25049: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Convictions Overturned (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By PETER PRENGAMAN
 and
 MICHAEL NORTON

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, May 9 (AP) -- Haiti's Supreme Court has overturned the
convictions of 38 army and paramilitary leaders who were sentenced for
their roles in a mass slaying a decade ago, human rights groups said
Monday.
   The men were sentenced in 2000 in connection with a 1994 raid on the
seaside shantytown of Raboteau. More than half were in exile and were tried
in absentia. It was not clear how many were imprisoned.
   "The trial was annulled, we suppose it was on a technicality," said
Jean-Claude Bajeux from the Ecumenical Center for Human Rights. The Supreme
Court has yet to make the decision available in its entirety, he said.
   Pierre Esperance, director of the National Coalition of Haitian Rights,
also confirmed the April 21 decision but couldn't immediately provide more
details.
   The decision drew the ire of supporters of former President Jean-Bertand
Aristide, who was ousted for the second time amid an armed rebellion in
February last year.
   The Raboteau slayings were part of a series of attacks to erode support
for Aristide, a charismatic slum priest who became Haiti's first
democratically elected leader in February 1991. The army ousted him in
September 1991, and he returned to power through U.S. intervention in 1994.
   "This shows the current government is partisan, revengeful, hateful and
not serious about justice," said Gerard Gilles, former senator in
Aristide's Lavalas Party.
   Since Aristide was ousted last year, a U.S.-backed interim government
has taken power as the country prepares for elections in October and
November.
   When contacted by The Associated Press on Monday, interim Prime Minister
Gerard Latortue said he hadn't heard of the Supreme Court decision but
believed it was a sign of progress because it showed a separation between
political leaders and judges.
   "No orders were given, no instructions. If the results have been
annulled, the judges have decided to annul them independently," he said.
   During the killings, witnesses said soldiers and thugs burst into dozens
of homes, beating and arresting people. People who tried to flee were shot.
It is not clear how many were killed, because soldiers prevented victims'
families from retrieving bodies. Witnesses said at least 15 people killed
but said other victims were washed out to sea.
   Brian Concannon, American lawyer who helped prepare the prosecution's
case in the 2000 trial, criticized the ruling.
   "The Raboteau trial stood for the possibility of justice in Haiti ... It
was praised as a landmark in the fight against impunity," he said. "The
legal case for overturning the verdict was extremely weak."
   The decision likely opens the door for the release of Louis-Jodel
Chamblain, one of Haiti's most feared criminals who has twice been
convicted of murder, including in connection with the 1994 slayings.
Chamblain helped lead the rebellion that knocked Aristide from power last
year.
   Stanley Gaston, a lawyer for Chamblain, said he believed his client
could be released within a week.
   ------
   Michael Norton reported for this story from San Juan, Puerto Rico.