Half-Hour for Haiti: Grassroots Activists In Legal Limbo

November 8, 2006

Half-Hour for Haiti: Grassroots Activists In Legal Limbo

Update: The best news for justice in Haiti is Tuesday's U.S.
elections. Although Haiti itself was not a major factor in the
transfer of congressional power, the new legislature does have a clear
mandate for a more just U.S. foreign policy. But history shows that
the mandate will not turn automatically into results- what has been
won is the opportunity to organize for results. We have started a
discussion in our [1]Haiti JusticeBlog of what our legislative
priorities should be to ensure a just U.S. treatment of Haiti, and how
we should organize to attain them. Please join the discussion by
adding your comments to the post titled "What Has Been Won."


Thanks to everyone who visited the [2]Haiti JusticeBlog over the last
week. Some beginner bloggers found that we had not explained how to
use it well enough. I am a beginner blogger myself, so by necessity we
made it very easy. We now do a better job of explaining how easy, on
the blog's top post.


Coming Attractions: November 17-19 is the School of the Americas Watch
(SOAW) [3]Vigil at Fort Benning, Georgia. SOAW's [4]Journey for
Justice Caravan rolls into Texas (now to 11/14) and New Orleans
(11/15-16). Jubilee USA's Drop the Debt, Invest in people! speaking
tour visits [5]Chicago:(11/8-11).



This Week's Action: We invest a lot of energy to free high profile
political prisoners, because they attract attention to all human
rights violations in Haiti. But we cannot forget that the majority of
political prisoners in Haiti are poor, and unknown outside of their
neighborhood. Their cases are rarely discussed by human rights groups
or in the media, but their imprisonment is just as unjust.


Our [6]June 13 alert called for support for three grassroots activists
from rural Petit-Goave, Excellent Laviolet, Aline Joseph and Raoul
Orphé, all arrested in connection with a 2002 killing of members of an
anti-Lavalas group. We protested their imprisonment because 1) the
arrests were illegal- normal procedures under Haitian law were
ignored; 2) the warrants in the case were issued three years after the
crime (and for Laviolet and Joseph, after the arrests), but shortly
after Mr. Laviolet gave a radio interview criticizing the judge in the
case, Judge Alex Clédanor for abuse of his judicial authority; and 3)
the arrestees were active in pro-Lavalas organizations, while Judge
Clédanor is a leading member of an anti-Lavalas political group..


Five months later, the case has not moved forward a single step. In
August 2008, the defendants' lawyers filed a request for pre-trial
release, but Judge Clédanor declined to even rule on the request.
Judge Clédanor recently left the court for a job with MINUSTAH, the UN
mission in Haiti, and according to the Chief Judge of the Petit Goave
court, Emmanuel Tataille, he did not leave the case files for Mr.
Laviolet, Ms. Joseph or Mr. Orphé. Judge Tataille says there can be no
further progress on the case until the case files are returned.


Please write to Minister of Justice, René Magloire, urging him to make
sure the case files for Excellent Laviolet, Aline Joseph and Raoul
Orphé are returned, and that their cases are processed promptly and
fairly. A sample letter is below, feel free to customize it. You may
send yours directly to Me. Magloire by regular mail, or to us by fax:
(206) 350-7986 (a U.S. number) or email: [7]avokahaiti@aol.com, and we
will ensure that they are delivered.


____________________________________________

Me. René Magloire

Ministre de la Justice et de la Sécurité Publique

Ministère de la Justice

18 Avenue Charles Sumner

Port-au-Prince, Haïti


Re: Political Prisoners


Dear Mr. Minister:


I am writing on behalf of three Lavalas activists from Petit-Goave,
Excellent Laviolet, Aline Joseph (both arrested February 5, 2006) and
Raoul Orphé (arrested on April 11, 2006). All were arrested illegally
and imprisoned by Juge d'Instruction Alex Clédanor. The arrests were
made and warrants issued three years after the crime, but shortly
after some of the accused had publicly criticized Judge Clédanor for
abuse of his judicial authority. All of the accused are active in
pro-Lavalas organizations. Judge Clédanor is a leading member of
Mobilisation pour le développement national (MDN).


The defendants have now collectively spent over four years in prison,
without being formally charged with any crime. In August 2006, their
lawyers filed a request for pre-trial release, but Judge Clédanor
declined to even rule on it. Judge Clédanor recently left the court
for a job with MINUSTAH, the UN mission in Haiti. According to the
Chief Judge of the Petit Goave court, Emmanuel Tataille, Judge
Clédanor did not leave the case files for Mr. Laviolet, Ms. Joseph or
Mr. Orphé, so the case cannot proceed under another judge.


I urge you to ensure that the rights of these three citizens are
respected, by following up with Judge Clédanor, and if necessary
MINUSTAH, to ensure that the case files are immediately returned to
the Petit-Goave court, or if they cannot be located, that Mr.
Laviolet, Ms. Joseph or Mr. Orphé are released immediately. In
addition, please instruct your prosecutor in Petit-Goave to recommend
immediate pre-trial release for the three defendants, unless he has
compelling justification in his file for continued detention.


Thank you for your attention to this matter.





For more information about the Half-Hour for Haiti Program, the
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, or human rights in Haiti,
see www.ijdh.org. To receive Half-Hour for Haiti Action Alerts once
per week, send an email to HalfHour4Haiti@ijdh.org.



Brian Concannon Jr.

Director, Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti

[8]Brian@IJDH.org

www.HaitiJustice.org

PO Box 745

Joseph, OR, 97846 USA

541-432-0597

skype: Brian.Concannon

References

1. http://blog.ijdh.org/
2. http://blog.ijdh.org/
3. http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=1295
4. http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=1172
5. http://www.jubileeusa.org/jubilee.cgi?path=/take_action&page=illinois.html
6. http://www.ijdh.org/articles/article_halfhourforhaiti_6-13-06.html
7. mailto:avokahaiti@aol.com
8. mailto:Brian@IJDH.org