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Observations from the hearing of Father Gerard Jean-Juste
by Ollie Ruth Jefferson, Attorney at Law PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI – I arrived at the Palace of Justice with Father Gerard Jean-Juste’s lead attorney, Mario Joseph, and three other observers, approximately 15 minutes prior to the hearing. The UN presence was palpable, evident by their blue helmets, with possibly 20 stationed outside the front […]
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Baseless Arrests Continue in Haiti
Brian Concannon Rev. Gérard Jean-Juste’s struggles with Haiti’s criminal justice system have been a good gauge of the system’s health for the last three years. The latest episode, last month, showed that rule of law is alive in Haiti — if not exactly kicking. “Fr. Gerry,” a Catholic priest well-known as an advocate for South […]
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Haitian Death Squad Leader’s Plea Thrown Out
DECISION TO TOSS PLEA MADE AFTER CJA SUBMITTED EVIDENCE DETAILING EMMANUEL CONSTANT’S RECORD OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES (Brooklyn, NY: May 22, 2007): Today, the judge in the mortgage fraud case of former Haitian death-squad leader Emmanuel “Toto” Constant dropped Constant’s plea bargain and ordered him to stand trial. If convicted, Constant could now face five […]
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Press Release: Former Haitian Colonel To Be Prosecuted
Trial Next Week in Miami for Torture, Extrajudicial Killings For Immediate Release Contact: Moira Feeney, Esq., mfeeney@cja.org, (415) 544-0444 x302 Pamela Merchant, Executive Director, pmerchant@cja.org,(415)544-0444 x307 Susan M. Bass, Marketing Communications Manager for Holland & Knight, LLP, susan.bass@hklaw.com, (813) 769-4326 What: The trial against former Haitian Colonel Carl Dorélien for torture and extrajudicial killing is […]
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IADL Resolution on Haiti
Adopted at the International Association of Democratic Lawyers Bureau Meeting in Cochin, India December 19 and 20, 2006 Considering the political events that transpired in Haiti in the course of the year 2003, which led to the violent death of numerous Haitian citizens, particularly among the members and supporters of the Fanmi Lavalas political party; […]
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National Lawyers Guild Calls on Haiti’s Elected Government to Release Political Prisoners Remaining From the Latortue Dictatorship
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) urges Haiti’s Constitutional Government, especially President René Préval and Minister of Justice René Magloire, to immediately release all of the political prisoners remaining from the unconstitutional regime of Prime Minister Gérard Latortue (2004-2006). Almost all of the political prisoners were arrested illegally, all have been in jail without trial longer […]
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Haitian Death Squad Leader Ordered to Pay $19 Million to Torture Survivors
Moira Feeney, Center for Justice and Accountability Emmanuel “Toto” Constant, the former leader of Haiti’s notorious death squad known as FRAPH, has been ordered to pay $19 damages to three women who survived rape, other torture, and attempted killing committed by paramilitary forces under his command. The case marks the first time that anyone has […]
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Resolution on the Misuse of U.S. Government “Democracy Promotion” Initiatives Undermining Progressive Governments and Movements in the Americas
The following resolution was approved unanimously at the National Lawyers Guild convention in Austin, TX, on October 22, 2006. Text of the Resolution Resolution on the Misuse of U.S. Government “Democracy Promotion” Initiatives to Undermine Progressive Governments and Movements in the Americas (approved unanimously on October 22, 2006) WHEREAS, the United States government, through the […]
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Legal Delegation Visits Haiti
Ravi Reddy On March 6th, four law students from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law traveled to Haiti on behalf of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti and the Pittsburgh National Lawyer’s Guild Chapter to conduct research on the independence of the judiciary in Haiti. They published a report, The Independence of […]
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Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste Has Been Released
by BRIAN CONCANNON JR. We have great news: Political prisoner Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste, “Fr. Gerry” is right now on a plane in the air from Port-au-Prince to Miami. A cancer center in Florida has agreed to treat his leukemia, so he will get immediate attention for the cancer, as well as for the pneumonia he […]
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