Tearing Down History
By Michael Deibert
Posted Friday, Jan. 22, 2010, at 1:33 PM ET
(Read the original article here)
PETIT-GOÂVE, Haiti—They work all day under the blazing sun, hammers and saws in hand, pulling down the last remnants of a structure that had served as the crowning jewel for this once-picturesque town set along the glittering Caribbean Sea.
Numbering about two dozen, the men are tearing down what little remains of the town's storied Église Notre Dame, which once loomed over the city in gleaming blue-and-white relief. Now, only its foundation and the altar remain.
Along with the capital, Petit-Goâve, some 45 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, was perhaps the most thoroughly devastated municipality in the country after the Jan. 12 earthquake.
As well as the church, the state telephone company building, the mayor's office, a hotel, and scores of houses—all with people still inside—were leveled by the tremor. Dangerous, yawning fissures opened up along the road into town
"This church was here for a long time, for 208 years," said 67-year-old Nathan Leger, pausing as hammers echoed in the background and men milled about wearing surgical masks to protect them from particles of dust and human decay. "It's a catastrophe. We will not have something like this again."
The church collapsed within seconds, burying market women, passers-by, and people who had paused to rest in its shade. Residents estimate that at least 350 died in the town, which was playing host to three large meetings on the day of the quake.
Once, it was known for its particularly fine collection of Haitian "gingerbread" wooden architecture, as well as for its sweet tricolored candy, douce marcosse. Now, Petit-Goâve presents a face of utter destruction, its streets choked with the debris of collapsed buildings. The town was further traumatized by a 6.1 aftershock Wednesday morning, which caused even more damage
"We were injured, we were hit hard, and now we are sleeping in the street," says Andre Zanmi, a white-haired woman camped out in the middle of Rue Faustin with a dozen members of her family, some of whom bear deep cuts and gashes that have yet to receive medical attention.
Sitting in front of a house with half its roof collapsed, the family has strung a blanket between two trees to provide some cover.
Like most people in town, Zanmi said that other than patrols by a Sri Lankan contingent of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti—which itself lost its top command when the organization' s Port-au-Prince headquarters was destroyed—they have yet to receive any outside help.
By late in the week, though, help appeared to be on its way. In a clearing in the town of Carrefour Dufort, near Petit-Goâve, members of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, based in Camp Lejeune, N.C., were distributing food aid by helicopter.
"It's just good to be able to be here to help," Sgt. Claude Barthold, who was born in the Haitian capital, told me. "But it's overwhelming what you see here."
On Thursday, the Red Cross also announced that it had opened two first-aid posts in Petit-Goâve, staffed by Haitian Red Cross volunteers.
The earthquake has been a brutal blow for this historically significant community, which was the birthplace of one of Haiti's most important leaders, Faustin Soulouque. The son of African-born slaves, Soulouque climbed through the ranks of the post-independence military before being elected president by a Senate vote in 1847. Building up an irregular network of armed partisans called zinglins, Soulouque's modus operandi served as a precursor to the creation of the feared Tonton Macoutes paramilitary force of Haitian dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier a century later, as well as that of the chimères, the armed youth groups with which President Jean-Bertrand Aristide sought, unsuccessfully, to cling to power.
After two unsuccessful invasions of neighboring Dominican Republic in search of loot he could use to pay the onerous 150 million franc "debt" that former colonial power France demanded in exchange for Haiti's hard-won independence, Soulouque was overthrown in 1859 and died in exile, the melancholy fate of so many of Haiti's leaders.
In more recent years, Petit-Goâve was the site of one of the first major demonstrations against the Aristide government in December 2001, when the funeral of a local journalist, Brignol Lindor, murdered by Aristide partisans, was fired on by police and flared into a major disturbance.
Now, though, residents are literally picking up the pieces of a shattered way of life.
"Only God knows why this happened," Robert Henry Etienne told me as he walked the dusty streets with a notebook in hand, carefully cataloging every ruined and damaged structure in meticulous handwriting in the hope that they might one day be rebuilt. "But we need the international community to help the Haitian people, who are sleeping on the streets. We need help, from whatever country in the world."
