Haiti's "Father Gerry" released for treatment in U.S.

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February 2006

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Haiti's "Father Gerry" released for treatment in U.S.
Haiti's best known political prisoner was released on January 29 and promptly flown to Miami for treatment of pneumonia and leukemia.

A vocal ally of ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Father Gerard Jean-Juste was released "provisionally" by government of Haiti. Jean-Juste had been diagnosed with leukemia in December.

According to the terms of his release, "Father Gerry" is required to return to Haiti after treatment to face the remaining charges still pending against him. On January 19, the interim government of Haiti announced that it was dismissing the indictments of murder and conspiracy for which Fr. Jean-Juste had been twice arrested and imprisoned then indicted Jean-Juste on two new lesser charges of possession of illegal weapons. The weapons in question were owned by five security guards provided to Jean-Juste when he worked for Aristide’s administration. Most human rights advocates consider all the charges brought against the priest more than dubious as is the likelihood of his return to Haiti to stand trial on the new charges.

In a press release, National Lawyer's Guild President Michael Avery said: “Allowing Fr. Gerry to receive treatment is a step in the right direction. But the Haitian authorities should dismiss all remaining charges against Fr. Jean-Juste, and free the dozens of political prisoners remaining in Haitian jails. The U.S. government, which is the interim government’s principal patron, should withhold all financial and military assistance until all political prisoners are freed.”

Jean-Juste, a popular pastor of a poor parish in Port-Au-Prince, was arrested last July and accused of participating in the murder of Haitian journalist Jacques Roche. The priest was in Miami at the time of Roche’s death. It was the second arrest for the cleric who was imprisoned for seven weeks in the fall of 2004.

The priest has been an outspoken critic of Haiti’s interim government and an advocate for the poor in Haiti and Haitian immirgants in the United States. Last fall, despite his imprisonment, a faction of Aristide’s political party fielded Jean-Juste name as a presidential candidate.

Upon his arrival in Miami, he described the current administration headed by Haitian Prime Minister Gérard Latortue as ''worse than'' the Duvalier family dictatorship. Francois ''Papa Doc'' and his son Jean-Claude ''Baby Doc'' Duvalier ruled Haiti for 29 years.

Jean-Juste's imprisonment had become an international headache for the Latortue administration, which until late last week had refused to give in to pressure by Haitian activists, human-rights advocates and others to free the priest. Jean-Juste, once viewed as a potential presidential candidate, became a cause célbre for Aristide's political allies, who continue to demand Aristide's reinstatement as head of state.

Jean-Juste's release came just days before some 3.5 million registered Haitian voters are expected to head to the polls on February 7 to choose a successor to formally replace Aristide, who fled Haiti in February 2004 in the face of an armed revolt.

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