Report to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dominique de Villepin, by the Independent Committee for Reflection and Proposals on Franco-Haitian Relations

The committee presents the report as an act of friendship toward the Haitian people and not a partisan gesture, and it sets the political conjuncture of the moment aside. The findings part is titled around a singular absence of France, the kind of debt at issue, a bitter record, a new situation, paths toward economic takeoff, and school and culture. The committee describes Haiti as the poorest country in the Americas, with 27,500 km2 and fewer than 9 million inhabitants.

On the debt, the report discusses the claim by President Aristide's government to restitution from France of USD 21,685,135,571 and 48 cents, presented as the capitalized value for 2003 of the 90 million gold francs Haiti paid to France between 1825 and 1885. The committee says it found no one in the democratic opposition who took these monetary claims seriously. Its proposals include a review of the European sanctions, consultation with the United States, a study of a peace force with Canada and the Caribbean Community, and the rebuilding of the Institut français. Annexes treat reparation for slavery, the independence debt, the religious situation, the community of Pandiassou and loans without repayment of principal.