Haiti Justice Blog

October 1, 2008

Update: Thanks to everyone who responded so generously to organizations featured in last week’s alert on hurricane response. We’ve heard reports of tens of thousands of dollars in contributions to those organizations from the Half Hour for Haiti Community. Thanks as well to everyone who has responded to the Raboteau Massacre Victims’ Challenge, which ends today. It looks like we will raise over $36,000, which is 83% of the victims’ goal of $43,000. We’ll be sure to put that money to good work fighting for justice for Haiti’s poor.

With the U.S. elections just six weeks away, and the Presidential candidates vying over the "change" mantle, this is a good time to discuss how U.S. policy towards Haiti can be improved under a new Administration and Congress. To encourage that discussion, we'll post a series of analyses on the HaitiJustice blog, starting with an article from today's Indianapolis Star, Changes in U.S. policies would calm Haiti's storm.

We hope this series helps generate ideas and consensus on how the U.S. can help Haiti develop into a country in which the full spectrum of human rights- economic, social, cultural, civil and and political- are respected. Please join in the conversation, by commenting on the posted articles or adding your own suggestions. If you have a longer piece you would like to submit as a stand-alone article, email it to brian@ijdh.org.

Thanks, Brian

*As a 501(c)(3) charity, IJDH cannot endorse any candidate. This does not prevent balanced discussions of candidates' policies, nor does it limit blog comments.

Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org (202) 347-0020 *
___________________________________________________
        Thursday, September 11, 2008
        
Interviews Available 

MATT MAREKRomerilW@usa.redcross.org
   Available for a limited number of interviews, Marek is head of programs for the American Red Cross in Haiti. He is in rural Haiti, where he is traveling in  isolated communities to facilitate aid deliveries., via Winnie Romeril, (202) 316-4399,

PAUL FARMERamarx@pih.org, http://pih.org
   Available for a limited number of interviews, Farmer is just back from Haiti. He is author of "The Uses of Haiti," professor of medical anthropology at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Partners in Health. Farmer said: "I have never seen anything so painful" as what he has just seen in Haiti. For a recent interview, see:  Democracy Now! website., via Andrew Marx, (617) 432-1976, cell: (617) 515-5385,

BRIAN CONCANNON,brian@ijdh.org, http://www.ijdh.org
   (541) 432-0597, cell: (541) 263 0029, Director of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti,

September 9, 2008

Update: Haiti has had an almost unfathomable string of bad news lately, with 4 tropical storms or hurricanes in the last three weeks: Fay, then Gustave, then Hannah then Ike. Estimates of the deaths caused by the storm have surpassed 1,000, and will continue to climb. More people will be killed in the coming months- from food shortages caused by the storms’ destruction of farms, from difficulty accessing healthcare because of destroyed roads, and from the general aggravation of poverty. At the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) and the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), we are not hurricane response experts, so we’ve included information below from organizations that are qualified to respond.

But it is important for all of us to remember that these storms are only part natural disaster. It is not natural that Haiti suffers more fatalities than the rest of the Caribbean combined whenever a storm hits it (see Another Unnatural Disaster, October 2004). The lethal combination of poverty, weak governance and foreign interference leaves Haiti without the ability to enforce laws on cutting down trees, install adequate drainage systems or effectively execute disaster planning and response. So although it is important to respond to the current catastrophe, it is even more important to work to implement the structures necessary to prevent the next catastrophe. These structures include elected legislative and executive branches that are responsible to the voters, not just the international community or people who live in hurricane-proof housing. They include a justice system that can enforce the laws fairly and effectively, and international aid and trade policies designed to help Haiti’s poor, not the world’s rich and powerful.

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact outside Haiti: Brian Concannon, Esq., Institute for Justice &  Democracy in Haiti 541-432-0597, 541-263-0029 (U.S.), brian@ijdh.org

Contact in Haiti: Mario Joseph, Esq., Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, + 509 3701-9879, mariohaiti@aol.com

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 10, 2008—The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) sharply criticized Haiti’s current and former governments for their treatment of former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune in its first-ever case involving Haiti. It found Haiti responsible for violating 11 different provisions of the American Convention on Human Rights and ordered the government to pay Mr. Neptune $95,000 in damages and costs.

The Inter-American Court’s 60-page judgment, made public June 6, denounced nearly every aspect of the State’s treatment of Mr. Neptune. It found that the Interim Government of Haiti (2004-2006) illegally imprisoned the former Prime Minister in inhumane conditions for two years. The Court found that Haiti’s current constitutional government continues to violate Mr. Neptune’s human rights by inexplicably failing to serve an April, 2007 appeals court decision that would help end Mr. Neptune’s legal struggles. By refusing to serve the order, the Court said Haiti is keeping Mr. Neptune in a state of “absolute judicial insecurity†and perpetuating “an unjustifiable delay in access to justice.â€

INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS DECISION

REGARDING FORMER PRIME MINISTER YVON NEPTUNE’S

“JUDICIAL INSECURITY†IN HAITI

Decision gives Haiti deadline to bring its inhumane prisons

up to international human rights standards

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“IACHRâ€), an autonomous judicial  institution of the Organization of American States, recently ruled that the State of Haiti violated 11 different provisions of the American Convention on Human Rights by illegally imprisoning former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune for two years and allowing the case to drag on in the courts for almost two more. The IACHR ordered Haiti to end what it calls Mr. Neptune’s continuing “judicial insecurity†and to pay him $95,000 in damages and costs. The Court also ordered Haiti to start bringing its inhumane prisons in line with minimum international standards within two years.

“From the beginning, the State failed its obligation to protect Mr. Neptune’s right to be heard by a court competent to hear the charges against him…as well as to an effective recourse,†the IACHR said in a 60-page judgment issued publicly on June 6. The Court denounced the State’s continued failure to bring Mr. Neptune before a qualified judge, thereby leaving him in a situation of “absolute legal uncertainty.†

July 2, 2008

We have some good news: Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste can finally declare independence from the Haitian criminal justice system: last month the Appeals Court of Port-au-Prince dismissed the remaining charges against him. Fr. Gerry endured a true legal Odyssey: the case against him lasted for 3 years and 8 months. He spent almost 8 months in prison, was arrested four times, appeared at numerous hearings, and he contracted, and received successful treatment for leukemia. All this time no evidence of criminal activity was ever presented against Fr. Gerry, not a single witness came forward against him.