1. UN says former Haitian PM jailed illegally, Reuters
2. Thousands of Fanmi Lavalas Supporters Demonstrate in Port-au-Prince, AHP
3. PRESS RELEASE: Rep. Waters Urges President Bush to Attempt to Sa ve the Life of Former Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune
4. African Americans Neighbor In Need By William Reed
5. Yvon Neptune Nears Death – Clearing the Fences in Haiti by Brian Concannon, Jr.
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UN says former Haitian PM jailed illegally
May 05, 2005, 04:00
A top UN official in Haiti yesterday denounced the detention of former prime minister Yvon Neptune as illegal and the Organization of American States offered to help end what it called a standoff with serious moral implications.
Neptune (58) has been jailed for more than 10 months without appearing before a judge and began a hunger strike on April 17 that has left him dangerously weak. Haiti’s constitution requires a hearing before a judge within 48 hours of arrest.
Jocelerme Privert, a former interior minister, has been jailed for over a year without being formally charged.
Human rights
Thierry Fagart, chief of the Haiti UN mission’s human rights division, cited both cases in delivering the United Nation’s strongest criticism of Haiti’s human rights record since the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide during a revolt in February 2004. “Since the beginning of the procedure until today, the fundamental rights, according to national and international standards, have not been respected in the case of Mr Neptune and Privert,” Fagart, a French lawyer, told journalists.
Neptune and Privert served in the Aristide administration and are accused of masterminding what opponents called a massacre on February 11, 2004, in the village of La Syrie.
A UN human rights expert who investigated the case said it was not a massacre, but a confrontation between armed pro- and anti-Aristide groups, with casualties on both sides.
Haiti’s interim government, backed by the UN, offered to take Neptune to the neighboring Dominican Republic for medical care, but he refused and demanded that he be released first. – Reuters
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Agence Haîtienne de Presse – AHP
www.ahphaiti.org/
May 4, 2005
Thousands of Fanmi Lavalas Supporters Demonstrate in Port-au-Prince
(unofficial translation)
Port-au-Prince, May 4 2005 (AHP) – Several thousand supporters of
Fanmi Lavalas demonstrated once again Wednesday in the streets of
Port-au-Prince to demand the liberation of political prisoners and to
denounce social exclusion and their miserable living conditions.
Leaving from the popular neighbourhood of Bel-Air, the demonstrators
denounced in particular the violations of the Haitian constitution,
and the failure to respect the popular vote, as well as
extra-judicial executions.
They declared themselves determined to stay mobilized until they
obtain the liberation of former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, who
continues a 17-day hunger strike, as well as the liberation of all of
the other officials and activists incarcerated, they claim, in order
to get Lavalas out of the way.
The demonstrators also shouted slogans against the interim
government, whose departure they demanded, claiming that too much
blood has already been needlessly shed.
This action was also an occasion for the participants to demand that
MINUSTAH and the UN in general condemn the assassination of 5 Lavalas
activists during a peaceful demonstration in the Christ-Roi
neighbourhood on April 27.
In a message read out in front of the UN offices, one of the
spokespersons for the group from Bel-Air, Sanba Mackandal, indicated
that one of the objectives of the mandate of MINUSTAH is the
protection of civil liberties and the stabilization of the country.
On this point, Sanba Mackandal pointed out the gravity of the
continuing detention of political prisoners, and the recent shootings
of peaceful demonstrators while a UN Mission is operating in the
country.
Dozens of MINUSTAH soldiers were called upon for support by the
demonstrators. The UN soldiers then forced the Haitian National
Police present to back down and to put away their weapons.
The demonstration thereafter carried on without incident, under the
protection of the UN soldiers.
