[News] Haiti: Yvon Neptune still on hunger strike, in grave danger
News at freedomarchives.org
News at freedomarchives.org
Mon May 2 08:50:25 EDT 2005
From: erzilidanto at yahoo.com
Date: May 1, 2005 1:02:53 PM PDT
To: ezilidanto at lists.riseup.net
Subject: [ezilidanto] If Neptune is flown into exile, he wants the world to
know, it was a kidnapping
Yvon Neptune reportedly will be forced into exile
by Marguerite Laurent, May 1, 2005
If Prime Minister Yvon Neptune is flown out of Haiti, without his
liberation orders and unconditional released having been signed by a
Haitian judge, he wants the world to know he did not leave Haiti willingly
- that he was forced into exile. It was simply another kidnapping.
According to an AP article, written by Ariana Cubillos, dated today May 1,
2005, a Western diplomat who spoke on conditions of anonymity reported that
Prime Minister Yvon Neptune is flying into exile. Meanwhile, Radio Kiskeya
reported that Neptune already had been flown out late Saturday after
doctors said a hunger strike had left him near death.”
The same AP article reports “An official at Port-au-Prince's international
airport said they were on standby for the event but had not yet received
confirmation from officials in Haiti's interim government, who could not be
reached for comment.”
Yvon Neptune is too weak to speaka for himself right now. He is critically
ill from the hunger strike resume on April 17 and literally cannot speak.
His family fears his death is imminent.
We, at the Haitian Lawyers Leadership spoke to Yvon Neptune’s family and
friends in Haiti just minutes ago to get confirmation of this report of
"going into exitle" and one and all maintain that 1) Yvon Neptune is still
in prison in Haiti 2) He has not been told anything about going into
immediate exile for humanitarian purposes and 3) He would never agree to do
so. Thus, if Neptune is flown out of Haiti, he would not be doing so
willingly. Again, Mr. Neptune’s family stresses that Yvon Neptune would
never go into exile; that he has repeatedly maintained this position: That
he is an innocent man, wrongfully accused of a massacre that the UN, the
international press and reputable human rights organization say did not
happen. Additionally, this information we can personally corroborate
because Prime Minister Neptune, told Marguerite Laurent, in early March,
2005, when we visited him at the prison, that he only wishes to live as a
free and innocent man in Haiti and for the interim government to stop
persecuting him and guarantee his safety. Yvon Neptune's position explained
to Congresswoman Waters and us at HLLN, when we visited him on March 7,
2005 has not changed. He does not wish to go to exile, or to leave Haiti as
a marked criminal. He has spent ten (10) months in the miserable, horrific
Latortue jail in Haiti without being charged or seeing a judge with his
lawyer present.
Again, The AP report above cited is wrong. Yvon Neptune is still in Haiti.
He is critically ill because of the hunger strike and his family fear he
will not live much longer.
However, they stress that the only thing that would legitimately put
Neptune out of prison is a liberation order. That he will not leave prison
unless a judge has signed his liberation order and acknowledged his
innocence of all crimes. If, Neptune is flown to the Dominican Republic, or
anywhere else, as reported by AP, for any purposes whatsoever, and a
liberation order acknowledging his wrongful incarceration has not been
signed, then Prime Minister Neptune, through his family, wants the world to
know, he was forced to leave, that he was kidnapped out of Haiti against
his will and sent to exile in the same fashion as President Aristide; in
the same fashion, as when the authorities, last Friday on April 22, 2005,
had forced him, without his lawyer, to go to St. Marc where even the judge
did not know he was coming and reportedly refused to see him. (See below,
Green Left Weekly article by Alison Dellit - "Former PM on hunger stike")
If Neptune is flown out of Haiti today or at any other time without a
complete exoneration already signed, then he wants the world to know he was
forced to leave Haiti by the UN/US/Canada/France and their
Latortue-supported death regime against his will. (See also Letter From
Yvon Neptune from Jail dated April 20, 2005)
"The hunger strike I began on February 20 was aimed at forcing the
government to set me free and to stop being the cause of my
insecurity.
Because of a promise the government had made that it was going to
liberate me, I agreed to put an end to my hunger strike and to go to
the Argentine Hospital under the jurisdiction of the MINUSTAH/United
Nations."
