Father Jean Juste beaten by group 184 people at church
July 21, 2005<p> This morning, Father Gerald Jean-Juste went to St. Pierre Church in Petionville. He was part of group of priests and monsegneurs who where participating in the funeral service of well-known journalist and kidnap victim Jacques Roches. (For info on Jacque Roches, see "Death Regimes tries for 'a second December 5th, 2004' attempting to leverage the sad death of Jacques Roche to criminalize Lavalas and spread more untruths" at: While walking in with the priest delegation, members of group 184, in the church started chanting "Jean Juste must go to jail, Jean Juste must go to jail." They also started a raucous saying that they didn't want Jean-Juste to take part along with the other priests he was with who would conduct the funeral service. HLLN doesn't have all the specific details, but this is what a friend who just now spoke to Jean-Juste, who is currently at the police station said to: "A group of 184 coup D´etat people, walked up to Father Jean Juste and started beating him, right in the church. They hit him in the head, eye, all over. Morally he's very strong. Because yesterday when he left the Justice Palace, we know he spoke to the media. He let them know that the kidnappings in Haiti started with the kidnapping of President Aristide and must stop with the return of President Aristide." "They don't like his speech to the media yesterday. That's why they beat him up today."
Even though our phone connection, started to mysteriously beep, before I lost contact, HLLN's source who had just spoken directly to Father Jean Juste less than fifteen minutes before, continued "when the atmosphere got tense, MINUSTHA and the National Police walked over to talk to Jean Juste. I think they asked him to leave. Then at that moment there was an aggression. Just as MINUSTHA (UN soldiers) and the Haitian police, who were in St. Pierre's church, where talking to Jean Juste, that's when group 184 started to beat him senseless. It seems like the police took him from the church, saying they were taking him out for his own safety. but Father Jean-Juste now believes he was put under arrest." "They beat him badly, the GNB. But, right now Father Jean Juste is still at the police station. He's been there since 9:30 or 9:45 this morning. It's now past 5 o'clock. So, he now believes he is under arrest. What is strange, they took him police station that is one block from St. Pierre, a Catholic church in Petionville. But he is still inside. They won't let him leave. So it appears He's been victimized, twice. First by getting beaten right in front of MINUSTHA soldiers and the National Police and now they won't let him go home. He is still inside the police Station." After getting this report, I called Father Jean Juste cell phone directly. The first time, it was busy. The time was 5:20pm. I want to get this out fast, but need collaboration. I waited and few minutes and called again. This time, just now at 5:32pm, Father Jean Juste's phone was answered by Attorney Bill Quigley. Bill couldn't stay on the phone for long. Said the police and officials were just calling them back into a room for further questioning. But he said, in sum, let the solidarity network and international community know that we need their help. We need the UN to commit to protecting Father Jean-Juste. I asked Bill Quigley some quick questions about what happened and he basically said this "they shoved him, spit on him, cursed him, tried to hurt him. MINUSTHA was trying to protect him. But the crowd overcame the protection. A women who tried to help was shoved away..... They called him "dirty rat." He was assaulted while in full priest clothing." I asked Bill about Jean Juste condition and whether he was beaten by the crowd. Bill said that he doesn´t know whether father Jean Juste needs medical help. If I understand correctly, on the surface père Jean Juste does not need immediate medical care. He was just severely shoved, spit at, cursed, et al. But according to our first source who spoke to Jean Juste, the father feels he is under arrest. Bill Quigley confirmed “He is not free to go.’ I am sure attorney Quigley, who was with father Jean Juste this morning at the church and all day at the police station will provide us with more information soon. Write, fax, call UN authorities, who just recently expanded (UN Security Council Res. 1698) their authority in Haiti and now supervise and control the Haitian police, ask the UN to stop the officially sanctioned harassement of father Jean Juste and that he be released from the police custody immediately. (MINUSTHA and other contact info is on our website: http://www.margueritelaurent.com/contactinformation/un-intl-contacts.html Thank you. Marguerite Laurent Open Letter Demanding a Stop to UN slaughter of Haitian civilians in Site soleil, Haiti *********************** UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Dear all Officials Concerned with Haiti: Sirs/Madams, As Haitians committed to protecting the civil, human and cultural rights of Haitians living at home and abroad and to seeing a Haiti ruled by Haitians that has institutionalized the rule