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08/10/2004:

"Fighting for Justice and Democracy in Haiti   "

by Brian Concannon Jr. and Anthony Fenton zmag.org
Fenton:Why did you feel it was necessary to form the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti [IJDH]?[1]

Concannon:The IJDH was formed in response to both the unconstitutional regime change in Haiti in February and the inadequate response, by civil society both inside and outside of Haiti. Our mission is to promote democracy and human rights in Haiti, and we have three main areas of activity: working with grassroots groups in Haiti and the solidarity community abroad,; documenting human rights abuses in Haiti and disseminating that information; and pursuing legal actions in Haitian and international courts to support the democratization of Haiti and to help victims of human rights abuses find justice.

Fenton:Are there any cases that you are actively pursuing right now?

Concannon:Yes. We have lawyers on the ground who are trying to get political prisoners out of jail; we’ve had some successes, there have been some people released out of jail; we hope that by applying pressure in the US and working within the system that we can get the justice system to recognize detainee’s rights under Haitian and International law.

So far it’s been an uphill battle, but we’re going to keep working on that. full article