21861: Esser: Criticism of the arrests and persecution of senior Fanmi Lavalas officials and activists (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Agence Haïtienne de Presse AHP

May 11, 2004

Further criticism of the arrests and persecution of senior Fanmi
Lavalas officials and activists

Port-au-Prince, May 11, 2004 -(AHP)- The attorney Reynold Georges
criticized Tuesday the arrest of the Fanmi Lavalas activist Annette
Auguste, known as Sò Anne by the multinational force as being an
arbitrary act.

According to the Haitian Constitution, any arrests must be carried
out between the hours of 6 AM and 6 PM, except in a case where the
suspect is caught by law enforcement officials in the act of
committing a crime, said Mr. Georges, and, he continued, that
provision must be followed when a judicial warrant is being executed.

He said he was outraged that the multinational force acted in a
completely illegal manner, in violation of the laws of the land.

For his part, the former deputy from Trou du Nord, Rudy Hérivaux,
said he sees in this wave of arrests and the hunting down of
supporters of Fanmi Lavalas, a campaign aimed at the systematic
dismantling of the party.

Mr. Hérivaux called for the immediate and unconditional release of
senior officials and activists of Fanmi Lavalas who were illegally
arrested.

He also said he could not understand how a government and individuals
who recently spoke out once again against alleged dictatorial
practices  and who affirmed their desire to create democracy, would
today become gleefully mired in blind repression against the
supporters of Fanmi Lavalas.      

The leader of  the RDC party (Rally of Christian Democrats), Eddy
Volel, called on provisional President Alexandre Boniface to dismiss
the Latortue government on grounds of incompetence and bad faith

According to Eddy Volel, the current government has no intention of
working to improve living conditions for the population.

He called for a mobilization by the population in order to force the
Latortue government to step down as soon as possible.
.