Haitian priest released after international outcry

Catholic New Times, Jan 16, 2005

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- On Nov. 29, 2004, Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, the pastor of Sainte Claire Catholic Church in Delmas, Haiti, was released. after almost seven weeks of detention.

His release follows a campaign of international support by prominent religious figures, lawyers, grassroots groups and human rights advocates in Haiti and throughout the world. The release shows that collective action for justice can succeed, and offers hope for Haiti's other 700 political prisoners.

Fr. Jean-Juste is a prominent activist for peace, justice and the rights of immigrants in Haiti and the U.S. He was arrested without a warrant by masked Haitian police on October 13, 2004, while he was feeding the hungry children of his parish. Gerard Latortue, Haiti's interim Prime Minister, claimed that there was a warrant, but no warrant was ever produced, nor was any evidence linking Fr. Jean-Juste to any crime. Prosecutors alleged he was connected to two murders, but did not produce the victims' names or any details of their deaths. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice alleged that Fr. Jean-Juste was involved in financing anti-government violence, but never produced a single witness or shred of evidence to support the allegations.

The international outcry over Fr. Jean-Juste's illegal detention forced Haiti's interim government to bring him before a judge on November 12. The judge found nothing in the file, and very quickly ordered that the case be dismissed and Fr. Jean-Juste be released. The interim government finally honored that order. On the way from the Omega prison .to the Port-au-Prince Archbishop's residence, Fr. Jean-Juste thanked everyone for all the solidarity, support and advocacy he received during his imprisonment.

Credit for obtaining the release order goes to Fr. Jean-Juste's legal team, Haitian lawyer Mario Joseph of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) and William Quigley, Professor of Law at Loyola University in New Orleans. Both worked long hours under difficult and dangerous conditions to uphold the rule of law.

But legal skill alone was not enough to free Fr. Jean-Juste, or any of the more than 700 political prisoners who remain in Haiti's jails (according to the Catholic Church's Justice and Peace Commission), almost all with no more in their files than Fr. Jean-Juste had. The interim government systematically denies political prisoners access to the courts, and ignores liberation orders for those who. manage to appear before judges--former Delegate Jacques Mathelier (July 12) and grassroots activist Jean-Marie Samedi (November 22), remain in jail despite valid release orders.

The difference in Ft. Jean-Juste's case was the massive international mobilization for justice by dozens of organizations and hundreds of individuals who issued statements, made phone calls, sent faxes and wrote letters to Haitian, U.S. and U.N. officials. They included Rep. Maxine Waters and 30 other members of the U.S. Congress, Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot of Port-au-Prince, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, Pax Christi USA, the Haiti Action Committee, Human Rights First, Amnesty International, the What If? Foundation, the Haitian Lawyers' Leadership Network, the Catholic Worker, the International Committee to Free Father Jean-Juste, the Let Haiti Live Coalition, Foundation 30 Septembre, Veye Yo, the Inter-Hemispheric Resources Center and the Haiti Information Project.