<html>
<body>
<font size=3><br>
16 JANUARY 2005<br><br>
<br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF"><b>FROM: </font><font size=3>News
</font><font size=3 color="#0000EE">Haiti</font><font size=3 color="#FF3300">Action</font><font size=3 color="#0000EE">.net</b></font><font size=3>
<br><br>
<b>HAITIAN DEATH SQUAD LEADER, TOTO CONSTANT, TO BE BROUGHT <br>
TO JUSTICE FOR HIS CAMPAIGN OF RAPE AND MURDER <br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">COURAGEOUS WOOMEN BRING CIVIL SUIT
<br>
</font><font size=3>FOR ABUSES BY FRAPH<br><br>
<a href="http://www.haitiaction.com/News/CJA/1_14_5.html">http://www.haitiaction.com/News/CJA/1_14_5.html</a><br><br>
New York, NY:</b> Emmanuel "Toto" Constant was served with a
lawsuit today that accuses him of responsibility for torture, crimes
against humanity and the systematic use of violence against women,
including rape, for the purpose of terrorizing the Haitian population
during that country's brutal military regime in the early
1990s.<br><br>
Despite being the outspoken leader of the paramilitary death squad known
as FRAPH (Revolutionary Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti),
Toto Constant has lived and worked openly in Queens, New York, for the
last ten years. The U.S. government tried to deport Constant in 1995, but
suspended its efforts and released him from detention after he threatened
on the 60 Minutes news program to expose information about the CIA's role
in the formation of FRAPH.<br><br>
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Southern District of New
York by the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), based in San
Francisco, on behalf of several women who survived savage gang rapes and
other forms of extreme violence, including attempted murder. The Center
for Constitutional Rights (CCR), based in New York, is serving as local
counsel.<br><br>
Following a violent military coup against President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide in 1991, the Haitian Armed Forces trained and armed members of
FRAPH to maintain control over Haiti's poor masses. After democracy was
returned to Haiti in October 1994, the government of President Aristide
issued a warrant for Constant's arrest. He fled and came to the United
States. <br><br>
All three plaintiffs in this case are women who were targeted by Constant
and FRAPH as part of a systematic campaign of violence against women. Two
of the women were gang raped repeatedly by FRAPH members in front of
their families. One of the plaintiffs became pregnant and bore a child as
a result of the rape she suffered. FRAPH operatives attacked the third
plaintiff, leaving her for dead. Due to the fear of reprisals, the
plaintiffs in this case have filed their claims anonymously. <br><br>
The lawsuit is especially timely because Haiti is again suffering from
the massive, sytematic human rights violations committed during the
1991-94 military dictatorship. Many of Constant's former subordinates in
FRAPH are again wielding considerable power. They have embarked on a
campaign of abuses, including widespread rape, since President Aristide
was forced from office in February, 2004. Among the leaders of this
renewed violence are FRAPH's former second-in-command, Jodel Chamblain,
and local chief Jean Pierre (alias Jean Tatoune), both convicted
murderers. In addition, three members of the military government's High
Command who were deported from the U.S. for their involvement in human
rights violations - General Jean-Claude Duperval, Lieutenant Colonel
Hébert Valmond, and Colonel Carl Dorelien - were freed from prison and
have not been re-arrested. CJA brought a case against Dorelien before he
was deported and obtained a court order preventing him from receiving
nearly $1 million he won from the Florida State Lottery. <br><br>
The types of attacks suffered by the plaintiffs in this case - the gang
rape of women by paramilitaries as a form of punishment for the women's
political beliefs - have been occurring in alarming numbers in recent
months. One of the plaintiffs in the suit against Constant, speaking on
behalf of all of the plaintiffs, said: "We hope that the suit will
deter at least some of the violence, by sending a message that anyone who
commits atrocities will no longer be able to visit or live in the U.S.
with impunity."<br><br>
CJA's Executive Director Sandra Coliver stated: "Toto Constant's
comfortable lifestyle in Queens has enraged and offended the Haitian
community in this country as well as human rights activists around the
globe. We are honored to represent these courageous women who are taking
great risks by coming forward. They brought this lawsuit in the name of
the hundreds of women who cannot speak out because of the violence that
reigns today in Haiti." <br><br>
Commonly referred to as "The Devil," Toto Constant has been the
target of several community protests in Queens. In November 2000, he was
convicted in absentia in Haiti for his role in the notorious
"Raboteau Massacre" of April 1994. Until now, no court in the
U.S. or Haiti has forced him to face trial in person for the human rights
abuses he committed against the people of Haiti. No one from the ranks of
FRAPH or the Haitian Armed Forces has been held accountable for the
hundreds of politically motivated rapes that were committed and continue
to be committed against the women of Haiti.<br><br>
CJA, based in San Francisco, has obtained favorable verdicts in similar
cases involving human rights abusers from Bosnia, El Salvador and Chile
who had come to live in the U.S. The Center for Constitutional Rights has
brought human rights cases against individuals and corporations
responsible for human rights violations since 1980, when CCR filed the
groundbreaking case which allowed those who have suffered human rights
abuses to bring their claims in U.S. courts.<br><br>
Jennie Green, CCR Senior Attorney, commented: "The U.S. government
claims to be fighting a war on terrorism, all the while allowing a man
who terrorized people in Haiti to prosper in our midst. Documents
released by the U.S. government show FRAPH's role in human rights
violations. Constant as its leader must be held
accountable."<br><br>
For additional information about the case, please see CJA's website:
<a href="http://www.cja.org/" eudora="autourl">www.cja.org</a>. For more
information on the current human rights situation in Haiti please contact
the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti at
<a href="http://www.ijdh.org/" eudora="autourl">www.ijdh.org<br>
</a></font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
</font><font size=3><a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">www.freedomarchives.org</a></font></body>
</html>