of law and We have photographic evidence, videotape evidence and eyewitness testimony of the July 6, 2005 UN massacre of unarmed Haitians civilian in Haiti - mothers, fathers, youths, babies, shopkeepers, even the handicapped and pregnant women and an unborn fetus were killed or mowed down by UN bullets, tanks and firepower on July 6, 2005 in Site Soleil Haiti. Yet, the UN expresses no remorse, makes no move towards reparations, nor even presents the Haitian public with reports about For detailed information on the UN killings on July 6, 2005, go to: Demand a Stop to the killings in Cite Soleil | Denounce the slaughter and, http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/Protectcitesoleil.html - Final Delegation Report on UN Massacre at Cite Soleil -Growing Evidence of a Massacre by UN Occupation forces in Port-au-Prince Neighborhood of Cite Soleil, July 12, 2005 and, - Evidence mounts of a UN massacre in Haiti HIP, July 12, 2005 | For Photos go to: UN "peacekeepers" in Haiti accused of massacre, July 13, 2005 Please look. The information on UN slaughter of Haitian civilians in Haiti is real. Don't deny it because it's too hard to compute, or it doesn't serve the powerful Coup D'etat country's interests. As human beings we are all interrelated. To dehumanize a group of human beings in this way and deny them the right to life, personal dignity, freedom, justice, self-defense and self-determination, is to dehumanize us all and willingly submit to the trend towards internationally-sponsored barbarism by the richest, the most literate and "advance" of countries and citizens on this planet. There's no palpable future within these lines being traced in Haiti by the UN, US, Canada, France and their Haitian proxies. No moral foundation, no economic justice, no justice, period. No solid ground to stand upon and built from, whatsoever, especially when the UN, the world's best chance, many think, for peaceful coexistence are the very ones, acting as occupying force - killing unarmed civilians to silence peaceful protest against the Coup D'etat government. The rivers of blood, the mounting Haitian corpses since the US/UN, Canada and France-supported bi-centennial Coup D'etat in Haiti on defenseless Haitian masses, announces our failures, all our failures as world citizens, as human beings. It graphically illustrates the level of real "advancement" in this 21st century. It denies the human family a future, something beyond walled fences behind large guns to bequeath to our children, to the planet, to humankind. Please, we are all bound as human being to a common future. The cosmic injustices being rained down upon the poor people of Haiti is all the more atrocious because it's been programmed and orchestrated, for more than one year now, under the UN flag acting as proxies for Bush's racist war on the completely defenselessness Haitian masses. Please take immediate action to end the use of UN troops as proxies for the US war on Haiti's poor masses. A true peacekeeping force would have handed power back to the legitimate, duly elected and constitutional government of Haiti long ago. Marguerite Laurent, Esq. Emergency protests are set for Thursday, July 21 - in Brazil and 13 North American cities -to condemn the massacre of at least 23 Haitian civilians on July 6th in the popular neighborhood of Cite Soleil, by UN troops under Brazilian command. The protests call for UN troops and Haitian authorities to stop the killings; for all UN soldiers from 20 nations to leave Haiti now; and for the restoration of Haiti's sovereignty and constitutional rule. In Brazil, unions and high-level leaders belonging to the CUT labor federation have organized a labor delegation to the capital of Brasilia, for an audience with President Lula da Silva on July 21st, to discuss their concern about the actions and presence of UN troops in Haiti, acting under Brazilian command. They will also rally in front of the Planalto Palace, seat of Brazil's federal government, and present a petition to Lula, signed by a long list of prominent Brazilians, demanding immediate withdrawal of all Brazilian troops from Haiti and respect for Haiti's sovereignty. The labor delegation's rally and meeting with President Lula is timed to coincide with the coordinated demonstrations in North America, and will kick off a series of meetings and rallies in major Brazilian cities. These actions are being organized by a coalition that includes CUT unionists, the Movimento Negro Unificado [Unified Black Movement] and Campanha Haiti [Brazil Out of Haiti Campaign]. The Brazilian unionists made it clear they were taking up the demands of the Haitian community and solidarity movement in North America, based on the findings of the Labor/Human Rights Delegation to Haiti and eyewitness reports of the July 6th massacre. The CUT is the largest labor federation in Brazil. Meanwhile, in Paris, the Haitian community will mount a demonstration July 30th at Place de la Republique, condemning the July 6th UN massacre of civilians in Cite Soleil, and demanding an end to the US/UN occupation of Haiti and the return of the democratically-elected government of President Aristide. The