Maxine Waters: Support Human Rights in Haiti
October 22, 2004
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Maxine Waters:
Support Human Rights in Haiti

Ask your Congressmember to sign on to this letter to Colin Powell today.

Use this link on Working Assets to get contact info for your congressional representatives

Deadline: Tuesday
October 26, Close of Business

Dear Colleague:

Please join us in sending the attached letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell expressing our deep concerns about the continuing pattern of human rights violations committed by the Interim Government of Haiti. We are especially concerned about the recent arrests of several community leaders who remain illegally detained in prison in violation of Haitian law.

On October 2, Haitian police forcibly entered Haiti's Radio Caraibes and arrested two Senators, Yvon Feuillé and Gerard Gilles, and a former deputy from the Lavalas party, Rudy Hérivaux, who criticized the Interim Government during a radio program. When a lawyer arrived at the radio station to represent these individuals, he too was arrested. All four individuals were arrested without warrants. The lawyer and Senator Gilles were released three days later, but Senator Feuillé and Deputy Hérivaux remain in prison without charges, in violation of Haitian law.

On October 13, 2004, Haitian police arrested Father Gerard Jean-Juste, the pastor of Saint Claire Church in Haiti, while he was feeding impoverished children in his church. Father Jean-Juste is a widely-respected advocate for peace and justice in Haiti and the rights of Haitian immigrants in the United States. Like Senator Feuillé and Deputy Hérivaux, Father Jean-Juste was arrested without a warrant. He remains illegally detained in prison on bogus charges.

Senator Yvon Feuillé, Deputy Rudy Hérivaux, and Father Gerard Jean-Juste join many Lavalas supporters and critics of the current government who already are in prison. Among the most prominent individuals imprisoned in Haiti today are former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, who was arrested on June 27, 2004, former Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert, who was arrested on April 6, 2004, and the well-known Haitian singer and community activist
Anne Auguste (So Anne), who was arrested on May 10, 2004. All of these individuals remain illegally detained in prison.

We hope you will join us in calling for the release of these individuals and all political prisoners and imprisoned community leaders who have not been charged, or are not being lawfully detained, under Haitian law. The letter is on the reverse.

If you would like your congressmember to sign on to the letter

Sincerely,

Maxine Waters
Jan Schakowsky
Barbara Lee
John Conyers

Letter that will be sent:

October __, 2004

The Honorable Colin Powell
Secretary of State
Department of State
2201 C Street, NW, Room 7261
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Powell:

We are writing to express our deep concerns about the continuing pattern of human rights violations committed by the Interim Government of Haiti. We are especially concerned about the recent arrests of several community leaders who remain illegally detained in prison in violation of Haitian law.

On October 2, Haitian police forcibly entered Haiti's Radio Caraibes and arrested two Senators, Yvon Feuillé and Gerard Gilles, and a former deputy from the Lavalas party, Rudy Hérivaux, who criticized the Interim Government during a radio program. When a lawyer arrived at the radio station to represent these individuals, he too was arrested. All four individuals were arrested without warrants. The lawyer and Senator Gilles were released three days later, but Senator Feuillé and Deputy Hérivaux remain in prison without charges, in violation of Haitian law.

On October 13, 2004, Haitian police arrested Father Gerard Jean-Juste, the pastor of Saint Claire Church in Haiti, while he was feeding impoverished children in his church. Father Jean-Juste is a widely-respected advocate for peace and justice in Haiti and the rights of Haitian immigrants in the United States. Like Senator Feuillé and Deputy Hérivaux, Father Jean-Juste was arrested without a warrant. He remains illegally detained in prison on bogus charges.

Senator Yvon Feuillé, Deputy Rudy Hérivaux, and Father Gerard Jean-Juste join many Lavalas supporters and critics of the current government who already are in prison. Among the most prominent individuals imprisoned in Haiti today are former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, who was arrested on June 27, 2004, former Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert, who was arrested on April 6, 2004, and the well-known Haitian singer and community activist Anne Auguste (So Anne), who was arrested on May 10, 2004. All of these individuals remain illegally detained in prison.

We urge you to call for the release of Senator Feuillé, Deputy Hérivaux, Father Jean-Juste, Prime Minister Neptune, Interior Minister Privert, Anne Auguste, and all political prisoners and imprisoned community leaders who have not been charged, or are not being lawfully detained, under Haitian law. Our government should be doing all that it can to ensure that the Interim Government of Haiti abides by the rule of law and respects the human rights of the Haitian people.

Sincerely,

Use this link on Working Assets to get contact info for your congressional representatives

Note from HaitiAction.net: our apologies to supporters who got the message requesting that all supporters would be able to sign on to this letter. In fact, many of you responded quickly from around the world! We misread the call for action and now Maxine Waters' overworked staff has many eMail messages coming in. The good news is that it shows that there's a lot of support out there. The bad news is that not enough members of Congress are standing up for the People of Haiti like Maxine Waters and most members of the Congessional Black Caucus.

If we are expected to sustain this movement, more support needs to be brought in to back up the dedicated leadership of Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee. They are at the forefront of many issues — besides Haiti — for their constituents with equal fervor. Other members of Congress have been too quiet about the ongoing political repression that is a result of U.S. foreign policy. The congressional members that should be working with these courageous leaders — such as the Progressive Caucus — need to hear from their own constituents NOW!