainstream media done their job of reporting the situation accurately and without bias. I really had not much of a stake personally in Iran. I am not Iranian. I have no family in Iran. I had not followed Iranian politics as intensely before. It wasn’t really my job to do anything either.
However, over the course of the past several months, I have met individuals who are in about the same situation as me. They are not Iranian. They don’t have a stake in Iranian politics. They don’t have relatives in Iran. What is astonishing is that many of these have not even been as avid about following news before as they are now. They all participate in the Twitter Revolution as avidly as Iranian.There is little organization. Everyone does what they can on their own time.
However, recently, what started to astonish me more was the organized participation of citizens of other countries that are ruled by dictators.
The usual hashtag for news, events and activities related to Iran is #IranElection. But I started to notice a new hashtag – #CN4Iran along with the usual hashtag on Twitter. I tried ignoring it for a few days, but I just couldn’t stop myself after a while. Soon it became clear to me that hundreds of Chinese dissendents and activists had joined hands with Iranians and non-Iranians to fight for the same goal – human rights for Iranians.
And no sooner had my amazement diminished when I realized that there were dozens of Venezuelans on Twitter doing just the same – spending hours upon hours translating English tweets to Spanish and letting the Spanish-speaking world know of the horrors that have befallen the people of Iran – in an organized effort.
All this is happening while Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is taking smug pictures with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and China’s Hu Jintao is selling equipment to Iran to quell the Green Movement. But while the leaders of these countries are sharing the blame for the spilt blood of Iran’s children, the citizens of the two countries are quietly, but firmly coming out and supporting the same youth.
To see them work for spreading news about Iran and lending support to the Green Movement is not just heartening. It gives us a glimpse of what we as human beings can achieve if we truly felt for each others pain. That quality – humanity – that we ascribe to ourselves on a daily basis without much thought demands us to do the very same thing – care about other humans. Know about what is going on with other members of our species. And finally, to support them when they are need of it.
The effort by the Chinese and Venezuelans supplants efforts by citizens of other countries who have for the past six months spent several hours of their day attempting to get justice for their brothers and sisters in Iran. These efforts truly give meaning to one of the most popular slogans used by the Green Movement in Iran – “Ma Hame Ba Ham Hastim!” (We are all together!).
As a member of the Twitter Revolution and a humble outside supporter of the Green Movement, they have my heartfelt thanks and appreciation for what they are doing and I promise that when the time comes, they can count on my unconditional support.
(Consider this a first installment about this issue. I will write more about this in the coming days.)
(Read the Mousavi’s 17th Statement in Both English and Farsi)
(Note: I have not changed the wording of the English translation or attempted to correct any grammatical or punctuation errors. The translation is as it was posted on Mousavi’s Facebook, which is run by his supporters.)
Mir Hossein Mousavi today released a new statement denouncing the regime’s brutal tactics against the Green Movement and outlined peaceful measures the government can take to calm the situation. While the statement is quite similar to other statements he has released in the past, several points on closer inspection stand out. The statement also shows Mousavi’s resolve and his continued willingness to finding a peaceful resolution to the current crisis.
One of the most striking features of the speech is Mousavi not mentioning the killing of his nephew Sayyed Ali Mousavi in Tehran on Ashura (December 27). It echoes his and his wife Zahra Rahnavard’s response to the imprisonment of her brother which they kept under wraps for months because they didn’t want to turn their statements personal, but rather speak for the entire Green Movement.
What’s more important is also the fact that Mousavi for the first time actually discounts his own influence and that of Mehdi Karroubi. He admits that even though people asked him to call for protests or at least lend his support, he did not do so in the case of Ashura. He also acknowledges the fact that people came out without him calling them to come out. This is a very significant development and has been noted by myself and other colleagues before.
The Green Movement has indeed partially spiraled out of the hands of Karroubi and Mousavi. What this could achieve cannot be easily quantified or qualified, but it is important as the movement will continue to live on even if Mousavi and Karroubi are no longer alive. And Mousavi acknowledges it by saying that he is ready to die alongside other members of the movement, knowing that the movement would continue even with his absence.
But there were three very important new points that I noticed in his speech that I had formerly not seen – or at least not together.
