Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson: the American government is concerned by the the prolonged preemptive detention of former prime minister Yvon Neptune
Port-au-Prince, 11 July 2006 (AHP) The US ambassador to Haiti, Janet A. Sanderson stated on Tuesday that her government is concerned with the prolonged preemptive detention of former prime minister Yvon Neptune.
Mr. Neptune was incarcerated in June 2004 by the Gerard Latortue-led interim regime under the pretext that he was implicated in an alleged massacre in Scierie (97 kms north of the capital).
Mrs. Sanderson, who was speaking at her private residence, stated that she believed this situation is the result of Haiti's flawed judicial system.
She called on Haitians to adopt urgent measures to reform Haiti's legal system and to ensure the freedom of all prisoners who are unjustly behind bars.
Meanwhile, Jean Hector Anacasis, Hope Platform Senator in the West, called for the release of Lavalas activist Annette Auguste, better known as So Ann, as well as other women illegally incarcerated during the past several years.
The senator made these statements during a visit to a Pétion-Ville prison.
³It is unjust to keep So Ann in prison for all this time without any real charges brought against her² stated Mr. Anacasis denouncing the dishonorable and unmindful attitude of several Haitian feminist organizations who are otherwise very active in a number of other cases.
So Ann was arrested without an arrest warrant in the middle of the night in May 2004 at her private home by US soldiers.
When the marines later sought to release her due to an absence of charges, several organizations such as the NCHR/Haiti, now the RNDDH, pressed for her continued incarceration under the pretext that she was implicated indirectly in the violent incidents which occurred on December 5, 2003 at the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Jean Hector Anacacis, who recalled that the current government is a government of national unity, called for a quick decision to be made in favour of So Ann's release, as the government prosecutor has affirmed that he has filed no charges against her.
He also called for the release of former prime minister Yvon Neptune who has been in prison for more than 24 months following accusations made against him by groups opposed to his government, the RNDDH and Ramicosm.
The parliamentarian stated he feared the death of Mr. Neptune in prison under the current government who has nothing to do with his imprisonment. He urged the appropriate authorities to assume their responsibilities in this area by releasing all of the political prisoners.
Marise Narcisse, an official from the Fanmi Lavalas political organization, also called for the release of all political prisoners and for the adoption of measures allowing all political exiles to return to Haiti.
According to Mrs Narcisse, these prisoners against whom no real charges have been made, should be cleared and liberated by the Préval/Alexis government.
She also called on the authorities to work towards meeting the social needs of the popular masses whose quality of life have deteriorated significantly during the past two years despite the more than 900 million USD received by Haiti from foreign donors through the ICF (Interim Cooperation Framework).
AHP July 11, 2006 12:00 PM
To sign the letter, send an email with your name and city to info@ijdh.org. For more information on Mr. Neptune's Case, Click Here
"Open Letter to the Haitian Authorities", translated from "Lettre ouverte aux autorités haïtiennes", Le Nouvelliste, 30 June, 2006, http://www.lenouvelliste.com/article.php?PubID=1&ArticleID=31304
For 2 years, a large number of our fellow citizens have been kept in prison without charges, in flagrant violation of our constitution and of the most basic morality. It is more than time that this injustice that desecrates the Haitian justice system and is incompatible with the reconciliation that the whole nation hopes for.
The undersigned express their solidarity with the hundreds of victims, both rich and poor, recognized and anonymous, of this arbitrariness. However, the fate of Mr. Yvon Neptune calls and preoccupies them particularly, given the heavy responsibilities that he accepted to serve his country, and, even more, because his health is compromised and his life in severe danger. The nation and the whole world are witnesses that, confronted with the vindictiveness of some and a lack of courage of others, Mr. Neptune has been forced to a hunger strike, the ultimate recourse of a citizen arbitrarily denied his most fundamental rights.
We cannot assist through silence and indifference the slow death of a man whose political adversaries agree to recognize the serious, honest and sense of responsibility. If the health of Yvon Neptune was irreversibly compromised or if he had to succumb in prison, we would all bear part of the responsibility. Meanwhile, more than anything, those with authority would become guilty of such a tragedy and the disastrous consequences it would bring to our country.
We thus call on the judicial powers, particularly the judges of the Court of Appeals in Gonaives, to put an end to the lynching of Mr. Neptune. It is the members of this power who in fact condemned Mr. Neptune to more than 2 years of prison, without having even heard his case, let alone judged him. Those who crafted this situation have thrown by the wayside the sacred principle of presumed innocence, denied a citizen his liberty, his civil rights and have endangered his health and his very life.
Whatever we think about the veracity of the accusations brought against Mr. Neptune, nothing can justify the preventative detention of a citizen who has never ceased to claim and to prove his willingness to put himself before justice, even at the expense of his physical security. Still, the unjustifiable insistence on keeping Yvon Neptune in prison is an insult to justice and common sense. Meanwhile, we cannot even count the cases in which the justice system has provisionally or definitively liberated citizens against whom there were much more solid charges than those facing Yvon Neptune. He is thus a victim of an infamously discriminatory treatment. The prime responsibility for this is evidently the judicial power, and it should correct this serious denial of justice.
Meanwhile, it is worth highlighting that the constitution calls the president of the republic to see to the proper functioning of institutions and before his eyes in the case of Neptune the judicial institution has worked in an atrocious manner. When it comes to the prime minister recently confirmed by the Haitian parliament, he knows all the weight of the position assumed by Yvon Neptune in conditions we know were very difficult. The executive power, primarily the head of state and the head of government should clearly indicate their interest and their concern in the face of such a serious affair, which poisons the social and political climate.
The members of the legislature should, for their part, show their solidarity with Yvon Neptune, who, not long ago, was a Senator of the Republic and President of the National Assembly.
Finally, we urge all Haitians and friends of Haiti who are revolted by the fate inflicted upon Yvon Neptune to join the signatories of this open letter, or to loudly and strongly show their indignation before such injustice in whatever way seems most appropriate. We address this call especially to all those who have occupied the position of Prime Minister since this position was created by the Haitian Constitution.
No to vengeful judicial lynching!
May Yvon Neptune recover his liberty and be returned to the care of his family and friends!
Marie-Célie Agnant
Marie Carmel Paul Austin
Antoine Augustin
Gilbert Bazabas
Ronald Blain
Serge Calvin
Etzer Charles
Gilbert Coicou
Hervey Day
Jacqueline Delorme
Jacques Dorcéans
Patrick Elie
Jean Fleurant
Job Glorius
Frantz Grandoit
Fequière Guerrier
Edwin Innocent
Emile Jean-Baptiste
Yves Joseph
Gary Klang
Josaphat Robert Large
Jean Frantz Lasserre
Roger Lefèvre
Jean Léon Legros
Mozart Longuefosse
Richard Montas
Jean-Claude Neptune
Jean-Yves Noël
Roland Paret
Raoul Pierre-Louis
Annie Pierre-Noël
Guy Serge Pompilus
Raymonde Préval
Wisler Prophète
Dukens Raphaël
André Regis Jean-Claude Roche Carole Roy
Ronald Saint-Jean
Anthony Virginie Saint Pierre Yva Samedi
Lenous Surpris
James Thomas Stecher
Patrick Vieux
Marie-Claude Vieux
Leslie Voltaire
Georges Werleigh
Maxime Zoéma