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PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release (323) 757-8900
May 5, 2005
CONGRESSWOMAN WATERS URGES PRESIDENT BUSH
TO ATTEMPT TO SAVE THE LIFE OF
FORMER HAITIAN PRIME MINISTER YVON NEPTUNE
Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Maxine Waters (D‑CA) sent a letter to President Bush, urging him to use the power and influence of the United States Government to encourage the interim government of Haiti to release former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune from prison immediately and thereby save his life. Prime Minister Neptune, who has been detained without formal charges since last June, is in the 18th day of a hunger strike to protest his unjust imprisonment. Copies of the letter were sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Ambassador James Foley, the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti. The text of the letter follows:
I write to urge you to use the power and influence of the United States Government to encourage the interim government of Haiti to release former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune from prison immediately and thereby save his life.
Prime Minister Neptune is in the 18th day of a hunger strike to protest his unjust imprisonment, and his physical condition is rapidly deteriorating. According to reports, he is weak and emaciated, and his internal organs are failing. His life is in grave danger.
As you know, Prime Minister Neptune has been detained continuously for over ten months without formal charges, and he has never been brought before a judge, as required by the constitution of Haiti. He has vowed to continue his hunger strike until the interim government sets him free.
I implore you to intervene at once to seek Prime Minister Neptuneís immediate release from prison. If you act quickly, you may be able to save his life.
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Black Press Business/Economic Feature
Week of April 24, 2005
BUSINESS EXCHANGE
Haiti: African Americans Neighbor In Need
By William Reed
HAITI: AFRICAN AMERICANS’ NEIGHBOR IN NEED
Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The situation for people in Haiti is critical.
There is a serious deterioration of state institutions and the government
more symbolic than real.
The republic of the first blacks to overthrow a colonial power is now
the poorest country in the hemisphere and could get even worse if the
United States and other donor countries do not send it resources promised.
The U.S., European Union and multilateral financial agencies have yet to
come through with the $1.3 billion in aid funds they pledged for
reconstruction in Haiti.
Instead of viewing Haiti as a source of pride for its liberation from
French colonial rule in 1804, most African Americans view it through the eyes
of Europeans and believe that its conditions are of its own making.
Haitians say the French robbed them in 1825 and want repayment of $21.7 billion.
During the bicentennial celebrations, radio and television ads prompted
Haitians to demand France to “Hand over my dollars so I can celebrate
my independence!”
Following the 1804 revolution expelling France, Haiti was divided and
only re-united following the death of Henri Christophe in 1820. Under the
new president Jean Pierre Boyer, diplomatic exchanges were initiated with
the French to gain Haiti diplomatic recognition because all European
powers, including the U.S., imposed economic blockades against Haiti after the
revolution.
In 1825, France was being encouraged by former plantation owners to
invade Haiti and re-enslave the blacks. France issued the Royal Ordinance of
1825 calling for massive indemnity payments. In addition to the 150 million
franc payment, France decreed that French ships and commercial goods
entering and leaving Haiti be discounted at 50 percent. The terms of
the edict were non-negotiable, and to impress the seriousness of the
situation, the France delivered the demands by 12 warships armed with 500 canons.
The 150-million-franc indemnity was based on profits that could have
been earned by the colonists in that period. In 1789, the colonies of Saint
Domingue – all of Haiti and Santo Domingo – exported 150 million francs
worth of products to France. The 150-million-franc indemnity
represented France’s annual budget and 10 years of revenue for Haiti lost by the
793 sugar plantations, 3,117 coffee estates and 3,906 indigo, cotton and
other crop plantations destroyed during the war for independence.
In one of the best banking schemes in world history, the French
anticipated and planned for Haiti to secure a loan to pay the first installment on the indemnity. They forced Haitian officials to borrow the 30 million
francs from a French bank that then deducted the management fees from the face
value of the loan and charged interest rates so exorbitant that after
payments were completed, Haiti was still 6 million francs short.
Records show that banking cycle chained Haiti to perpetual poverty and it to
not finish paying the indemnity debt until 1947.
