18817: Esser: CCR: Threat of Mass Murder (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Center for Constitutional Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 18, 2004 3:13 PM
CONTACT:  Center for Constitutional Rights
Jen Nessel 212.614.6449


CCR Warns of Threat of Mass Murder in Haiti and the Return of FRAPH

 NEW YORK - February 18 - With the reappearance of Jodel Chamblain in
Haiti and the continued U.S. refusal to detain Emmanuel Constant, two
of the bloodiest leaders of the 1991 Duvalierist coup are poised to
return to power. Chamblain and Constant are founders of FRAPH, the
paramilitary Revolutionary Front for Haitian Advancement and Progress
responsible for more than 5,000 murders and untold dismemberment,
torture and violence in the early 1990s.

Nearly a decade ago, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) sued
FRAPH on behalf of a Haitian woman who had been pulled from her home,
tortured, and had her arm cut off by members of the organization. CCR
also launched an initiative to extradite Constant to Haiti to be
tried for his crimes against humanity. The U.S. has continued to
allow Constant to walk the streets of Queens, never held accountable
for his role in the human rights atrocities he orchestrated. By his
own admission, Constant was still coordinating activities in Haiti as
recently as a few years ago, and there is no reason to think the
situation has changed.

In a 1993 CIA report released to CCR in the lawsuit against FRAPH,
Chamblain and Constant are said to have been in on the planning of
the 1993 assassination of Haitian Justice Minister Guy Malary. The
document states, "FRAPH members Jodel Chamblain, Emmanuel Constant,
and Gabriel Douzable met with an unidentified military officer on the
morning of 14 October to discuss plans to kill Malary." Constant at
the time was a paid CIA informant, earning $500 a month.

Ron Daniels, CCR's executive director, says, "The U.S. government
must leave no doubt that we support a democratically elected
government in Haiti and will not permit FRAPH to return to power.
They must detain Constant immediately. This man committed crimes
against humanity in Haiti, yet he is free to walk the streets in
Queens."

Michael Ratner, president of CCR's board, adds, "It has to be
stopped. The same criminals, gangs and thugs who tried to abort
democracy in the bloody 1991 coup are taking over in Haiti today. If
they are allowed to continue, thousands more will die. Did the world
not learn a lesson from Rwanda?"

Chamblain has resurfaced in Haiti and is leading the violent and
destabilizing riots currently threatening to topple not just
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, but Haiti's hard-won democracy
itself. The U.S. government's failure to disarm FRAPH at the time and
to extradite Constant to Haiti implicates our government in the
current hostilities. We have a responsibility to see that democracy
is not overthrown once more by brutal death squad leaders:

The U.S. must support the CARICOM proposal, which Aristide has agreed
to, and work with CARICOM and the OAS to ensure peace;

Constant must be detained immediately and ultimately brought to trial;
and
Chamblain must also be jailed immediately to prevent an escalation of
violence in the region.
.