Showing posts with label Brignol Lindor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brignol Lindor. Show all posts
Friday, January 22, 2010
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Seven years after radio journalist’s murder, convicted killers still at large
HAITI
Seven years after radio journalist’s murder, convicted killers still at large
Reporters sans frontières
(Read the original article here)
Justice has still not been fully rendered in the case of Brignol Lindor, a young radio journalist who was murdered in a particularly barbaric manner in the southwestern town of Petit-Goâve exactly seven years ago today, although two individuals implicated in his murder were given life sentences in December 2007, Reporters Without Borders said.
Seven other people who were convicted in absentia of his murder in January of this year (see 25 January press release) are still on the run, Reporters Without Borders pointed out, adding that it hoped the appointment of Lindor family lawyer Jean Joseph Exumé as justice minister on 7 November will bring complete closure to a case that has dragged on too long.
"The political will demonstrated by President René Préval's government helped to put an end to the scandal of a case in which there was complete impunity for six years, and at the same time there has been an overall improvement in press freedom in Haiti," Reporters Without Borders said.
"But the political and judicial authorities cannot content themselves with the trials of the past year, which left the fate of seven convicted killers in limbo and failed to shed light on the then municipal government's apparent implication," the press freedom organisation added.
A journalist with local Radio Echo 2000, Lindor was stoned and hacked to death on 3 December 2001 in Petit-Goâve by members of Domi Nan Bwa ("Sleep in the Woods"), a locally-based armed group linked to Fanmi Lavalas, the party led by then President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Four days before the murder, a press conference was held in Petit-Goâve by several local figures linked to Fanmi Lavalas, including Petit-Goâve mayor Emmanuel Antoine and his deputy, Bony Dumay, who launched into a violent verbal attack on the opposition Democratic Convergence coalition and Lindor, considered to be one of its allies. Another meeting was held three days later, the eve of his murder, this time between municipal officials and members of Domi Nan Bwa.
One of Domi Nan Bwa's chiefs, Joseph Céus Duverger, was attacked the next morning by presumed Democratic Convergence supporters. This incident was used as a pretext for the targeted reprisal against Lindor later in the day. Evidence of this comes from the fact that around 10 Domi Nan Bwa members were on the point of executing Democratic Convergence member Love Augustin at his home but, when Lindor arrived on the scene, they let him go and seized Lindor.
Despite all the evidence, the indictment issued by judge Fritzner Duclair on 16 September 2002 failed to bring charges against any of the presumed instigators of Lindor's murder.
After five years of inaction, the case was revived in 2007 when arrests warrants were issued for the persons named in the indictment. Four were arrested but only two of them were convicted and given life sentences - Joubert Saint-Juste and Jean-Rémy Démosthène. One of the other two, Simon Cétoute, 57, was acquitted because it turned out he had been arrested instead of his son, who had the same first name and who had recently died in the nearby town of Léogane.
And it emerged that the fourth defendant, Fritzner Doudoute, was mistaken at the time of his arrest for Fritznel Doudoute, and had not been named in either the 2002 indictment or in the arrest warrant issued last year. Nonetheless, witnesses identified him in court as one of the people who participated in Lindor's murder. He therefore remained in detention and is to be the subject of a new judicial investigation that could also target Dumay, the former deputy mayor, who was summoned to testify at the trial.
Fritznel Doudoute, also known as Lionel and Nènèl, was one the seven indicted Domi Nan Bwa members who were convicted in absentia on 23 January of this year by Petit-Goâve chief judge Emmanuel Tataye, who also ordered the seizure of all their possessions and assets and the suspension of their civil and political rights. The other six were Maxi Zéphyr, Bernard Désamour, Tyrésias also known as Téré, Fritznel Duvergé, Mackenzi and Belony Colin.
Seven years after radio journalist’s murder, convicted killers still at large
Reporters sans frontières
(Read the original article here)
Justice has still not been fully rendered in the case of Brignol Lindor, a young radio journalist who was murdered in a particularly barbaric manner in the southwestern town of Petit-Goâve exactly seven years ago today, although two individuals implicated in his murder were given life sentences in December 2007, Reporters Without Borders said.