Right now, in the room of Yvon Neptune, we have been told a group of
Argentanian doctors have entered Neptune rooms and we are being told, via
telephone, that they want to give him a "serum" to force him out of the
prison. He is screaming, in only the whisper that he is capable of
uttering: NO, NO, NO. I've given no one authorization to sent me into
exile. I will die with my dignity or be set free from this prison without
conditions."
Marguerite Laurent, Esq.
Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
May 1, 2005
*********
For more Background Information go to:
<http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/neptune.html>http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/neptune.html
Please write letters denouncing this other kidnapping before it is
COMPLETED and demand the immediate and unconditional release from prison of
Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and all the political prisoners in Haiti.
Sign the petition demanding release of Yvon Neptune at:
<http://www.haitiechange.org/avis.htm>http://www.haitiechange.org/avis.htm
*****
Posted on Sun, May. 01, 2005
Ex-Haiti PM reportedly flying into exile
ARIANA CUBILLOS
Associated Press
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The former prime minister under ousted President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is flying into exile after months in detention, a
Western diplomat and a radio station reported Sunday.
Former Premier Yvon Neptune, who had been held without charge for 10 months
in connection with political killings during the February 2003 rebellion
that ousted Aristide, will be flown to the neighboring Dominican Republic
by helicopter on Sunday, the diplomat said. The diplomat spoke on condition
of anonymity because a formal announcement has not been made.
Independent Radio Kiskeya reported that Neptune already had been flown out
late Saturday after doctors said a hunger strike had left him near death.
The discrepancy could not immediately be reconciled.
An official at Port-au-Prince's international airport said they were on
standby for the event but had not yet received confirmation from officials
in Haiti's interim government, who could not be reached for comment.
Neptune initially was considered a traitor by Aristide loyalists when he
handed power to an interim president, Boniface Alexandre, within days of
Aristide's Feb. 29 flight as rebels led by former soldiers were converging
on the capital.
At the time Neptune resisted pressure from diplomats and interim government
officials, installed after U.S. troops arrived, to go into exile.
After his arrest in June, he became a rallying point for both militants
demanding the release of hundreds of Aristide officials and loyalists
jailed without charge, as well as for human rights activists demanding he
be tried. Aristide is in exile in South Africa.
The interim government of Prime Minister Gerard Latortue accused Neptune of
orchestrating the killing of Aristide opponents in the western town of St.
Marc during the rebellion, allegations he denies.
Latortue had resisted months of international pressure to release Neptune.
******
Green Left Weekly
<http://www.greenleft.org.au/index.htm>http://www.greenleft.org.au/index.htm
May 4, 2005
HAITI: Former PM on hunger strike
by Alison Dellit
A little more than a year after US Marines kidnapped democratically
elected Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and installed
opponent Gerard Latortue as an “interim” prime minister, the world’s
fourth poorest country remains in chaos. Although Aristide’s Lavalas
Movement is the most popular political party, the government remains
in power through the force of the Haitian police force, backed by
United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) forces.
The Haitian police have been widely condemned for human rights
abuses. Amnesty International has documented numerous arbitrary
arrests and summary executions of Lavalas members. On April 29,
Haitian police shot dead nine protesters at a march demanding the
return of Aristide.
Adding to police violence are the terrorisation tactics of the former
Haitian Army — CIA-trained thugs whose invasion provided cover for
the coup against Aristide. These “soldiers” have been responsible for
rape and murder rampages through the slum areas that constitute
Aristide’s support base, with neither the police nor MINUSTAH troops
able or willing to stop it.
Meanwhile, disease and starvation stalk the country’s population and
a US$1 billion aid package promised after the coup by Western
countries has failed to materialise.
Aristide has refused to accept the legitimacy of the interim
government, and it is unclear whether Lavalas will agree to
participate in elections scheduled for later this year, given the
extremely violent political climate.
Four months after his installation, Latortue had Yvon Neptune, the
prime minister under Aristide, arrested and charged with murder. On
February 11, 2004, Neptune fought and defeated an armed gang-led
uprising near the village of Saint-Marc. While Aristide’s opponents
claim 50 people were killed by those under Neptune’s command, the UN
independent expert on human Rights in Haiti concluded “there was no
massacre”. However, Latortue has pushed for his prosecution.
