One More Murderer Brought to Justice

Haiti Update, 13 September 1995

Justice remains the chief demand of the Haitian people and its slow implementation has been the cause of much frustration. Numerous measures are being taken in hopes of transforming the inherited corrupt system, traditionally used as an instrument of repression and terror, into a functioning judicial system.

Despite many political, financial and administrative difficulties, there have been some major advancements, in particular as some prosecutions for egregious human rights violations move forward. In one landmark case, one of several alleged authors of the cold-blooded assassination of industrialist Antoine Izmery, the attach Gerard Gustave, alias Zimbabwe, was recently tried and convicted on charges of premeditated murder, conspiracy and assassination. On August 25, 1995 he was sentenced to life in prison.

Businessman and democratic activist Antoine Izmery was murdered by a de facto government death squad in front of the Sacred Heart Church on September 11, 1993. The tragedy occurred during a mass commemorating the fifth anniversary of the massacre at Saint Jean Bosco Church, in which a group of men with machetes, sticks and guns murdered at least 12 people and wounded 80, in an attempt to assassinate Father Aristide, while soldiers stood by and watched.

There are several other people named as responsible for the murder of Izmery, among them the alleged FRAPH attach known as Gros Fanfan. The accused who have not appeared before a Judge or those who are out of the country will be judged in absentia.

Meanwhile the National Truth and Justice Commission continues to receive testimony on the thousands of killings and other human rights violations committed during the coup regime years, and prosecutors are slowly moving forward in courts around the country _ too slowly by most accounts. At least 4,000 murders committed during the coup regime remain to be investigated. The Haitian government gave amnesty to the coup leaders for usurpation of power, but not for charges of human rights violations during their regime.