Haiti’s voice slain, but not silent

The long, painful stumble towards a functioning democracy in Haiti has had a heavy body count. Although the country rid itself of the brutal regimes of Duvalier père and fils in 1986, the legacy of oppression remains. Democracy and freedom of expression remain unpleasant issues for many of the ruling class, as demonstrated in the murder of Jean Dominique, a popular radio personality, and a station night watchman two years ago yesterday.

The Montreal-based International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, also known as Rights and Democracy, has joined with several other international groups in calling for the renewal of the investigation into the Dominique murder. “This is an important case,” says Rights and Democracy’s Mary Durran. “The ruling Lavalas government made some headway in prosecuting some military assassins, and we applaud that, but they should also judge members of the Lavalas family. In some ways, [the Dominique case] is a litmus test for Haiti’s judicial independence.”

Durran says her organization follows the lead of Haiti-based human rights organizations, and has used their reports as bases for a list of demands to the Haitian government. Among them are stripping Senator Dany Toussaint of his immunity from prosecution and the arrest of two of his security guards, Richard “Chacha” Salomon and Frank Joseph, implicated in the Dominique murder.

Resolving the murder is imperative for Haitians’ confidence in their government, Durran says. “If they can’t bring Dominique’s killers to justice,” she says, “what justice can there be for ordinary Haitians?” :

—Patrick Lejtenyi