"The Witch Hunt Intensifies in Haiti"

by Justin Felux,
www.dissidentvoice.org
July 3, 2004

The witch hunt against pro-democracy activists in Haiti intensified this week with the arrest of Yvon Neptune. Neptune served as Prime Minister under the democratically elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. After a violent military coup drove Aristide from power, Neptune became a prime target for anti-government militants. His home was looted and burned. Rebel leader Guy Philippe led a mob in a march on his office. After the installation of Gerard Latortue's puppet regime, Neptune, along with other former officials, was barred from leaving the country. Fearing for his life, he went in to hiding. News that his arrest warrant had been issued came shortly after he publicly denounced the new government's policies.

The authorities allege that Neptune was the mastermind of a "massacre" in the town of St. Marc during February. The sole basis for this allegation seems to be a report issued by the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR), a "human rights" organization with close ties to Lavalas opponents and Washington. The NCHR is notorious for its overt political bias and its troubling tendency to tell outright lies. NCHR director Pierre Espérance alleged that fifty people were killed in the "massacre." Subsequent investigations only turned up five bodies, and the circumstances of their deaths were unclear. When asked by AHP about the absence of bodies, Espérance claimed they had been devoured by hungry dogs. "As for the bones, they suffered the same fate", he said.
Full Article : dissidentvoice.org