1/14/2004: Haitian military officer linked to human rights violations arrested in Florida

Maj. Gen. Jean-Claude Duperval has been connected to the April 1994 massacre in the Haitian beach-front community of Raboteau.

In the raid, soldiers and paramilitary personnel burst into dozens of homes, beating and arresting people. Those who fled to the sea were shot. No one knows how many people were killed because soldiers prevented the victims' families from retrieving bodies.

Duperval entered the United States in 1995 as a visitor, lived in Orlando and worked for Walt Disney World's watercraft department until 2002.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said Wednesday that Duperval has exhausted all legal avenues for relief and will be removed from the country.

Formerly second-in-command in Haiti, Duperval was one of the leaders of the 1991 coup that overthrew Haitian President Jean Bertrand-Aristide. When Aristide returned to power in 1994, Duperval briefly served as interim army commander until he was replaced and transferred to a diplomatic post in Brazil.

Duperval is the fifth person arrested by immigration agents in Florida with links to the Raboteau massacre. Three others have been removed from the United States. Immigration officials said the fourth is being detained and will be removed.

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