by Kevin Pina and
Father Gerard Jean-Juste
Kevin Pina recently interviewed legendary Haitian priest and human
rights activist,
Father Gerard Jean-Juste from Miami, Florida on the
program Flashpoints heard on the Pacifica network. The following is a
transcript of the interview made possible by Kevin Salinger.
Kevin Pina: Good afternoon, this is Kevin
Pina with Flashpoints on Pacifica. Today's very special guest is my
dear friend, and a man who has fought tirelessly for justice in Haiti,
who has fought tirelessly for human rights in Haiti, Father Gerard
Jean-Juste. Father Gerard Jean-Juste is currently in Miami, he is
undergoing chemotherapy. He was, of course diagnosed with leukemia while
he was being held without charges in a Haitian jail. He was tested by
Doctor Paul Farmer, who then smuggled out his blood and diagnosed him
with leukemia. Finally the US, United Nations-backed forces, the
US-backed government, installed government of Gerard Latortue was forced
to free Father Gerard Jean-Juste to allow him to begin his medical
treatment. Father Gerard Jean-Juste, good afternoon, and welcome to
Flashpoints.
Fr. Jean-Juste: Good afternoon Kevin, good afternoon to all the listeners of Flashpoints.
Kevin Pina: Well, now you've had a little bit of time, you've been in
Miami. How are the treatments going Father, how are you feeling?
Fr. Jean-Juste: It has been improving for a while, and I feel better
now. I thank God; I thank all of you for your prayers, and for your
support. And also, I'm getting ready right now for the second cycle of
chemotherapy treatment. I have about five more cycles left, so the
first one went very well, and I hope the second one will go well too,
and the other ones, so they hope within five months I may recuperate
pretty good.
Kevin Pina: Now I know that, in theory, your case is still
pending in Haiti, but I'd like to get into that a little bit,
particularly in light of the fact that there's been a lot of talk lately
by Reporters Without Borders, and by the widow of Jean Dominique
lately, raising the question of
Jean Dominique,
in particular the involvement of Lavalas in the murder of Jean
Dominique; and I can't help but think of the parallels, in that, you of
course are accused of being involved in the kidnapping and the murder --
a preposterous accusation of course -- and the murder of Jacques Roche.
Jacques Roche was a reporter who was, really, I guess a sort of slanted
reporter, I guess there is another term for it, a reporter who worked
with the Group 184, which was, of course, the opposition group that
helped to oust President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on February 29, 2004.
But Father, I don't think that we ever really heard from you. How did
you feel when you first heard this preposterous accusation against you? I
know you must have felt it was preposterous.
Fr. Jean-Juste: Definitely, definitely, it was ridiculous to charge me with
such a preposterous accusation. I was in Miami on business, and then I
returned to Haiti on the 15th, two days or three days after the Jacques
Roche assassination. So I had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with
Jacques Roche. Of course, now they are looking for a way to get rid of
me, to shut my mouth, and also to stop Lavalas from participating in
the election, in order for them to go to the elections and carry all
the posts. But, unfortunately for them, and fortunately for us, within
time the case of Jacques Roche has been dying -- inaudible -- because
the search found nothing about us, they dropped the charges. But I
would like to see Jacques Roche obtain justice, in the sense that they
should try to find the true killers and go after them, and bring
justice to the case. But now we have to ask the question: who was the
true killers of Jacques Roche? Because it seems to me this is a
political killing in order to capitalize, in order to benefit out of
the exploitation of the death of Jacques Roche. And this is the
beginning of what we call the "arming of ti machet." That was the first
in a series where we've been attacked at the church, it was something
plain, by some officers of the de facto government, and later on we
discovered that the death squad was in full speed going after Lavalas
people, even at the soccer game, organized, or sponsored by the USAID,
where so many Lavalas people have been assassinated and killed in cold
blood. So I guess there was a -- inaudible -- going on, and they were
looking for a way to trap us Lavalas, and put everything on our back,
and then get rid of Lavalas. So they have failed, Lavalas has survived,
and now we hope we will keep moving forward, obtain justice, not only
for myself, but for the other political prisoners, and for everyone
else accused falsely in the case.
Kevin Pina: It seems so hard though to figure out the truth
and to be able get justice, when people seem to politicize incidents
like this, and use it as a tool of political persecution against those
who are associated with Lavalas. Of course there's the most recent
example of your own where you were not involved with Jacques Roche, but
yet we know that the minister of culture under the Latortue government
got up and accused you personally, accused Lavalas of involvement.
