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April 3, 2002
Justice
for Jean Dominique--Two Years On:
A Message of Solidarity with Haitian Organizations
Working for Justice
The Committee for Justice for Duvalier, the Haiti Support
Group, Human Rights Watch, the International Legal Resources
Centre, Rights & Democracy, Trocaire, the Washington
Office on Latin America, and the World Association on
Christian Communication, express their solidarity with
the Jean Dominique Echo Foundation, as well as with
all the Haitian organizations working for justice and
an end to impunity. Two years ago today, paid assassins
executed Jean Dominique, director of Radio Haiti Inter
in Port-au-Prince and Jean-Claude Louissaint, night
watchman of the radio station, in the belief that they
could silence the voice of those who speak out for freedom
of expression and democracy.
In solidarity with the Jean Dominique Echo Foundation,
the Association of Haitian Journalists, and the Platform
of Haitian Human Rights Organizations, we renew our
call for justice in this case. Justice for Jean Dominique
means hope for all Haitians who live with the constant
threat of violence and insecurity, a hope for respect
for human rights and an end to impunity.
We urge the Haitian government to respond to the demands
already articulated by the above named Haitian organizations:
· We applaud the work already carried out by the investigating
Judge Claudy Gassant, despite the difficult conditions
in which he has had to work. We call on President Aristide
to reconsider his decision not to renew Judge Gassant's
mandate in this case, a move that would send a clear
political signal of his resolve to achieve justice for
Jean Dominique.
· We call again for Senator Dany Toussaint to be stripped
of his parliamentary immunity. His voluntary appearance
in court in February is not enough to ensure that the
investigation currently underway will reveal the whole
truth about the murder of Jean Dominique.
· We welcome the arrest of the so-called popular leader
Ronald Camille, known as "Ronald Kadav [sic Cadaver]
", on the grounds of a warrant issued for his arrest
several months ago. Nonetheless, we reiterate the call
of Haitian human rights organizations who are calling
for the implementation of warrants against the security
guards of Senator Dany Toussaint, Richard 'Chacha' Salomon
and Frank Joseph. These individuals are not above the
law, and the judicial system's failure to carry out
warrants against them only adds to the prevailing climate
of impunity in the country.
· In order to put an end to the state of impunity in
the country, the government should initiate a disarmament
campaign. According to information gathered by Haitian
human rights organizations, the elected officials of
the Lavalas Family and representatives of "popular organizations"
close to that party are often implicated in the most
flagrant violation of Haitian laws on possession of
firearms. We reiterate the demands of our Haitian colleagues
who have urged that the disarmament campaign should
begin with these elected officials and organizations.
· We also restate the call of the Haitian organizations
for an inquiry into the crowd killing on 9 November
2001 of Panel Rénélus, a suspect in the
Jean Dominique case, dragged out of the police station
in Léogâne and lynched by a mob. The inquiry
into this incident initiated by Judge Gassant must be
relaunched and those responsible must face justice,
including the police officers who neglected to protect
the victim.
· We denounce again the calls made last June by the
Head of State for "Zero Tolerance"; such calls have
only diminished the rule of law and bred a climate of
fear. Using the Haitian organizations' slogan "Zero
tolerance against intolerance", we urge that freedom
of expression and association should be respected, particularly
during this period when Haitians will be mobilizing
to demand justice in the case of the assassination of
Jean Dominique.
We declare once again our solidarity with the Jean
Dominique Echo Foundation, the Platform of Haitian human
rights organizations and the Association of Haitian
Journalists as well as with all the other organizations
struggling for justice in this case. We call on the
government to guarantee security and the physical integrity
of these brave workers who are working for full respect
for the human rights of all Haitians.
Signed by:
Comité pour juger Duvalier - Paris Haiti Support
Group - London Human Rights Watch - New York International
Centre for Legal Resources - Montreal Rights & Democracy
(International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic
Development) - Montreal Trocaire (The Irish Catholic
Agency for World Development) - Dublin Washington Office
on Latin America - Washington D.C. World Association
for Christian Communication (WACC) - London
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Haiti@inxil.com
· James
R. Morrell, executive director