With opposition to the coup government continuing into the
middle of its second year in power, state and United Nations
violence against the Haitian poor majority has escalated.
Less than two weeks after a UN-led operation that
killed many unarmed non-combatants, and which the government
said killed a major leader of alleged pro-Aristide violence,
violence and deaths continue at a level elevated even
compared to the past 17 months of post-coup terror.
The present government came to power after a 2004
February 29 coup d'etat promoted by, and ultimately carried
out by, the U.S., France, and Canada. This government
has finally scheduled elections for various local and
national positions in the months of October and November,
but the majority of Haitians appear likely to be too
terrorized to participate. Indeed, some people
following the situation closely, such as Glen Ford of the
Black Commentator, consider the present increased violence
an attempt to crush even a protest of the elections.
Most Haitians see elections run by this government as
illegitimate and few are expected to participate.
Yesterday, the Haitian National Police took into custody
one of the only well-known people even considering running
for election on behalf of the Fanmi Lavalas party of
President Aristide, who in exile still has far broader
support than any political figure in Haiti.
Popular Pro-Aristide Priest Arrested, Again
As reported in a Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network (HLLN)
e-mail alert last night, and confirmed by the Guardian
today, police sent popular priest Gerard Jean-Juste to
the Central Prison and told him he would be charged in
connection with the death of Jacques Roche. For both
HLLN and the newspaper the primary source was Bill Quigley,
a U.S. citizen representing the priest now as a defense
attorney.
Quigley, in a later e-mail message passed on by
Marguerite Laurent of the HLLN and posted
at Voices in the Wilderness, described the questioning
of Jean-Juste as follows:
He had a quick hearing with a justice of the peace, who
refused to wait until Mario Joseph, his Haitian lawyer
could be present. No written charges were shared -
again questions were like, what party do you belong to?
can you explain your presence at the funeral of
Jacques Roche? Do you know why the bandits killed
him? Do you visit the poor neighborhood of Bel-Air
frequently?
Roche, a social and culture editor at a major newspaper
who also had a television show, was kidnapped and held for
$250,000 ransom. HLLN alleges that family members and
work colleagues were only able to raise about $10,000, and
Roche's family had expected members of the wealthy,
coup-supporting Group 184 to contribute to the ransom
because Roche worked for them. Instead, Roche's
captors murdered him, and dumped his body on the streets of
Port-au-Prince on July 14, when the ransom was not paid.
At the time, Jean-Juste was still in the United
States. He had helped lead, on July 13, a protest at
the Brazilian consulate in Miami against the July
6 Cite Soleil killings by United Nations forces in
Haiti, which are led by Brazil.
Despite the jailing of Jean-Juste, the Guardian
reported that "chief government prosecutor Audain
Daniel said a decision had not yet been made on whether to
charge Jean-Juste, an outspoken critic of Haiti's interim
government."
This is the fourth time agents of the coup government
jailed the priest, most recently after he was
attacked at Roche's funeral, in the presence of police, by
anti-Aristide attendees who accused him of participating in
the murder.
Jean-Juste's longest arrest took place last year. As Reuters
reported in a recent article, "Jean-Juste was taken
from his church last October while he was feeding street
children and was jailed for nearly seven weeks. His
imprisonment rallied to his side human rights groups,
including Amnesty International".
