Document - Haiti: Fear for safety/Death threats

PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 36/013/2006

28 September 2006

UA 259/06 Fear for safety/Death threats

HAITI Evel Fanfan (m), human rights lawyer and President of the Association of University Graduates Motivated for a Haiti with Rights(Association des Universitaires Motivés pour un Haïtide Droit - AUMOHD)

His wife and children

Colin Reginal (m), Deputy Executive Secretary of AUMOHD

Other members of AUMOHD

Members of the Grand Ravine Community Council for Human Rights (Conseil

Communautaire de Droits Humains de Grand Ravine–CCDH-GR)

Killed: Bruner Esterne (m) Coordinator of the CCDH-G

Evel Fanfan, a lawyer and president of a human rights organization, has received death threats.
This follows the murder of a fellow human rights activist, who witnessed a massacre allegedly perpetrated by an armed group with the help of police officers. Amnesty International is gravely concerned for his safety and that of his family. Members of his organization as well as residents of the local community may also be in serious danger.

Bruner Esterne, the coordinator of the Grand Ravine Community Council for Human Rights (Conseil

Communautaire de Droits Humains de Grand Ravine – CCDH-GR) was shot dead by three unknown

individuals on 21 September. A few hours later, Evel Fanfan, human rights lawyer and President of the Association of University Graduates Motivated for a Haiti with Rights (Association des Universitaires Motivés pour un Haïtide Droit - AUMOHD), an umbrella group of which CCDH-GR is a part, received a threatening telephone call from a man who identified himself as "Jeanjean". He asked Evel Fanfan if he had heard about Bruner Esterne’s murder and warned him that people who spoke out too much would "pay for it."

Bruner Esterne’s murder may be linked to the fact that he was an eyewitness to killings allegedly perpetrated by armed gang members and reportedly with the help of rogue police officers on 20 August 2005. More than 20 people were killed in the attack, which took place at a football match in Martissant, a poor neighbourhood in the south of the capital Port-au-Prince. The following day dozens of houses in the neighbouring community of Grand Ravine were burned down, including the home of Bruner Esterne. On 6 July this year 21 people were killed in a similar attack in Grand Ravine. Bruner Esterne was killed as he returned from AUMOHD’s office, where he had attended a meeting to discuss these killings.

Evel Fanfan and his wife, who is also a member of AUMOHD, have two young children aged 7 and 5. Both Evel Fanfan and his wife had worked closely with Bruner Esterne in the fight for justice for members of their community who were murdered in the two attacks and whose houses have been burned down. A few days after Bruner Esterne's murder, Evel Fanfan gave an interview on national radio in which he condemned his killing. Colin Reginal, the Deputy Executive Secretary of AUMOHD, who worked closely with Bruner Esterne, also greatly fears for his safety.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

On 6 July this year 21 people, including women and children, were killed in the Grand Ravine neighbourhood in an attack carried out by an armed gang known as the “Little Machete Army” (Lame Timanchèt). On 20 August 2005 the same gang accompanied by a group of rogue police officers interrupted a football match in the neighbouring community of Martissant, apparently looking for “bandits”. They killed more than 20 and injured several others. On both occasions houses of community members were subsequently burned down. The CCDH-GR was set up with the help of survivors and families of victims of the 20 August massacre.

Gun violence is widespread in Haiti where killings by illegal armed groups or gangs occur almost on a daily basis. Amnesty International has called on the Haitian authorities to implement a broad disarmament programme in order to help curb the violence.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in French, English or your own language:

- expressing concern for the safety of Evel Fanfan, Colin Reginal, and their families, as well as members of AUMOHD and the Grand Ravine community mentioned above;

- urging the authorities to provide them and their families with adequate protection and to guarantee their safety according to their wishes;

- calling on the authorities to carry out a full, prompt and impartial investigation into the death threats against Evel Fanfan, to make the results public and bring those responsible to justice;

- calling on the authorities to carry out a full, prompt and impartial investigation into the murder of Bruner Esterne, to make the results public and bring those responsible to justice.

- calling on the authorities to carry out a full, prompt and impartial investigation into the killings and arson attacks of 20-21 August 2005 and 6 July 2006 in Martissant and Grand Ravine to make the results public and bring those responsible to justice;

- reminding the authorities that the UN Declaration on the Rights and Responsibilities of Individuals, Groups and Institutions to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties recognizes the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders and their right to carry out their activities without any fear of reprisals.

APPEALS TO:

President

Monsieur René García Préval

Président de la République d=Haïti,

Palais National, Champ de Mars, Port-au-Prince, HAITI (W.I)

Fax: + 509 228 2396

Salutation: Monsieur le Président/Dear President

Prime Minister

Monsieur Jacques Édouard Alexis

Ministère de l’Intérieure, Villa d’Accueil, Delmas 60, Musseau, Port-au-Prince, HAITI (W.I.)

Fax: + 509 249 5561

Salutation: Monsieur le Premier Ministre/ Dear Prime Minister

General Director of the Haiti National Police
Mario Andresol

Directeur Général de la Police Nationale d'Haïti

Grand Quartier Générale la Police, 12 rue Oscar Pacot, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (W.I.)
Fax: + 509 245 7374
Salutation: Monsieur le Directeur Général/Dear Mr. Andresol

Minister of Justice and Public Security

Monsieur René Magloire

Ministre de la Justice et de la Sécurité Publique, 19 Avenue Charles Sumner, Port-au-Prince, HAITI (W.I.)

Fax: + 509 245 0474

Salutation: Monsieur le Ministre/Dear Minister

UN Special Representative

Mr Edmont Mulet

Special Representative of the Secretary-General

United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)

385, Ave. John Brown, Bourdon, B.P. 557, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (W.I.)

Fax: + 509 244 3512

Salutation: Dear Special Representative Mulet

Human rights organization

Association des Universitaires Motivés pour un Haïti de Droit

(AUMOHD - Association of University Graduates Motivated for a Haiti with Rights)

Delmas 47, no. 4, Port-au-Prince, Haiti