21927: Esser: Letter regarding So Anne arrest (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

I. Letter denouncing So Anne's arrest.
II. Report regarding Annette Auguste


De León & Nestor
Attorneys at Law
Bruce D. Nestor*
Susana De León
*Licensed in Minnesota and Iowa
529 S. 7th Street, Suite 636
Sexton Building Minneapolis, MN 55415
(612) 659-9019 Facsimile (612) 288-0546 bdnestor@visi.com


May 13, 2004


Senator Mark Dayton
346 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510


Re: U.S. Military Violations of Law in Haiti

Dear Senator Dayton:

I am writing you as my senator and a member of the Senate Armed
Services Committee to request your urgent attention to and oversight
of the actions of the U.S. military as part of the multi-national
presence in Haiti.

I was in Haiti from April 12-19, 2004, as part of a delegation of
lawyers and law students gathering documentation regarding the human
rights situation in Haiti. I heard varied and substantial accounts of
widespread abuses of human rights, particularly being directed at
supporters of the constitutionally elected government of President
Jean Bertrand-Aristide.

Even more disturbing, in light of recent revelations about abuses
committed by members of the U.S. military at prison facilities in
Iraq and Afghanistan, I obtained first-hand information about
violations of international law and Haitian law being committed by
U.S. Marines. In particular, I had the opportunity to visit the
National Penitentiary in Port Au Prince, a portion of which is under
the exclusive security control of the U.S. Marines.

It is my belief that prisoners, including high ranking members of the
elected government, are being held incommunicado at this facility by
U.S. Marines. Haitian prison officials were unable to provide me
access to these prisoners. In addition, access to these prisoners has
been denied to representatives of Amnesty International and Haitian
attorneys.

I also gathered first-hand accounts of Haitian citizens being
arrested without warrants, of the U.S. Marines being utilized by
elements of society to effectuate revenge arrests upon supporters of
the elected government, and of the use of excessive force by U.S.
Marines who have been placed into an extremely tense and difficult
situation where they lack an understanding of the political and
cultural realities of Haiti.

Included with this letter is a copy of a recent report regarding
Annette Auguste, a 69 year old Haitian citizen arrested by U.S.
Marines on May 10, 2004.

This report is particularly disturbing to me because the events
related in the report closely parallel the information I received and
observed during my visit to Haiti. I have also included a copy of the
report of the NLG Delegation, a portion of which describes the
information we gathered about the U.S. military presence in Haiti.

I strongly urge that you use your good offices to immediately demand
a report from appropriate officials in the military and executive
branches regarding the arrest of Ms. Auguste and the conditions under
which she is being held. I also urge you to demand a broader
investigation into the conditions at the National Penitentiary in
Port Au Prince, allegations regarding the use of excessive force by
U.S. Marines, and the extrajudicial and warrantless arrests being
made by the U.S.Marines.

It is particularly important for the credibility of the U.S. Armed
Forces that their actions at this time be completely transparent and
open to public scrutiny. This is particularly true with respect to
any civilian prisoners being held in U.S. custody.

Thank you for your urgent attention to these matters.

Sincerely,

Bruce D. Nestor
Past President, National Lawyers Guild

Cc: Mark Dayton
Carl Levin
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Edward M. Kenney
John McCain




Report regarding Annette Auguste

Haitians Seized, Abused by U.S. Marines Women, Children Subjected to
Hood Treatment At 12:30 in the morning of May 10, approximately 20
U.S. Marines executed a military assault on the Port-au-Prince home
of 69-year-old Annette Auguste, a.k.a. Souer Anne. Auguste's
residence is part of a compound that includes four other apartments
that were also invaded by the U.S. military forces. The troops
covered the heads of 11 Haitians with black hoods and then forced
them to lay face down on the ground while binding their wrists with
plastic manacles behind their backs. The victims of this terrifying
U.S. military invasion included five-year-old Chamyr Samedi,
10-year-old Kerlande Philippe, 12-year-old Loubahida Augustine,
14-year-old Luckman Augustine, and seven adults.
The Marines blew up a vehicle and a substantial part of Auguste's
three-story house, leaving behind c4 and c5 explosives paraphernalia
including blasting caps and igniters. Not a single member of the
Haitian National Police force (PNH) or the de facto Haitian
government was present when the U.S. forces attacked the residence,
said the arrestees.

All the detainees except Auguste were released after questioning.

According to Haitian law, as is the norm in any democratic country,
no arrest can be made without a proper warrant issued by judicial
authorities.

The Haitian Constitution requires that warrants only be executed
between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. The lack of any legality
within the context of Haitian law and the fact this was executed
unilaterally by U.S. military forces raises serious questions of
national sovereignty and the role of the U.S. military in Haiti today.

Lesly Voltaire, one of the highest ranking Lavalas officials
remaining in Haiti, has consistently condemned the campaign of
political persecution and arbitrary arrests against his political
party. Voltaire stated: "This was an illegal arrest done past
midnight. The law does not allow arrests after 6:00 p.m. I strongly
condemn this armed assault and believe that the charges against
Annette Auguste are unfounded. We are fighting for due process and
this was not performed within the context of due process and Haitian
law.