Since President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted, Haiti’s interim
leader Gerard Latortue says the country will not pursue an “illegal” and
“ridiculous” demand for reparations from France. Prime Minister
Latortue dismisses the claim said it was made solely for political reasons.
He said “Haiti had no interest in maintaining an atmosphere of confrontation
with France” and instead was seeking increased cooperation with France that
could help Haiti build hospitals, roads, schools and other infrastructure.
Latortue said talks he held with officials from both France and the
United States gave him hope that they would support Haiti as it tries to
rebuild.
Whether you buy into Latortue’s brand of politics, trade and aid are
what Haiti needs. Over a billion dollars has been pledged in aid by donor
countries to fund development projects here in Haiti, little of that
money has arrived in Haiti and African Americans should demand the U.S. do
right in this instance. Eighty percent of the population lives in extreme
poverty and every job created through trade supports a single job can support a
half-dozen people or more in this desperate country.
William Reed – ( www.BlackPressInternational.com )
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Counter Punch
www.counterpunch.org/concannon05052005.html
May 5, 2005
Yvon Neptune Nears Death
Clearing the Fences in Haiti
By BRIAN CONCANNON, Jr.
Yvon Neptune’s last meal may have been on April 17. Haiti’s most
recent constitutional Prime Minister, now its most prominent
political prisoner, stopped eating eighteen days ago to protest ten
months of illegal imprisonment. He is weak, emaciated and near
death-his internal organs are failing. He has vowed not to eat until
the Interim Government of Haiti (IGH) drops the charges against him;
charges that it has refused to pursue. The IGH, coming under
increasing pressure and looking for a compromise, offered to fly
Neptune out of the country for medical treatment and exile last
weekend. But the government would not drop the charges, so Neptune
refused to leave.
The IGH has chosen a precarious place to take this stand. Neptune was
arrested pursuant to a valid warrant last June 27 (he turned himself
in when he heard about it on the radio), but since then the
government has not taken even the first step in prosecuting the case
against him. Although Haiti’s constitution requires that a judge
confirm any detention within forty-eight hours, 155 forty-eight hour
periods have elapsed without Neptune seeing the judge on his case.
There is scant evidence that the crime of which Mr. Neptune is
accused, the so-called “La Scierie Massacre” even happened. The
accusations arose out of violence in the provincial city of St. Marc
in February, 2004, during a rebellion against Mr. Neptune’s
government. On February 7, an armed anti-government group called
RAMICOS took over the St. Marc police station. Two days later, police
reinforcements reclaimed the station, and that afternoon the Prime
Minister flew to the city to give a press conference and try to
reassure the population. Two days after that, on February 11, RAMICOS
clashed again with police and with members of Bale Wouze, a
pro-government group, in the St. Marc neighborhood of La Scierie. By
almost all accounts, a few people on both sides were killed. By many
accounts the majority of deaths were on the RAMICOS side. No one has
presented evidence that Mr. Neptune was involved with the clash in
any way.
Two weeks later, Neptune’s boss, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
had been kidnapped to the Central African Republic on a U.S.
government jet, and American Marines controlled Haiti. Mr. Neptune
stayed in office for a few days and cooperated with the transition to
the unelected government, hoping to avoid further bloodshed. In the
meantime, a non-governmental organization called NCHR-Haiti, an IGH
ally and ferocious critic of Neptune’s government, announced that
there had been a massacre in La Scierie in which 50 people had been
killed.
Journalists who were in St. Marc on February 11 and 12 reported no
sign of such a massacre. Louis Joinet, the UN Human Rights
Commission’s Independent Expert on Haiti, concluded there was not a
massacre, but a fight between two groups. But NCHR-Haiti insisted
that the case be prosecuted. The IGH, which had an agreement with
NCHR-Haiti to prosecute anyone the organization denounced, obliged by
arresting Mr. Neptune along with the former Minister of the Interior,
a former member of Parliament and several others.