Seven other people who were convicted in absentia of his murder in January of this year (see 25 January press release) are still on the run, Reporters Without Borders pointed out, adding that it hoped the appointment of Lindor family lawyer Jean Joseph Exumé as justice minister on 7 November will bring complete closure to a case that has dragged on too long.
"The political will demonstrated by President René Préval's government helped to put an end to the scandal of a case in which there was complete impunity for six years, and at the same time there has been an overall improvement in press freedom in Haiti," Reporters Without Borders said.
"But the political and judicial authorities cannot content themselves with the trials of the past year, which left the fate of seven convicted killers in limbo and failed to shed light on the then municipal government's apparent implication," the press freedom organisation added.
A journalist with local Radio Echo 2000, Lindor was stoned and hacked to death on 3 December 2001 in Petit-Goâve by members of Domi Nan Bwa ("Sleep in the Woods"), a locally-based armed group linked to Fanmi Lavalas, the party led by then President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Four days before the murder, a press conference was held in Petit-Goâve by several local figures linked to Fanmi Lavalas, including Petit-Goâve mayor Emmanuel Antoine and his deputy, Bony Dumay, who launched into a violent verbal attack on the opposition Democratic Convergence coalition and Lindor, considered to be one of its allies. Another meeting was held three days later, the eve of his murder, this time between municipal officials and members of Domi Nan Bwa.
One of Domi Nan Bwa's chiefs, Joseph Céus Duverger, was attacked the next morning by presumed Democratic Convergence supporters. This incident was used as a pretext for the targeted reprisal against Lindor later in the day. Evidence of this comes from the fact that around 10 Domi Nan Bwa members were on the point of executing Democratic Convergence member Love Augustin at his home but, when Lindor arrived on the scene, they let him go and seized Lindor.
Despite all the evidence, the indictment issued by judge Fritzner Duclair on 16 September 2002 failed to bring charges against any of the presumed instigators of Lindor's murder.
After five years of inaction, the case was revived in 2007 when arrests warrants were issued for the persons named in the indictment. Four were arrested but only two of them were convicted and given life sentences - Joubert Saint-Juste and Jean-Rémy Démosthène. One of the other two, Simon Cétoute, 57, was acquitted because it turned out he had been arrested instead of his son, who had the same first name and who had recently died in the nearby town of Léogane.
And it emerged that the fourth defendant, Fritzner Doudoute, was mistaken at the time of his arrest for Fritznel Doudoute, and had not been named in either the 2002 indictment or in the arrest warrant issued last year. Nonetheless, witnesses identified him in court as one of the people who participated in Lindor's murder. He therefore remained in detention and is to be the subject of a new judicial investigation that could also target Dumay, the former deputy mayor, who was summoned to testify at the trial.
Fritznel Doudoute, also known as Lionel and Nènèl, was one the seven indicted Domi Nan Bwa members who were convicted in absentia on 23 January of this year by Petit-Goâve chief judge Emmanuel Tataye, who also ordered the seizure of all their possessions and assets and the suspension of their civil and political rights. The other six were Maxi Zéphyr, Bernard Désamour, Tyrésias also known as Téré, Fritznel Duvergé, Mackenzi and Belony Colin.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Two gang members get life for journalist’s murder, a third is acquitted
13 December 2007
Two gang members get life for journalist’s murder, a third is acquitted
(Read the original article here)
Reporters sans frontières
Two gang members get life for journalist’s murder, a third is acquitted
(Read the original article here)
Reporters sans frontières
Reporters Without Borders hails the outcome of a two-day trial before a court of assizes in the southern town of Petit-Goâve in which two members of a local militia known as Domi nan Bwa were yesterday given life sentences for the murder of Radio Echo 2000 journalist Brignol Lindor on 3 December 2001.
Of the two other alleged militia members on trial, one was acquitted because of mistaken identity and the other got off on a technicality, because he was identified by the wrong first name. Reporters Without Borders regards this as an indication of shortcomings in the preparation of the trial. Six other members of the militia are due to be tried, but have not yet been arrested.
