a1216: Urgent action - Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <MaxBlanchet@worldnet.att.net>

PUBLIC  AI Index: AMR 36/003/2002

UA 76/02                Fear for Safety        13 March 2002

HAITI                   Patrick Merisier (m)
                             Berthony Philippe (m)

Other staff of NGO Coalition Nationale des Droits des Haïtiens
(National Coalition for Haitian Rights)


Two Haitian human rights workers have received death threats, and one of
them has been shot, after their organisation criticised the behaviour of
some members of the ruling Fanmi Lavalas (FL) party. Amnesty International
believes that both men and their colleagues are in grave danger.

Patrick Merisier was shot on 22 February, in the capital Port-au-Prince.
He was waiting to be served in a restaurant at around 2pm when two men
entered and fired at him, before fleeing on a motorcycle. He was wounded
in the chest and left arm, and has since gone into hiding. Patrick
Merisier works as a field monitor for the Haitian human rights
organization Coalition Nationale des Droits des Haïtiens, National
Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR), covering the Department of
the South. He also broadcasts a programme on a community radio station, in
which he covers a number of human rights issues. In late December 2001, a
gang threw rocks at the radio station, damaging the building. This is a
common form of intimidation in Haiti. In January, Patrick Merisier found
anonymous leaflets (tracts) in front of his house, warning that he would
be killed if he did not stop his human rights monitoring and broadcasts.

Another NCHR field monitor, Berthony Philippe, has gone into hiding after
receiving similar death threats. He works in the area around the town of
Ennery, in the Department of the Artibonite, north of Port-au-Prince.

On 7 February the NCHR had issued a report alleging that Fanmi Lavalas
supporters had been involved in gang violence in the La Saline slum of
Port-au-Prince and had escaped prosecution because of their links to the
ruling party. On 5 March the organization held a press conference in its
offices on the investigation into the killing of prominent radio
journalist Jean Dominique, an outspoken critic of anti-democratic
tendencies within Fanmi Lavalas and other parties, who was gunned down in
April 2000. No one has yet been charged with his murder, and the NCHR
were highly critical of the authorities' failure to ensure prompt, impartial
and
transparent justice in the case.

In response, on 7 March the state-funded newspaper L'union printed a
press release from a prominent supporter of Fanmi Lavalas, accusing the
NCHR's staff of defamation and threatening to have them
arrested.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Other members of the NCHR have suffered death threats and violent attacks
before now. In November 2001, NCHR staff were among the human rights
defenders who reported receiving death threats after they published an
open letter to the directors of the police denouncing police brutality and
illegal killings. On 8 March 1999 in Port-au-Prince, gunmen in a car
forced NCHR director Pierre Espérance's vehicle to stop and opened fire,
hitting him in the leg (see UA 45/99, AMR 36/01/99, 10 March 1999).

The NCHR is a member of the umbrella organisation Plateforme des
Organisations Haïtiennes des Droits de l'Homme (Platform of Haitian Human
Rights Organizations), who are the subject of  an Action File (AMR
36/006/00).

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible, in French, English or your own language:
- expressing concern for the safety of Patrick Merisier and Berthony
Philippe, and their colleagues at the Coalition Nationale des Droits des
Haïtiens,
National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR), and reminding the
authorities that they have a duty to protect them and all Haitians;
- urging the authorities to investigate the recent death threats suffered
by both men, and the shooting of Patrick Merisier on 22 February, and to
support local police and justice officials in bringing those responsible
to justice;
- urging the authorities to publicly declare their recognition of the
important role of human rights defenders and to remind all Haitians,
including supporters of Fanmi Lavalas, that efforts to curb or hinder
their work will not be tolerated.

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
Président de la République d'Haïti
Présidence de la République d'Haïti
Palais National, Champ de Mars
Port-au-Prince, HAÏTI
Fax:            (509) 223 0241
e-mail:         embassy@haiti.org (Haitian embassy in Washington, DC)
Salutation: Your Excellency/Monsieur le Président de la République

Minister of Justice
Monsieur Garry Lissade
Ministre de la Justice et de la Sécurité Publique
Ministère de la Justice
19 Avenue Charles Sumner
Port-au-Prince, HAÏTI
Fax:            (509) 245 0474
Salutation:     Dear Minister/Monsieur le Ministre

COPIES TO:
Plateforme Haïtienne des Droits Humains
Impasse Senghor
Martin Luther King, dernière maison
Nazon, Port-au-Prince, HAÏTI
Fax:            (509) 245 6398

National Coalition for Haitian Rights
#9, Rue Rivière
Port-au-Prince, Delmas 71, Haiti
Fax:            (509)244 4146
E-mail:         nchr@haiti.maf.net

and to diplomatic representatives of Haiti accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International
Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 24 April 2002.