international campaign -- with protests in five countries -- kicked off on July 13th, when Father Gerard Jean-Juste, pastor of St. Claire Church in Port-au-Prince, flew to Miami to lead a demonstration at the Brazilian consulate general in Miami. Jean-Juste and Haitian community leaders met with Brazilian diplomats for nearly three hours to protest the UN massacre in Cite Soleil. The campaign picked up steam the following day, on July 14th, when despite heavy repression and continued killings by UN forces, more than 5,000 people demonstrated in Cite Soleil to condemn the UN massacre in their neighborhood on July 6th. They chanted for the return of President Aristide, and demanded prison for the leaders and backers of the coup regime. Also on July 14th, Father Jean-Juste was 'denounced' on a right-wing Haitian radio program in Florida, saying he was returning to Haiti on American Airlines, with the implicit threat that something bad might and should happen to him. The citizens of Cite Soleil, Father Jean-Juste and the internationally coordinated demonstrations on July 21st are shining a spotlight on the crimes committed by the US/UN occupation on July 6th in Cite Soleil. Clearly the coup regime feels threatened by these revelations, and are retaliating against our courageous brother. Defending Fr. Jean-Juste is an integral part of this campaign. Organizers emphasized that UN troops, who have been in Haiti since June 2004, are there as a proxy force doing the bidding of the US government -- replacements for the US, French and Canadian troops who assisted in the February 29, 2004 coup d'etat that overthrew the constitutional government of President Aristide. Demonstrations in 13 cities on July 21 condemning UN massacre in Cite Soleil Boston - Picket 5:30 to 8 pm at the Haitian Consulate, 545 Boylston Street Halifax, Nova Scotia - Picket 5 pm at the US Consulate, 1969 Upper Water Street Miami - Picket Brazilian Consulate, 80 SW 8th Street, Miami, at 11 a.m. Minneapolis - Leaflet the light rail system in early pm....Meet 4:30 pm at LRT Station near Hennepin Govt Center, 3rd Av & 5th St....Walk at 5 pm to Federal Bldg, then march to the Star-Tribune (small park across the street) at 5th & Portland, to protest Haiti newspaper coverage. Montreal - Assemble 3 pm, Dorchester Sq, Peel & Rene Levesque (Metro Peel)....March departing 4 pm to Brazilian Consulate, 2000 Mansfield (cor.DeMaisonneuve)....Rally till 6 pm. New York - Picket 4-7 pm, Brazilian Consulate, 1185 Ave. of the Americas (6th Av), nr 47th St Ottawa/Gatineau - Picket Brazilian embassy, 450 Wilbrod St (Sandy Hill district), Noon-1 pm San Francisco - Assemble 4 pm Powell & Market (Powell St BART), March at 4:30 pm down Market Street to rally at Brazilian Consulate General, 300 Montgomery, till 6 pm San Jose, California - Picket French consulate, 2 North 2nd St, 11:30-12:30 and 4-6 pm Toronto - Picket the Brazilian Consulate General, 77 Bloor Street West, beginning 1 pm Vancouver - Federal government offices and corporate media will be targeted. For locations and times, go to haitisolidaritybc@yahoo.ca Washington, D.C. - Protest 12-5pm at Brazil embassy, 3009 Whitehaven St. NW (at Mass Av) Winnipeg, Manitoba - Protest 1 pm at SNC-Lavalin, one of the biggest Canadian corporate profiteers from the occupation of Haiti, 1600 Van Ness (at St. James St near Polo Park mall) For more information, contact: ******************************
Sample letter to UN with reference to July 6, 2005 massacre. (HLLN Note: This letter urging the UN to stop killing unarmed civilians in Haiti was written by Steve White, who has consistently answered the letter writting campaign calls to stop the killings, arbitrary arrests and injustices in Haiti. As usual, thank you so very much Steve. We wish for more of you in this world. The Letter will be included to update the original sample letter, also Steve's, on our urgent action alert denoucing summary executions in Site Soley and put up on the website where others may see it, and use it as a starting point, adding, as desired their own individual comments. We've just added more e-mail address to the original Steve White letter to get to more authorities. Please folks please keep the pressure on. We've been at this since April, more letters and activism is necessary, so that the war on Site Soleil's poor masses is brought to light. Site Soleil is not a neighborhood where there are "slum dwellers" as AP writer often want the world to understand. Site Solei is a region in Port au Prince where over 350 THOUSAND empoverished human beings who have NEVER banded together to attack the UN, Canada, France or the US, are eeking out a living. It's now effectively become a closed-in, fenced-in concentration camp, used to train UN soldiers and Haitian death squad at sharpshooting and urban warfare! The inhabitants of this vast city are marked for destruction and the world is deliberately looking away, often heard remarking, "we don't believe it!"as the body count mount. Please look. The information on UN slaughter of Haitian civilians in Haiti is real. ********* DENOUNCE THE SLAUGHTER OF HAITIAN CIVILIANS, EVEN OF PREGNANT WOMEN AND ****************************************** Sample Letter #1 CC: louborda@delbrasonu.org, argentina@un.int, chile@un.int, ************ To whom it may concern, This may come as some surprise to you, but there are still here in the United States a considerable number of people who respect the mission of the United Nations. There are even many who believe that it represents the best hope for world peace. We renounce violence, force, and unilateralism for cooperation and negotiation. This is why it is so disheartening to see soldiers marching under the U.N. flag acting as proxies for Bush´s racist war on the Haitian poor. The Haitian people have been the victims of a destabilization campaign, which robbed them of their democratically elected government and constitution. The U.S. was the principle architect of this campaign, but is unable to re-stabilize the situation. (sound familiar?) The U.N. has been placed in the position where they are asked to do this task, but in reality it is not a task of peacekeeping, but rather one of pacification, attempting to impose a government which has no popular support. The results are predictable: UN troops involved in human rights abuses, even massacres. This is enough to break the heart of even the most optimistic of peace activists. I hope that you read this, and take action to end the use of UN troops as proxies for the US war on Haiti´s poor masses. A true peacekeeping force would have handed power back to the legitimate government of Haiti long ago. Sincerely, Name_____________________
*************** ***************
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/rocheused.html )
July 21, 2005 5:39pm
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HLLN Statement - http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/openletter.html
July 21, 2005
Demand a Stop to the killings in Cite Soleil
Please send appeals immediately
See Urgent Action Alert
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/protect.html
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President George W. Bush
President of the UN, Jan Eliasson
General Pereira, MINUSTAH
Toussaint Cong-Doudou, MINUSTAH
Juan Gabriel Valdes, MINUSTHA
Mahamane Cisse-Guoro, UN Human Rights office, Haiti
David Beer, Commissioner of CIVPOL
Ambassador Claude Boucher, Canada
M. Yves GAUDEUL, Ambassador of France in Haiti
democracy, we are shocked and appalled by the UN soldier's abuses and human rights violations in Site Soleil on July 6, 2005 and, in general in Haiti, since taking over from US Marine command. (See press release below of the coordinated July 21, 2005 multi-city and country campaign to raise world awareness of UN human rights abuses in Haiti.)
the arms it collected from this war operation on a community of more than 350-thousand Haitians who live in Site Soleil. Purportedly the UN is in Haiti to DISARM gangs, armed combatants and former soldiers to bring stability to Haiti and stop the Coup D'etat violence, bloodshed and mayhem begun by the ouster of President Aristide by Group 184 and other such rule-by-force former Duvalierists and their army thugs, who can only gain power in Haiti through unconstitutional means and sham elections.
of Haitian people by UN Troops:
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/protect.html
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/human_rights_reports/unmassacre.html
http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/7_13_5/7_13_5.html
Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
July 21, 2005
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/law/lawpress.html
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Coordinated Multi-City International Protests on Thursday, July 21, 2005
Coordinated protests will take place July 21st in Washington, D.C. and Ottawa (at the Brazilian embassies); in Miami, Montreal, New York, Toronto and San Francisco (at Brazilian consulates general); as well as in Minneapolis, San Jose (California), Halifax (Nova Scotia), Vancouver, Winnipeg (Manitoba), and Boston. [See below for times and locations.]
The next day Jean-Juste was searched and questioned for 20 minutes by US authorities at the Miami airport. On arrival in Port-au-Prince he was detained by Haitian National Police for two hours and ordered to report to a judge to face possible criminal charges.
Dave Welsh, Labor/Human Rights Delegation to Haiti - sub@sonic.net
URGENT ACTION REQUESTED: DEMAND A STOP TO THE SLAUGHTER OF HAITIAN
CIVILIANS
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/Protectcitesoleil.html
4 and 5-year old toddlers, BY UN TROOPS IN HAITI:
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/protect.html
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To: pereira17@un.org, kongo-doudou@un.org, beer@un.org,
cisse-gouro@un.org, fagart@un.org, inquiries@un.org, BanksD@state.gov,
noriegarf@state.gov, presidentga58@un.org, president@whitehouse.gov
chinamission_un@fmprc.gov.cn, france@un.int, canada@un.int,
prnce@international.gc.ca, puechguirbal@un.org,
KonareAO@africa-union.org, embassy@haiti.org, kerryp@state.gov
Address___________________
E-mail _____________________
Forwarded by the Haitian Lawyers' Leadership Network