25856: Wharram (news) Amnesty International Declares Father Jean-Juste a "Prisoner of Conscience" (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: bruce.wharram@sev.org


Democracy Now! http://www.democracynow.org
Amnesty International Declares Father Jean-Juste a "Prisoner of Conscience"

Thursday, July 28th, 2005
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/28/149242

Haitian Priest Gerard Jean-Juste has been declared a "prisoner of
conscience" by Amnesty International after his recent arrest and
incommunicado detention. We speak with Amnesty International about his case
and the ongoing violence in Haiti on the 90th anniversary of the U.S.
invasion of Haiti.

Today marks the 90th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Haiti. On July 28,
1915, U.S. forces invaded Haiti, launching an occupation that would last 19
years.

In an Op-Ed in the Miami Herald, Haitian-American novelist Edwidge Danticat
writes "The 1915-1934 U.S. occupation is not the only problem that Haiti has
or has ever faced in the last nine decades. Yet it is one more hurdle that
the country has had to overcome in a long and painful cycle of destruction
and reconstruction, self-governance and subjugation." Today, Haiti's first
democratically-elected leader Jean Bertrand Aristide lives in forced exile
in South Africa. He was overthrown a year and a half ago in what he calls a
"modern-day" kidnapping in the service of a coup d'etat backed by the United
States.

In the aftermath of the coup, armed gangs roam the country and UN forces
patrol the streets. In the capital of Port-au-Prince, more than 700 people
have been killed since last September. A raid by UN forces earlier this
month left as many as 23 civilians dead.

Meanwhile, Haitian Priest Gerard Jean-Juste, a leader in Aristide's Lavalas
party, was arrested last week and charged with the assassination of
journalist Jaques Roche even though he was in Miami at the time of the
murder. Father Jean-Juste is now being held incommunicado. Amnesty
International has announced it considers Father Jean-Juste a prisoner of
conscience. Amnesty is also releasing a new report today on human rights
abuses titled, "Haiti: Disarmament delayed, justice denied."

    * Eric Olson, Advocacy Director for the Americas, Amnesty International.

_

www.democracynow.orgThursday, July 28th, 2005
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/28/149242

Haitian Priest Gerard Jean-Juste has been declared a "prisoner of
conscience" by Amnesty International after his recent arrest and
incommunicado detention. We speak with Amnesty International about his case
and the ongoing violence in Haiti on the 90th anniversary of the U.S.
invasion of Haiti.

Today marks the 90th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Haiti. On July 28,
1915, U.S. forces invaded Haiti, launching an occupation that would last 19
years.

In an Op-Ed in the Miami Herald, Haitian-American novelist Edwidge Danticat
writes "The 1915-1934 U.S. occupation is not the only problem that Haiti has
or has ever faced in the last nine decades. Yet it is one more hurdle that
the country has had to overcome in a long and painful cycle of destruction
and reconstruction, self-governance and subjugation." Today, Haiti's first
democratically-elected leader Jean Bertrand Aristide lives in forced exile
in South Africa. He was overthrown a year and a half ago in what he calls a
"modern-day" kidnapping in the service of a coup d'etat backed by the United
States.

In the aftermath of the coup, armed gangs roam the country and UN forces
patrol the streets. In the capital of Port-au-Prince, more than 700 people
have been killed since last September. A raid by UN forces earlier this
month left as many as 23 civilians dead.

Meanwhile, Haitian Priest Gerard Jean-Juste, a leader in Aristide's Lavalas
party, was arrested last week and charged with the assassination of
journalist Jaques Roche even though he was in Miami at the time of the
murder. Father Jean-Juste is now being held incommunicado. Amnesty
International has announced it considers Father Jean-Juste a prisoner of
conscience. Amnesty is also releasing a new report today on human rights
abuses titled, "Haiti: Disarmament delayed, justice denied."

    * Eric Olson, Advocacy Director for the Americas, Amnesty International.

_

www.democracynow.org