25477: Haiti Progres (news) This Week in Haiti 23 : 15 6 /22/2005 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Haïti Progrès <editor@haiti-progres.com>

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                      HAITI PROGRES
           "Le journal qui offre une alternative"


                 * THIS WEEK IN HAITI *

                  June 22 - 28, 2005
                   Vol. 23, No. 15



AS HELENO PREPARES TO EXIT:
MORE BLOOD SPILLED IN BEL AIR

Five people, including a policemen, died on June 17 after the Haitian
National Police (PNH) swept into the neighborhoods of Belair and Delmas
2, bastions of anti-coup and anti-occupation sentiment.

Three civilians were killed on the spot by police gunfire, and a fourth
died later from his wounds. One policemen was also killed by gunfire.

Three other people were also wounded.

"Among the first victims shot by the police was 17-year-old Natalie
Luzius clutching her 6-month-old son Fritznel Luzius while protecting
the child at the moment a police bullet struck her in the head and
killed her," the Haiti Information Project reported on June 17.
"According to her brother, 'Natalie fell without warning as the police
shot her.' Fritznel fell down next to the body of his dead mother and
was grabbed by her brother who took him away from the shooting. Her
brother continued: 'There was no warning and Natalie was cooking when
they killed her. She wasn't even on the street. They fired into our home
without warning and without cause.'"

A 16-year-old boy and a man in his 60s were among those gravely wounded,
but they refused to go to the hospital for fear of being attacked en
route by the police, they said.

On June 4, the police had cracked down in the same neighborhoods,
killing 25 people. A dozen homes were burned.

On June 14, thousands in the capital marched to demand the return of
exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, an end to the repression, the
release of political prisoners, and a return to constitutional
government. Demonstrators also denounced "selection elections" being
planned by de facto and occupation authorities for October and November.

Also on June 17, a protestor splashed red paint symbolizing Haitian
blood on Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew during a press
conference in Montreal to support the upcoming

U.S.-sponsored elections in Haiti.

"It is completely understandable that Canadians may be offended by the
action taken this afternoon," said paint-thrower Yves Engler of Haiti
Action Montreal in a statement written shortly before he was arrested by
Pettigrew's security detail. "I only ask them to consider whether they
are offended by the real blood that is being spilled in Haiti every day,
with the full support of Pierre Pettigrew and the Canadian government."

Meanwhile, the Brazilian general commanding the United Nations Mission
to Stabilize Haiti (MINUSTAH) made it know this week that he will not to
renew his one-year contract which expired May 30. "I wrote to my
superiors three months ago and suggested my replacement, particularly
because I think it's a fantastic experience that could be shared by
another Brazilian general," Lt.-Gen. Brazilian Lieutenant-General
Augusto Heleno Ribeiro told Reuters. "I am waiting for a decision by the
Brazilian government, with the U.N., and my successor has not been
officially communicated to me yet."



DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:
HAITIAN-DOMINICAN CHILDREN RALLY FOR THEIR RIGHTS

Over 2,000 children of Haitian ancestry rallied at an amphitheater in
Santo Domingo on June 15 to demand that Dominican authorities recognize
their nationality and bring an end to the violence and deportations
aimed at Haitians and dark-skinned Dominicans in recent weeks.

"These children are here to demand their constitutional rights, like
having a birth certificate, which they are refused by being the children
of Haitian parents, by the color of their skin or because of their last
name," said Brigitte Wooding of the Jacques Viau Network of
Dominican-Haitian Encounter, which organized the event. "Without this
document, these children cannot receive education or health services."

One after another, delegations of children and some adults, who had come
by bus from bateys (worker communities) all over the country, testified
to the abuse they have endured in the Dominican Republic. Their
persecution includes beatings, rape, arbitrary and unjustified
deportation, and being separated from their parents.

Although born and raised in the Dominican Republic, the children are not
allowed to enjoy the privileges of Dominican citizenship. "We are abused
by adults who yell at us and treat to us badly because they know that
our papas are Haitian," said 7-year-old Jose Luis in perfect Spanish. He
was born in Santiago, 100 miles north of Santo Domingo and has never
visited Haiti.

"Why do you reject to me if I am Dominican like you?" asked the poster
carried by one child. "We have a right to play," said another.

On the same day as the rally, police authorities announced that they had
arrested four Dominicans for the May 9 murder of a Dominican merchant
woman, Maritza NuZez. The crime had previously been blamed on Haitians
resulting in several lynchings and beatings of Haitians and
Haitian-ancestry Dominicans and thousands of deportations.

"It seems like a miracle, that on this very day, the death of Maritza
NuZez is clarified, so that we know that it was not Haitians who
assassinated her, although the thousands who were deported have already
paid a price for that crime," said Sonia Pierre, director of the
Movement of Dominican-Haitian Women (MUDHA).

The news was announced by Virgilio Almánzar, president of the Dominican
Human Rights Committee (CDH), who explained that "it disproves all the
offensive, degrading and cruel accusations of our famous 'nationalists,'
who try to justify all the abuses committed against Haitians, because
supposedly the murder had been committed by citizens of the neighboring
country." Almánzar said that now Dominican authorities "no longer have
any excuse to continue mistreating human beings in the name of a blessed
nationalism that does not exist, because what they are is racist and
anti-Haitian."

