7393: Fw: Urgent action - Haiti (Amnesty International) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <maxblanchet@worldnet.att.net>
From: <Tttnhm@aol.com>


| AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION
| UA 65/01 Fear for Safety - 16 March 2001
|
| HAITI
|
| Ossagnol SERVIL
|
| A judge has been forced out of office by the local mayor, who has
threatened
| to kill him. He is now in hiding, in fear for his life.
|
| Ossagnol Servil was the juge de paix (justice of the peace) in the town of
| Maissade, in Haiti's Central Plateau. In October 2000, he issued an arrest
| warrant for two men accused of theft. The men were supporters of the
town's
| mayor, Wilo Joseph, who reportedly began threatening to kill M. Servil. In
| late October, the mayor and his supporters led a demonstration outside the
| courthouse, burning car tyres, ransacking the judge's offices and
reportedly
| demanding that he be sacked and replaced with someone more sympathetic to
the
| mayor's political party. Two months later, M. Servil was dismissed by the
| Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
|
| On 27 February, M. Servil's cousin was reportedly attacked by three
relatives
| of another local official. Police reportedly arrested the three but
released
| them after Mayor Joseph and a group of his supporters came to the police
| station and demanded that they be freed.
|
| BACKGROUND INFORMATION
| Haiti held elections for local and national government in May and November
| 2000. Fanmi Lavalas, or Lavalas Family party candidates won control of
almost
| the entire country. President Jean Bertrand Aristide, who took office on 7
| February 2001, is the leader of Fanmi Lavalas. (Lavalas is the Haitian
Creole
| word for flood, the term used to describe the vast popular movement that
| first brought him to power in 1990.)
|
| Many of the newly-elected mayors, such as Wilo Joseph, have formed armed
| gangs to help run the areas they control, who act in the name of Fanmi
| Lavalas. As in Maissade, these groups threaten to destroy the rule of law
and
| the authority of the police. Although they claim to represent Fanmi
Lavalas,
| they are controlled only loosely, if at all, by central government.
Bringing
| these groups under control is one of the main challenges facing President
| Aristide.
|
| The new mayors and their gangs have recently closed local courts in
several
| towns in the Central Plateau. In November 2000, the then-Minister of
Justice
| and the then-Director General of the Haitian National Police assured an
| Amnesty International delegation that steps would be taken to disband
illegal
| groups and punish local officials and others involved. However, the
national
| authorities have since taken no action.
|
| RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send faxes/express/airmail letters in French,
| Creole, or English:
|
| expressing concern that the mayor of Maissade, Wilo Joseph, has threatened
to
| kill former justice of the peace Ossagnol SERVIL, and reminding the
| authorities that they have a duty to protect him and all Haitians;
|
| urging the authorities to investigate this and other recent
| politically-motivated violence and intimidation in the Central Plateau,
and
| to support local police and justice officials in bringing those
responsible
| to justice;
|
| urging the authorities to tell Wilo Joseph and all other elected officials
| thay they will not be allowed to maintain their own illegal security
groups.
|
| APPEALS TO: (Please note that Haiti's phone system is unreliable, and you
may
| have trouble sending faxes. If so, please send copies by post.)
|
| President S.E. Monsieur Jean Bertrand Aristide
| President de la Republique d'Haiti
| Presidence de la Republique d'Haiti
| Palais National, Champ de Mars
| Port-au-Prince, HAITI
| Fax: (509) 223 0241
| email: embassy@haiti.org (Haitian embassy in Washington, DC, USA)
| Salutation: Your Excellency/Monsieur le President de la Republique
|
| Prime Minister Monsieur Jean Marie Cherestal
| Premier Ministre
| Villa d'Accueil
| Delmas 60, Musseau
| Port-au-Prince, HAITI
| Fax: 509) 245 1624
| Salutation: Dear Prime Minister/Monsieur le Premier Ministre
|
| Minister of Justice Monsieur Garry Lissade
| Ministre de la Justice et de la Securite Publique
| Ministere de la Justice
| 19 Avenue Charles Sumner
| Port-au-Prince, HAITI
| Fax: 509) 245 0474
| Salutation: Dear Minister/Monsieur le Ministre
|
| COPIES TO:
| Commissaire de Gouvernement du Departement du Centre
| Parquet du Tribunal Civil de Hinche,
| Hinche, Departement du Centre, HAITI
|
| Plateforme des Organisations Haitiennes des Droits de l'Homme
| Impasse Senghor (derniere maison),
| Nazon, Port-au-Prince, HAITI
| Fax:(509) 245 6398
|
| National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR)
| #9, Rue Riviere,
| Delmas 71,
| Port-au-Prince, HAITI
| Fax:(509)244 4146
| Email: <nchrhaiti@maf.org>
|
| PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
| ____________________________________________________________________
| This email is forwarded to you as a service of the Haiti Support Group. If
| you do not wish to be on this list please email me on
| <haitisupport@gn.apc.org>
|
| Charles Arthur
|
| HSG web site:
| http://www.gn.apc.org/haitisupport
|
| The Haiti Support Group - - solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle
for
| justice, participatory democracy and equitable development, since 1992.
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