This is clearly a part of the campaign of persecution against
Lavalas. No Haitian police or authorities were present. We must ask
what are the rules of engagement for U.S. military authorities in
Haiti and what right do they have to do this? Is Haiti still a
sovereign nation?" Ms. Auguste is being held incommunicado at a U.S.
military-controlled "special section" of the National Penitentiary in
Port-au-Prince.

Although the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR) claims to
have visited her at the prison, this is disputed by her husband,
Wilfrid Lavaud, who says the family has no knowledge of any such
visit by the New York-based agency.

Lavaud also said that he does not consider NCHR to be a credible
human rights organization because they have worked so closely in the
past with the Haitian opposition to the constitutional government of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

NCHR played a significant role in the media disinformation campaign
that preceded the coup against President Aristide (see , October 30,
2003).

International journalists have been denied access to Ms. August.

Spokesmen for Gerard Latortue's government claim they are "too busy"
to respond to requests to see the prisoner. Media for hire Why was
Annette Auguste targeted for this military-type assault by U.S.
Marines?

Lavalas officials, who had been calling for the end of political
persecution against their party, last week announced they would begin
demonstrations on May 18 calling for the return of President
Aristide. Annette Auguste was active in supporting the Aristide
government, and in helping to build Lavalas' base of support among
the poor majority in Haiti.

Many Lavalas activists see the attack against Ms. Auguste as a
preemptive strike against their party by the Bush administration - a
continuation of the destabilization campaign hatched in the U.S.
State Department by Otto Reich and Roger Noriega, that eventually led
to the forced departure of President Aristide.

The real question is, what right does a U.S. military assault team
have to perform such an action in Haiti?

The Haitian media, controlled by the same forces that allied
themselves with the Bush administration to forcibly remove President
Aristide, allege that Ms. Auguste controlled violent factions
associated with the Aristide government.

 A second accusation, fielded by Radio Metropole, is that Ms. Auguste
was organizing a clandestine operation aimed at launching armed
assaults against U.S. military personnel in Haiti. As per usual with
the elite-controlled media, no corroboration or factual evidence was
ever given to back up these claims, which are typically made by paid
surrogates.

Guyler C. Delva, of the Association of Haitian Journalists, has
publicly accused many of his colleagues of working as paid informants
for the U.S. military in Haiti. These are the same Haitian media that
worked hand-in-glove with the campaign that removed President
Aristide on February 29.

Relentless persecution Annette Auguste has been a frequent target of
the Haitian elite, due to her close ties with President Aristide. She
is the leader of PROP (Pouvwa Rasembleman Organizacion Popile), a
popular Lavalas organization.

She is also a singer of Haitian folk songs and is open about her
practice of voodoo, officially recognized as a national religion for
the first time in Haitian history under the Aristide administration.

Ms. Auguste's religious beliefs and practices have led to many
unfounded, disparaging rumors and a campaign of demonization against
her.

In the past, critics such as Yves A. Isidor, professor of Economics
at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and Executive Editor of
wehaitians.com, and Raymond Joseph of the Haiti Observateur, now the
Chief Diplomatic Representative to America for Haiti, have accused
Ms.Auguste of things as outrageous as human sacrifice.

Isidor authored a January 2, 2001, article that charged Ms. Auguste
was President Aristide's "voodoo medium" and that she bathed him in
human blood to curse George W. Bush and ensure the election of Vice
President Al Gore in 2000. No evidence or witnesses were cited as
sources for this information. Isidor's grotesque article was picked
up and embellished by Raymond Joseph. Joseph added details regarding
a ceremony where a newborn was sacrificed in a giant mortar with a
heavy pestle. Joseph contends that those who question the veracity of
this allegation need only find support in the statement, "But who
would have thought that men infected with the AIDS virus in South
Africa believe that they can be healed by having intercourse with a
young virgin!"

Joseph never actually states that Ms. Auguste was involved in the
alleged sacrifice, but two paragraphs later, his reference to her as
Aristide's "voodoo medium" implies her presence there. Joseph
directly accuses Ms. Auguste of holding meetings at her home where
criminal activities were planned - the nature of which was never
revealed.

 In a March 11, 2004, New York Sun article, Joseph lambasted
California Congresswoman Maxine Waters for making three trips to
Haiti in seven weeks, with the third trip being first-class.

Joseph asked, "Do American taxpayers have to pick up the tabs? Or is
it the Haitian government robbing from the poor in the 'poorest
country in the Western Hemisphere' to maintain Waters and company in
luxurious style?"

Joseph provided no support or explanation for these allegations. He
simply sought to discredit Rep. Waters, never even offering the
possible explanation that she paid for the tickets herself or
upgraded with frequent flier miles. As a reward for his part in the
campaign of lies and misinformation against Aristide and Lavalas,
Joseph has been named the Boca Raton regime's highest representative
to the United States.
In his current position, Joseph is well placed to direct the U.S.
Marines to the doors of people's activists like Annette Auguste. His
is the face that smiles when boots trample on hooded, helpless women
and children.
.