9251: Dany Toussaint's parliamentary immunity. Letters to Senators (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Over the last week, the Foundation to Echo the Voice of Jean Dominique has 
written letters to all of Haiti's Senators asking them to agree to Judge 
Claudy Gassant's request that Senator Toussaint's parliamentary immunity is 
lifted. Judge Gassant wants to conclude his inquiry into the murder of Radio 
Haiti Inter director, Jean Dominique, and the station's guard, Jean-Claude 
Louissaint. However, the refusal of Senator Dany Toussaint to cooperate with 
the Judge's inquiry has blocked further progress. Only if the Senate decides 
to lift Senator Toussaint's parliamentary immunity can the case move forward.

The Haiti Support Group has translated these letters, that were published in 
Haitian newspapers in French, into English. For your information, we post 
three of those letters here.

Charles Arthur
for the Haiti Support Group
_______________________________________

To Senator Yvon Feuillé

Mr. Senator,
Ever since the 10th of August, that is to say 16 months after the 
assassination of Jean L. Dominique, the Senate has been in possession of a 
request from the investigating judge Claudy Gassant that Senator Dany 
Toussaint's parliamentary immunity be lifted so that he must answer questions 
pertaining to the dual assassination of April 3rd, 2000.  

Senator Feuillé, we cannot comprehend why, after two months, the Senate has 
not in any way followed up on this request. We do not understand why you, 
Senator, having lost your younger brother, Jean Hubert Feuillé, in similar 
circumstances, don't take a different course of action. In the wake of the 
assassination of Doudou, your brother, in 1996, you showed your indignation 
and demanded swift justice. Jean Dominique and numerous other militants 
supported your legitimate demand for justice. However, today, thanks to the 
reign of impunity and the laxness of the judicial system, not even the 
Feuillé family has obtained justice. 

Senator Feuillé, our struggle to achieve justice for Jean Dominique and 
Jean-Claude Louissaint, a man, like you, hailing from the South, should allow 
us to break open the doors of justice for Doudou, for Claudy Museau, a 
militant from the South, and for many other victims. We remain convinced that 
this fight is also your fight.

Senator, we ask that you also listen to the voices of the organizations of 
victims from the Department of the South, and to the voices of those who have 
voted for you and who, for the past 18 months, have never ceased to demand 
justice for Jean Dominique.

In 1990, the Lavalas party of which you are today a member made the demand 
for true justice a key issue in its rise to power. Jean Dominique was at the 
forefront of this struggle for justice, and perhaps that was one of the 
reasons for his assassination. Today we ask you, Senator Feuillé, to aim for 
that goal without hesitation, so that the Lavalas Senate stops sending the 
message that it opposes justice for Jean Dominique, and stops sending the 
message that as an institution it favors the reign of impunity.

Patriotically yours,
Fondation Eko Vwa Jan Dominique
_________________________________________

To Senator Mirlande Libérus

Madame Senator, 
We are writing to you today to request your special attention regarding the 
case of the double murder of Jean Dominique and Jean-Claude Louissaint. These 
despicable and cowardly murders have caused revulsion both nationally and 
internationally.

We appeal to you as the militant from the early days who, since 1986, has 
shown her commitment to the interests and aspirations of the most 
disadvantaged members of our society.  In common with us, you have been 
conscious of both the advances and the pitfalls that we have experienced. 
Like us, you had to powerlessly witness the massacres at St. Jean Bosco and 
at Ruelle Vaillant, and the bomb blast on 5 December 1990 in Petionville. 
Don't the cries of the women who were disembowelled at St. Jean Bosco, and of 
the activists who were murdered as they clutched their voting cards still 
echo in your ears?

Today we appeal to you as the former head of the Aristide Foundation for 
Democracy who has never ceased to reaffirm her commitment to the values of 
justice, transparency and participation. The main demand of the entire 
Haitian people since 1986 has been JUSTICE. The Dominique case is a historic 
opportunity to bring justice, not just to he who struggled for democracy but 
also for all those in the Department of the West who have put their trust in 
you. And you, Senator Libérus, must show an example and demonstrate your 
confidence in our country's justice system by demanding that the case for the 
lifting of Senator Dany Toussaint's immunity appears as soon as possible on 
the Senate's agenda.

Madame Senator, we are counting on you.

Patriotically yours

The Foundation to Echo the Voice of Jean Dominique
____________________________________________

To Senator Fourel Célestin

Dear Senator, 
Haiti's Senate is today at a crossroads. You, the Senators, have the onerous
responsibility of determining how the 47th legislature, to which you belong, 
will be remembered in the history book of our nation. 

Such a statement, Senator, is no overestimation of the importance of the
decision that the Senate must take on whether to strip Mr. Dany Toussaint
of his parliamentary immunity.  

The fundamental interests of a nation, of our â?? and your â?? nation, are 
played out in the extraordinary life of an honourable man, one of the 
greatest workers for change to walk this earth, who met his death with an 
assassin's bullet, and whose case must be brought to justice. 

Either, the Senate of the Republic, and you, Senator, will, through your 
decision to strip Mr. Toussaint of his parliamentary immunity, express your 
espousal of the fundamental principle of the equality of all citizens, and 
thus allow no one to be above the law. In which case, the Haitian people will 
be able to see their painful struggles for justice at last being written into 
the history of the nation.

Or, the Senate of the Republic will oppose this principle of the equality of 
all citizens, shrouding its decision in obtuse legal arguments, which are in 
fact a tactic to delay and reject justice, in which case, Senatorâ?¦

In the face of such a decision, the Haitian people will be clear that the 
Senate of the Republic has chosen impunity, domination, force and privilege 
against the interests of the people. The Haitian people will be clear that 
the Senate of the Republic, through each of its members, has rejected the 
light that can be as cleansing as it is revealing, and chosen instead the 
dangerous shadows. Shadows that endanger citizens' rights and all of our 
rights. The Haitian people will be clear that once again, their votes will 
have been extorted from them under false promises, the trinkets of 
conquistadors in exchange for the people's gold.  And that during your 
mandate, there will be no justice, neither for Jean Dominique, nor for 
anyone.  

The people already know that a denial of justice is violence. 

Senator, we await your with great interest your decision in the Senate.

Yours, in defence of our country's interests

The Eko Vwa Jean Dominique Foundation.

_______________________________________________

This email is forwarded as a service of the Haiti Support Group. 

SEE THE HAITI SUPPORT GROUP WEB SITE:  <A 
HREF="http://www.gn.apc.org/haitisupport";>http://www.gn.apc.org/haitisupport
</A>

The Haiti Support Group - solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for 
justice, participatory democracy and equitable development, since 1992.
____________________________________________