“The life sentences are proportionate to the particularly barbaric way Lindor was murdered,” the press freedom organisation said. “A trial, especially one of this importance, nonetheless needs a prosecution case that is complete and sound, and ensures that all those involved are present in the courtroom.”
Reporters Without Borders added: “We doubt that the order issued by the presiding judge regarding the six other militiamen charged in this case, who are still fugitives, will have a persuasive effect. They must be arrested quickly. We are still waiting to find out to what degree the former Petit-Goâve municipal authorities were involved in Lindor’s murder.”
The two defendants who received life sentences were Joubert Saint-Juste and Jean-Rémy Démosthène (see picture below). For the time being, they are still being held in Petit-Goâve, but they could be transferred to the national penitentiary in Port-au-Prince to serve their sentences.
Simon Cétoute, 56, was acquitted because witnesses failed to identify him and because the court acknowledged that he had been arrested instead of one of his sons who recently died in the nearby town of Léogâne.
The case was dismissed against a fourth defendant, known as Fritznel Doudoute, because the first name, “Fritznel,” by which he was referred in the indictment, was not his real name, which is Lionel. Nonetheless, he was formally identified in court by witnesses as one of the participants in Lindor’s murder, and he could still be tried. Petit-Goâve state prosecutor Kébreau Zamor announced that a new case would be opened against.
A case could also be opened against Bony Dumay, Petit-Goâve deputy at the time of the murder, who is alleged to have incited violence against Lindor. He was a witness during the trial but so far he has never been charged.
In a statement to the press at the end of the trial, judge Emmanuel Tataye gave the six other Domi nan Bwa members, who were charged in 2002 and for whom arrests warrants are still pending, until 16 December to surrender, failing which they would be declared “rebels against the law” and would have “their rights as citizens suspended and their property seized.”
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Only four of ten defendants will be in court for Brignol Lindor murder trial
Only four of ten defendants will be in court for Brignol Lindor murder trial
(Read the original report here.)
Reporters sans frontières
(Read the original report here.)
Reporters sans frontières
While welcoming the trial of Radio Echo 2000 reporter Brignol Lindor’s alleged murders on principle, Reporters Without Borders said today it feared the course of justice could be perverted because six of the 10 defendants have not been arrested and will therefore not be in court. The trial is due to open on 10 December in Petit-Gôave, the southern town where Lindor lived and worked, and where he was murdered six years ago.
“The Lindor murder was a national trauma and has waited too long to come to trial,” the press freedom organisation said. “The fact that the trial is taking place at all reflects a real political will to put an end to a scandalous level of impunity. Nonetheless, we think a case such as this needs to be handled better. The trial is good for justice in principle, but may not be good for the search for the truth.”
Reporters Without Borders added: “The six being tried in absentia will, by definition, be unable to answer for their actions before the court. While the four who are present could try to put the blame on the other six, although they could themselves end up taking the entire rap. Bearing in mind, too, that threats have been made against the prosecutor, who is also concerned about the outcome of the case, we think the conditions for a satisfactory trial have not been met.”
The 10 defendants are members of a local armed militia called Domi Nan Bwa (Sleep in the Bush) that was particularly active during Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s second presidential term. They were charged with this particularly barbaric murder in 2002 at the end of a judicial investigation that failed to clearly identify all those involved.
Of the four defendants who will be in court, three were arrested earlier this year after warrants were issued by Petit-Goâve state prosecutor Kébreau Zamor. They are Joubert Saint-Juste (arrested on 28 March and held at the national penitentiary in Port-au-Prince), Simon Cétoute (arrested on 24 October and held in Petit-Goâve) and Jean-Rémy Démosthène (arrested on 26 October and also held in Petit-Goâve).
The fourth man is Fritznel Doudoute, who was arrested on 28 December 2005 in nearby Miragôane and is now being held in Carrefour prison, outside Port-au-Prince.
