a1701: Re: a1693: Haitian human rights advocates, opposition, protest re-arrest of former military (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

FROM: Kevin Pina    <kpinbox@hotmail.com>


I ask you in all sincerity. Where does Amnesty International stand today
with regards to the recent re-arrest of Avril Prosper? Do they stand with
the other pseudo "human rights" organizations opposing his detention or will
they have the courage to follow their original, and in my opinion correct,
position. Comparing the current constitutional government to "past
dictatorships", in order to free a former military dictator, is like trying
to dress up the fox to re-enter the henhouse. I sure would like to know
exactly who is feathering whose nest in their henhouse!! Maybe Evans Paul
knows or has he forgotten the summary beatings, executions and torture that
went on in Fort Dimanche under Avril's rule out of political opportunism and
convenience. Maybe we should ask his lawyer, Gorgeous George, the great
champion of the oppressed cutthroat right-wing in Haiti.


AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FILES

6 June 2001
AI Index AMR 36/009/2001 - News Service Nr. 98

Haiti: One more step towards the end of impunity


The arrest of former military general Prosper Avril on 26 May could mark a
step forward by the Haitian justice system in its struggle against impunity
for human rights violations, Amnesty International said today.

"The gravity of the human rights violations committed during General Avril's
period in power, from his 1988 coup d'état to his departure in March 1990,
cannot be ignored," the organization continued, acknowledging the importance
of bringing those responsible to justice.

Avril was arrested under a warrant dating from 1996, on charges of assault,
torture and illegal arrest of six Haitian activists in 1989 and 1990. The
six men were already awarded damages in a civil case brought in 1994, in
which a United States district court ruled that Avril bore personal
responsibility for their interrogation and torture.

"This is an opportunity for the Haitian justice system to demonstrate, once
again, that it can provide a fair and equitable trial for those accused of
human rights violations," Amnesty International said.

Background
General Avril was chief of presidential security under President Jean-Claude
Duvalier, until the latter was ousted from power in February 1986. Under
Avril's leadership reports of torture and ill-treatment of political and
common-law prisoners were widespread.

Haiti has recently taken important steps against impunity, including the
November 2000 trial of members of the former military and paramilitary
implicated in the 1994 Raboteau massacre. The civilian Haitian National
Police (HNP) replaced the notorious Haitian Armed Forces (Forces Armées
d'HaVti) after it was disbanded in 1995. The first trial of HNP officers
accused of human rights violations took place in 2000 as well, when four
officers were convicted of the extrajudicial execution of eleven young men
in the Carrefour-Feuilles neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince in May 1999.




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