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</font><h5><b>AHP News - December 30, 2004 - English translation
(Unofficial) <br><br>
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Marchers in Port-au-Prince call for the release of the political
prisoners <br>
<br><br>
</b></h5><font face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><b>Port-au-Prince, December 30,
2004 (AHP)- </b>The GDP (Group for the Defense of the Rights of
Political Prisoners staged a peaceful march again Thursday in
Port-au-Prince to press the interim authorities to free the political
prisoners held illegally in the country's detention centers.
<br><br>
Wives and children of the political prisoners said they were impatient to
see their husbands and fathers come home after several months of illegal
imprisonment. <br><br>
One of the spouses appealed to the interim authorities, urging them, she
said, to renounce their habit of lying and embark on the road to
justice instead. <br><br>
"Our husbands must no longer be held in prison because of
their political opinions", she said. <br><br>
For his part, GDP coordinator Ronald St-Jean, who was at the head of the
demonstration, demanded publication of the results of the investigation
into the December 1st massacre at the National Penitentiary, which the
transition government claimed it has undertaken. <br><br>
According to consistent testimony, several dozen prisoners were killed by
the police in the carnage. <br><br>
Ronald St-Jean deplored that political prisoners such as Pétion Rospide,
Paul Keller, Jacques Anthony Nazaire and Harold Sévère have not been
released even though the court has ordered their release in a ruling
issued on December 29. <br><br>
"We are going to go all the way in our efforts to win the release to
all the political prisoners, and end the political persecution and the
slaughters", asserted the GDP director. <br><br>
According to U.S. officials, most of the people held in prison are there
because of wild accusations or because their names have been mentioned
over the airwaves. <br><br>
Several of the detainees' homes have been demolished and their property
looted in this context. <br><br>
<br>
</font><h5><b>AHP December 30, 2004 1:10 PM<br><br>
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Hundreds of Lavalas activists demonstrate in Port-au-Prince to call for
the return of constitutional government and the release of all of the
political prisoners <br>
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</b></h5><font face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><b>Port-au-Prince, December 30,
2004 (AHP)- </b>Hundreds of Fanmi Lavalas activists demonstrated
this Thursday in Port-au-Prince to advocate the release of all the
political prisoners who have been incarcerated for several months in a
number of detention facilities in Haiti. <br><br>
This was the first in a series of daily mobilizations announced for
December 30th and 31st, 2004 and January 1st, 2005 to call for the return
of constitutional government to the country. <br><br>
A spokesperson for the Lavalas activists, Samba Boukman, remarked that
they can not remain in this difficult situation indefinitely, with people
from the poorest neighborhoods excluded and living in filth.
<br><br>
"We are the sons and daughters of the country, we should be able to
enjoy the same rights as all the others", declared Samba
Boukman.<br><br>
The activists say they are determined to fight to the end for the return
of constitutional government, the only condition under which there can be
elections in Haiti in order that all Haitians may have better living
conditions. <br><br>
<br>
</font><h5><b>AHP December 30, 2004 3:50 PM<br><br>
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Political prisoners remain locked in prison despite orders for their
release <br><br>
</b></h5><font face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><b>Port-au-Prince, December 30,
2004 (AHP)-</b> Mr. Edwidge S. Coque, who is the attorney for
former police commissioner Anthony Nazaire spoke out Thursday to denounce
the interim government for its systematic violations of human
rights. <br><br>
Mr. Coque accused the transitional authorities of having blocked the
release from prison of four detainees whose release had been ordered by a
court ruling dated December 29. <br><br>
The detainees in question are Paul Keller, former director of the
National Council of Facility Amenities (CNE), Rospide Pétion,
Harold Sévère, former mayor of Port-au-Prince, and former police
commissioner Anthony Nazaire.<br><br>
Mr. Edwidge Coque deplored that the government is doing exactly the same
thing it criticized previous governments of doing. He urged that justice
be independent and applied equally for all. <br><br>
<br>
</font><h5><b>AHP December 30, 2004 3:15 PM<br><br>
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