Former Haitian Prime Minister Released (Neptune)

[struggle4progress]

By MYRNA DOMIT
The Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti —

Former Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune was released from jail Thursday, more than two years after his arrest on charges of orchestrating the killing of political opponents at the start of a rebellion that engulfed the country.

Haitian officials signed documents approving Neptune's release before he was taken to a U.N. hospital for treatment and observation, said Jacques Dyotte, prison reform director for the United Nations Development Program in Haiti.

A lawyer for Neptune said he was released for humanitarian reasons because of failing health.

A small crowd gathered at the prison to watch as two U.N. peacekeepers carried Neptune, wearing gray shorts, sandals and a short-sleeved blue shirt, into an ambulance ...

http://www.niagara-gazette.com/feeds/apcontent/apstories/apstorysection/D8J4KHT80.xml.txt/resources_apstoryview


March 16, 2005
Yvon Neptune and Haiti's Political Prisoners: Jailed Without Charges
By DAVID R. KOLKER

... On March 9, Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Tom Harkin (D-IO), James Jeffords (I-VT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) sent a letter to interim Prime Minister Latortue, in which they wrote, "If no charges have been brought against Mr. Neptune, we demand that he be immediately released." That same day, a UN Security Council press statement on Haiti was issued, emphasizing Neptune's imprisonment and calling on the government to "expedite all pending cases and to ensure due process for all citizens." The senators' letter and the Security Council statement follow on the heels of Representative Maxine Waters' (D-CA) March 7 trip to Haiti, during which she met with Neptune and fellow inmates Jocelerme Privert, Aristide's former minister of the interior, and Jacques Mathelier, a former executive delegate. Unhesitatingly calling the men political prisoners, she issued a press release demanding that, "The interim government's repression of dissenters like Prime Minister Neptune must end immediately. The whole world is watching." Arrested June 27, 2004, Neptune, along with Privert, is accused, but not yet charged, with killings that occurred in Saint Marc during the 2004 revolt against Aristide. Most independent observers have concluded that the accusations are without foundation ... http://www.counterpunch.org/kolker03162005.html


Interview with Prime Minister Yvon Neptune

... Kevin Pina of KPFA Flashpoints and Black Commentator, and Andrea Nicastro of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, interviewed Prime Minister Yvon Neptune in his office at 9:00 a.m. EST today, Tuesday, March 2, 2004.

The following are relevant quotes from the interview:

1. "Even though I am the legal Prime Minister I am a prisoner in my office. That's a fact."

2. "The President called me a few hours before he was taken out of the country and told me, 'Where I am now, I am like a prisoner'"

3. "Whoever has allowed those armed bandits in the opposition to get into Haiti and to sow violence and death, they should be in the position to control them." Asked whether he was referring to the Bush administration the Prime Minister answered: "Statements were made asking the Haitian government to meet certain requirements so that the armed gangs would not be allowed to come into the capital. That statement was made. They wanted us to quiet the demonstrators asking for President Aristide to finish his term. They wanted us to force them to stand down and stop demanding new elections. They wanted that vast majority to remain quiet. They wanted us to tell them to sit down quietly and allow the coup machine to crush them." ...

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/kp3_2_4.html