[Ppnews] Demand the immediate release of Mr. Yvon Neptune and all political prisoners!

[Political Prisoner News]

Despite elections held under foreign occupation,
Haiti’s poor majority ­ against enormous odds ­showed
their determination to return Haiti to sovereign and
Democratic rule by electing Mr. Rene Preval as their
President. This powerful grassroots mobilization
ushered in a new stage in Haiti’s fight for democracy.
Now is the time to step up our efforts to guarantee
freedom for all of Haiti’s political prisoners.

In February 2004, a coup d’etat orchestrated by the
US, France and Canada overthrew President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s democratically elected
government and his agenda of social justice and
economic progress for Haiti’s majority. Since then,
these forces, joined by other UN occupation forces
(known by their acronym, MINUSTAH) alongside the
US-imposed interim government (IGH) have presided over
the country, while thousands of grassroots community
activists have been murdered or disappeared, and many
others tortured, jailed or driven into exile.

Human rights agencies report that over 1800 Haitian
prisoners have never been convicted of a crime. Only
4% of prisoners have been sentenced. Among those
jailed for nearly two years are key members of
President Aristide’s government, grassroots activists,
trade unionists, members of the Lavalas movement, and
Haitian citizens from poor neighborhoods. Some were
arrested by US troops, others by UN forces, still
others by the UN-trained Haitian National Police, at
times under the direct command of MINUSTAH. Some may
not survive their harsh prison conditions. Their
release has become the outspoken demand of Haiti’s
popular movement, and of progressive forces around the
world.

With this weekly bulletin, the Haiti Action Committee
continues our campaign to demand the immediate release
of the political prisoners. Each week we will explain
the story of a different prisoner and provide an
action to take on their behalf.

Prime Minister Yvon Neptune

Mr. Yvon Neptune -- Haiti's most recent constitutional
Prime Minister, member of the Fanmi Lavalas movement,
and political prisoner -- has been in prison without
trial since June 2004. During that time, he survived
two reported assassination attempts, a December 2004
massacre by guards and police in a nearby cellblock,
and a February 2004 prison break in which he was
removed from the prison at gunpoint.

Mr. Neptune undertook his first hunger strike, which
he ended in March 2005 after three weeks, to insist
the interim government of Haiti (IGH) either bring his
case to trial or release him.  US Congresswoman Maxine
Waters visited Mr. Neptune in his prison cell shortly
afterwards and brought back news of Mr. Neptune’s dire
medical condition and his determined demand for
justice. Currently, he maintains his fast, consuming
only liquids.

The IGH keeps Neptune in jail for a case it declines
to pursue and cannot prove. It continues his
imprisonment despite a worldwide mobilization for his
release. Human rights groups, the CARICOM countries,
religious leaders, 25 US Congresspersons and ordinary
citizens throughout the world have called on the IGH
to send Mr. Neptune to trial or let him go free.

On February 21st, 2006, marking the 300th day of his
fast for justice, Mr. Neptune sent a letter urging the
immediate release of all the political prisoners by
the US-backed interim government, saying that “Annette
Auguste (So An), all of the political prisoners, as
well as myself, were not sent to jail by the
judiciary. An unjust machine empowered by a coup
d’etat perpetrated this criminal deed.”

Demand the immediate release of Mr. Yvon Neptune and
all political prisoners!

Contact:

Thomas A. Shannon
Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs
US Department of State
E-mail: shannonta at state.gov
Phone: 1-202-647-5780

Thierry Fagart,
Director, MINUSTAH Human Rights Section
E-mail: fagart at un.org
Phone: 011-509-403-4012

The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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