Washington, D.C. -- Today, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) sent a  letter to President Bush, urging him to use the power and influence of  the United States Government to encourage the interim government of  Haiti to release former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune from prison  immediately and thereby save his life.  Prime Minister Neptune, who has been  detained without formal charges since last June, is in the 18th day of a  hunger strike to protest his unjust imprisonment.  Copies of the letter  were sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Ambassador James  Foley, the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti.  The text of the letter follows:              I write to urge you to use the power and influence of the  United States Government  to encourage the interim government of Haiti  to release former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune from prison immediately  and thereby save his life.

              Prime Minister Neptune is in the 18th day of a hunger  strike to protest his unjust imprisonment, and his physical condition is  rapidly deteriorating.  According to reports, he is weak and emaciated,  and his internal organs are failing.  His life is in grave danger.               As you know, Prime Minister Neptune has been detained  continuously for over ten months without formal charges, and he has never  been brought before a judge, as required by the constitution of Haiti.   He has vowed to continue his hunger strike until the interim government  sets him free.

             I implore you to intervene at once to seek Prime Minister  Neptune’s immediate release from prison.  If you act quickly, you may be  able to save his life.

 

UN says former Haitian PM jailed illegally
May 05, 2005, 04:00  

A top UN official in Haiti yesterday denounced the detention of former  prime minister Yvon Neptune as illegal and the Organization of American  States offered to help end what it called a standoff with serious moral  implications.

Neptune (58) has been jailed for more than 10 months without appearing  before a judge and began a hunger strike on April 17 that has left him  dangerously weak. Haiti's constitution requires a hearing before a  judge within 48 hours of arrest.

Jocelerme Privert, a former interior minister, has been jailed for over  a year without being formally charged.

Human rights Thierry Fagart, chief of the Haiti UN mission's human rights division,  cited both cases in delivering the United Nation's strongest criticism  of Haiti's human rights record since the ouster of President  Jean-Bertrand Aristide during a revolt in February 2004. "Since the beginning of  the procedure until today, the fundamental rights, according to  national and international standards, have not been respected in the case of  Mr Neptune and Privert," Fagart, a French lawyer, told journalists.

Neptune and Privert served in the Aristide administration and are  accused of masterminding what opponents called a massacre on February 11,  2004, in the village of La Syrie.

A UN human rights expert who investigated the case said it was not a  massacre, but a confrontation between armed pro- and anti-Aristide  groups, with casualties on both sides.

Haiti's interim government, backed by the UN, offered to take Neptune  to the neighboring Dominican Republic for medical care, but he refused  and demanded that he be released first. - Reuters