Reply #10: EFerrari, I noticed the 5th Avenue address this morning as well. This is a high end

[magbana]

NGO. Maybe we should start referring to them as PGO -- private, governmental org. ha!

I think you ought to begin whacking away at these folks. I also checked a few things out this morning and HRF has been dabbling in Haiti and the DR, primarily about the slave Haitian labor working in the sugar cane fields, human trafficking etc. in the DR. I found out that THOR JR. was the producer of a film about this which you and others may have heard of "Sugar Babies." the director is Amy Serrano, a Cuban from Miami. Here is an article that HRF issued when the movie came out. there is alot to be untangled in this article and I will get back to the list with more info.
magbana

"Dominican Government Calls for Censorship of HRF Film on Human Trafficking

MIAMI (June 29, 2007) -- The Human Rights Foundation’s new documentary about human trafficking in Haiti and the Dominican Republic was the subject of a volatile confrontation that took place Wednesday on the campus of Florida International University, requiring the presence of several police officers. The confrontation involved a diplomat representing the government of the Dominican Republic.

The feature-length documentary film The Sugar Babies: The Plight of the Children of Agricultural Workers in the Sugar Industry of the Dominican Republic is composed of gripping field testimonies and hidden camera footage obtained during 18 months of documentation. The film features interviews with Ambassador of Haiti to the United States Raymond Joseph, the U.S. Department of States’ Ambassador John Miller from the Office of Human Trafficking, and a number of other experts and activists.

“The government of the Dominican Republic and the mercantilist businessmen there who control the sugar lobby in Washington are complicit in human trafficking and this film explains and exposes just how they go about exploiting Haitian illegal immigrants—including children—that they bring across the border to work in the fields,” said HRF President Thor Halvorssen. “It is disgraceful and dishonorable, all the more so given the colossal amounts of corporate welfare they receive from the taxpayers of the United States.”

One of the beneficiaries of the human trafficking depicted in the film is the Fanjul family which has contributed millions of dollars to American presidential campaigns. Lawyers representing a Miami-based television station sent a cease and desist letter to FIU to shut down the preview screening. Their letter falsely complained about 11 minutes of the film they claimed violated copyright law.

“The footage used runs less than one minute and meets Fair Use guidelines,” said Halvorssen. “The additional ten minutes, showing the Fanjuls, was obtained privately with the use of a hidden camera and is owned by the film company. The crude attempt to shut down the film shows how much they fear this getting out.”

The screening went ahead and was heavily attended by representatives of the Dominican government who distributed a communiqué claiming there was an effort to defame the Dominican Republic and its people. “It is very convenient to claim this in order to whip up nationalist sentiment,” said Halvorssen. “If a human rights group criticizes the behavior of a government, that doesn’t translate into an attack on the country and its people. The filmmaker and her crew did not create conditions of modern slavery—the government and its business cronies did.”

The question and answer period following the film began with the Dominican consul, Manuel Almanzaro, taking the microphone and announcing that the film was “base” and that he would give a prepared speech on the subject. The consul had originally intended that FIU screen a 7-minute government film following The Sugar Babies. When told it was a question and answer session, the diplomat and his entourage became unsettled and police officers had to ask Almanzaro to take his seat. After declaring that his freedom of speech had been assaulted, Almanzaro stormed out.

The Human Rights Foundation became involved with the film after Ambassador Armando Valladares, HRF’s Chairman, traveled to the Dominican Republic in early 2005 on a fact-finding trip and personally visited the labor camps shown in the film. “We believe film is an excellent medium to bring this terrible situation to light. We have full confidence in the accuracy of the film’s findings,” said Valladares.

The film was funded entirely by private individuals with donations that ranged from $10 to $10,000. The film’s budget was less than $110,000. The Sugar Babies is narrated by award-winning author Edwidge Danticat, with music by Bill Cruz.

The 99-minute documentary is in Spanish, Creole, French and English and was written, shot, produced and directed by independent filmmaker Amy Serrano who had full editorial control of the film. The Sugar Babies was produced through Siren Studios in association with the Hope, Courage and Justice Project and the Human Rights Foundation. It is targeted for international release via film festivals, television, and human rights organizations.

HRF is an international nonpartisan organization devoted to defending human rights in the American hemisphere. It centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries; HRF’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. HRF’s International Council includes former prisoners of conscience Vladimir Bukovsky, Palden Gyatso, Armando Valladares, Ramón J. Velásquez, Elie Wiesel, and Harry Wu.



Contact: Manuel Almanzar, Dominican Republic Consulate General In Miami, [phone]
Contact: Thor Halvorssen, Human Rights Foundation, [phone], [email protected]
Contact: Amy Serrano, Siren Studios, [phone], [email protected]
Contact: Gaston Cantens, Florida Crystals Corporation, [phone]


Human Rights Foundation
350 Fifth Avenue, #809
New York, NY 10118
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone] [email protected]
www.thehrf.org

"
http://www.humanrightsfoundation.org/media/mediaSugarBabies.html