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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NCHR-Haiti Does Not Speak for the National Coalition for Haitian
Rights (NCHR)
New York, March 11, 2005 – Pierre
Esperance, Director of NCHR-Haiti, released earlier today a
statement critical of the decision by UN and Haitian authorities
in Haiti to provide emergency medical treatment to former Prime
Minister Yvon Neptune whose health has steadily worsened since
he began a hunger strike 19 days ago. “Neither Mr. Esperance,
nor any member of the staff of NCHR-Haiti, speak for or on
behalf of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR), its
board or its staff,” said Jocelyn McCalla, Executive-Director of
the NY-based human rights organization. Initially
established as a field office of the NCHR in 1992, NCHR-Haiti
has functioned independently for several years, raising its own
funds and setting its own agenda and governance structure.
NCHR launched the NCHR-Haiti office in
1992, at the height of military rule, to enhance its ability to
monitor, report on and advocate for human rights in Haiti. NCHR
provided support to the victims of human rights and in 1995
launched a human rights training program to broaden the
constituency for human rights. But NCHR decided early on to make
it possible for NCHR-Haiti to grow into an independent entity,
led and staffed by Haitians trained in human rights advocacy.
NCHR did so by helping NCHR-Haiti to secure funds that
foundations and other donors then made available directly to
NCHR-Haiti. The two independent groups have cooperated in areas
of common concern and hope to continue to do so should
opportunities arise. However, positions expressed by NCHR-Haiti
do not represent the positions held by NCHR, and vice-versa. “We
hope that in the near future NCHR-Haiti will adopt a new name
that more accurately reflects its standing and mission in
Haitian society.”
“We note with regret that NCHR-Haiti has
draped itself in nationalist flags to protest the decision by UN
and Haitian authorities to place Mr. Neptune in a UN-operated
medical facility, under UN and Haitian police guard. In doing
so, NCHR-Haiti has placed itself in the dangerous position of
defending a dysfunctional Haitian judicial system which delivers
little other than injustice,” stated Mr. McCalla.
The Haitian judicial system has failed Mr.
Neptune in several ways. “First, to our knowledge, he has not
been formally charged since the investigative magistrate charged
with pursuing the matter has done little or no such
investigation since her appointment several months ago. We
learned a few weeks ago that the government had not provided the
magistrate the means or the security detail necessary to conduct
such a high-profile investigation. We learned further that the
magistrate spent at least half of her time living away from her
assigned jurisdiction of Saint-Marc. Second, on the basis of a
minor technicality, Haiti’s highest Court denied his appeal for
a change of venue from Saint-Marc to Port-au-Prince. Mr. Neptune
reportedly failed to provide the requisite fee of 200
gourdes,
or approximately US $1.20 for the Court to consider his
plea,” said McCalla, adding “The sum total of the lack of
action by Haitian government authorities on this case because of
inertia, incompetence, omission or ill will amounts to a
travesty of justice.”
The Haitian judicial system is ill-equipped
to handle highly sensitive and political cases, and it is
therefore unlikely that it can function free of political
interference, whether from government or non-governmental
parties. Last year, NCHR called on the Haitian authorities to
establish jointly with the UN a Special Tribunal to handle such
cases. Foremost among the cases over which such a tribunal would
have jurisdiction is the case of the assassination of renowned
Haitian radio broadcaster Jean Leopold Dominique. Mr. Dominique
was killed almost 5 years ago on April 3, 2000. Although
evidence gathered in investigations carried out so far pointed
to the involvement of key government and Lavalas party
officials, the case has barely moved past the investigative
stage. A Special Tribunal, composed of Haitian and international
judges of irreproachable reputation, could and should be
established promptly in Haiti to handle cases such as that of
Jean L. Dominique and Yvon Neptune. The model for such a court
already exists in Sierra Leone and it has proven that it can
function well, guaranteeing the rights of the accused as well as
those of the plaintiffs. “We renew our call for a Special
Tribunal and invite Haitian and UN authorities to establish it
by April 3, 2005, on the fifth anniversary of Mr. Dominique’s
political assassination,” said Mr. McCalla. “Meanwhile,
appropriate measures must be taken to insure that Mr. Neptune is
not subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment.
Perhaps the only way left for Haitian authorities to rise to
today’s challenge is to release him promptly.”
#### END ####
For further information, Contact:
Jocelyn McCalla, (212) 337-0005
or (862) 452-7196 or
jmccalla@nchr.org |
