FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          

            August 8, 2005 CONTACT: 

Drew Hammill (202) 225-4506 

Meek Protests Haiti's Indefinite Detention of Political Prisoners In Letter to Haitian Prime Minister, Congressman Says Arrests of Jean-Juste and Neptune Undermine Haiti's Future

 WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congressman Kendrick B. Meek wrote to Haitian Prime Minister Gérard Latortue to express his "serious concerns" over the state of the Haitian judicial system, which has been characterized by sham trials, political arrests, and indefinite detentions without charges or trials.  

Meek called imprisonment of Reverend Gérard Jean-Juste, the founder of the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami in 1978 and a beloved figure among the South Florida Haitian Community, the "latest in a string of highly questionable actions by the Haitian judicial system." 

 Congressman Meek also reiterated his long-standing concerns over the continued imprisonment of former Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune. Neptune remains imprisoned since June 2004, but only appeared before a judge after ten months of detention and mounting international pressure.

 The Congressman noted that an Organization of American States report found that, of the 1,054 inmates at the National Penitentiary, only nine had been convicted of an offense. "I strongly urge the Haitian government to honor the Haitian Constitution and the basic principles of international human rights," said Meek.  "False arrests, indefinite detentions, political prosecutions and irregular trial undermine the rule of law and support for Haiti in this country and abroad." ------