24081: Blanchet: (news) Fw: Haitian Death Sqaud Leader Toto Constant Served with Lawsuit for Rape and Torture (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <MaxBlanchet@worldnet.att.net>
>
> --- Moira Feeney <mfeeney@cja.org> wrote:
>
> > From: "Moira Feeney" <mfeeney@cja.org>
> > To: "'center4justice'" <center4justice@cja.org>
> > Subject: Haitian Death Sqaud Leader Toto Constant
> > Served with Lawsuit for Rape and Torture
> > Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 13:31:48 -0800
> >
> > Dear Friends,
> >
> > I am writing with the very exciting news that we
> > successfully served Toto
> > Constant with a lawsuit today accusing him of
> > responsibility for rape and
> > torture, among other human rights abuses.  Below is
> > the press release.  A
> > lot of hard work went into this, so we are very
> > happy that we were able to
> > serve him today!
> >
> > Best,
> > Moira
> >
> >
> > For Immediate Release:
> >
> > January 14, 2005
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Contacts:
> >
> > Center for Justice & Accountability (San Francisco,
> > CA):
> >
> > Moira Feeney, Attorney, (415) 544-0444 x302,
> > mfeeney@cja.org
> >
> > Matt Eisenbrandt, Litigation Director, (415)
> > 544-0444 x304,
> > meisenbrandt@cja.org
> >
> >
> >
> > Center for Constitutional Rights (New York, NY)
> >
> > Jennie Green, Senior Attorney, (212) 614-6431,
> > jgreen@ccr-ny.org
> >
> >
> >
> > hAITIAN DEATH SQUAD LEADER, toto Constant, to be
> > brought to justice for his
> > campaign of rape and murder
> >
> >
> >
> > Courageous women bring civil suit FOR ABUSES BY
> > FRAPH
> >
> >
> >
> > New York, NY: January 14, 2005.  Emmanuel "Toto"
> > Constant was served with a
> > lawsuit today that accuses him of responsibility for
> > torture, crimes against
> > humanity and the systematic use of violence against
> > women, including rape,
> > for the purpose of terrorizing the Haitian
> > population during that country's
> > brutal military regime in the early 1990s.
> >
> >
> >
> > Despite being the outspoken leader of the
> > paramilitary death squad known as
> > FRAPH (Revolutionary Front for the Advancement and
> > Progress of Haiti), Toto
> > Constant has lived and worked openly in Queens, New
> > York, for the last ten
> > years.  The U.S. government tried to deport Constant
> > in 1995, but suspended
> > its efforts and released him from detention after he
> > threatened on the 60
> > Minutes news program to expose information about the
> > CIA's role in the
> > formation of FRAPH.
> >
> >
> >
> > The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the
> > Southern District of New York
> > by the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA),
> > based in San Francisco,
> > on behalf of several women who survived savage gang
> > rapes and other forms of
> > extreme violence, including attempted murder.  The
> > Center for Constitutional
> > Rights (CCR), based in New York, is serving as local
> > counsel.
> >
> >
> >
> > Following a violent military coup against President
> > Jean-Bertrand Aristide
> > in 1991, the Haitian Armed Forces trained and armed
> > members of FRAPH to
> > maintain control over Haiti's poor masses.  After
> > democracy was returned to
> > Haiti in October 1994, the government of President
> > Aristide issued a warrant
> > for Constant's arrest.  He fled and came to the
> > United States.
> >
> >
> >
> > All three plaintiffs in this case are women who were
> > targeted by Constant
> > and FRAPH as part of a systematic campaign of
> > violence against women.  Two
> > of the women were gang raped repeatedly by FRAPH
> > members in front of their
> > families.  One of the plaintiffs became pregnant and
> > bore a child as a
> > result of the rape she suffered.  FRAPH operatives
> > attacked the third
> > plaintiff, leaving her for dead.  Due to the fear of
> > reprisals, the
> > plaintiffs in this case have filed their claims
> > anonymously.
