Amnesty International Declares Father Jean-Juste a "Prisoner of Conscience"

Today marks the 90th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Haiti. On July 28, 1915, U.S. forces invaded Haiti, launching an occupation that would last 19 years.

In an Op-Ed in the Miami Herald, Haitian-American novelist Edwidge Danticat writes "The 1915-1934 U.S. occupation is not the only problem that Haiti has or has ever faced in the last nine decades. Yet it is one more hurdle that the country has had to overcome in a long and painful cycle of destruction and reconstruction, self-governance and subjugation." Today, Haiti's first democratically-elected leader Jean Bertrand Aristide lives in forced exile in South Africa. He was overthrown a year and a half ago in what he calls a "modern-day" kidnapping in the service of a coup d'etat backed by the United States.

In the aftermath of the coup, armed gangs roam the country and UN forces patrol the streets. In the capital of Port-au-Prince, more than 700 people have been killed since last September. A raid by UN forces earlier this month left as many as 23 civilians dead.

Meanwhile, Haitian Priest Gerard Jean-Juste, a leader in Aristide's Lavalas party, was arrested last week and charged with the assassination of journalist Jaques Roche even though he was in Miami at the time of the murder. Father Jean-Juste is now being held incommunicado. Amnesty International has announced it considers Father Jean-Juste a prisoner of conscience. Amnesty is also releasing a new report today on human rights abuses titled, "Haiti: Disarmament delayed, justice denied."

* Eric Olson, Advocacy Director for the Americas, Amnesty International.

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