12656: Concannon on Gonaives Incident (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Melinda Miles <melinda@haitireborn.org>

I’ve had several requests for comments on recent events in Gonaives.
Although the reports have been conflicting, and the BAI has not
investigated the events, I can share some thoughts and background.  The
events are disturbing and frustrating.  People we worked very hard to
bring to justice have escaped, and are on the street with their
dispositions to brutality intact.  But more importantly, our purpose in
prosecuting is not to put people in jail, it is to help establish a
justice system willing and able to apply the rule of law, with the
confidence of the citizenry.  The Raboteau Massacre trial in Gonaives
was our example that all aspects of the justice system could function at
a high level, in concert with average citizens.  That average citizens
from Raboteau would attack the prison, and could succeed so
spectacularly, proves the severe limitations of our example.

When the phone call informing me of the jailbreak came on Friday, I was
correcting a memorandum written by Aubourg, one of our apprentice
lawyers.  After the call, I immediately returned to the memo.   I did so
because the Gonaives incident demonstrated more than ever that Haiti’s
democracy requires the long term development of  institutions capable of
preserving the rule of law, staffed by highly trained, committed
people.  The Gonaives incident will blow over, to be replaced by other
emergencies, until Haiti’s institutions develop the capacity to stop the
cycle.  I also returned to the memo because it was a comfort: Aubourg
has come a long way in his year with us, if his memorandum is any
indication, he will be one of the competent, committed ones.

There were also signs of comfort in the incident itself.  In the talk of
escaped prisoners, it easy to overlook the courage of Haitian
authorities in holding Amio Metayer in the first place.  He is popular,
and his supporters are armed and prone to civil disturbances.  The
Haitian police force is by all accounts understaffed, undertrained,
inexperienced and under equipped, a situation aggravated by two recent
coup attempts and an international financial embargo calculated to
create just such a situation.  The authorities knew that Metayer’s
supporters would test the police and prisons and they did.  For a month
they carried out protests and attacked government facilities, and for a
month the police refused to back down.

Haitian authorities also willingly paid, and are paying a steep
political price.  Metayer’s support comes from poor neighborhoods in
Gonaives, that are traditional strongholds of the Lavalas party.
Although there is far from monolithinc support for Metayer in Raboteau,
many would inevitably see his arrest as a betrayal, which could erode
the support of a key government constituency.

The Metayer case is a new level in a continuous government program to
ensure that popular leaders, even those who support the government, are
subject to the rule of law.  This year alone, the police have arrested
three prominent leaders in Port-au-Prince.  Each time the government
paid a high political price, and endured the violent reactions of
supporters.  Haiti has a long tradition of brute force and political
considerations prevailing over laws and institutions, a tradition that
will not be erased today, or tomorrow. But the courage and the
commitment to the rule of law evidenced in these arrests are signs that
the rule of law will eventually eclipse the old traditions.

Many have asked about Amio Metayer, and I have found it hard to respond,
as he is a complex figure.  He is a popular leader and a hero of the
resistance  in Raboteau, where BAI lawyers worked for four years to
prepare the Raboteau Massacre case.  Mr. Metayer collaborated with us on
the case, and we provided him some unrelated legal assistance.  Raboteau
is a very poor neighborhood, and Mr. Metayer is known for being able to
get residents jobs.  He also provides economic and other assistance to
local people in need.  This combination of influence and good works
developed a loyal following.

Metayer was not personally a victim of the April 22, 1994 Raboteau
Massacre. Tipped off, he went into hiding the night before.  He did
testify in the Raboteau Massacre trial in October, 2000.  He described
the high price that he and his family paid for his resistance to the
dictatorship: his two brothers, his father and his pregnant sister were
all arrested and beaten at one time or another, and soldiers and
paramilitaries sacked his house and burned his family’s belongings in
the street.  But Mr. Metayer also testified about Norelus Mondelus,
a.k.a. “Saddam Hussein,” a soldier known for his sadistic brutality.
Although other witnesses provided ample, consistent testimony of Mr.
Mondelus’ zealous participation in the Raboteau Massacre, Mr. Metayer
claimed that Mondelus had been transferred away from Gonaives a month
before the operation, and never returned.  Mr. Mondelus’ military
record, introduced at trial, proved that he was transferred a month
after the massacre.  The jury convicted him of murder, and he was given
a life sentence.

In the past few years, credible allegations of illegal conduct have been
made against Metayer, some involving the use of automatic weapons.  The
allegations include the death of a young girl in the crossfire of a gang
altercation, the burning of several houses in May, and the burning of
the house of a political leader in December, in which a guardian was
killed.  These allegations have not been investigated to the point where
one could opine on their veracity.  They do rise to the level where the
justice system’s pursuit of Mr. Metayer is warranted, even required.

According to media reports, Mr. Metayer had allied himself with Jean
Tatoune, a fellow escapee.  Jean Tatoune’s real name is Jean Pierre.  He
is a popular leader in Jubilee, a neighborhood adjacent and similar to
Raboteau.  Mr. Pierre first came to national prominence in 1985, when he
led popular demonstrations in Gonaives against the Duvalier
dictatorship.  The Gonaives protests, and the dictatorship’s brutal
response to them, sparked nationwide protests leading to the departure
of Jean Claude Duvalier, and made Mr. Pierre a popular hero.

During the de facto dictatorship, Mr. Pierre allied himself with the
military authorities, especially Captain Castera Cenafils, who headed
the Gonaives police unit.  Mr. Pierre soon became one of the region’s
leading paramilitary figures, and was very active in repressing the
pro-democracy movement.  He is alleged to have been involved in
killings, torture, false arrest, obstruction of justice and extorsion.
The Raboteau Massacre jury convicted him of murder, and he was serving a
life sentence in the Gonaives prison.

To put the current difficulties with the Raboteau Massacre case in
perspective, consider the Consolidation Trial, which, until 2000, was
considered Haiti’s best complex criminal trial.  At the turn of the
century, Haiti’s political elite conspired with foreign banks to
refinance Haiti’s national debt, on terms advantageous to the banks and
the elite, and greatly disadvantageous to the Haitian people.  After a
change of regime, the scheme was investigated, and several former
leaders were convicted.  But they not only all departed jail before
their time like Jean Tatoune, but most, if not all, of those convicted
eventually became President of the Republic.

Brian Concannon, Jr.
Bureau Avocats Internationaux