12702: Lives of Detained Haitian Asylum Seekers in Grave Danger if Depor ted (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Merrie Archer <MArcher@nchr.org>

Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center
A non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the basic
human rights of immigrants of all nationalities.
* 3000 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 400 * Miami, FL 33137 * (305) 573-1106 * Fax:
(305) 576-6273


For Immediate Release
August 9, 2002
				For More Information:
				Cheryl Little, Esq.
(305) 573-1106 ext. 1001
Lives of Detained Haitian Asylum Seekers in Grave Danger if Deported

The Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC) is deeply concerned about
escalating political violence in Gonaïves, Haiti, which the Haitian
government has been unable to control, and the direct implications it has
for the lives of Haitian asylum seekers detained in Miami should they be
deported.  The US State Department, Amnesty International and the National
Coalition of Human Rights have all issued statements in the past week
expressing grave concern regarding the violence and the Haitian government's
inability to control it.  "The severely deteriorating political climate in
Gonaïves and the incarceration of Haitian asylum seekers upon return further
supports the validity of the Haitians' asylum claims and the extreme urgency
of their situation.  The consequences of denying justice to the detained
asylum seekers and deporting them to Haiti are deadly serious," warned
Cheryl Little, Executive Director of FIAC.

Nearly 130 Haitian asylum seekers who arrived on the boat "Si M'ap Viv Se
Jezi" on December 3rd of last year remain in detention in Miami.  These
Haitians have extremely compelling reasons for seeking asylum in the United
States.  All are from Gonaïves and most lived in the Raboteau neighborhood.
While most are simple peasants, they were devoted supporters of their
churches in Haiti and the congregations they belonged to were associated
with a Christian opposition party.  While each asylum seeker has an
individual story of persecution, fear and flight, the Haitians whom FIAC has
represented were singled out by pro-government gangs because of their church
activities.  When the Haitians fled late last year by boat, they believed
the Haitian government was unable or unwilling to protect them.  The
downward spiral of political violence and chaos in Gonaïves and the
government's complete inability to restore public order and the rule of law
confirm their worst fears.

Last week, a heavily armed gang from the Raboteau neighborhood of Gonaïves
known as the Cannibal Army, long loyal to the Haitian government, staged the
break out of its incarcerated leader, Amiot "Cubain" Metayer. Metayer was
arrested one day after the Organization of American States published a
report naming Metayer as the person who gave the order last December to
attack the leader of the same Christian right opposition group that most of
the detained Haitian asylum seekers have been associated with because of
their religious affiliation. The Haitian government has been unable or
unwilling to respond adequately to this jailbreak and the associated
violence and chaos that has ensued, and many of the more than 150 escaped
prisoners continue to circulate freely in the area.   The Cannibal Army has
reportedly taken complete control of Raboteau during the past week, causing
many of the area residents to flee or go underground.

"Should these refugees be returned to Haiti, they would be unable to return
to their homes at this time because returning to Raboteau would mean putting
them in the hands of their aggressors with no hope of intervention on their
behalf by the Haitian government" said Merrie Archer, Senior Policy
Associate at the National Coalition for Haitian Rights. "Unable to return
home, they would join the ranks of the hundreds of internally displaced
persons fleeing the terror and the impunity that the government continues to
allow this gang to enjoy."

On July 29, 2002, a group of 22 Haitian asylum seekers were deported in
shackles and handcuffs to Haiti where they were immediately jailed.  FIAC
was able to contact one of the asylum seekers, Rigmane Ovilma, after her
deportation.  She described horrific conditions in the Haitian jail: several
women were cramped in a cell, they had no water, no toilet and one tiny cot
was shared by three.  Their families were told they had to pay $2000 ($400
US) each to get the women released.  Ms. Ovilma told FIAC, "We were living
in a nightmare in Haiti before we left, then we lived a nightmare in the
United States of America and we are living a nightmare again in Haiti.  I
still have the scars of the shackles on my ankles they put on us when they
deported us because they were so tight....  Why are we being treated this
way?  Doesn't anybody care about our lives?"  FIAC has been unable to reach
Ms. Ovilma or any of the other deported Haitians now in Gonaïves since the
jailbreak and subsequent violence.

The Haitian women still detained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional
Center (TGK) told FIAC on August 7, 2002: "None of us can sleep at night.
We toss and turn and think about what may have happened to our families and
our children who are in Haiti.  And we think about what will happen to us
when we are deported.  We feel that we will surely die when we are sent
back.  No one will be able to protect us, not even our families, if the
Lavalas people who were after us before we left know we are back again...
There is no democracy in Haiti, only violence."

Background
The 165 Haitian asylum seekers who remain in detention in Miami have been
locked up for over eight months pursuant to a discriminatory detention
policy, which singles out Haitians only for indefinite detention while
asylum seekers of all other nationalities are routinely released.  The
Haitian asylum seekers have had the cards stacked against them from the
beginning.  Not only have they remained in detention, their cases have been
expedited.  Additional Immigration Judges were assigned to a special Haitian
docket so their cases could be rushed forward.  Many were forced to
represent themselves in their complicated asylum hearings.  And some hired
attorneys who did not appeal their cases, resulting in their deportation.
For those who did appeal, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) is
streamlining decisions, and a number of the Haitian asylum seekers have
received one to two sentence denials of their appeals, summarily affirming
the erroneous decisions of the Immigration Judges without explanation.
Ironically, at a time when more attorney access than ever is needed to
assist the Haitians, there has been even less access and the Haitians are
fighting just to see the few pro bono lawyers available to them.

Conditions at the detention facilities where the Haitians are being held are
deplorable.  Men are held at Krome, an INS operated detention facility in
Miami where one Haitian asylum seeker attempted suicide in June, at least
four of the Haitian asylum seekers have allegedly been beaten by officers,
and the Haitians have gone on multiple hunger strikes in protest of their
treatment.  Most adult women are held at TGK, a maximum-security county
jail, where life is far more restrictive than it is for the men.
Interpretation services, recreational access, and access to legal materials
and attorneys are all severe problems at TGK.  The women say that whenever
they voice their concerns regarding conditions to visiting delegations, they
face retaliation by some officers afterwards.  Some adult women and adults
with children are held in virtual isolation at a local motel.  They are
confined to their rooms and have absolutely no access to recreation,
activities, or even fresh air.  There have been as many as six people per
room and they have gone weeks without a change in uniform.  The children
receive no education whatsoever. All of the facilities are tremendously
overcrowded, which negatively impacts every aspect of their daily lives as
well as the efforts of legal service agencies and community organizations
trying to assist them.

A class action lawsuit was filed on March 15, 2002 on behalf of the detained
Haitian asylum seekers.  The District Court Judge ruled that it was up to
politicians in Washington to determine the Haitians fate, not the courts.
That decision has been appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.




Merrie Archer
Senior Policy Associate
(954) 462 8231