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<b>STOP THE REPRESSION IN HAITI <br>
</b>by <b>Brian Concannon<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">FR. GERRY RELEASED!<br><br>
</font><font size=3>Father Gerard Jean-Juste released for medical
treatment<br><br>
</b><i><a href="http://www.haitiaction.com/News/BC/1_29_6.html">
http://www.haitiaction.com/News/BC/1_29_6.html</a><br><br>
</i><b>IJDH - Haiti </b>— We have great news: Political prisoner Fr.
Gerard-Jean-Juste, "Fr. Gerry" is right now on a plane in the
air from Port-au-Prince to Miami. A cancer center in Florida has agreed
to treat his leukemia, so he will get immediate attention for the cancer,
as well as for the pneumonia he contracted this week.<br><br>
Fr. Gerry was granted a provisional release, which requires him to return
to Haiti after the treatment to face the charges still pending against
him. The current charges against him are as baseless as the other charges
which have been dismissed. Fr. Gerry's lawyers at the Bureau des Avocats
Internationaux (BAI) have filed an appeal, asking for the charges to be
dismissed. The appeals court can rule on the appeal without Fr. Gerry's
presence, so it is possible that the case will be dismissed without
requiring him to return to court. If he is forced to return to court, the
BAI lawyers will continue to fight the charges. <br><br>
In the meantime, Fr. Gerry will be relatively safe, and will have his
leukemia treated. Doctors who have examined him are hopeful that his
disease is at a stage where it can be successfully treated, but they
cannot be certain without more tests. <br><br>
Today's victory proves the Haitian proverb, "men anpil, chay pa
lou-: many hands makes the load light. This mobilization has been by far
the strongest and most persistent Haiti advocacy effort in the ten years
that I have been involved in Haiti work. Everyone who called, faxed,
wrote or emailed Haitian and US officials, everyone who signed a
petition, everyone who forwarded information about Fr. Gerry to their
church, their friends, and their family, should be proud. Close to a
dozen human rights groups, over 50 members of the US Congress, and
hundreds of religious, political and human rights leaders from all over
the world joined together to make this moment possible. <br><br>
Together we demonstrated that the world does care, that justice is
possible, and that collective action does work. No small accomplishment.
<br><br>
Fr. Gerry said in a letter from prison on Friday: "understand that I
wish you all to extend your support not only to me but to as many
political prisoners as possible wherever on planet earth. Probably, you
are aware that there are quite a number of political prisoners around the
world. Think of them and keep them in your heart.... I am very grateful
to Amnesty International and to all of you for helping fight for the
human rights of all political prisoners, here in Haiti and across the
world. Let's keep the momentum on for justice, peace, love, and sharing
to prevail all over the world as God wants it." <br><br>
Today we should all take the time to pat ourselves on the back. But
tomorrow we need to get back to work, to help the political prisoners
that Fr. Gerry left behind in Haiti. <br><br>
Peace, <br><br>
<b>Brian<br><br>
</b>Brian Concannon Jr. Director, Institute for Justice & Democracy
in Haiti <br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF"><u>Brian@IJDH.org</u></font>
<font size=3> -
</font><a href="http://www.ijdh.org"><font size=3 color="#0000FF"><u>
http://www.ijdh.org</a></u></font><font size=3> <br>
PO Box 745 Joseph, OR, 79846 USA 541-432-0597<br><br>
The Rev. Gérard Jean-Juste, a former Miami Haitian rights activist, is
freed from a Haitian jail to receive medical treatment in South Florida
-- but is required to return to Haiti to stand trial.<br><br>
<br>
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES, PABLO BACHELET AND TRENTON DANIEL<br>
jcharles@MiamiHerald.com<br><br>
The Rev. Gérard Jean-Juste is finally free.Jailed for 192 days in his
native Haiti, the influential Catholic priest and former Miami Haitian
rights activist, walked into the arms of screaming supporters Sunday --
51 minutes after his flight touched down at Miami International
Airport.<br><br>
''Free at last, free at last,'' supporters shouted as an ailing
Jean-Juste, who has leukemia, walked out of passport control and into the
waiting area at MIA's international arrivals terminal.<br><br>
An hour later, Jean-Juste, 59, was admitted into Jackson Memorial
Hospital where he will undergo treatment and tests. Haitian Prime
Minister Gérard Latortue told The Miami Herald on Sunday that Haitian and
American doctors had confirmed that Jean-Juste is suffering from
leukemia.<br><br>
A staunch supporter of ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
Jean-Juste is a harsh critic of Haiti's U.S.-backed interim government
which he accused Sunday of being ''worse than'' the Duvalier family
dictatorship. Francois ''Papa Doc'' and his son Jean-Claude ''Baby Doc''
Duvalier ruled Haiti for 29 years.<br><br>
Jean-Juste's imprisonment had become an international headache for the
Latortue administration, which until late last week had refused to give
