23626 (pub) Esser: Haitian priest, advocate of the poor, is imprisoned (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser <torx@joimail.com>

National Catholic Reporter
http://ncronline.org/

October 29, 2004

Haitian priest, advocate of the poor, is imprisoned
Human rights activists say arrest was illegal, no evidence for
allegations
By CLAIRE SCHAEFFER-DUFFY

Human rights activists in Haiti and the United States have strongly
criticized what they claim is the illegal arrest of Fr. Gerard
Jean-Juste, a Haitian Catholic priest and well-known advocate of the
poor. The priest was seized last month while serving a midday meal to
hundreds of hungry children in his parish in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s
capital.

On Oct. 13, Haitian police, accompanied by masked gunmen, entered the
compound of St. Claire Church, where Jean-Juste is pastor, and pulled
him from the rectory. According to eyewitnesses, the police refused
to produce a warrant, and when asked what the charge was, replied
that the priest “was a threat to public order.”

Jean-Juste’s arrest occurred as turmoil grows in the Haitian capital.
Reportedly more than 40 people have died as a result of the unrest
within a two-week period. Amid the chaos, demonstrators have
gathered, calling for the return of the country’s former president,
Jean Bertrand Aristide. The popularly elected leader was removed from
office last February -- Aristide and his supporters say he was
kidnapped by U.S. Marines -- and he currently resides as a guest of
the Republic of South Africa.

The Haiti interim government and the U.S. government have laid sole
blame for the violence on armed factions of Lavalas Family,
Aristide’s political party, accusing them of mounting an insurgency
similar to the one in Iraq.

But pro-democracy activists in Haiti say the violence, which began
Sept. 30, was initiated when Haitian police fired on a peaceful
demonstration. The activists admit armed supporters of Aristide --
one observer described them as “militant defenders” of the former
president -- have engaged in retaliatory violence; but much of the
violence, they say, is due to members of the former Haitian military
who have returned to the capital and are roaming the streets
unchecked.

Haiti’s interim government has accused Jean-Juste, an outspoken
supporter of Aristide, of financing acts of violence in
Port-au-Prince and said the raid on St. Claire Church was a
preemptive strike based on intelligence linking the priest to the
current turmoil, charges he flatly denies.

The human rights organization Amnesty International reports that the
interim government has so far offered no evidence for its allegations
against the priest.

Shocked by the priest’s arrest, supporters of Jean-Juste, known to
many as Fr. Gerry, describe him as a man who “has spoken out
forcefully against all forms of violence.” They regard his detention
as yet another example of the deteriorating human rights situation in
this impoverished Caribbean country.

In an action alert to its constituents, Pax Christi USA expressed
concern over the safety of the imprisoned priest and wrote that his
arrest “continues a month-long wave of systematic attacks against
civil society, including unions, radio stations, lawyers and members
of parliament as well as lethal police raids on poor neighborhoods.”

Friends and coworkers describe the 57-year-old priest as a relentless
champion of democracy and the underprivileged who, from his pulpit
and popular radio show, evenhandedly denounced the state-sponsored
violence of the government and military and the retaliatory violence
of victims and opposition parties.

“He was a real voice of the grass-roots people, handsome,
charismatic, a man totally committed to peace -- peace with justice,”
said Loyola law professor Bill Quigley, who met Jean-Juste while on a
recent tour of Haiti sponsored by Pax Christi USA. Quigley said the
priest criticized the recent outburst of violence, and believed it
was time for Haitians to “kneel down, ask forgiveness and start over.”

“Jean-Juste is also very clear that the current people in power are
illegitimate,” added Quigley, who, after learning of the priest’s
arrest, immediately returned to Haiti to assist in seeking his
release and publicizing his case.

On Oct. 18, Quigley visited St. Claire Church to assess damages done
to the building during the arrest and to interview eyewitnesses. He
said parishioners told him that police, many of them masked and armed
with rifles, ripped the protective grating off a rectory window and
smashed its pane. Jean-Juste, who was in the rectory, was beaten and
dragged through the window, cutting his arms and leg on the broken
glass, Quigley said.