The trial was originally scheduled to start on 3 December, the sixth anniversary of Lindor’s murder. When the postponement was announced, Zamor told Reporters Without Borders he was concerned about the infrastructural problems in Petit-Goâve and the difficulty of preparing for the trial in the time available. He also said he and his family had received death threats.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Memorandum pour Brignol Linsdor
COMMISSION CITOYENNE POUR L’APPLICATION DE LA JUSTICE
4 octobre 2007
MEMORANDUM POUR BRIGNOL LINDOR: Quelle Justice ?
Le 3 décembre prochain, il y aura six ans que Brignol Lindor a été assassiné dans des circonstances qui impliquent, non seulement les personnes qui ont exécuté le jeune journaliste, mais aussi les auteurs intellectuels de cet assassinat.
Six ans plus tard, le Dossier de Brignol Lindor se au fond de tiroirs de la Cour de Cassation car cette instance, semble t-il, n’a pas jugé bon de le transmettre aux fins de droit au Parquet du Tribunal de 1ère instance de Petit-Goâve pour les suites nécessaires. Les personnes envoyées aux assises avec prise de corps par ordonnance du Juge Fritzer Duclair n’ont jamais été inquiétées.
Quel sort réserve-t-on à ce dossier ? Ce dossier maintient dans l’attente depuis six ans, tous les citoyens préoccupés par la persistance du règne de l’impunité. Et cette cause offre à l’Etat, en rendant justice à l’un de ses fils, l’occasion de signifier que ce règne est à sa fin.
Cette préoccupation est vivement ressentie au sein de la Commission Citoyenne pour l’Application de la Justice (CCAJ) pour laquelle ce dossier a fait l’objet d’attention particulière. Dès avril 2004, la CCAJ a documenté le cas Brignol Lindor à travers : des déclarations de témoins oculaires et auditifs ; l’examen des documents de justice et différents rapports disponibles ; les informations diffusées par la presse écrite, parlée et télévisée. Ceci pour produire un rapport remis officiellement aux autorités compétentes et permettant d’établir que toutes les personnes désignées comme les auteurs présumés de l’assassinat de Brignol Lindor n’étaient pas comprises dans les poursuites engagées. Encore plus grave, des auteurs matériels et intellectuels, dûment identifiés, ont été soigneusement écartés par le juge instructeur.
Si donc, le procès Brignol Lindor devait suivre les derniers errements de la procédure, tels qu’ils résultent de l’arrêt de la Cour de Cassation, il s’ensuivrait que la Justice serait une nouvelle fois bafouée et le règne de l’impunité renforcé car se manifesterait la coupable intention de ne pas remonter jusqu’aux véritables auteurs de cette ignominie. Qui y a intérêt ?
La Commission Citoyenne pour l’Application de la Justice appuie toute initiative de la société civile visant à faire avancer le dossier mais elle condamne toute tentative procédant d’une confusion des genres mettant en question l’indépendance de la justice et risquant sous prétexte de recherche d’efficacité de la conduire à des décisions hâtives au bénéfice de ceux qui ont commandité le crime.
Consciente qu’il faut que soit enrayée la dérive vers une justice sélective, la Commission Citoyenne pour l’Application de la Justice s’élève avec force pour qu’enfin soient corrigées, alors qu’il en est encore temps, toutes les faiblesses d’une procédure bâclée, comme celle de l’attaque du 5 décembre contre la Faculté des Sciences humaines, parodie de justice s’il en est.
Sinon ce serait un nouvel et flagrant échec de l’effort initié pour la réforme de notre Justice.
Pour la CCAJ,
Jean-Claude Bajeux, coordonateur
4 octobre 2007
MEMORANDUM POUR BRIGNOL LINDOR: Quelle Justice ?
Le 3 décembre prochain, il y aura six ans que Brignol Lindor a été assassiné dans des circonstances qui impliquent, non seulement les personnes qui ont exécuté le jeune journaliste, mais aussi les auteurs intellectuels de cet assassinat.
