Jean Dominique is a Haitian journalist who was assassinated
in April 3, 2000. For the past fourteen years judges and the Attorneys General
of Haiti who were in charge of the case, were victims of intimidation, sabotage
and forced resignation by members of the former Aristide Administration trying
to protect the killers (see: http://www.haitipolicy.org/content/178.htm
). Many witnesses to the Dominique
killing over the years were targeted and killed (see: http://www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article14345
) along with many Haitian journalists.
For the first time in twenty-five years, a Haitian judge,
Ivickel Dabresil, has demonstrated the courage to pursue this important
investigation into the Jean Dominique assassination to bring those responsible
to justice. Judge Dabresil concluded his investigation, which is now public in
accordance with Haitian law, identified the nine persons who masterminded and
executed Jean Dominique. He requested their imprisonment. The report identified
the mastermind of the crime as a former Lavalas senator, Mirlande Libérus
Pavert, a close associate of Jean Bertrand Aristide now residing in
Florida. According to testimony by
Aristide’s security chief, she was given the mission to silence Jean Dominique
to ensure that he would not interfere with Aristide’s plan to return to power
in 2000. Eight others responsible for the crime are also identified in the report. Voodoo priest, Annette Auguste, alias
Sô Ann, a Lavalas activist; former Deputy Mayor of Port-au-Prince, Gabriel
Harold Sévère; Frantz Camille, alias Franco Camille; Jeudy Jean Daniel; Markington
Michel Mérité; Dimsley Milien; and Toussaint Mercidieu are among those implicated.
For more details see: http://radiokiskeya.com/spip.php?article9968
Markington Michel fled Haiti into hiding. He was arrested by the police in
Argentina this week and will be extradited in Haiti. For more details see: http://www.haitian-truth.org/suspect-in-killing-of-haitis-famous-journalist-held-in-argentina/
In a communiqué released on May 3, 2014, SOS Journalistes
called on the Argentine government's to provide special protection to the
detained suspect lest he be killed as other key witnesses and co- accused in
the murder of Jean Dominique had been in the past. The head of SOS Journalists,
Joseph Guyler C. Delva, expressed the concerns of the organization about "the
safety of Markington Philippe who is an extremely important element in the
investigation into the assassination of Jean Dominique, as several other
witnesses and alleged perpetrators of the crime have been eliminated, with the
obvious purpose of avoiding overwhelming testimonies and to clear clues and
evidence. Therefore, we call on
the Argentine government to ensure that those who visit Markington Philippe or
those who feed him are subject to strict control by relevant clearance entities
to avoid that he be assassinated by those who would not want him to speak,
" For more details see: http://hcnn.ht/en/201405/local/281/SOS-Journalistes-calls-on-Argentine-government-to-provide-special-protection-to-detained-suspect-Haiti-Argentina-Jean-Dominique-Guy-Delva-SOS-Journalistes.htm
The Haiti judicial system is making significant progress to bring
the killers to justice. How did they get there? In January 2013 Judge Dabresil
summoned former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, former Fanmi Lavalas Senator Danny
Toussaint and former President Rene Preval for interrogation.
On May 8, 2013, Aristide was also summoned by the Judge. One of the investigative scenarios
named the former President as a suspect in the killing of Jean Dominique.
According to that scenario, he ordered Dominique killed for two reasons: first,
Dominique was a harsh critic of the corruption and abuse of power by Aristide;
and second, with the support of President Preval, Dominique was going to be a
candidate with the political organization Koze Pep in the November 2000
Presidential elections thus undermining Aristide plan to return to power, for
more see the following two links:
After receiving the judge’s summons, the Aristide propaganda
machine (a website call Haiti Action) swung into action lobbying in Haiti and
overseas attempting to politicize and undermine these judicial proceeding by
creating various political diversions.
While his well-paid lobbyists are trying to make it about his return to
politics, in Haiti, the debate is not political but legal. Aristide’s foreign
lobbyists are doing their best in their continuing attempt to undermine Haiti’s
judicial system. Many readers may recall that with Haitian tax payer money,
Jean Bertrand Aristide made Ira Kurzban, board member of the Miami Herald and current
lawyer for Mirlande Liberus, the crime mastermind, and Brian Concannon of Institute
of Democracy and Justice (see: http://www.haitipolicy.org/Lobbying7.htm
) millionaires with lucrative consulting contracts. There is only one central question that the Haitians and
their judicial system are trying to answer after fourteen years: who killed
journalist Jean Dominique?