The four-hour event was held at "El Salón de Club San Carlos" in the
Dominican capital. The Jacques Viau Network is made up of 16 Haitian and
Dominican organizations including MUDHA, the Haitian Dominican Cultural
Center (CCDH), the Socio-Cultural Movement of Haitian Workers(MOSCTHA),
the Committee for the Defense of Haitian Immigrants (CODIHA), the
Dominican Institute for Community Aid (IDAC), and several religious
groups.



AS GOUSSE RESIGNS:
DEMAND JUSTICE FOR POLITICAL PRISONER JACQUES MATHELIER

Every Tuesday, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)
sends out an email suggesting how people can spend a "Half Hour for
Haiti." The campaign usually involves sending a letter or making a phone
call to an elected official, embassy, or U.N. occupation authority.
Below we present this week's campaign, launched on the heels of the de
facto Justice Minister's resignation. It was written by IJDH's director
Brian Concannon Jr..

A week ago today, Bernard Gousse, Haiti's Minister of Justice, resigned.
Gousse has been the strongest single force behind the persecution of
political prisoners in Haiti. He personally (and illegally)
countermanded release orders by judges and even his own prosecutors. He
personally led at least one midnight illegal arrest (for much more
information, see www.ijdh.org).

Gousse's departure is a good sign in two ways. First, it is a sign that
our advocacy is working: most media reports and commentators on the
resignation attributed it to the international pressure on Gousse,
especially in the Neptune case. Second, it is a sign of hope that
political prisoners may be released. But the hope will not automatically
transform into reality: the people who placed Gousse in his position and
supported him for a year are still there, as is the apparatus of torture
and persecution that he oversaw. So after a quick pat on our backs, we
need to get back to work.

We'll start with Jacques Mathelier, one of the easiest cases. Mathelier,
the former Delegué (the local representative of the Executive Branch) of
the South Department was arrested a year ago this Sunday (June 26), on
charges that he encouraged violence, arson and an attempted
assassination. But the Interim Government of Haiti (IGH) has produced no
evidence of Mathelier's guilt. A judge in Les Cayes noted the absence of
evidence against Mathelier, last July 12, and provided the prosecutor a
chance to respond with evidence. The IGH responded by transferring
Mathelier out of that judge's jurisdiction, to the National Penitentiary
in Port-au-Prince. He now lies in legal limbo: the IGH will neither
pursue the case against him nor allow him access to a judge.

Despite the injustices he has suffered, Mathelier demonstrated enormous
faith in the ideal of justice: he escaped with hundreds of other
prisoners during a prison break on Feb. 19, but four days later, when
the prison appeared safe, he turned himself in.

Illegalities in Jacques Mathelier's case:

1) Arrested at night, when the Constitution prohibits arrests after 6
PM;

2) Not allowed before a judge for 16 days, when the Constitution
requires a hearing to confirm all detentions within 48 hours;

3) Pre-trial investigation exceeded three month legal limit;

4) Not allowed access to a judge; and

5) No evidence in his file justifying his detention.

Other Injustices: Mathelier's house was burned down in March, 2004. His
wife was threatened by the director of National Penitentiary for
speaking out about the situation of political prisoners in Haiti. On one
occasion, Mrs. Mathelier was assaulted by police or prison guards at the
National Penitentiary.

Action: Write to Gousse's successor as Minister of Justice, urge him or
her to review the cases of all prisoners who were politically active,
and to immediately release all of them who have been detained illegally,
or against whom there is no evidence. Urge the Minister to immediately
send Jacques Mathelier before the court in Les Cayes, and to respect
that court's decision.

A sample letter is below, feel free to adapt it or to use your own
language. English will do (all Haitian Ministers of Justice over the
last decade have read English). French would be even better. Airmail
postage for a letter from the U.S. to Haiti is 80 cents.

_________________________________________

Ministre de la Justice et de la Sécurité Publique

MinistPre de la Justice

19 Avenue Charles Summer

Port-au-Prince, HaVti

Monsieur/Madame le Ministre:

Congratulations on your nomination as Minister of Justice. I am writing
to urge you to show your commitment to the rule of law in Haiti by
immediately reviewing the files of all prisoners in Haiti who have been
politically active in the past, and to ensure that all of them who are
not legally charged, with evidence in their files, are immediately
released.

I would like to draw your particular attention to the case of Jacques
Mathelier, the former Delegué of the South Department. He was arrested a
year ago, on June 26, 2004. Although the charges against him are
serious, they are not justified by any evidence presented to the court.
In fact, during a hearing on July 12, 2004, the judge in Les Cayes found
no evidence to justify Mathelier's detention. Two days later, Mathelier
was transferred to the National Penitentiary, where he remains.

Jacques Mathelier left the Penitentiary during the prison break on
February 19, 2004. But he showed his faith in the justice system by
voluntarily returning four days later. I urge you to show the same faith
in justice by ensuring that Mathelier is immediately brought before the
court in Les Cayes, and released unless there is strong evidence of his
guilt in his case file.

I thank you in advance for your consideration.

Very truly yours,

For more information about the Half Hour For Haiti program or human
rights in Haiti, see www.ijdh.org.

All articles copyrighted Haiti Progres, Inc. REPRINTS ENCOURAGED.
Please credit Haiti Progres.

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