NCHR-Haiti received a $100,000 grant from the Canadian government
(one of the IGH’s three main supporters, along with the U.S. and
France) to pursue the La Scierie case. The organization hired a
lawyer and former opposition Senator to represent the victims, and
kept up the pressure in the press, even denouncing the government for
allowing Neptune to receive medical treatment at a UN hospital. This
persecution of Neptune went so far that NCHR-Haiti’s parent
organization in the U.S. publicly disowned it and requested that it
change its name.
In the meantime, Neptune had an adventurous ten months in prison. He
survived at least two reported assassination attempts, a December
massacre by guards and police in a nearby cellblock, a February
prison break in which he was removed from the prison at gunpoint (he
turned himself in, again, as soon as he could), and his first hunger
strike, which he ended in March after three weeks when he believed he
had been promised freedom. He was not brought to court.
The Interim Government keeps Neptune in jail for a case it declines
to pursue and cannot prove despite an impressive mobilization of
world opinion. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the UN Security
Council, the CARICOM countries, human rights groups like Amnesty
International, religious leaders and ordinary citizens throughout the
world have called on the IGH to let Neptune go to trial or let him go
free. Even U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, one of
the regime’s most steadfast foreign supporters, announced as far back
as July that the IGH needed to prove its case or drop it.
If the IGH is taking a stand on precarious ground, so is Mr. Neptune.
His enormous and dangerous sacrifice has not gained much media
attention for him or his cause. If he accepted the offer of exile, he
could fight indefinitely from abroad, if he dies he will complete his
enemies’ efforts to silence him. Clearing his name is unnecessary- it
is obvious that there never was a case against him- but starving to
death would not do it.
But Neptune’s hunger strike is not really about clearing his name, it
is about clearing everyone off the fences. The Haitian government
straddles one fence by locking up its enemies while avoiding the
legal consequences of that policy. Hundreds of political prisoners
sit in Haiti’s jails, many with a judge’s release order sitting in
their files. Next to most of them, Yvon Neptune is fortunate- their
detention is just as illegal, probably even more dangerous, and with
their lower profiles, they could hunger strike to the bitter end
without anyone outside of Haiti caring. Even those prisoners are
fortunate, next to the hundreds, if not thousands of others that the
Haitian police have executed on the spot in the last year, for
demonstrating peacefully, organizing for democracy, or for being
young and male in a poor neighborhood. Neptune’s hunger strike is
forcing the government to choose, to choose between complying with
the law and setting him free or publicly, illegally and terminally
depriving him of his rights.
The IGH’s international patrons, especially the U.S., France, Canada,
straddle the fence by talking about human rights for Neptune and
other Haitians, while avoiding the consequences of their support for
the brutal IGH. Those countries, along with the UN, are the
government’s principal butresses- they arm and protect the police,
fund the government payroll and defend the IGH in the international
community. If any of those countries conditioned its continued help
on Mr. Neptune’s release (or threatened to bundle the interim
President to the Central African Republic), Neptune would be free
instantly. Neptune’s strike is showing that these countries cannot
simultaneously support their avowed human rights principles and a
dictatorial regime, and it is forcing them choose.
The citizens of the U.S., Canada and France are also straddling a
fence- we believe in justice and democracy, and in freedom for
political prisoners, but we avoid the fact that we are part of the
problem. Our governments are supporting the persecution of Yvon
Neptune and so many others in our name with our tax dollars, and we
are, for the most part, doing very little about it. The hunger strike
is forcing us to choose between actively working for Neptune’s
liberation or passively paying for his imprisonment.
There are signs of movement along the fence-line. Last weekend’s
offer of exile shows that the IGH certainly fears the consequences of
Neptune’s death. On Wednesday, the previously silent Human Rights
Division of the UN Mission in Haiti declared that “since the
beginning of the procedure until today, the fundamental rights,
according to national and international standards, have not been
respected in the case of Mr. Neptune.” The same day the Organization
of American States, which had previously refrained from criticizing
the IGH, noted the case’s “serious moral and political implications
for the Haitian government and for the international community.”