In mid-February, Neptune commenced a hunger strike, which continued
until he was taken to a United Nations-run hospital on March 20. On
April 17, however, he recommenced the hunger strike. By April 29,
members of the Committee to Protect the Human rights of the Haitian
People reported that he was “closer to death than to life”. He wrote
this letter to his supporters on April 20. (Translation by Serge
Bellegarde, Guy Antoine and Marilyn Mason.)
From the time I left the prime minister's residence on March 12, 2004
... the source of my insecurity had been the government ... The
government deprived me of my freedom of movement, together with my
freedom to speak freely, with all the length and breadth and depth
that the Constitution allows for this right to be exercised.
The hunger strike I began on February 20 was aimed at forcing the
government to set me free and to stop being the cause of my
insecurity.
Because of a promise the government had made that it was going to
liberate me, I agreed to put an end to my hunger strike and to go to
the Argentine Hospital under the jurisdiction of the MINUSTAH/United
Nations.
Even while in that hospital, however, my insecurity continued because
of the government's continuing refusal to set me free.
That is why, while I was in the hospital managed by the
Argentinians/MINUSTAH, I continued to resist so that the United
Nations would require that the government free me and stop
threatening my life. It was in the context of the dilatory tactics of
this wicked government that I was obliged to resume my hunger strike
with even more force.
My friends, listen. This plot aims at keeping me in prison by all
means for as long as possible; that is one objective. The second
objective is to take me, no matter what the conditions, to Saint-Marc
to continue the political humiliation.
Friends, listen: while I was already into the fifth day of my
complete hunger strike, on April 21, having given me guarantees that
nothing would happen to me, the United Nations forces took me,
against my will, to a supposed prison villa in Pacot, close to the
General Administration and Inspection Headquarters of the police,
despite the fact that I had explained to the UN representative that
this was a trap that the de-facto government had set up to implement
the death plan it had for me. Above all, I told them that I would
maintain my hunger strike in this supposed prison villa as long as I
was not set free.
My friends, on April 22, early in the morning, a team of seven to 10
executioners I recognised from the prison system burst in on me to
take me to Saint-Marc. I felt my life was in danger in the presence
of these executioners; I told them I had not eaten, nor drunk
anything in five days, and I asked them to leave me in peace because
I was weak. When they picked me up with force, put me outside, and
tried to handcuff me, I resisted for my life and I bit one of the
many arms trying to force handcuffs on my wrists.
They drove me to Saint-Marc. I threw up all along the way. When we
arrived in Saint-Marc, nothing was done. Supposedly, Mrs Cluny Pierre
Jules, the supposed investigating judge, declared that she was not
coming because she had not been previously notified.
When the UN representative received news of what the conditions were
in Saint-Marc and of what kind of state I was in, he sent a
helicopter to pick me up and take me back to Port-au-Prince, where I
received some care in a UN ambulance which escorted me back to the
supposed prison villa in Pacot.
I am continuing my hunger strike, so that I can regain my freedom and
my security and so that the de facto government will stop threatening
my life, while it continues to trample on my dignity.
Yvon Neptune
Former prime minister
Member of the Lavalas Movement
Political prisoner
At the Prison in Pacot, Port-au-Prince
From Green Left Weekly, May 4, 2005.
*******
Forwarded by the Haitian Lawyers' Leadership Network
******
"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.
<http://www.margueritelaurent.com/law/lawpress.html>http://www.margueritelaurent.com/law/lawpress.html
*******************
Here is what you can do to help us help the people of Haiti:
***************
Action Requested from Haiti solidarity groups and activists for justice and
democracy
**********************
Please circulate our mailings and posts to your mailing list and e-mail
contacts. Subscribe by writing to: Erzilidanto at 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:
<http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/declaration.html>http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/declaration.html
Circulate the human rights reports, especially the latest Miami Law Center
report:
<http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/human_rights_reports/c1humanrightsreports.html>http://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:
<http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/pressreleases_hll.html>http://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:
<http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaigns.html>http://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: <http://www.april6vt.org/>http://www.april6vt.org/
*********
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 Sò Ann;
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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