> >
> >
> >
> > The lawsuit is especially timely because Haiti is
> > again suffering from the
> > massive, sytematic human rights violations committed
> > during the 1991-94
> > military dictatorship.  Many of Constant's former
> > subordinates in FRAPH are
> > again wielding considerable power.   They have
> > embarked on a campaign of
> > abuses, including widespread rape, since President
> > Aristide was forced from
> > office in February, 2004.  Among the leaders of this
> > renewed violence are
> > FRAPH's former second-in-command, Jodel Chamblain,
> > and local chief Jean
> > Pierre (alias Jean Tatoune), both convicted
> > murderers.  In addition, three
> > members of the military government's High Command
> > who were deported from the
> > U.S. for their involvement in human rights
> > violations - General Jean-Claude
> > Duperval, Lieutenant Colonel Hébert Valmond, and
> > Colonel Carl Dorelien -
> > were freed from prison and have not been
> > re-arrested.  CJA brought a case
> > against Dorelien before he was deported and obtained
> > a court order
> > preventing him from receiving nearly $1 million he
> > won from the Florida
> > State Lottery.
> >
> >
> >
> > The types of attacks suffered by the plaintiffs in
> > this case - the gang rape
> > of women by paramilitaries as a form of punishment
> > for the women's political
> > beliefs - have been occurring in alarming numbers in
> > recent months. One of
> > the plaintiffs in the suit against Constant,
> > speaking on behalf of all of
> > the plaintiffs, said: "We hope that the suit will
> > deter at least some of the
> > violence, by sending a message that anyone who
> > commits atrocities will no
> > longer be able to visit or live in the U.S. with
> > impunity."
> >
> >
> >
> > CJA's Executive Director Sandra Coliver stated:
> > "Toto Constant's comfortable
> > lifestyle in Queens has enraged and offended the
> > Haitian community in this
> > country as well as human rights activists around the
> > globe. We are honored
> > to represent these courageous women who are taking
> > great risks by coming
> > forward.  They brought this lawsuit in the name of
> > the hundreds of women who
> > cannot speak out because of the violence that reigns
> > today in Haiti."
> >
> >
> >
> > Commonly referred to as "The Devil," Toto Constant
> > has been the target of
> > several community protests in Queens. In November
> > 2000, he was convicted in
> > absentia in Haiti for his role in the notorious
> > "Raboteau Massacre" of April
> > 1994.  Until now, no court in the U.S. or Haiti has
> > forced him to face trial
> > in person for the human rights abuses he committed
> > against the people of
> > Haiti.  No one from the ranks of FRAPH or the
> > Haitian Armed Forces has been
> > held accountable for the hundreds of politically
> > motivated rapes that were
> > committed and continue to be committed against the
> > women of Haiti.
> >
> >
> >
> > CJA, based in San Francisco, has obtained favorable
> > verdicts in similar
> > cases involving human rights abusers from Bosnia, El
> > Salvador and Chile who
> > had come to live in the U.S.  The Center for
> > Constitutional Rights has
> > brought human rights cases against individuals and
> > corporations responsible
> > for human rights violations since 1980, when CCR
> > filed the groundbreaking
> > case which allowed those who have suffered human
> > rights abuses to bring
> > their claims in U.S. courts.
> >
> >
> >
> > Jennie Green, CCR Senior Attorney, commented:  "The
> > U.S. government claims
> > to be fighting a war on terrorism, all the while
> > allowing a man who
> > terrorized people in Haiti to prosper in our midst.
> > Documents released by
> > the U.S. government show FRAPH's role in human
> > rights violations.  Constant
> > as its leader must be held accountable."
> >
> >
> >
> > For additional information about the case, please
> > see CJA's website:
> > www.cja.org <http://www.cja.org/> .  For more
> > information on the current
> > human rights situation in Haiti please contact the
> > Institute for Justice and
> > Democracy in Haiti at info@ijdh.org or visit
> > www.ijdh.org
> > <http://www.ijdh.org/> .
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ###
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Moira Feeney
> > Staff Attorney
> > Center for Justice and Accountability
> > 870 Market Street, Suite 688
> > San Francisco, CA 94102
> > Tel: 415.544.0444 x302
> > Fax: 415.544.0456
> > www.cja.org
> >
> >
>