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Joint Action/Statement: Amidst calls for Duvalier’s prosecution, lawyer blasts Canada’s role in “impunity” in HaitiCMAQ via Mic, Vendredi, Janvier 21, 2011 - 21:17 MONTREAL, JANUARY 21--Days after former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier returned to Haiti, a leading Haitian human rights lawyer blasted the Canadian government’s role in what he criticized as a climate of “impunity” in Haiti. In a Montreal press conference on January 21, Mario Joseph—who the New York Times has referred to as “Haiti’s most prominent human rights lawyer”—spoke about the legal case for the prosecution of Jean-Claude Duvalier for crimes against humanity. Also : Joint Action/Statement on prosecuting Jean-Claude Duvalier Joseph is the manager of the Port-au-Prince-based Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), which, along with the Institute for Justice and Democracy In Haiti, has compiled extensive evidence of Duvalier’s abuses--available at http://ijdh.org/ In 2000, Joseph spearheaded the prosecution of Haiti’s Raboteau Massacre trial, which was one of the most significant human rights cases anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. And at today’s press conference, he announced that the BAI is ready to accept testimony from victims of Duvalier’s regime—including those living in Quebec and Canada—who he urged to come forward as witnesses to Duvalier's abuses. Joseph stated that he wants to see a “rupture from impunity” in Haiti. Part of the underlying problem, according to Joseph, has been the role of the international community, including the Canadian government, which has been heavily involved in recent years in Haiti’s justice system. He criticized Canada and other governments for helping bring about the current political crisis in Haiti, by backing an election before Haiti’s electoral list had been revised to account for the deaths of more than two thousand people following the January 12, 2010 earthquake. In the context of President Rene Preval’s hand-selected electoral council’s decision to bar twelve political parties from participation in the election, and the cholera epidemic, Joseph and many other human rights advocates had called for the November 28, 2010 Haitian elections to be put off. “Canada understands democratic values, but why would it support a government that does not respect the constitution?” he stated. He also cited Canada, the U.S., and France’s role in a 2004 coup d’etat against a democratically elected Haitian government that had made some progress in prosecutions of human rights offenders as a contributing factor in the present climate of impunity in Haiti. Fifty human rights groups from around the world yesterday joined BAI’s calls for justice for Duvalier’s victims, issuing a joint statement urging the Haitian government to investigate and prosecute “Baby Doc” (pasted below, and also available at: http://www.madre.org/index/press-room-4/news/coalition-of-organizations-... ) The press conference was organized by the Montreal-Haiti Solidarity Committee, a group founded after the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti to build solidarity with the Haitian grassroots organizations who are pushing for more inclusive, accountable and democratic recovery efforts. Joint Action/Statement on prosecuting Jean-Claude DuvalierJanuary 20, 2011 As organizations concerned with human rights in Haiti, we call on the Government of Haiti to immediately take steps to investigate and prosecute Jean-Claude Duvalier for human rights violations committed during his 1971-86 rule of Haiti. Scores of human rights investigations, legal cases, victim testimonies, and in-depth reports provide ample evidence to commence formal proceedings against Jean-Claude Duvalier. While the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute Duvalier rests squarely with the Government of Haiti, we call on the international community to provide all needed assistance to enable Haiti to fully and promptly investigate and prosecute him. Given the fragile state of Haiti’s infrastructure following the January 12, 2010 earthquake and the current cholera and electoral crises, significant international assistance may be needed. During Jean-Claude Duvalier’s regime, systematic killings, “disappearances,” torture, and other ill-treatment were widespread. These crimes were often carried out by the infamous paramilitary force known as the Tontons Macoutes (or officially as the Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale), as well as special units of the armed forces of Haiti and local authorities empowered with brutal force. The crimes left many thousands dead, wounded, or in exile and amounted to crimes against humanity. Under international law, Haiti is obligated to investigate and prosecute such acts, which are not subject to otherwise relevant statutes of limitation. Jean-Claude Duvalier’s arrival in Port-au-Prince on January 16 provides the Government of Haiti an unprecedented opportunity to right the wrongs of the past through the rule of law. By thoroughly investigating and effectively prosecuting these crimes, the Government of Haiti would finally end the impunity that Duvalier has enjoyed since he fled into exile in France in 1986. It would also provide well-deserved hope to those who have waited decades for their persecutors to be brought to justice. And–at a crucial moment in the country’s political process—it will demonstrate that while the constitution may be paper, it can be mightier than the bayonet.
Signatories’ List Partners in Health Center for Constitutional Rights Allan K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, Yale Law School Human Rights Clinic University of Miami School of Law Asociación Nacional de Centros (ANC) International Human Rights Law Clinic and Human Rights Program, University of Virginia School of Law Human Rights Litigation and International Advocacy Clinic, University of Minnesota Law School International Action Ties Friends of the Earth – Amigos de la Tierra Comisión de Derechos Humanos (COMISEDH) Immigration Clinic, William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada Leitner Center for International Law and Justice, Fordham Las School Other Worlds Lamp for Haiti Foundation Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, University of Cincinnati College of Law Refugio del Rio Grande, Inc. Immigrant Rights Project, University of Tulsa College of Law Immigration Law Clinic, University of California Davis School of Law Red Mexicana de Acción frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC) Alianza Mexicana por la Autodeterminación de los Pueblos (AMAP) Center for Justice& Accountability UnityAyiti Canada Haiti Action Network/Reseau de solidarite Canada-Haiti Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, University of California Hastings College of the Law Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti Haitian National Coalition for the Environment (KNAA) Haiti Dream Keeper Archives Center for Social Justice, Seton Hall University School of Law Beyond Borders Bri Kouri Nouvèl Gaye Let Haiti Live Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Haiti Physicians for Haiti International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) MADRE United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) Instituto Peruano de Educacion en Derechos Humas y la Paz (IPDEDEHP) St. Boniface Haiti Foundation Montreal-Haiti Solidarity Committee School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch) UCF Haitian Sutdies Project All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (GC) Paloma Institute Global Exchange Green Cities Fund, Inc. Institute of Redress & Recovery at Santa Clara University Alliance for Global Justice Central American Legal Assistance Nicaragua Center for Community Action (NICCA) St Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America The National Lawyers Guild Internaitonal committee Konpay National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association Kentucky Interfaith Taskforce on Latin America and the Caribbean (KITLAC) Essex Transitional Justice Network, University of Essex National Lawyers Guild Task Force on the Americas American Association of Jurists (AAJ)
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