Without any proof it was printed in the media, in the mainstream media
and in the Haitian press, and there were very few questions raised as
far as the validity of it until you were finally released when the
charges were dropped. But I can't help but also think about the Jean
Dominique case.
 |
| ©2000 Michelle Karshan - Demonstration in memory of Jean Dominique at Radio Haiti Inter April 3, 2000 - Sò Anne participated in demonstration outside Radio Haiti Inter to protest the murder of Jean Dominique the day before. Reporters
Without Borders aledged that Sò Anne played a role in the Dominique
assassination, this is the first time that her name has ever come up as a
"suspect." |
And now I hear about Michelle Montas, who of course I have respect
for, and I hear Reporters Without Borders who I have very little
respect for, bringing up the Jean Dominique case again. But I also
remember when those same forces had accused President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide of having given Senator Dany Toussaint the order to have Jean
Dominique, Haiti's most famous journalist, assassinated. I remember
quite clearly, everyone, the political line was President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide gave Senator Dany Toussaint the order to kill Jean Dominique.
And yet, Senator Dany Toussaint, in the recent presidential elections,
ran as a candidate for the presidency, and nobody said a word about it
again. But yet the damage had been done. Father, can you help us to
understand how these sorts of mysterious murders are used for political
reasons, for a tool of political persecution against Lavalas, how
accusations are made, peoples' lives are destroyed, and then suddenly we
find out that what they told us was the truth, wasn't the truth.
Fr. Jean-Juste: Yeah, it is unfortunate Kevin that in Haitian politics,
some politician can do anything to blame, or to condemn the opponent,
the adversaries. So, this is a very bad practice. It reminds me of the
tactic on the international level, once in awhile we see that whenever
they want to create a problem for a president, for a party, for a
group, they manage to get somebody killed, and then they manage to
blame some group they want to get rid of. In French we always say that
-- speaking in French -- we say that whenever we want to get rid of
somebody, just look for an alibi, look for a case we hear of murder,
and put it on the back of the person, and then we make propaganda about
it. So it is unfortunate. And in the case of Jean Dominique, Jean was a
Lavalas, strong Lavalas, and helping the peasants, helping the poorest
ones. And who should profit off the killing of Jean? Who should profit
off getting rid of such a great journalist? You understand, so they use
Jean to put pressure on the Lavalas government. It's like having a
family, where someone will try to kill the son or the daughter of the
family, and now try to blame the whole family for the killing. It is
ridiculous. So in that sense, we are putting it so Jean Dominique could
obtain justice. But I think that Reporters Without Borders is just using
the case for their own purpose. Understand that the last three years we
heard nothing about the case. Why is it now coming back again on the
scene? It seems that every time a Lavalas, comes back- is running, they
try to bring up something in order to stop the government of the people.
Kevin Pina: And of course Reporters Without Borders said absolutely nothing,
or very little about this thing of Abdias Jean. You know we don't know,
there's no clear evidence who killed Jean Dominique, but we know that
there were eyewitnesses who say that the Haitian police summarily
executed Abdias Jean in January 2005, in the neighborhood of Cite de
Dieu. We know that for a fact.
Fr. Jean-Juste: Yeah, that's true. Unfortunately, this is the type of
reporting we have coming from France. And understand that some French
officials have been helping some Haitian students in order to make them
rise against the Lavalas government all the time. And because President
Aristide was apparently asking for France to repair it, to repair, to
uh -
Kevin Pina: Give reparations.
Fr. Jean-Juste: - for reparations, and they [owe] 22 billion dollars to
Haiti, and France refused, and in that case, I guess Reporters Sans
Frontiers is trying to think ahead, to make us forget what we are
looking for. We're looking for reparations, we're looking for
restitution, and I think its about time that France stop- and deal
frankly with the issue, otherwise, they cannot understand the issue.
We're still alive, and probably after Jacques Chirac or some other
government, we'll still continue to demand reparations and restitution,
and we will gain justice someday.
Kevin Pina: Now you know, sometimes it almost seems like a cultural war for
me. When I see the attacks, the character assassination on leadership
of Lavalas, when I see the attempt to destroy the reputation of
Lavalas, when I see the attempt to paint it with a wide brush stroke,
that it was a violent movement at the behest of Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
the dictator of Haiti, all of this sort of propaganda machine within
culture. And a latest example is this film that was just released,
which I haven't seen yet, but the main theme of it, its called Ghosts
of Cite Soleil, its produced by the son of Jorgen Leth, Asgar Leth.
Jorgen Leth of course was the former Danish honorary counsel to Haiti,
who had to resign because he had written a book that detailed his
sexual exploits with his 17-year-old house servant, and that created a
very moral uproar and he had to resign from that position. But his son
Asgar Leth now has produced a film called Ghosts of Cite Soleil, in
which he now chronicles the exploits of two gang leaders in Cite Soleil
called Tupac and Billy. And according to this film, there are these
phone calls that are made reportedly, in this film, that say that they
are being made by those close to Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who is getting
leadership to the gangs in Cite Soleil to go out and kill the
opposition. Father Gerard Jean-Juste, I've never asked you this
question before: what is your opinion about the accusations that have
been leveled against Jean-Bertrand Aristide, that he was using the
state to sponsor violence against the opposition in Haiti?
