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Haitian Senate must lift Senator Toussaint's immunity - 23 November 2001
The organisations are concerned that "more than three months since the judicial authorities passed on Judge Claudy Gassant's request for Senator Dany Toussaint's immunity to be lifted, the Senate has still not followed up on it." The letter continues, "a parliamentary commission has been formed to study the request and take the advice of experts", but remarks that "the tens of thousands of citizens who have demanded justice for Jean Dominique over the last 20 months will not countenance the death of rights and justice at the hands of experts' quibbles experts and delaying tactics." The ten organisations call on Senator Neptune and the Haitian Senate to "have the courage to take a historic position", and to "send a clear signal that impunity in Haiti is over." The text of the letter in English follows:
Dear Senator Yvon Neptune, President of the Senate, We, the undersigned organisations, concerned with supporting the rights and freedoms of the media in Haiti, want to ask you and your colleagues in the Senate to take all the necessary action to advance the inquiry into the assassinations of the journalist, Jean Dominique, and the Radio Haiti Inter guard, Jean-Claude Louissant. It is nearly 20 months since Dominique and Louissant were killed in the courtyard of Radio Haiti Inter, a station time and again closed down, machine-gunned and smashed up during dictatorships and successive military regimes in Haiti. Today, more than three months after the judicial authorities forwarded the investigating judge Claudy Gassant's request asking for Senator Dany Toussaint's parliamentary immunity to be lifted in connection with the assassinations, the Senate has not followed up on it. A parliamentary commission has been formed to consider this request and to rule on it according to the advice of experts. The heavy responsibility for obtaining justice following the assassination of Jean Dominique, this pro-democracy militant, is now in the hands of the Senate. This responsibility does not mean that the latter is called upon to transform itself into a court to judge the innocence or guilt of an accused. Rather, the request to the Senate is to exercise its will as an independent authority with a view to taking a decision on the facts relevant to an ongoing investigation. President Neptune, allow us to comment on the importance of this case which is not only a question of justice but also one of institutions. In effect, the decision to be taken will not only permit the unblocking of a judicial case that is heavy with repercussions for Senator Toussaint, who must clear away the suspicions of his guilt. It also has serious implications for the Senate itself, for this institution cannot for the sake of its own credibility be complicit in a denial of justice. The tens of thousands of citizens who have demanded justice for Jean Dominique over the last 20 months will not countenance the death of rights and justice at the hands of experts' quibbles and delaying tactics. In that you are President of the Senate as well as the interim head of the Lavalas Family Party, you have a double responsibility in this symbolic case. In order that judicial inquiry moves forward, the institution over which you preside must now respond positively and urgently to the investigating judge's request by lifting Senator Toussaint's parliamentary immunity. Senator Neptune, the current situation demands courage - the courage to take a historic position. We hope therefore that the Senate has the courage to send a clear signal that impunity in Haiti is over. We send our best regards and assure you of our respect,
Charles Arthur
Bobson Wong
Rev. Randy L. Naylor
Msgr. Patrick Anthony
Colette Craven
Claire-Lise Zaugg
Luc Claessens
Xavier Jadoul
Fr. Jo Hanssens
Emmanuel Fleureau
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