Haiti's Cops on Rampage

On Friday, September 9, US filmmaker Kevin Pina and Haitian journalist Jean Restil Jean-Baptiste were arrested by Haitian National Police (HNP). At the time, they were attempting to observe a police search of the residence of Father Gerard Jean-Juste, an Amnesty International-designated prisoner of conscience. Activists hope their arrest will attract more attention to the dire situation of political prisoners in Haiti.

Pina and Ristil were being held in a small cell with 6 other men. In the brief time I was allowed to speak to him, Pina explained that he and Ristil were covering the search of Jean-Juste's property because of concern that weapons might be planted if no reporters were present.

Both Pina and Ristil have previously faced harassment at the hands of Haitian police.

After international pressure made the unlawful incarceration high-profile, the two men were released on Monday, September 12 with no charges.

Unfortunately, there are still more than 1,000 other political prisoners behind bars that have been incarcerated since the February 29, 2004 U.S.-backed coup which ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his government.

Their imprisonment has been facilitated by a demonization of ousted President Aristide's Lavalas Party waged by Haiti¹s elite-owned right-wing media.

Lavalas has maintained consistent demands regarding Haitian elections that the U.S., Canada and France have arranged for November and December. The party continues to argue that elections cannot be free and fair unless extra-judicial executions, rapes, and other repression of Lavalas supporters ends, political prisoners are freed, and President Aristide and other exiles are allowed to return to Haiti to help restore constitutional democracy.

Many poor Haitians were hoping Jean-Juste would be named as a presidential candidate, but electoral authorities blocked attempts to register the priest.

Mario Joseph, Jean-Juste's Port-au-Prince based lawyer, told me, "The Father has the trust and love of the people for all he has done for them, which is why the government wants to stop him and he is in jail. The U.S. embassy and UN don't want to use him as a peacemaker, because that would make him politically stronger and a threat to elite interests."

Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, another high profile prisoner the coup regime is refusing to release despite sustained international pressure, is confined in a separate wing of the facility Jean-Juste has been moved to. Jean-Juste has not been allowed to visit Neptune, but briefly saw him and said his health was "bad". Jean-Juste himself is in need of blood and other tests, which he has not yet received. When I asked how if he felt confident of his security in the current facility, he answered "no".

The priest expressed appreciation for international solidarity, and asked that it be continued as much as possible. To disheartened fellow Haitians, he said, "Don't cry too much, there's work to do. Let's do it."