Fr. Jean-Juste: Well its completely false, its completely propaganda, its
completely unjust doing that to President Aristide. The president was
elected by the people, the president was well-loved by the people, by
most Haitians, as the president was being so good to the poorest ones
in Haiti by offering education to everyone, regardless that the
international community had stopped all aid, all assistance to
President Aristide as well as President Preval in the past; and these
presidents, loved by the people, had managed to offer maximum services
to the people. And that is the reason that now we have so many people
coming out, still supporting these Lavalas presidents. So I guess the
enemy should take a lesson, instead of trying to destroy all those who
want good for the grassroots, who want good for the people in general,
who want good for everyone in general, rich or poor, who want
possibilities for the poor, want - going after these good Haitians; and
I think they should, instead, try to find ways to bring cooperation and
help us better the life of the people. That's the way how I see it, but
unfortunately we have a long way to go to make these people, to make the
enemies of the Haitian people understand that. Its not the proper way to
live, its not the proper way to operate, and they should come on the
side of the people. So we hope with our prayers, with our discipline,
we shall convince them, someday they will change. That's why hope, or
otherwise I'll see why people who are educated, who are supposed to
know better, will go in a way of -- inaudible -- that leads to the
assassination of so many Haitian brothers and sisters. And President
Aristide, he is loved by the Haitian people, not because he is
President, or because he has done something great, its because he has
shown complete love for the people. Poor people can enter the palace
and eat with the president, and party with the president, as well as
rich people. So President Aristide has been opening his arms and heart
to everyone. So at the moment that the people have tasted this type of
service, this type of offer coming from the president -
Kevin Pina: Open government.
Fr. Jean-Juste: - from the government -- you can do whatever you want, they
will give their life for the movement, because the movement is in their
advantage, giving them more dignity, and more hope, and improve their
living. So that's the best way to operate. The best way to operate is
completely to come with some services that allow people to receive
basic human needs. So this is the best way, and you're going to have
the Haitian people with you forever. But the other ways, exploiting
them, killing them, and telling them nonsense -- they won't accept any
of that nonsense.
Kevin Pina: You know Father, there seems to be a revision of history going on
as well. People seem to be wanting to sweep under the rug what life has
been like in Haiti the past two years, which I can only describe as a
human rights hell. But I wonder if you could just help our listeners to
understand, if you could describe, define what the last two years have
been like in Haiti before the elections, after the coup against
Aristide, February 29, 2004. How would you describe that period of
history, Father.
Fr. Jean-Juste: Well as you just were referring, it was hell in Haiti,
cause, imagine that we had a democratic government functioning, and in
effect, within the international community, they come together and,
with some putchist leaders, coup leaders, and they get rid of this
elected president. And that has been quite a blow to us Haitians. So
many innocent people have been killed for nothing, and the people who
have survived have received no services at all, and all the public
places that were built, to serve the people, to welcome them -- the
parks, the public institutions in education, meant to serve the people
-- everything has been either destroyed or disappeared. And so the de
facto government that has been imposed on us the last two years has
received more assistance from that sector of the international
community -- from the international community at large, I should say --
and has done nothing for the people in concrete. Look at Haiti now: they
are still without electricity, no woods, and no food for the people, and
-- inaudible -- it's very expensive. And on the human rights level
forget it. The jails are overcrowded with innocent people, most of them
Lavalas people. And so this is a situation where they have tried to
force a government in the throat of the people, and the people have
stood up and thwarted them. So I think we have a great lesson today,
and Haiti should never, never live such a sad, hellish moment, like
we've had the last two years, in its history. So we have to find ways
now to make democracy a growing, and find ways to make sure that human
rights of all in Haiti are respected, and find ways to correct whatever
wrong has been done by the previous de facto government, and move ahead
to see if we can bring as many Haitians -- to bring them together, as
many as possible, and to rebuild this beautiful country God has given
us. So that's the way how I see it, because it is true that I'm not
able to speak more, but you know, in the condition I'm now, I'm in the
middle of treatment and I'm taking a lot of medication right now.
Kevin Pina: I understand Father. This is Kevin Pina on Flashpoints on
Pacifica, our guest today is Father Gerard Jean-Juste. Now Father
they've set you free to undergo chemotherapy for lymphatic leukemia,
which of course is very dangerous. They had held you to the point where
it had become life-threatening, and of course your treatment had to
commence immediately. But technically you're still a political
prisoner, because technically after your treatment you're supposed to
return to Haiti. Is that right?
Fr. Jean-Juste: Yes, I'm looking forward to returning to Haiti. As far as
my case is concerned, in order to send me for treatment the government
wanted to pardon me. I said, what have I done to deserve a pardon? So I
am the one who went on appeal. I'm going on appeal, and I would like to
win the case all the way, all the way, and I won't back off until I
receive justice from the government of Haiti, probably now would be
under government under Preval administration, yeah.
Kevin Pina: Well I can't thank you enough Father Gerard Jean-Juste. God bless
you sir and thank you so much for your time. Please take care.
Fr. Jean-Juste: Thank you very much Kevin. My greeting to all the
listeners, and I hope God bless every one of us. Thank you.
