Originally: Human Rights Advocates Threatened
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: DINA PAUL PARKS, dpparks@nchr.org – 212 337 0005
HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES THREATENED; COALITION OF HAITIAN AND INTERNATIONAL
GROUPS APPEAL TO PRESIDENT ARISTIDE
New York, February 19, 2003 – This week, a group of Haitian and
international human rights groups, including the National Coalition for
Law Group, the Washington Office on Latin America, and the Haiti Democracy
Project sent a letter to Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide urging him
to investigate death threats made against some of Haiti’s most prominent
human rights defenders. The threats were made in response to these
advocates following up on reports of growing incidents of human rights
abuses.
Initial threats taking the form of anonymous phone calls have specifically
targeted NCHR staff member Marie Yolène Gilles and the safety of her family.
Ms Gilles has taken the lead in investigating the assassination of the three
sons of Viola Robert in Carrefour in December 2002. The callers have also
threatened to burn down Ms. Gilles’s home if she does not stop the
investigation.
In addition to the threats against Gilles, Pierre Espérance, NCHR’s director
in Haiti has also been threatened by Phénix Valcerin, leader of a so-called
popular organization (OP) from Petit Goâve over radio and television.
The threats came in response to NCHR’s investigation into the killing of
Mickey Fleurilus – another OP member. The threats were made in anticipation
of a report that NCHR will be publishing on the incident, presumably because
it points to an internal conflict among Lavalas supporters.
Valcerin also demanded that the Minister of Justice revoke NCHR’s license to
work as a human rights organization in Haiti, insinuating that NCHR was
working for the opposition and that NCHR retract any statements not in favor
of the government.
NCHR is concerned that this new wave of threats comes at a time of
increasing instability. At present, the freedoms of expression and
association are at a high risk, and many other sectors of society —
including members of the press, members of the judiciary, students from the
state university, and the medical staff of the general hospital — continue
to be subject to unchecked threats, acts of violence, and repression.
In addition to the threats to NCHR and the assassinations cited above, the
letter to President Aristide insisted that the Haitian government take
immediate action on a number of other incidents, including:
· the attack against Michele Montas, widow of journalist and political
commentator Jean Dominique, on the evening of December 25, 2002, in which
her bodyguard was shot to death;
· the confiscation of the passport of investigating judge Marcel Jean
(judge responsible for the case of Amiot Métayer, a fugitive from justice
living in the open in Gonaïves since the jail break that freed him and over
150 other prisoners in August 2002) preventing him from leaving Haiti on a
private trip;
· the killings of university student Eric Pierre by men who reportedly
fled the crime scene in a Teleco vehicle with an official license plate and
of Romuald Cadet, brother of one of the 7 students in hiding for more than
three months in January and February of this year, and
· the January attack on demonstrators from the general hospital by
Lavalas OP members followed by demands for medical treatment at gunpoint and
continued harassment.
NCHR has received such threats in the past, some of which were followed by
violent action, making these recent attempts at intimidation all the more
ominous. On March 8, 1999, Pierre Espérance was shot at in front of the
NCHR office, after receiving similar threats. His vehicle was riddled with
bullets and he was shot in the shoulder and knee. To date, there has been
no progress in the investigation of that assassination attempt.
In the letter to President Aristide, the groups strongly urged the
Government of Haiti to give priority to the prompt investigation of threats
received by NCHR staff and that security be provided to their staff and
offices, in particular Espérance and Gilles. NCHR and other human rights
organizations both in Haiti and the United States believe that the
perpetrators of these threats should be brought swiftly to justice
regardless of their ideological affiliation. In addition, steps must be
taken to ensure the safety of NCHR staff and other human rights defenders,
as well as all others who exercise their constitutional rights to freedom of
expression and association.
The groups clearly state that such measures, necessary to the strengthening
of the rule of law in Haiti, would send a message that Haitians deserve to
begin to enjoying the rights to opinion and expression, particularly the
right to criticize government policy and to publicly express their dissent
without fear of reprisal.