[News] Haiti: Call for release of political prisoners

[News at freedomarchives.org]

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release (323) 757-8900

October 27, 2004, 5:00 p.m.

CONGRESSWOMAN WATERS AND 30 OTHER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS URGE SECRETARY OF 
STATE POWELL TO CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IN HAITI

Washington, D.C. -- Today, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) sent a letter to 
Secretary of State Colin Powell, urging him to call for the release of 
political prisoners who are being unlawfully detained in Haiti, including 
Father Gerard Jean-Juste, Senator Yvon Feuillé, Deputy Rudy Hérivaux, Prime 
Minister Yvon Neptune, Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert and Anne 
Auguste. Thirty of the Congresswoman's colleagues signed her letter. The 
text of the letter follows:

We are writing to express our deep concerns about the continuing pattern of 
human rights violations committed by the Interim Government of Haiti. We 
are especially concerned about the recent arrests of several community 
leaders who remain illegally detained in prison in violation of Haitian law.

On October 2, Haitian police forcibly entered Haiti's Radio Caraibes and 
arrested two Senators, Yvon Feuillé and Gerard Gilles, and a former deputy 
from the Lavalas party, Rudy Hérivaux, who criticized the Interim 
Government during a radio program. When a lawyer arrived at the radio 
station to represent these individuals, he too was arrested. All four 
individuals were arrested without warrants. The lawyer and Senator Gilles 
were released three days later, but Senator Feuillé and Deputy Hérivaux 
remain in prison without charges, in violation of Haitian law.

On October 13, 2004, Haitian police arrested Father Gerard Jean-Juste, the 
pastor of Saint Claire Church in Haiti, while he was feeding impoverished 
children in his church. Father Jean-Juste is a widely-respected advocate 
for peace and justice in Haiti and the rights of Haitian immigrants in the 
United States. Like Senator Feuillé and Deputy Hérivaux, Father Jean-Juste 
was arrested without a warrant. He remains illegally detained in prison on 
bogus charges.

Senator Yvon Feuillé, Deputy Rudy Hérivaux, and Father Gerard Jean-Juste 
join many Lavalas supporters and critics of the current government who 
already are in prison. Among the most prominent individuals imprisoned in 
Haiti today are former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, who was arrested on 
June 27, 2004, former Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert, who was arrested 
on April 6, 2004, and the well-known Haitian singer and community activist 
Anne Auguste (So Anne), who was arrested on May 10, 2004. All of these 
individuals remain illegally detained in prison.

We urge you to call for the release of Senator Feuillé, Deputy Hérivaux, 
Father Jean-Juste, Prime Minister Neptune, Interior Minister Privert, Anne 
Auguste, and all political prisoners and imprisoned community leaders who 
have not been charged, or are not being lawfully detained, under Haitian 
law. Our government should be doing all that it can to ensure that the 
Interim Government of Haiti abides by the rule of law and respects the 
human rights of the Haitian people.

Sincerely,
Maxine Waters
John Conyers
Barbara Lee
Jan Schakowsky
James Oberstar
Sam Farr
Barney Frank
Raul Grijalva
Donald Payne
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Eddie Bernice Johnson Lois Capps
Dennis Kucinich
Juanita Millender-McDonald
Edolphus Towns
Danny K. Davis
Chaka Fattah
Major Owens
Bobby L. Rush
Eni Faleomavaega
Maurice Hinchey
Sheila Jackson-Lee Corrine Brown
Eleanor Holmes Norton
John Lewis
Joseph Hoeffel
Diane E. Watson
Artur Davis
Lynn Woolsey
Dennis Cardoza
James P. McGovern


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