12805: Guacimal prisoners: NCHR press release - 21 August 2002 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Port-au-Prince, 21 August 2002

At a powerful and peaceful demonstration in front of the Ministry of Justice
on Monday, August 19, 2002, more than fifty (50) human rights defenders and
members of the union Batay Ouvriye gathered in solidarity, demanding the
immediate release of nine (9) Guacimal peasants and union workers illegally
arrested and arbitrarily detained since May 27 of this year.

During the 3-hour sit-in, organised by the National Coalition for Haitian
Rights (NCHR), the Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organisations (POHDH),
and Batay Ouvriye, demonstrators called on Justice Minister, Mr.
Jean-Baptiste Brown, to manifest the principles of justice by ensuring
freedom for the Guacimal peasants and union workers.

Several representatives of the three (3) organisations met with top justice
officials to discuss the issues in question and to present the case,
highlighting the gravity of serious human rights violations committed against
the workers.
The demonstration found swift and concrete results.

Seven (7) of the nine (9) prisoners - two (2) women who were being detained
at Fort National, and five (5) men who were being detained at the National
Penitentiary – were released yesterday, Tuesday, August 20, 2002.

Immediately following the arrests in May, NCHR dispatched a delegation to
Guacimal to carry out an investigation into the incident. Since that time,
NCHR, in collaboration with POHDH and Batay Ouvriye, has been actively
engaged in seeking justice for the peasants and union workers who are the
victims of serious human rights abuses. Reports and several press releases
have been published in addition to a number of press conferences held. The
sit-in demonstration on Monday constituted a more aggressive response to the
continued silence of the authorities regarding this case.

While extremely pleased with the results of the sit-in, NCHR remains
concerned about the continued detention of two (2) of the workers, Mr. Urbain
Garçon and Mr. Jérémie Dorvil. NCHR perseveres in its efforts and will
continue to do so until the release of the remaining two (2) workers

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