[News] Haiti: Maxine Waters demand Neptune's release + Kofi Annan calls for a serious investigation

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Tue May 24 14:17:50 EDT 2005




AHP News - May 23, 2005 - English translation (Unofficial)



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Dominique Levanti has died. Dodo was 64 years old when he passed away in 
Jacmel (in the Southeast). He was the Agence France Presse  (AFP) 
correspondent  in Haiti for the past 34 years. Condolences to his family 
and to AFP
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U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters calls on President Bush to help obtain the 
release of Yvon Neptune who is "illegally imprisoned"

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Port-au-Prince, May 23,  2005 (AHP)- California's Democratic  Congresswoman 
from the 35th District, Maxine Waters, has written a new letter to American 
President George W, Bush urging him to try to obtain the immediate release 
from prison of former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, and protesting his 
illegal detention by the interim government. Mr. Neptune has been on a 
hunger strike for more than a month.

The letter was made public Friday and follows a previous letter sent May 13 
to Mr. Bush, which was signed by 13 members of Congress. The new letter was 
signed by an additional 15 Congressional Representatives on top of the 
original 13.

The 28 signatories to the letter expressed their deep concern at the 
detention conditions of former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune.

Congresswoman Waters recalled that Yvon Neptune has been held in prison 
since June 2004 without any formal charges against him and without having 
been brought before a judge as is required by the Haitian Constitution of 
1987.

Yvon Neptune's hunger strike seeks to bring about his immediate and 
unconditional release.

According to witnesses, Mr. Neptune is so weak that he can no longer walk. 
His vital organs are deteriorating and his life is gravely threatened, said 
Maxine Waters, urging President Bush to intervene quickly to save the life 
of the former prime minister and obtain his immediate release.

Each of the two letters were copied to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza 
Rice and U.S. Ambassador to Haiti  James B. Foley.

The former prime minister was supposed to travel Monday (May 23) to 
Saint-Marc to be interviewed by the investigating judge, Cluny 
Pierre-Gilles, in connection with the case of La Scierie brought by NCHR 
(now named RNDDH), but was reportedly in no condition to travel.

Mr. Neptune voluntarily turned himself in to justice authorities after 
accusations were made against him by two organizations hostile to his 
government (NCHR - Haiti and Ramicosm) alleging that he was involved in a 
massacre at La. Scierie.

Neptune was singled out by the two organizations because he traveled to 
Saint-Marc two days before the alleged incidents in Saint-Marc where armed 
opponents of the Aristide government had killed police officers and looted 
and set fire to a police station.

To explain why human remains from the alleged massacre could not be 
produced, the heads of the two organizations accusing Mr. Neptune indicated 
that the corpses were entirely consumed by hungry dogs.

AHP May 23,  2005 12:05 PM

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Kofi Annan expresses concern at the situation of violence in Haiti and 
calls for a serious investigation into human rights violations

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Port-au-Prince, May 23,  2005 (AHP)- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said 
he was disturbed by the violence prevailing in Haiti in recent days.

Mr. Annan conveyed his concern through a new report by the 
Secretary-General (S/2005/313) regarding the socio-political  situation in 
Haiti that was made public last Friday.

The UN Secretary-General appealed to the interim authorities to "set an 
example by promptly initiating an investigation into the human rights 
violations allegedly committed by national police officers".

An American videographer, Kevin Pina, said recently that he has proof of 
police involvement in the killing of demonstrators on February 28 and April 
27, 2005.

Kofi Annan proposed an increase in the military component of MINUSTAH to 
7,500 troops as opposed to the 6,700 currently authorized and the 6,200 on 
the ground as of May 11. He also proposed an increase in the ceiling for 
CIVPOL police to 1,897 from the 1,622 authorized and the 1,413 on the 
ground of  soldiers and 275 CIVPOL police officers in the run-up to 
elections scheduled for later this year because, he observed, acts of 
violence are sure to increase.

Sec. Annan's proposal comes at a time when some countries that have 
contributed troops to MINUSTAH are threatening to bring them home due to 
the slow pace at which international aid promised to Haiti is being released.

For his part, interim Prime Minister Gérard Latortue, considered that the 
UN Secretary-General should have focused primarily on increasing the number 
of CIVPOL police officers rather than also increasing the number of UN 
troops in order to better address the persistent problem of insecurity in 
Haiti.

The head of the interim government also expressed hope that the new police 
officers who will arrive in Haiti will speak French and Creole so as to 
facilitate their communication with the public.

He criticized what he called the dual command structure of MINUSTAH, with 
UN troops and the UN police each having their own separate commanders, thus 
causing, he said, a real problem of integration.

AHP May 23,  2005 1:10 PM

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