25073: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Hunger Strike (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>


   By VERENA DOBNIK

   NEW YORK, Feb 11 (AP) -- The daughter of Haiti's former prime minister
on Wednesday urged the international community to act to save her father,
who has been on a hunger strike for the last three weeks to protest his
10-month detention without charge.
   "Without the help and pressure of the international community, my father
will die," Yvon Neptune's daughter, Maryvonne, said at a news conference.
"I'm calling for action -- for people to actively and openly put pressure
on the people who are detaining him."
   Yvon Neptune is accused of orchestrating political killings during the
February 2004 rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Neptune has not been brought before a judge to hear the accusations against
him, though the Haitian constitution says that must be done within 48
hours. He denies the allegations.
   Yvon Neptune, who served as prime minister under Aristide, was to be
taken to the Dominican Republic for treatment earlier this month but he
refused to leave, demanding his unconditional release instead. He started a
second hunger strike on April 17 after being hospitalized following a
19-day hunger strike.
   Neptune is being held in a special prison near police headquarters in
the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.
   Maryvonne Neptune, who recently graduated from New York University, said
her 58-year-old father can no longer walk without help, "but he will not
eat until he's released."
   "His health is rapidly diminishing," she said. "He is really
struggling."
   She said she learned the details of her father's condition from her
mother, Marie-Josee Neptune, who was able to visit him recently and is back
in New York.
   Haiti has been in turmoil since Aristide fled the country. More than 600
people have been killed since Aristide supporters in September stepped up
protests to demand his return from exile in South Africa. Many fear the
violence could thwart efforts to hold elections in October and November.