17585: (Hermantin)Sun-Sentinel-Despite winning two asylum requests, Haitian detainee re (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Despite winning two asylum requests, Haitian detainee remains behind bars

By Tanya Weinberg
Staff Writer
Posted December 27 2003

Hunched over at the Krome federal detention center, Rochenel Charles' sunken
eyes and wilted frame bear no sign that he is a winner.

Yet he is, twice over.

Twice in 14 months an immigration judge approved Charles' request for
political asylum. One of dozens of Haitian refugees to leap into Biscayne
Bay in a nationally televised October 2002 landing, Charles was among the
first to win his case. But the government appealed that February decision,
and may appeal last week's ruling as well.

"How many times does a Haitian have to win asylum to be freed?" asked
Candace Jean, Charles' pro-bono attorney from Catholic Charities Legal
Services. "I don't know anybody in history who's been granted twice and is
still in prison, and I've been doing this 20 years."

Homeland Security spokeswoman Ana Santiago declined to comment on the case
except to say that the department has 30 days to decide whether to appeal
and that Charles will remain detained until a case review is completed.

During an interview through an interpreter at Krome on Christmas Eve day,
Charles, 55, pulled open his beige jacket. Blue detainee scrubs hung off his
narrow frame. He reached to his side, his back, his throat to show where
incessant pain dogs him, then flipped over his palms to show how pale
they've become.

"I spent two Christmases in jail now. It's a sacred holiday, you celebrate
the 25th every year, because God loves you. But unfortunately for two years
now, this is the kind of uniform I'm wearing," he said plucking at his
scrubs.

"Only God knows. God knows," he said, and laid his head down on folded arms.

Because of strict policies directed at deterring Haitian migration by sea, a
physically and psychologically deteriorating Charles remains detained during
the appeals process. Before late 2001, when another Haitian boat carrying
almost 200 refugees arrived in South Florida, Haitians were generally
released to the custody of a sponsor pending their asylum case.

Since he was incarcerated 14 months ago, Charles suffered a fall while
unloading a truck,spent weeks in a wheelchair, had that chair taken away
when he was nearly deported, won a last-minute reprieve, and then won a
second asylum hearing. At the Dec. 12 hearing, Charles was coughing hard
enough that the judge ordered him sent to the hospital.

But he says officers instead locked him in a small room at the Krome clinic
for several hours, never attended to him, then sent him back to his
dormitory.

He has battled chronic pain and digestive problems for months and has had no
contact with his nine children in Haiti.

Last week the State Department issued a statement deploring the Haitian
government's violent suppression of peaceful political demonstrations.
Immigrant advocates worry that political upheaval could send an influx of
Haitian refugees into the United States, where advocates say expedited
asylum proceedings make it harder for boat refugees to retain legal counsel.

There are also concerns that Haitians interdicted at sea will not be
interviewed to determine if they have a credible fear of persecution.

Homeland Security officials say an officer is always present on board to
make that determination.

In recent weeks, two boats with more than 400 refugees have been returned to
Haiti. The Coast Guard has repatriated 1,490 this year, up from 1,287 in
2002.

"Since I was little, I always heard talk about Miami, if you reach this land
you'll live freely the rest of your life," said Charles. "I thought if I
reach this country, I'm not going to die anymore."

Now U.S. policy relies on detainees like Charles to spread the word that
there is no such guarantee of freedom. Homeland Security officials say the
detention policy discourages Haitians from risking their lives at sea and
eases the diversion of key national security resources.

"The message is there that it's not an automatic free ticket into the United
States, that they would be required to establish that they were persecuted
in the past or had a well-founded fear of persecution, not just that they
were fleeing an uncomfortable situation," said Bill Strassberger, a Homeland
Security spokesman.

Miami Immigration Judge Sandra Coleman twice ruled that Charles does have a
well-founded fear of persecution. She found credible his testimony that he
lived in hiding for six years after supporters of Haiti's ruling party,
Fanmi Lavalas, killed two of his siblings.

At Krome, Charles chopped at his face and neck with the side of his hand and
described how Lavalas supporters hacked his brother with a machete. He bent
his head over to finger the small bump he says remains from when he fled and
attackers threw a rock at him. After protesting their brother's murder, his
sister was jailed and received a beating so severe that she, too, died.

Charles explained that he no longer feels hunger and had not eaten for three
days.

"I don't have any strength left," he said. "The other day I came to the
point where I said, if you guys are not going to release me, you can just
tie me up and send me back to Haiti, because I don't think I can take it
anymore."

Still, he said, he wakes up every morning to pray and thank God for the
people forging his legal battle.

"God has a plan. There is destiny," he said, lifting his arms heavenward.
"If he was able to rescue me from that deep sea and bring me here, who
knows, one day he may be able to rescue me from here."

When he closes his eyes at night and waits for rest that never seems to
come, he said pictures of his children float through his mind, and tears
flow that never dry.

"I thought I would be free to be able to help them," he said.

A high-pitched yelp escaped his throat. He turned, shook his head, and
lifted a hand to his forehead.

"There were rumors in Haiti that I was dead," he said.

He said he hears from numerous Miami relatives that most of his children,
ages 3 to 23, don't believe he is alive.

More than half of the 214 boat passengers from his Oct. 29, 2002, landing
have been deported. More than 50 have won asylum. Ten remain in immigration
custody.

Tanya Weinberg can be reached at tweinberg@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5029.

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