in to pressure by Haitian activists, human-rights advocates and others to
free the priest. Jean-Juste, once viewed as a potential presidential
candidate, became a cause célbre for Aristide's political allies, who
continue to demand his reinstatement as head of state.<br><br>
Jean-Juste's release is considered provisional. Under a deal, he is
required to return to Haiti to stand trial on illegal weapons and
criminal conspiracy charges, although by the time he returns there might
be a new government, which could then decide to drop the
charges.<br><br>
His release comes just days before some 3.5 million registered Haitian
voters are expected to head to the polls on Feb. 7 to choose a successor
to formally replace Aristide, who fled Haiti in February 2004 in the face
of an armed revolt.<br><br>
Jean-Juste was arrested in July on suspicion of involvement in the
abduction and slaying of a well-known Haitian journalist and plotting to
assassinate Haitian police officers. The charges were dropped two weeks
ago, but a Haitian judge indicted him on lesser charges of illegal
weapons possession and criminal conspiracy.<br><br>
Vowing to continue to fight the charges against him, Jean-Juste, looking
thinner and with a swollen neck, told The Miami Herald on Sunday that he
hopes his freedom will prompt the release of other detained Aristide
supporters, including former Haitian Prime Minister Yvon
Neptune.<br><br>
''I feel happy and grateful [but] I cannot forget the other political
prisoners left behind,'' he said as his sister Yvette St. Hilaire, 58,
and Haitian activists embraced him. ``It's a very tough situation for
them. I hope my release is the opening of the freedom door.''<br><br>
Under the deal, Jean-Juste was released to receive medical treatment but
must return to Haiti to stand trial. The deal was negotiated late last
week with the Haitian government by influential Republican Sen. Richard
Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the U.S.
State Department.<br><br>
In a letter, Lugar urged Latortue to release Jean-Juste on humanitarian
grounds. The letter was personally delivered to Latortue in Haiti by
Thomas Shannon, the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere
Affairs.<br>
'<br>
'As you know, Amnesty International designated Father Jean-Juste a
prisoner of conscience, and several of my congressional colleagues in the
U.S. House of Representatives have called for his release,'' Lugar, of
Indiana, said in the Jan. 19 letter.<br><br>
During a trip to Washington late last week, Latortue met with several top
State Department officials to talk about Haiti's upcoming elections and
Jean-Juste's rapidly deteriorating health.<br><br>
On Sunday, Latortue called Lugar to inform him that Jean-Juste would be
flown to Miami.<br><br>
''The man is sick, and we do not have the necessary medical facilities in
Haiti to treat him. We want to give him a chance to get proper medical
care,'' Latortue told The Miami Herald, saying the government did not
give into pressure. ``We do it freely on our own.<br><br>
The president [Boniface Alexandre] and I believe humanitarian laws are
above national laws and we have to respect human rights. You cannot keep
a man in jail without a chance to receive proper medical care.''<br><br>
The State Department along with several U.S. lawmakers, including Lugar
and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, issued statements welcoming
Jean-Juste's release. Meek said he visited Jean-Juste for 20 minutes
Sunday night.<br><br>
On the ride to the hospital, Jean-Juste recalled the past six months,
detailing how a woman saved his life when he was attacked by a mob just
hours before his July arrest.<br><br>
He also talked about how in all of his years of fighting against Haitian
despots, he had never ``experienced such a worse government, a cruel
government; worse than Duvalier.''<br><br>
Still, Jean-Juste said he holds hope for Haiti as it approaches
elections.<br>
''Definitely, things will change for the better.<br><br>
We have to get rid of these officials, de facto officials in power, that
is the first thing,'' he said as the SUV in which he was traveling,
pulled up to Jackson Memorial Hospital.<br><br>
There, he was greeted by two doctors, including Paul Farmer, a prominent
Harvard infectious disease specialist who confirmed that Jean-Juste has
leukemia. Farmer, a Jean-Juste supporter and friend, examined him in jail
on Dec. 23.<br><br>
Farmer told The Miami Herald that Jean-Juste will undergo extensive tests
and be treated for pneumonia, which he recently developed.<br><br>
As word spread through Little Haiti that Jean-Juste was free, supporters
cheered.<br>
''That's great, that's great,'' said Bernard Frederic, 40, a music mixer
at Notre Dame d'Haiti Catholic Church in Little Haiti. ``He helped a lot
of Haitians in South Florida -- to get a green card or asylum. Thank God
he's been released.''<br><br>
CBS4Video/ Jean Juste's Arrival at MIA<br><br>
<a href="http://www.cbs4.com/video/?id=12686@wfor.dayport.com" eudora="autourl">
http://www.cbs4.com/video/?id=12686@wfor.dayport.com<br><br>
</a></font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
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