23644: (pub) Esser: 30 Members of Congress Urge Powell to Call for Release of Haitian Political Prisoners (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

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

Congresswoman Maxine Waters
http://www.house.gov/waters/

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release (323) 757-8900

October 27, 2004, 5:00 p.m.

CONGRESSWOMAN WATERS AND 30 OTHER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS URGE SECRETARY
OF STATE POWELL TO CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IN
HAITI

Washington, D.C. -- Today, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) sent a letter to
Secretary of State Colin Powell, urging him to call for the release
of political prisoners who are being unlawfully detained in Haiti,
including Father Gerard Jean-Juste, Senator Yvon Feuillé, Deputy Rudy
Hérivaux, Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, Interior Minister Jocelerme
Privert and Anne Auguste. Thirty of the Congresswoman's colleagues
signed her letter. The text of the letter follows:

We are writing to express our deep concerns about the continuing
pattern of human rights violations committed by the Interim
Government of Haiti. We are especially concerned about the recent
arrests of several community leaders who remain illegally detained in
prison in violation of Haitian law.

On October 2, Haitian police forcibly entered Haiti's Radio Caraibes
and arrested two Senators, Yvon Feuillé and Gerard Gilles, and a
former deputy from the Lavalas party, Rudy Hérivaux, who criticized
the Interim Government during a radio program. When a lawyer arrived
at the radio station to represent these individuals, he too was
arrested. All four individuals were arrested without warrants. The
lawyer and Senator Gilles were released three days later, but Senator
Feuillé and Deputy Hérivaux remain in prison without charges, in
violation of Haitian law.

On October 13, 2004, Haitian police arrested Father Gerard
Jean-Juste, the pastor of Saint Claire Church in Haiti, while he was
feeding impoverished children in his church. Father Jean-Juste is a
widely-respected advocate for peace and justice in Haiti and the
rights of Haitian immigrants in the United States. Like Senator
Feuillé and Deputy Hérivaux, Father Jean-Juste was arrested without a
warrant. He remains illegally detained in prison on bogus charges.

Senator Yvon Feuillé, Deputy Rudy Hérivaux, and Father Gerard
Jean-Juste join many Lavalas supporters and critics of the current
government who already are in prison. Among the most prominent
individuals imprisoned in Haiti today are former Prime Minister Yvon
Neptune, who was arrested on June 27, 2004, former Interior Minister
Jocelerme Privert, who was arrested on April 6, 2004, and the
well-known Haitian singer and community activist Anne Auguste (So
Anne), who was arrested on May 10, 2004. All of these individuals
remain illegally detained in prison.

We urge you to call for the release of Senator Feuillé, Deputy
Hérivaux, Father Jean-Juste, Prime Minister Neptune, Interior
Minister Privert, Anne Auguste, and all political prisoners and
imprisoned community leaders who have not been charged, or are not
being lawfully detained, under Haitian law. Our government should be
doing all that it can to ensure that the Interim Government of Haiti
abides by the rule of law and respects the human rights of the
Haitian people.

Sincerely,

Maxine Waters
John Conyers
Barbara Lee
Jan Schakowsky
James Oberstar
Sam Farr
Barney Frank
Raul Grijalva
Donald Payne
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Eddie Bernice
Johnson Lois Capps
Dennis Kucinich
Juanita Millender-McDonald
Edolphus Towns
Danny K. Davis
Chaka Fattah
Major Owens
Bobby L. Rush
Eni Faleomavaega
Maurice Hinchey
Sheila Jackson-Lee
Corrine Brown
Eleanor Holmes Norton
John Lewis
Joseph Hoeffel
Diane E. Watson
Artur Davis
Lynn Woolsey
Dennis Cardoza
James P. McGovern
.