<html>
<body>
<font size=3><br>
<b>HAITI NEWS DIGEST<br>
VOL 1 #189<br>
AHP NEWS<br>
FANMI LAVALAS<br><br>
*********<br><br>
FROM: "Isabelle Desbiens"
<isdesbiens@cooptel.qc.ca> AHP News May 9, 2005,<br>
FROM: FANMI LAVALAS<br>
Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 07:37:58 -0400<br><br>
<br>
FANMI LAVALAS CALLS DEMOCRATS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO SAVE THE
LIFE OF A MAN WHOSE<br>
“ENEMIES OF DEMOCRACY ARE PUSHING TOWARDS DEATH” <br>
<br>
Port-au-Prince, May 9, 2005 (AHP)-</b> Former Prime Minister Yvon
Neptune’s health continues to deteriorate after over twenty days of
hunger stike to demand his release without conditions.<br>
<br>
In a message made public on Sunday, one of FANMI LAVALAS’ main officials,
Jonas Petit, deplored the fact that interim authorities continue to keep
Mr. Neptune in prison arbitrarily. "In a near future, FANMI LAVALAS
will have to celebrate the funerals of a brave man,” Jonas Petit
deplored. He declared he was amazed to see that the arbitrary continues
to impose itself even through the 21st century. <br>
<br>
Mr. Petit wonders if the United Nations Mission that is supposed to be in
Haiti for peace and stabilization is also counting the days before Yvon
Neptune’s funeral.<br><br>
Jonas Petit calls democrats from all over the world to use all their
influence in order to help to get Yvon Neptune’s release and to avoid
that he dies in prison.<br><br>
He spoke more directly to President of the United States George
Bush.<br><br>
"In the name of the principle of freedom and democracy you swore you
will defend at the last American elections, I invite you to save the life
of a man whose enemies of democracy and justice have sworn to push to
death. <br><br>
<b>AHP May 9, 2005 1:10 PM <br><br>
<br>
YON VANYAN GASON PRAL MOURI! (A BRAVE MAN WILL DIE!) <br>
</b>
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
<b>FANMI LAVALAS</b> will be in mourning because very shortly, Haiti will
celebrate funerals of Yvon Neptune who was Prime Minister under
President Aristide before the February 29, 2004 coup d’état.<br>
<br>
The United Nations who say they are here to bring peace in Haiti are
counting days together with those who perpetrated February 29th, so that
they can bury Yvon Neptune and democracy once and for all.<br>
<br>
FANMI LAVALAS is very sad to see that even in the twenty-first century,
violence still wins over reason and human rights. <br>
<br>
FANMI LAVALAS is giving a last call to democrats from all around the
world for them to do something for Yvon Neptune.<br>
<br>
Yvon Neptune was the Haitian People’s son but he was also friend of
humanity. He gave up his social and professional life to help build a
space where progress and liberty could become a reality for the Haitian
people who has been on the road to freedom and a better future for 200
years. <br>
<br>
In this tragic moment, FANMI LAVALAS is addressing the First citizen, who
is the most powerful man in the world at this time, President George W.
Bush, to speak in the name of God, please hear the cries of Yvon
Neptune’s spouse and children. In the name of the principle of freedom
and democracy you swore you will defend at the last American elections, I
invite you to save the life of a man whose enemies of democracy and
justice have sworn to push to death. <br>
<br>
When you go to the kingdom of the God you believe in, He will thank you
for saving His life when the evil had sentenced Him to death. <br>
<br>
Jonas Petit<br>
General National Representative of FANMI LAVALAS<br><br>
***************<br><br>
<b>FROM:<br>
HAITI NEWS DIGEST<br><br>
DATE: Wed, 11 May 2005 12:00:45 -0500<br>
FROM: haiti-news-admin@listhost.uchicago.edu, <br><br>
HUNGER STRIKE IN HAITI<br><br>
OUR OPINION: YVON NEPTUNE SHOULD BE RELEASED BEFORE IT'S TOO
LATE<br><br>
</b>The Miami Herald<br>
</font><font size=3 color="#003399"><b><u><a href="http://www.miami.com/">
http://www.miami.com/</a><br><br>
</u></b></font><font size=3>May11, 2005<br><br>
The prolonged detention without trial of former Prime Minister Yvon
Neptune has turned into an embarrassing and unnecessary predicament for
the interim government of Haiti. With Mr. Neptune in failing health on
the 24th day of his hunger strike, it's time for the government to put an
end to this disgraceful spectacle by releasing the 58-year-old from house
arrest before things get worse.<br><br>
Mr. Neptune, once the loyal deputy of ousted President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, is accused of being responsible for an alleged massacre near
the coastal city of St. Marc on Feb. 11, 2004, days before Mr. Aristide
left the country. There are several problems with the accusation. The
facts of the St. Marc incident remain in dispute. Haiti was in flames;
all sides committed acts of violence. Since jailing Mr. Neptune in June,
the government has presented no evidence against him.<br><br>
By keeping him in jail, the government calls attention to the wretched
state of civil rights. In expressing concern over Mr. Neptune's situation
last month, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights noted that of
the 1,054 inmates in the National Penitentiary, only nine were convicted
of any crime.<br><br>
Mr. Neptune earlier refused a government offer to fly him out of the
country. He insisted on an unconditional release. The government should
agree. This wouldn't exonerate him but would acknowledge reality: It's
hard to administer perfect justice under an interim government that
inherited a dysfunctional judicial system and a country in chaos. The
government also would rid itself of the appearance that it is persecuting
allies of Mr. Aristide.<br><br>
For the sake of its own credibility, the United States has a duty to
speak up. Last year, U.S. Ambassador James Foley acknowledged the
''crucial and courageous'' role Mr. Neptune played in the period before
and after Mr. Aristide's departure. U.S. officials should remind Haiti's