Two boys and a girl who were inside the church compound for the
biweekly meal program were shot during the melee, though not fatally,
Quigley said.

The Haitian police have said they initially intended only to question
the Catholic priest about the violence taking place in Port-au-Prince
and did not decide to arrest him until local residents became violent.

Kevin Pina, an American radio journalist who said he was standing
just outside the St. Claire Church compound during the arrest,
contested the police’s version of events.

“The police have changed their story,” he said. “First they said they
had just come to question [Jean-Juste]. But what an odd way to
question someone, to have 20 guys with masks and guns come into the
presbytery.” Pina said neighborhood residents began throwing rocks
and bottles after the priest was seized.

As he was being taken away, Jean-Juste was interviewed by Pina’s
radio station KPFA, which is broadcast out of Berkeley, Calif. In a
transcript of that interview the Catholic pastor is quoted as saying,
“If you can, call the nuncio for me, or the pope to say that …
[inaudible] … that they are taking one of their priests to jail.”

Fr. Jean Hansens, director of the National Justice and Peace
Commission, and Archbishop Serge Miot, coadjutor in Port-au-Prince,
joined human rights advocates Oct. 18 in publicly condemning the
Haitian government’s treatment of the priest. According to stories
from Agence France Presse, Hansens charged that “the arrest was made
without a warrant and with brutality,” and Miot protested that after
five days of imprisonment, Jean-Juste had yet to see a judge. Haitian
law requires that a person appear before a judge within 48 hours of
being detained.

Miot also told Agence France Presse that the reaction of parishioners
and people in the area did not justify the police response. “It is
entirely normal for them to show support for a person who has only
done good things for them,” he said.

The archbishop denounced “what he called the gratuitous and
thoughtless accusations brought against the Catholic church with
regard to the recent violence,” Agence France Presse reported.

Jean-Juste spent the first six days of his imprisonment in the
Petion-Ville Jail, a holding facility in Port-au-Prince. According to
Quigley, who visited the jail several times, Jean-Juste was sharing a
mice-infested cell with 18 men. Quigley said Jean-Juste was in good
spirits and spent much of his time assisting fellow prisoners.

“While I was visiting him in jail, he had a constant stream of
parishioners coming up to him with rosaries and prayer beads asking
for his blessing,” Quigley said.

Jean-Juste has since been moved to the nearby state penitentiary and
as of this writing had yet to appear before a judge.

On Oct. 19, the Haiti interim government, perhaps in response to
international attention on the case, formally charged Jean-Juste with
disturbing the peace. Quigley said the penalty for the crime, which
is comparable to a traffic violation, is a maximum fine of 40 cents.
“The whole arrest was a sham,” he said.

Quigley could not say whether the minimal charge given to the priest
would result in an early release from prison.

Robert Zimmerman, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said
a human rights officer from the American Embassy in Port-au-Prince
had visited Jean-Juste in prison and reported “that he was being
well-treated.” Zimmerman said Jean-Juste “continues to be lawfully
held” and that he is accused “of aiding and abetting the uprising in
Port-au-Prince.”

“We have made it clear to the interim government that Fr.
Jean-Juste’s rights are to be respected and we will continue to
monitor his situation.” Zimmerman said.

When asked if the lack of a warrant and the court’s likely refusal to
hear the priest’s case didn’t signify abuse of legal rights,
Zimmerman said, “Those are complicated questions that have to be
directed to the interim government.”

During one visit, Quigley asked Jean-Juste if he had a message for
the people who support democracy in Haiti. The priest immediately
replied, “Insist that we return to constitutional order in Haiti.
Demand freedom for all political prisoners. Respect the rights of
everyone. Pledge to respect the vote of the people. Advocate for the
return of President Aristide so he can finish his electoral mandate
through February 2006.”

Claire Schaeffer-Duffy is a freelance writer living in Worcester, Mass.

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