[News] Maxine Waters visits Prime Minister Neptune in Haiti prison

[News at freedomarchives.org]

Congresswoman Maxine Waters travels to Haiti; visits former Prime Minister
Neptune in prison; and demands that the interim government release him and
all political prisoners. -

March 07, 2005
             Congresswoman Maxine Waters travels to Haiti; visits former
Prime Minister Neptune in prison; and demands that the interim government
release him and all political prisoners.
             March 07, 2005  News HaitiAction.net


      Congresswoman Maxine Waters travels to Haiti; visits former Prime
Minister Neptune in prison; and demands that the interim government release
him and all political prisoners.

       Washington, D.C. -- Today, Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-35) traveled to
Haiti to visit Haiti's former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, who is being
detained illegally in prison. She was met at the airport in Port-au-Prince
by U.S. Embassy officials early this morning and immediately traveled to the
National Penitentiary, where she met with Prime Minister Neptune, as well as
former Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert and former delegate Jacques
Mathelier. The Congresswoman spent an hour with Prime Minister Neptune,
discussing his health and the treatment he has received in prison, after
which she returned to the airport and held a press conference.

       "I urge the interim government of Haiti to set Prime Minister Neptune
free and release all political prisoners in Haitian prisons," said the
Congresswoman. "The interim government's repression of dissenters like Prime
Minister Neptune must end immediately. The whole world is watching."

       Prime Minister Neptune has languished in prison in Haiti since June
27, 2004. His life has been endangered throughout his confinement. There
were reports of a plot to assassinate him last November, a massacre in the
National Penitentiary on December 1, and a revolt in the National
Penitentiary on February 19. Prime Minister Neptune recently began a hunger
strike and has vowed not to eat until the unjust, unsafe circumstances of
his confinement are addressed.

       "The conditions that I observed in the prison where Prime Minister
Neptune is being held were deplorable," reported the Congresswoman. "Prime
Minister Neptune was weak and could only speak in a whispering voice. He
insisted that he had been jailed without justification and that he had
committed no crime. He has not been allowed to go before a judge to
challenge his confinement as required under the constitution of Haiti, and
he believes he has been targeted to be killed."

       "I tried to convince Prime Minister Neptune to give up his hunger
strike or at least accept temporary asylum from the United States, so that
he could be examined by an American physician tasked with ensuring that his
hunger strike has not caused him bodily harm," explained the Congresswoman.
"However, Prime Minister Neptune refused to end his hunger strike, which
protests his unjust imprisonment by the interim government of Haiti. He said
he will not leave Haiti, and he will not accept political asylum in another
country. The only condition under which he would be willing to end his
hunger strike is if the interim government of Haiti releases him and allows
him to live as a free man in Haiti."

       Congresswoman Waters was accompanied to the prison by a delegation of
Americans who are concerned about human rights in Haiti. The delegation
included Marguerite Laurent, the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network; Mario
Joseph, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti; Margaret Prescod,
Global Women Strike; Lucie Tondreau, Veye Yo and the Haiti Action Committee;
Dr. Serge Louis, Fanmi Lavalas; and Dr. Jean-Paul Bennet, a physician;

       Congresswoman Waters was joined on her flight to Port-au-Prince by Ira
Kurzban, a prominent Florida attorney who served as the attorney for
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the democratically-elected President of
Haiti who was forced to leave Haiti in a coup d'etat on February 29, 2004.
Upon arrival, Mr. Kurzban was told that the interim government of Haiti
would not allow him to enter the country. Employees of American Airlines
informed Mr. Kurzban that should he deplane, he would be immediately
arrested. Nevertheless, Mr. Kurzban left the plane and demanded to know why
he was not being allowed to enter Haiti, but was stopped by officials of the
interim government, who forced him to get back on a plane and return to the
United States.

       "The interim government's refusal to allow Ira Kurzban to join me in
visiting Prime Minister Neptune is just another example of its systematic
repression of everyone who is associated with President Aristide or his
political party," said Congresswoman Waters. "This repression has got to
stop."

       "I traveled to Haiti to determine the conditions of Prime Minister
Neptune's imprisonment, assess his well-being, and work with the U.S.
Embassy to obtain his immediate release from prison. I believe that our
efforts will help to save Prime Minister Neptune's life, and I hope that
they will lead to his immediate release from prison."



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