Students Rally to Support Haitians

More than 100 Harvard Law School and Cambridge high school students rallied yesterday at the Law School's Harkness Commons to express support for Haitian refugees detained at Guantanamo Bay.

Students lit candles to represent lives that could be lost during a two month-old hunger strike staged by Haitian refugees if President Clinton fails to alter U.S. immigration policy.

In an emotional ceremony, several high school students read accounts of refugees at Guantanamo. The refugees had described abuses by U.S. soldiers, including beatings and the burning of homes.

"We are the same people," said Gregory E. Jean-Pierre, president of the Haitian Club at Cambridge Rindge and Latin, reading from an open letter the students addressed to the U.S. government. "The Haitians are running away to you. Why not accept them?"

"Is Haiti just like some piece of trash on Pennsylvania Avenue?" Jean-Pierre asked, prompting audience applause.

The rally followed a march staged earlier in the day by members of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School Haitian Club to show support for the 264 Haitians in Cubs.

Last week, Harvard students completed a week-long hunger strike to show their support for the refugees as part of an inter-campus strike staged by students at colleges across the country.

Many of the Haitian refugees at Guantanamo, who are not allowed to enter the United States or return to Haiti, have been on a hunger strike since January 29

Rally organizer Cathy Powell, a Ford Fellow at the Law School, described her recent visit to Guantanamo.

"The conditions at the camps were very primitive," Powell said. "The refugees told us, 'Please help our voices to be heard.' We must petition our government to change this situation."

Banners hanging in Langdell Commons demanded the closing of the refugee camps and release of the detainees.

According to Arnold B. Clayton, a teacher at Cambridge Rindge and Latin, yesterday's meeting was important not only because of the issues discussed, but also because it demonstrated solidarity in the Haitian community.

"We have recognized that the Haitian community sticks together," he said. "Everyone is in this together.