First off, Mousavi openly speaks out against the IRGC. It is no secret that the IRGC has been one the driving forces behind the suppression of peaceful protesters and the main source of Ali Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s power. Along the Basij – which falls under its command – they have been responsible for most of the bloodshed on the streets of Iran during protests. He ridicules the IRGC, possibly sending a message to his supporters that they can now openly denounce the IRGC as well as Basij.
As he denounces corruption in his statement, Mousavi goes on to say this about the IRGC:
“We say that a large and influential organization like IRGC cannot defend the country and national interests if it wants to calculate everyday how much the stock market has gone up or down; it will corrupt both itself and the country.”
Secondly, Mousavi yet again questions the government’s legitimacy. Unlike presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei’s statement earlier which denounced Ashura protests and forwarded the preposterous idea that Mousavi has somehow come to accept Ahmadinejad as Iran’s president, he continues to defy Ahmadinejad. So IRNA’s propaganda regarding Rezaei’s letter is promptly disqualified:
“Assume that, with all the arrests, brutalities, threats, and shutting the mouths of newspapers and media, you can silence people for a few days. How do you solve the change in people’s view of the establishment? How do you rectify the lack of legitimacy? How do you change the stunned and blaming views of all people of the world over all this brutality of a government against its own people? What do you do with the problems of the country’s economy and living conditions that are getting worse because of extreme weakness of the administration? With what backing of expertise, national unity and effective foreign policy, can you alleviate the shadow of more UN resolutions and international attempts to win more points against our country and our nation?”
He also puts the blame of protesters and Friday prayer Imams calling for the killing of Mousavi and Karroubi on the government:
“I clearly and bluntly say that the order of execution, murder, or imprisonment of Karoubi, Mousavi and figures like us will not solve the problem. The announcements made this Wednesday in Enghelab Square (central Tehran) and before that during the last Friday prayer by some figures affiliated with the establishment will make the consequence of any terrorist act the direct liability of the center [of the establishment] and will make the problem of the current crisis unsolvable.”
Thirdly, and perhaps the most important of all the points in his new statement is the fact that he acknowledges protesters taking action against security forces during the protests. He also puts the blame for violence against security forces on the government. However, it is important to note that he neither endorses these actions, nor asks for further actions in future protests. He also notes that people were also compassionate to security forces and tried to save them from other more angry protesters. I believe it is important because Mousavi continues to wish for a peaceful political resolution and does not wish the government to be violently overthrown:
“Watching the shocking footage of Ashura shows that if sometimes slogans and actions moved toward unacceptable radicalism, it is because of throwing innocent people off bridges and heights, shooting them, running them over by cars and assassinations. It is interesting that in some of this footage, people were seeing their [religious] brothers behind the faces of the oppressive police and Basij forces, and in that critical situation and on that deafening and hateful day they were trying to protect them from any harm. If the state-run television and radio had the slightest bit of fairness,to calm the atmosphere and bring people closer together, it would have shown a little of these scenes. But no way! The progress of events after Ashura and the extent of arrests and other Government actions show that the authorities are repeating the same past mistakes this time in a greater scale and think that the policy of terror is their only solution.”
Having said these points, Mousavi yet again calmly asks the government to take steps to resolve the current crisis. This perhaps might seem a bit repetitive; however, it comes as no surprise. The Green Movement has repeatedly shown that they are open to talks; that they are not in favor of violence – unless it knows no bounds and even then, only few incidents of self-defense. And finally, that they are still hoping for a peaceful and non-violent resolution to the current crisis. Mousavi outlines these points for the resolution of the current crisis:
1. The administration should be held liable in front of the people, the parliament and the judiciary system so that there would be no unusual supports for the administration in response to its incompetence and ineffectiveness and the administration be held accountable for all the problems it created for the country. For sure if the administration is competent and right it would be able to respond to the people and the parliament, and if it is incompetent and inept, the parliament and the judiciary system would confront it based on the constitution.
2. Legislating new and clear election laws in a way that it would regain people’s trust in the free and fair elections without meddling and interference. This law should ensure the participation of all the people despite their differences in opinions and views and should prohibit the biased and partisan interference of the authorities in all levels. The primary parties in early days of the revolution can be considered as a model.
