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The double murder on Apr. 3,
2000 of journalist Jean Dominique and his radio station’s
guardian Jean-Claude Louissaint resurfaced in the news this week
after Joseph C. Guyler Delva, an advisor to the National Palace,
announced on Fri., Jan. 17, 2014 some findings of the
investigative report of the case’s examining magistrate Yvikel
Dabrézil.
Dominique’s station, Radio
Haiti Inter, was at the center of political and ideological
debate in the post-1986 period. With a dedicated and
battle-hardened team, it earned a special place in the Haitian
radio landscape by denouncing stinking and corrupt practices in
our nation. Dominique made a choice to fight against the forces
of the status quo. That is why he was targeted on many occasions
by angry "anti-change" forces who saw him as a man to bring down
or get out of the way.
According to statements of Guy Delva, who claimed to be quoting
from Judge Dabrézil’s indictment (which has not yet been made
public), a former Haitian senator, Mirlande Libérus, is
allegedly the intellectual author of this double murder
committed in the courtyard of Jean Dominique’s station. Also
according to Guy Delva, who toured Port-au-Prince’s media on
Friday to "sell" the indictment, former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide should also have been indicted, although he was not
charged.
There was no real reaction from the public following the
declarations of Guy Delva, the former Secretary of State for
Communications of the government of President Michel Martelly
and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe. This is not a scoop. The
Haitian people have become accustomed to Delva, the former
correspondent of Radio Métropole in the south, putting out this
kind of charge against his enemy Aristide, the spiritual leader
of the Lavalas Family party. Guy Delva was the first to go
public with the Judge Dabrézil's decision to summon former
President Aristide to his office for questioning on May 8, 2013
as part of the same case.
It is important to note that
the investigation is supposed to be secret in such a case that,
almost 14 years later, is still at an impasse. It is true that
some lawyers have a different opinion on the need for
confidentiality in a case like this, while others believe that,
on the contrary, the defendants should be notified first, before
the case is made public. How could Guy Delva have access to a
judge’s ordinance on such a sensitive case that is not even
unsealed yet? Delva, who is also the head of SOS Journalist, is
possibly privy to the secrets of the gods, or perhaps, as an
advisor to the National Palace, he was called upon to put the
information out for a "good reason." Because this matter is
primarily political. Each government seeks to use to its own
ends the death of Jean Do, as the great journalist was
nicknamed.
Not less than 10 judges and state prosecutors have scoured the
case of Jean Dominique in whole or in part. Several leading
figures have been questioned, including former President René
Préval, former Sen. Dany Toussaint, former Prime Minister Yvon
Neptune, and the leader of the Struggling People’s Organization
(OPL), Sauveur Pierre Etienne. At least two key witnesses died
under very mysterious circumstances: one when undergoing minor
surgery at the Hospital of the State University of Haiti, and
the other while in a prison in Petit-Goâve. Important documents
in the case are missing or buried in the rubble of the Palace of
Justice in Port-au-Prince, that housed the Cabinet of
Instruction (investigating judges) prior to the earthquake of
Jan. 12, 2010.
In Dabrézil’s indictment, nine people are charged: Mirlande
Libérus, Harold Sévère, Annette Auguste (Sò An), Franco Camille,
Merité Milien, Dimsley Milien, Toussaint Mercidieu, Jeudi Jean
Daniel, and Markington Michel. Among them, two are considered to
be the gunmen, and another, an accomplice, said Michèle Montas,
the wife of the murdered journalist. She believes it is clear
that her husband was killed by powerful men in Haiti, she said
during an interview with Radio Caraïbes, also posted online on
Jan. 20, 2014.
What seems odd is that the latest ordinance from Judge Dabrézil,
as reported by Guy Delva, has indicted citizens whose names do
not appear anywhere in any of the previous ordinances in this
case. Needless to say, each government has its own examining
magistrate. And each indictment targets its own witnesses or
defendants. What a singular small country where justice is so
multi-faceted!
Why was Guy Delva given the
responsibility to make public excerpts from the report of the
Judge Yvikel Dabrézil in the case of Jean Dominique and
Jean-Claude Louissaint? Guy Delva headed a commission
established by President René Préval to shed light on the cases
of murdered journalists, but it has not been functioning for a
long time. Mr. Delva cannot today claim, as he did, to be
speaking on behalf of this long-defunct Commission and that this
is why he had access to the record of the secret investigation.
If that were the case, Mr. Delva would be occupying at least two
official functions, one of which is incompatible with the other.
In this respect, Sen. John Joël Joseph was correct to point out
that "there were clearly political maneuvers and manipulation
involved, aimed at weakening a powerful political sector as
elections approach."
For the senator, quoted by the
Haitian Press Agency on Jan. 17, 2014, there is a very close
link between the release of this information and the outcry
against former President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier on the
third anniversary of his return from golden exile in France.
Rightly, the Collective against
Impunity, an association of plaintiffs and human rights
organizations, said it deplores what it calls the
“trivialization of dictatorship” and attempts to rehabilitate
the former dictator, Jean-Claude Duvalier. The group’s
coordinator, Danielle Magloire, a victim of Duvalier, said that
"efforts are currently underway at the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights (IACHR) to reactivate the Duvalier case. These
efforts may result in obtaining a session organized by the IACHR
in March on the Duvalier case. "
The current regime, inspired by
Duvalier and his Tonton Macoutes, faced with this political
imbroglio, is trying to make a headlong flight with the case of
Jean Dominique to distract the population onto something else.
Also, the upcoming elections are a thorn in the foot of the
Martelly-Lamothe government.
The regime in place, which is
not sure to win the next election if it were free and fair, is
attempting to divert, or at the very least weaken, the Lavalas
machine, which is presently the strongest political force in the
country and, in all likelihood, would be able win any
transparent election. During the forthcoming elections, if the
regime lost its majority, built with money and promises, in the
Chamber of Deputies and could not take control of the Senate, it
would be the death knell for President Michel Martelly, who has
a sword of Damocles over his head with the Senate resolution
calling on the House of Representatives to "impeach" him and the
Prime Minister for their "responsibility in the suspicious
death" of the Magistrate Jean Serge Joseph.
President Martelly faces great
pressure to organize municipal, local, and partial senate
elections, and also for renewal of the Chamber of Deputies,
especially from the democratic opposition that constantly
demands his resignation for "failing to deliver the goods"
promised during his election campaign and for his
"totalitarianism."
So in an attempt to assure its survival, the
Martelly regime is trying to muddy the water and equate
Jean-Claude Duvalier (symbol of the dictatorship) with
Jean-Bertrand Aristide (symbol of the masses). The Martelly
regime in cahoots with a certain sector of the international
community will seek to get the Fanmi Lavalas out of the way
before organizing the upcoming elections, which will be a
crucial step for the country and for the future of the
Martelly-Lamothe regime. |
