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24240: Mikelsons: (news) Fwd: Death Sqaud Leader Toto Constant Served with Lawsuit (fwd)
From: Nancy Mikelsons <Nancy.Mikelsons@pobox.com>
>
>
> 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 HÈbert 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
> > >
>> >
>>
--
Nancy Mikelsons Nancy.Mikelsons@pobox.com