Headlines, Human Rights, Latin America & the Caribbean

HAITI: Courts to Decide on Ex-Prime Minister’s Case, Says Gov’t

Darío Montero

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jun 4 2005 (IPS) - The courts in Haiti should reach a decision this weekend on the case of former prime minister Yvon Neptune, who has been in jail for the past year and on a hunger strike since mid-April, said his successor Gerard Latortue.

According to Prime Minister Latortue, nearly two weeks ago Neptune testified for more than seven hours before the judge handling his case and "now we are awaiting his decision, which is certain to come this weekend, and we will know whether he will be convicted or not, but the case is strictly limited to the judicial sphere."

"Neptune’s state of health has given rise to many fanciful rumours," since "one of the doctors of the military forces in the Argentine hospital (set up by that country as part of the United Nations peacekeeping operation) said over a month ago that he could die in just 24 to 48 hours," said Latortue.

In a press conference Friday with a group of Uruguayan journalists visiting Haiti this week, the interim prime minister responded with sarcasm and made no attempt to conceal his irritation when he was asked about the health and legal status of Neptune, a leader of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s Lavalas Family party.

The reporters are visiting this Caribbean island nation on the invitation of the Uruguayan military contingent, the second-largest in the U.N. Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), after the Brazilian contingent.

"You can see, then, the manipulation that has surrounded this case. Well, he has health problems, but if he does not eat he will have problems, although so far there are no worries. But at any rate, we are keeping track of his situation day-to-day," said the prime minister.

Neptune, the prime minister in the government of Aristide, who was overthrown on Feb. 29, 2004, has been held in a house that is an extension of the prison, along with five other Lavalas Family leaders, since he was discharged from the Argentine hospital.

His situation "is a very serious political problem, and there is great pressure…for him to be either released or tried," the head of the MINUSTAH military forces, Brazilian General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro, told IPS after the news briefing.

Neptune, who was arrested in June 2004, accused of instigating a massacre of Aristide opponents in February in the northern city of Saint Marc, has been held without trial or formal charges.

In early May, he refused an offer by the government of caretaker president Boniface Alexandre to release him on the condition that he go into exile in the Dominican Republic, which shares Hispaniola Island with Haiti.

The Organisation of American States (OAS), human rights officials in the U.N. peacekeeping mission, and international human rights organisations have protested the situation.

The charges against Neptune are widely believed to be politically motivated.

Latortue complained about the international pressure, and especially took aim at the Caribbean Community (Caricom), to which Haiti belongs.

Caricom immediately condemned the overthrow of Aristide, who is now living in exile in South Africa.

"Neither Caricom nor any other organisation has the right to intervene in the legal situation of any individual in Haiti. It is entirely up to the local courts to decide on this case," Latortue said in response to a question about the Caribbean bloc.

Asked about the justice system’s delay in reaching a decision on Neptune’s case, Latortue maintained that the former prime minister "himself is responsible for the delay, because he has systematically refused to appear in the judicial hearing."

"I have a list of the number of times that Neptune refused to testify," he said.

"Mr. Neptune must explain why he has been unable to do so," he added. "But I must tell you that the Haitian government has no interest in holding him in jail without bringing him before a judge, and we are only hoping that the law will be enforced. The government has not, and will not, interfere in this case."

Standing behind an elegant podium in one of the dozens of rooms in the immense ministerial palace, Latortue questioned aspects of how MINUSTAH is functioning, which he said he would discuss next week with the U.N. Security council.

The news briefing began with an incident that took the 24 Uruguayan journalists by surprise. Upon entering the room, flanked by two beefy bodyguards, Latortue detected the presence of an "intruder": journalist Ginger Thompson from The New York Times.

"You are not Uruguayan," he told her curtly. He then had her sent out of the room, and reprimanded his head of security for his "negligence".

But with that out of the way, he immediately shifted to a more cordial tone, welcoming the remaining reporters and declaring that MINUSTAH had been a highly positive instrument, although "there are problems, as with everything else in life."

"There are problems with the distribution of troops, and with the ability of soldiers to deal with situations that perhaps could be better handled by the police. There are also problems in terms of knowledge of the terrain, and coordination between MINUSTAH, the U.N. civilian police (who are part of the mission) and the much-diminished local police forces," he noted.

Latortue advocated the establishment of a unified command for the different components of the peacekeeping mission.

"Next week I will be meeting with U.N. officials and the Security Council in New York, to present Haiti’s position and discuss the changes that will need to be made after a vote is taken on the extension of the mission’s mandate," he announced.

The U.N. Security Council resolved on Tuesday to extend MINUSTAH’s mandate until Jun. 24 and discuss the possibility of a longer extension. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan believes the mission should remain in Haiti for a full additional year.

General Heleno Ribeiro supports the idea of a unified command for all MINUSTAH members, who include military troops, civilian police officers, human rights officials and electoral advisors.

Nevertheless, an Uruguayan officer who has taken part in numerous peacekeeping missions told IPS he was sceptical about this actually happening, because "the U.N. bureaucracy doesn’t accept changes easily," even if they are aimed at improving the effectiveness of operations.

"The changes we want are not aimed at stepping up repression or increasing humanitarian aid," stressed Latortue.

"We are against repression, and we also do not believe that we need soldiers to be involved in humanitarian tasks. What we need is to reorganise the distribution of MINUSTAH troops, with more forces assigned to conflict zones, like the Port-au-Prince neighbourhoods of Cité Soleil and Bel-Air," he said, suggesting that troops could be moved out of the southwest region of Haiti, where the Uruguayan contingent is currently based.

Latortue said the problems that have emerged stem from the fact that "some soldiers have experience in keeping the peace and dealing with gangs, and some do it very well, while others do not."

He also alluded to "difficulties with the environment that the U.N. soldiers come from," but despite being pressed by the journalists to be more specific, he refused to say anything further on the subject, "because these are confidential matters, for reasons of security."

Finally, like all of the other Haitian officials consulted by IPS this week, Latortue was hesitant to talk about Aristide.

When questioned about the legal status of the ousted leader, the prime minister merely commented that "accusations have been made against him, and these are being investigated, but he has not been prosecuted."

Aristide, the first democratically elected president in the history of Haiti, maintains that he was forced to resign by U.S. marines, who then placed him on a plane that took him to the Central African Republic.