Neptune has been getting help with his fence-clearing work. Over the
last week, a flurry of petitions and action alerts circulated over
the internet, and by hand in Haiti, North America and France have
spurred hundreds of people to tug their governments towards the side
of justice for Yvon Neptune. But hundreds have not been enough-
thousands may be needed, and time for Yvon Neptune is running out.
Brian Concannon Jr., Esq. directs the Institute for Justice and
Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), which has filed a Petition on behalf of
Yvon Neptune before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
More information about Neptune’s case, including resources for action
are on www.ijdh.org.
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Forwarded by the Haitian Lawyers’ Leadership Network
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“Men anpil chay pa lou” is Kreyol for – “Many hands make light a heavy load.”
See, The Haitian Leadership Networks’ 7 “Men Anpil Chay Pa Lou” campaigns to help restore Haiti’s independence, the will of the mass electorate and the rule of law.
www.margueritelaurent.com/law/lawpress.html
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Here is what you can do to help us help the people of Haiti:
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Action Requested from Haiti solidarity groups and activists for justice and democracy
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Please circulate our mailings and posts to your mailing list and e-mail contacts. Subscribe by writing to: Erzilidanto@yahoo.com
Read, adopt and circulate the Haiti Resolution (see below) from the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network and/or the Porto Alegre Declarations on Haiti adopted at the World Social Forum in 2005: www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/declaration.html
Circulate the human rights reports, especially the latest Miami Law Center report:
www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/human_rights_reports/c1humanrightsreports.html
Do Press Work: Join our letter writing campaigns to help free the political prisoners in Haiti, stop the persecution of Haiti’s most popular political party and restore Constitutional rule. Write a letter, call the media, fax, – See our Press Work page for sample letters and contact information:
www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/pressreleases_hll.html
HLLN Networkers are urged, in addition to the general writing campaigns and e-mail circulations, to also consider volunteering as primary coordinators/contributors to one of our seven campaigns: www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaigns.html
Support our lawyers in Haiti and HLLN projects, such as, our partnership with AUMOHD, the young human rights lawyers in Haiti who are defending the defenseless poor whose only crime is that they voted for Lavalas, supported Constitutional rule or are resisting a return of the bloody U.S.-trained Haitian army and US-sponsored dictatorship. For information on AUMOHD, go to: www.april6vt.org/
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Support the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Haiti Resolution:
1. Demand the return of constitutional rule to Haiti by restoring all elected officials of all parties to their offices throughout the country until the end of their mandates and another election is held, as mandated by Haiti’s Constitution;
2. Condemn the killings, illegal imprisonment and confiscation of the property of supporters of Haiti’s constitutional government and insist that Haiti’s illegitimate “interim government” immediately cease its persecution and put a stop to persecution by the thugs and murderers from sectors in their police force, from the paramilitaries, gangs and former soldiers;
3. Insist on the immediate release of all political prisoners in Haitian jails, including Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, Interior Minister Privert and other constitutional government officials and folksinger-activist SÚ Anne;
4. Insist on the disarmament of the thugs, death squad leaders and convicted human rights violators and their prosecution for all crimes committed during the attack on Haiti’s elected government and support the rebuilding of Haiti’s police force, ensuring that it excludes anyone who helped to overthrow the democratically elected government or who participated in other human rights violations;
5. Stop the indefinite detention and automatic repatriation of Haitian refugees and immediately grant Temporary Protected Status to all Haitian refugees presently in the United States until democracy is restored to Haiti; and
6. Support the calls by the OAS, CARICOM and the African Union for an investigation into the circumstances of President Aristide’s removal. Support the enactment of Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s T.R.U.T.H Act which calls for U.S. Congressional investigation of the forcible removal of the democratically elected President and government of Haiti.
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