Toussaint, Neptune and Preval responded peacefully and cooperated
with the judge’s summon. They each answered the judge’s questions for
hours.
Jean Bertrand Aristide’s behavior toward these judicial
proceedings was completely different. Aristide has always acted as if he is
above the law in Haiti. Last
January, after the victims of his cooperative scheme who stole millions filed a
complaint with the office of the Attorney General Lucmane Delile, Aristide
refused to respond to the legal summons. With threats and violence, Aristide
forced the Attorney General to come to his house making a mockery of Haiti’s
judicial system (see: http://www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article13915#.UZRoKGDgIzY
).
Aristide attempted he same tactics with Judge Dabresil. On
May 7, 2013 he tried to intimidate the judge and the judicial system of Haiti
by dispatching 300 paid Lavalas chimeres (thugs) into the streets of
Port-au=Prince to lead violent demonstrations (see: http://lematinhaiti.com/contenu.php?idtexte=35715&idtypetexte
). Aristide’s violence did not
intimidate the judge who did not budge from his position.
Again in order to intimidate the judge, on Wednesday, May 8,
2013, Aristide and his Fanmi Lavalas party turned the summons into a political
rally in front of the judge’s offices where hundreds turned out to protest.
With courage, the judge did not cede to these political pressures and acts of
intimidation and violence. Rather, Judge Dabresil interrogated Aristide for
several hours. Again that day supporters of Aristide used violence. Journalist
Henry Frantz Delice of Radio-Tele Ginen was assaulted by Aristide’s chimeres.
They also attacked the offices of Radio-Tele Ginen. These acts of violence against the press were condemned by
the National Association of Haitian Media (ANMH) led by Lilianne Pierre Paul.
For more details see the following two links:
The majority of Haitians condemned Aristide’s violent
attitude and his Fanmi Lavalas party toward Haiti’s judicial system. After
these events many Haitians believe that Aristide has become the prime suspect
behind the killers. The widow of Jean Dominique, Michele Montas, told Reuters last
year that Aristide knows who killed her husband. In a previous interview she stated:
“ The Haitian police
arrested Port-au-Prince former deputy mayor, Harold Severe, a member of
President Aristide's cabinet, as well as Rouspide Petion, alias Douze for their
alleged involvement in the murder of Jean Dominique. Harold Severe had been
indicted on January 28, 2003 by instructing judge Bernard St Vil but his name
was, at the last minute, taken out of the judge's final report.” (see: http://www.potomitan.info/vedrine/dominique.php
)
The antidemocratic behavior of Aristide of May 2013 has also
refreshed the memory of many Haitians. They recall that during the period
2000-2004 Jean Bertrand Aristide was considered by Reporters Without Borders www.rsf.org as one of the 38 presidents
considered as predators of press freedom around the world. For more details on
the repression of the government of Jean Bertrand Aristide and his Fanmi
Lavalas party against Haitian journalists and the Haitian press in general
during that period check the following links:
During that Aristide era, Haiti was ranked 161 as one of the
worst countries in relation to freedom of the press in comparison to today
where Haiti was ranked 47 in the 2013 global report - the United States is
ranked 46.
Repression and the killing of political opponents was so bad
under Aristide that Haitian Senator Irvelt Chery wrote a letter to all
Attorneys General of the country to ask them to trigger judicial actions
against the perpetrators for those various crimes (see: http://www.haitian-truth.org/28-fevrier-2004-1013-neuf-ans-apres-la-demission-du-dictateur-jean-betrand-aristide-toujours-pas-de-justice-pour-les-victimes-de-la-repression-lavalas/
).
Haitians hope that their judicial system will find and
punish the killers who murdered not only Jean Dominique, but those that killed
journalist Brignol Lindor, Jacques Roche and Georges Honorat. Judges will not back down in the face
of threats by violent anarchists.
This brave action by one judge signals hope for the Haitian people that
Haiti could transition into a country that follows the rule of law over the
rule of one man. Let’s hope that
highly paid foreign consultants don’t undermine that hope.
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