3. The release of all political prisoners and restoring their dignity and honour. I am sure that this move would be interpreted as a strong point for the establishment rather than a weakness and we know that the defeated political movements are against this solution.
4. One of the necessities of the improvement is the release of the banned press and media and letting the shut down newspapers to publish again. The fear of free media should be eliminated and the international experience in this matter should be considered. The expansion of the satellite channels and their growing importance and the decisive influence of this media clearly show the inadequacy of the traditional methods and limitations of National TV and radio channels. Signal jamming methods and internet censorship can only be effective for a short time. The only solution is having various free and informed media inside the country. Isn’t it time to turn eyes back from beyond our borders to domestic political, cultural and social prosperity by a courageous act and based on trusting the intellectual and innovative forces of the society?
5. Recognizing people’s rights for having legal demonstrations and forming parties and groups and abiding to the 27th principle of the constitution. Acting in this matter that can be done with the wisdom and collaboration of all of the country’s enthusiasts can replace the battle between the Basij and security forces and people or people and people with an atmosphere of friendship and national affection.
After all is said and done, Mousavi’s statement can be seen as a watershed. After the bloody events of Ashura, many expected Mousavi to maybe even partially consider a more violent means to changing the political situation in the country. He could have at least warned the government. He could have at least warned the IRGC or the Basij of violent confrontations. However, he offered his own life instead of endorsing retaliation against the security forces or the government.
It is perhaps the last chance for the government of Iran to act peacefully if it wants to resolve the current crisis. Tensions run high. Arrests are becoming rampant. Violence has increased. Mousavi and Karroubi no longer look as safe as they did a few months ago. In such a climate, Mousavi’s conciliatory statement is a breath of fresh air. Whether the government is going to make use of the time that’s running out or not remains to be seen.
In this undated photo, members of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army or Artesh are seen during a parade.
(First, a Happy New Year to everyone… Let’s hope 2010 opens the doors of peace, justice, equality and truth to us all and that human rights are respected and expanded throughout the world.)
For the past several months, there have been rumors that elements inside Iran’s main army ‘Artesh’ are discontent with the continued repression against peaceful protesters by the Iranian government. First there was a story by overseas Iranian website Gooya. The story claimed that several officers within Artesh had sent out a letter denouncing the regime’s brutal suppression tactics against the Green Movement. It also warned the government that it will take action if violence against protesters continues.
I was not going to write anything about this. But in the face of continued publicity for this letter, I am forced to speak out.
The letter was not signed. There were no names. There were no ranks. There was no original copy of the letter. It was not indicated who it was sent by or the date when it was written. Recently, a similar letter – with different wording – was released on another news websites with the same remarks and same warning. This has been a source of hope for some people supporting the Green Movement. But so far, there has been almost nothing to back this up.
I have been following both letters keenly for the past month. However, I have been unable to confirm their contents through any of my sources and I mean none. I have also not seen anyone else in the mainstream media or in the blogosphere and underground media substantiate the contents of any of these letters. This is sufficient for me to disregard both letters as fictitious.
But let’s for a minute imagine that the letters are credible. What has Artesh done so far? Have they tried to stop the IRGC or Basij? Or the riot police or regular coppers? No. They have done absolutely nothing. Even when dozens were killed on Ashura, Artesh remained silent as it always has. But let us take it up as far as we can. Let’s say the officers mentioned in the letter are going to strike against the government. What would the result be? Are these few people going to be able to take down the government? The answer is no. Finally, let’s just assume for the sake of assumption that their numbers are higher and that they have the loyalty of as much as half of Artesh. The government still has the allegiance of the other half and of IRGC, Basij and the police.
In that case, Iran would be driven into something that I abhor even mentioning the name of – civil war. Thousands would be killed, hundreds of thousands would be injured, millions would be homeless, Iran’s economy would collapse, and its infrastructure would be completely razed. And I honestly don’t even want to mention what would happen to the lives of the children of Iran if it drags on for years.
So the bottom line is: I am certain that the letters released under Artesh’s name are fake and, furthermore, I’m very happy that they are.