government of this and urge the release of Mr. Neptune before it's too
late.<br><br>
<br>
<b>Copyright © 2005 Knight Ridder.<br><br>
*******<br><br>
</b>(This article wrongly accuses Prime Minister Yvon Neptune of being
the cause of the delays in the system’s taking him to trial or releasing
him. M)<br><br>
<b>JAILED, FASTING EX-LEADER, YVON NEPTUNE, SO WEAK HE CANNOT
WALK<br><br>
</b>The Miami Herald<br>
</font><font size=3 color="#003399"><b><u><a href="http://www.miami.com">
http://www.miami.com</a><br><br>
<br>
</u></b></font><font size=3>May 11, 2005<br><br>
Jailed, fasting ex-leader so weak he can't walk Haiti's imprisoned
ex-prime minister Yves Neptune has grown weak during a hunger strike
protesting his legal limbo of nearly a year.<br><br>
BY JANE REGAN AND JOE MOZINGO<br>
</font><font size=3 color="#003399"><b><u>jmozingo@herald.com<br><br>
<br>
</u></b></font><font size=3>PORT-AU-PRINCE - On his 23rd day of a
jailhouse hunger strike, (former) Prime Minister Yvon Neptune is reported
to have grown so weak that he<br>
cannot walk and slips in and out of consciousness, raising fears that he
will die before he escapes the legal limbo of the past 11
months.<br><br>
Neptune, who served under ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was
arrested June 27 on allegations that he directed a massacre of political
opponents in the port town of St. Marc in the panicky final weeks of
Aristide's rule.<br><br>
Aristide supporters deny a massacre occurred and say the killings -- at
least two dozen, according to human rights observers -- resulted
from fighting between police and armed groups intent on toppling the
government.<br><br>
They have helped Neptune turn his prolonged imprisonment into a cause
célbre, using it to challenge the legitimacy of the new interim
government and call for Aristide's return. The hunger strike has become a
high-stakes test of wills between Neptune, who is risking his life, and
the Haitian government, which could lose critical support from the United
States and the United Nations if he dies.<br><br>
''The de facto regime wants to kill him,'' said Mario Dupuy, a spokesman
for Aristide's Lavalas Family party. ``There is no justice in Haiti right
now. They must free Mr. Neptune and all political prisoners.''<br><br>
<b>Human rights observers have largely agreed with Neptune's advocates.
Even officials from the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti -- there to
support the interim government -- have called on authorities to give
Neptune a fair trial or release him.<br><br>
<br>
DEMANDS TO STAY<br><br>
</b>It is unclear exactly how ill Neptune may be. On May 2, doctors
announced that he had two days to live, and U.N. officials arranged to
transport him to a hospital in the Dominican Republic.<br><br>
But Neptune, demanding his unconditional release, refused to leave. He
remains incarcerated in a private house, used as a prison annex for
high-profile inmates, in the upscale neighborhood of Pacot.<br><br>
Thierry Fagart, a top U.N. human rights official, told The Herald on
Tuesday that when he visited Neptune on Monday night, the prisoner was
gaunt and could no longer get to his feet.<br><br>
''His health situation is not good at all,'' Fagart said. ``He was
really, really tired. He was too weak to talk.''<br><br>
Supporters of Neptune say doctors have warned that his organs are
deteriorating and his kidneys could fail any day.<br><br>
''As of [Sunday] night, he was still lucid, still conscious most of the
time,'' said Brian Concannon, an American attorney with close contact to
Neptune's family. ``He was drinking water. Not able to walk,
though.''<br><br>
Aristide, who is living in exile in South Africa, called on the world to
''mobilize'' to save Neptune, according to a transcript of an interview
released Tuesday.<br><br>
''How long will he be able to survive, we don't know,'' Aristide told the
leftist Democracy Now!, a self-proclaimed independent news organization.
``That's why we grasp this opportunity to ask everyone who can do
something to not hesitate because it is a matter of life and death. We
need to save his life.''<br><br>
Many LAVALAS supporters criticized Neptune last year when he stepped down
and allowed for the transition to interim Prime Minister Gerard LaTortue.
When he turned himself over to authorities in June, there was little
outcry over his imprisonment.<br><br>
But when Neptune and former Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert, also in
jail on related charges, staged a 19-day hunger strike in March, LAVALAS
partisans rallied for their release. Privert has also not gone to trial,
as are hundreds of Haitians without the name recognition.<br><br>
<br>
<b>CONVICTIONS LACKING<br><br>
</b>An Organization of American States human rights delegation last month
found that of 1,054 inmates in the National Penitentiary, only nine were
convicted of a crime. The situation is not new.<br><br>
''This is part of the series of chronic problems the Haitian justice
system has,'' said Marie Yolene Gilles, National Network for the Defense
of Human Rights, a Haitian nonprofit group. ``No government has ever
corrected it. Under Aristide, there were people who spent up to three
years in prison before seeing a judge.''<br><br>
There are two stages of being charged with a crime in Haiti, one at the
time of arrest, another by a judge when the case is ready for trial.
Neptune<br>
has been charged only after his arrest. He has requested different judges
and asked for changes in venues.<br><br>
Gilles said Neptune has been called before a judge three times, but has
refused to go.<br><br>
When he was taken to St. Marc to go to court on April 22 -- five days
into his second hunger strike -- he allegedly bit a prison
guard.<br><br>
''He is the one who caused the delay,'' Justice Minister Bernard Gousse
told the Herald earlier this year.<br><br>
Copyright © 2005 Herald.com and wire service sources.<br>
</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>