Six ans plus tard, le Dossier de Brignol Lindor se
Quel sort réserve-t-on à ce dossier ? Ce dossier maintient dans l’attente depuis six ans, tous les citoyens préoccupés par la persistance du règne de l’impunité. Et cette cause offre à l’Etat, en rendant justice à l’un de ses fils, l’occasion de signifier que ce règne est à sa fin.
Cette préoccupation est vivement ressentie au sein de la Commission Citoyenne pour l’Application de la Justice (CCAJ) pour laquelle ce dossier a fait l’objet d’attention particulière. Dès avril 2004, la CCAJ a documenté le cas Brignol Lindor à travers : des déclarations de témoins oculaires et auditifs ; l’examen des documents de justice et différents rapports disponibles ; les informations diffusées par la presse écrite, parlée et télévisée. Ceci pour produire un rapport remis officiellement aux autorités compétentes et permettant d’établir que toutes les personnes désignées comme les auteurs présumés de l’assassinat de Brignol Lindor n’étaient pas comprises dans les poursuites engagées. Encore plus grave, des auteurs matériels et intellectuels, dûment identifiés, ont été soigneusement écartés par le juge instructeur.
Si donc, le procès Brignol Lindor devait suivre les derniers errements de la procédure, tels qu’ils résultent de l’arrêt de la Cour de Cassation, il s’ensuivrait que la Justice serait une nouvelle fois bafouée et le règne de l’impunité renforcé car se manifesterait la coupable intention de ne pas remonter jusqu’aux véritables auteurs de cette ignominie. Qui y a intérêt ?
La Commission Citoyenne pour l’Application de la Justice appuie toute initiative de la société civile visant à faire avancer le dossier mais elle condamne toute tentative procédant d’une confusion des genres mettant en question l’indépendance de la justice et risquant sous prétexte de recherche d’efficacité de la conduire à des décisions hâtives au bénéfice de ceux qui ont commandité le crime.
Consciente qu’il faut que soit enrayée la dérive vers une justice sélective, la Commission Citoyenne pour l’Application de la Justice s’élève avec force pour qu’enfin soient corrigées, alors qu’il en est encore temps, toutes les faiblesses d’une procédure bâclée, comme celle de l’attaque du 5 décembre contre la Faculté des Sciences humaines, parodie de justice s’il en est.
Sinon ce serait un nouvel et flagrant échec de l’effort initié pour la réforme de notre Justice.
Pour la CCAJ,
Jean-Claude Bajeux, coordonateur
Monday, August 13, 2007
Composition of CIAPEAJ revealed
The personnel of the Commission indépendante d'appui aux enquêtes relatives aux assassinats des journalistes haïtiens (CIAPEAJ) - charged with looking into the slayings of journalists Jean Dominique, Brignol Lindor, Jacques Roche and others - will be as follows:
Given how terribly Haiti's press corps has suffered over the last several years, it is good that there will be a group of this nature to keep the process of seeking justice for its members before the public eye. If the commission works effectively intandem with Secretary of State for Public Security Luc Eucher Joseph, Port-au-Prince chief prosecutor Claudy Gassant and Police Nationale d’Haïti chief Mario Andrésol, we may finally see the beginning of the end of impunity for crimes against journalists in Haiti.
- Joseph Guyler C. Delva (SOS Journalistes, Reuters, Mélodie FM)
- Valéry Numa (Radio Vision 2000)
- Marie Nic Marcelin (Radio Ibo)
- Louis Gary Cyprien (Le Nouvelliste)
- Euvrard St-Amand (Caraïbes FM)
- Dieudonne Cency (Radio Métropole)
- Anne Marguerite Auguste (Radio Solidarité)
- Idson Saint-Fleur (Radio Signal FM)
- Jean Wilner Morin (Tropic FM/TELEMAX)
Given how terribly Haiti's press corps has suffered over the last several years, it is good that there will be a group of this nature to keep the process of seeking justice for its members before the public eye. If the commission works effectively intandem with Secretary of State for Public Security Luc Eucher Joseph, Port-au-Prince chief prosecutor Claudy Gassant and Police Nationale d’Haïti chief Mario Andrésol, we may finally see the beginning of the end of impunity for crimes against journalists in Haiti.
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