18078: Holmstead: U.S. once praised war criminal (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: John Holmstead <cyberkismet2@yahoo.com>


U.S. once praised war criminal
The Joint Chiefs leader backed the Haitian general
after a massacre.
By Jim Stratton | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted January 21, 2004

A convicted Haitian war criminal arrested last week in
Orlando was once considered "a loyal and faithful
partner" of the United States by the former head of
the U.S. military
former head of the U.S. military.

In a 1997 letter, Gen. Henry Hugh Shelton, chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, praised Jean-Claude
Duperval and urged that his application for political
asylum in the United States "be given every possible
consideration."

The letter -- on Joint Chiefs stationery -- said
Shelton worked daily with Duperval in 1994 as U.S.
forces sought to calm the politically explosive
island.

Immigration agents picked up Duperval last week at his
Orlo Vista home, and he is expected to be deported to
Haiti within days. Duperval had been living quietly in
the blue-collar neighborhood for about three years --
working at one time as a Disney boat pilot -- after
coming to the United States in 1995.

Duperval, a major-general in the Haitian military, was
convicted in absentia by a Haitian court in 2000 for
his role in the 1994 massacre of dozens of political
dissidents. In the attack, soldiers rampaged through
the seaside town of Raboteau, beating and shooting at
least 25 men, women and children.

Duperval's arrest was celebrated by human-rights
activists, but it has angered some members of
Orlando's Haitian community. His friends have planned
a protest rally for Friday.

They likely will point to Shelton's past support of
Duperval to bolster their case. In his letter, Shelton
said Duperval was "instrumental in facilitating the
smooth transition" to a democratic government.

His cooperation with the United States, Shelton wrote,
"undoubtedly made him many enemies" in Haiti.

Duperval's supporters said he is innocent and was
convicted only because of his position in the
military. They claim he will be killed if deported,
though that hasn't happened to other military leaders
who have been returned to the island.

"My brother," said Jeanette Duperval, "will not be
safe."

An American lawyer who helped prosecutors
investigating the massacre said Duperval was not
accused of ordering or directly participating in the
killings. He was convicted, said Brian Concannon,
because as the army's second-in-command, he did
nothing to stop the violence.

In fact, said Concannon, Duperval and other military
leaders encouraged it.

"This was a very brutal regime," Concannon said. "And
he stood by while people in his command did these
things."

But if Duperval, 56, was so bad, his family asked, why
did top U.S. officials work with him during their time
in Haiti and later allow him to enter the country?

Shelton's letter, they point out, was written in 1997,
several years after key players in the massacre had
been identified. Handwritten notes in the margin
suggest Duperval sent it to then-first lady Hillary
Clinton.

Shelton, now an executive with a Virginia-based
manufacturing company, did not return repeated calls
from the Orlando Sentinel. Officials with the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, however, confirmed that Shelton sent
the 1997 letter and two years letter wrote a personal
note to Duperval.

They would not reveal what the note said.

Duperval's family sees the correspondence as
endorsements from the United States. As Joint Chiefs
chairman, Shelton was a presidential appointee, chief
military adviser to President Clinton and the
highest-ranking military officer in the country.

"Gen. Shelton and the others know he's a good
soldier," said Eli Biece, Duperval's brother-in-law.
"He is not a criminal. They have to try and save his
life, or history will condemn them."

Amnesty International said the Duperval case
illustrates a long-running problem with U.S. foreign
policy. To achieve political or military goals, U.S.
officials sometimes choose questionable friends,
Amnesty's Vienna Colucci said.

In a report released two years ago, the group said at
least 150 known or suspected human-rights violators
were living in the United States, but the government
had done little to prosecute them.

"At times, they're willing to make deals," said
Colucci, an international-justice expert. "They'll
look the other way or even reward perpetrators of some
very serious abuses."

Still, word of Shelton's letter surprised some
human-rights activists. William O'Neill, who once
monitored human rights in Haiti for the United
Nations, said Duperval's position in the military and
the military's role in the massacre were common
knowledge.

"They were basically a bunch of thugs," he said.
"Somebody really should have done their homework"
before vouching for Duperval.

Duperval's supporters insist he is not guilty, and
they have scheduled the Friday afternoon rally outside
U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown's Orlando office to protest
his arrest.

Organizer Franck Charlot said marchers will try to
pressure U.S. lawmakers to intervene on Duperval's
behalf. Charlot said Shelton's support of Duperval may
become a central part of their argument.

"If they send him back," he said, "they're turning
their backs on a good man."

Jim Stratton can be reached at
jstratton@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5379.
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