Gérard Jean-Juste
Encyclopedia
Fr. Gérard Jean-Juste was a Roman Catholic priest
and rector
of Saint Claire's church for the poor in Port-au-Prince
, Haiti
. He was also a liberation theologian
and a supporter of the Fanmi Lavalas
political party, the largest in Haiti. In 1978, Father Jean-Juste founded the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami, Florida
, United States. He was characterized as a beloved figure among South Florida's Haitian community.
He gained renown throughout Haiti and the Haitian diaspora
as a determined opponent of the interim government of Prime Minister Gérard Latortue
. Gérard Latortue
's de facto rule came about after the violent overthrow of the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide
by anti-government rebels (see 2004 Haiti rebellion).
In November 2004, he was released from prison by police after seven weeks in incarceration, following outcries of opposition to his incarceration.
. This was despite the fact that Jean-Juste was not present in Haiti at the times of both Roche's abduction (July 10) and the discovery of his mutilated, bullet-riddled body (July 14). No evidence was presented against Jean-Juste, and it was widely understood that the trial was politically motivated by unelected officials in the interim regime. Jean-Juste, who had appeared at Roche's funeral to pay his respects, was mobbed, assaulted, and accused of being involved in the murder by Roche's family immediately following the service.
On July 28, 2005, Amnesty International
named Jean-Juste a "prisoner of conscience".
He also emerged as a potential candidate for the Fanmi Lavalas
party in the 2006 General elections in Haiti
which, after several postponements, took place on February 7, 2006.
In August 2005, officials of the Fanmi Lavalas party threatened to boycott the elections if Jean-Juste and other alleged political prisoners were not released. They believed Jean-Juste's arrest, made by the opposition-controlled interim government, was an effort to prevent Lavalas from again prevailing in elections. In September 2005, Lavalas attempted to register the incarcerated Jean-Juste as a candidate for President, but the attempt was were denied. The provisional electoral council said that Haitian electoral law required all candidates to register in person. On February 7, 2005, Jean-Juste formally endorsed René Préval
.
In late December 2005, a U.S. medical doctor confirmed a colleague's initial diagnosis that Jean-Juste had cancer
. After examining Jean-Juste and analyzing a blood sample drawn from him, prominent Harvard University
physician and Aristide supporter Paul Farmer
said Jean-Juste had chronic lymphocytic leukemia
. Farmer said the disease was not immediately fatal, but can develop into a more virulent strain of cancer. He told the Miami Herald, "Father Gerry's in serious trouble if he isn't released from jail to receive proper medical attention in the United States."
Fr. Jean-Juste was represented legally by Haitian human rights lawyer Mario Joseph of the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux
and by Bill Quigley, a professor at Loyola New Orleans Law School and a volunteer lawyer for the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
. On January 26, 2006, a judge dropped charges against Jean-Juste regarding the death of Roche. However, Jean-Juste was indicted on two lesser counts of weapons possession and conspiracy, according to Jean-Juste's lawyer, Mario Joseph.
On January 29, 2006, Jean-Juste, after having been granted temporary release by the interim Haitian government, arrived in Miami to receive medical treatment for his leukemia.
On September 11, 2006, the University of San Francisco
conferred an Honorary Doctorate degree on Fr. Jean-Juste to recognize his human rights and social justice work on behalf of Haiti's poor.
On November 26, 2007, the Court of Appeals of Port-au-Prince heard Jean-Juste's challenges to the remaining charges against him- weapons possession and criminal conspiracy. Jean-Juste declared that "my rosary is my only weapon." The prosecutor even conceded that there was no evidence in the file against Jean-Juste, and asked that the charges be dismissed. Although Jean-Juste's appeal was filed 22 months previously, the Haitian Appeals Court judges declined to dismiss the case on the grounds that they needed more time to consider it. Large crowds of Fanmi Lavalas supporters gathered to cheer on the Jean-Juste.
In a June 2008 interview with HaitiAnalysis, Jean-Juste confirmed that all charges had been dropped against him.
Fr. Jean-Juste died on May 27, 2009, in Florida after a long illness.
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
and rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of Saint Claire's church for the poor in Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
. He was also a liberation theologian
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
and a supporter of the Fanmi Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas is a leftist political party in Haiti. Its leader is former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 1991. Fanmi Lavalas governments supported a policy of "growth with equity" based on Caribbean and Western European social...
political party, the largest in Haiti. In 1978, Father Jean-Juste founded the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, United States. He was characterized as a beloved figure among South Florida's Haitian community.
He gained renown throughout Haiti and the Haitian diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
as a determined opponent of the interim government of Prime Minister Gérard Latortue
Gérard Latortue
Gérard Latortue was the Prime Minister of Haïti from March 12, 2004 to June 9, 2006. He was an official in the United Nations for many years, and briefly served as foreign minister of Haïti during the short-lived 1988 administration of Leslie Manigat.In February 2004, the country suffered a coup...
. Gérard Latortue
Gérard Latortue
Gérard Latortue was the Prime Minister of Haïti from March 12, 2004 to June 9, 2006. He was an official in the United Nations for many years, and briefly served as foreign minister of Haïti during the short-lived 1988 administration of Leslie Manigat.In February 2004, the country suffered a coup...
's de facto rule came about after the violent overthrow of the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Catholic priest and politician who served as Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies...
by anti-government rebels (see 2004 Haiti rebellion).
In November 2004, he was released from prison by police after seven weeks in incarceration, following outcries of opposition to his incarceration.
2005 Arrest by Interim Government
On July 21, 2005, following a return a trip from Miami, Florida Jean-Juste was arrested by police in Haiti in connection with the abduction and murder in Haiti of journalist Jacques RocheJacques Roche
Jacques Roche was a prominent journalist and poet of Haiti. He was kidnapped on July 11, 2005, and was found dead on July 14, 2005. Television footage showed him tied to a chair and mutilated. Police say he was tortured, his tongue cut out, then shot....
. This was despite the fact that Jean-Juste was not present in Haiti at the times of both Roche's abduction (July 10) and the discovery of his mutilated, bullet-riddled body (July 14). No evidence was presented against Jean-Juste, and it was widely understood that the trial was politically motivated by unelected officials in the interim regime. Jean-Juste, who had appeared at Roche's funeral to pay his respects, was mobbed, assaulted, and accused of being involved in the murder by Roche's family immediately following the service.
On July 28, 2005, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
named Jean-Juste a "prisoner of conscience".
He also emerged as a potential candidate for the Fanmi Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas is a leftist political party in Haiti. Its leader is former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 1991. Fanmi Lavalas governments supported a policy of "growth with equity" based on Caribbean and Western European social...
party in the 2006 General elections in Haiti
Haitian elections, 2006
The 2006 elections in Haiti, to replace the interim government of Gérard Latortue put in place after the 2004 Haiti rebellion, were delayed four times after having been originally scheduled for October and November 2005. The elections finally took place on February 7, 2006, with turnout of around 60%...
which, after several postponements, took place on February 7, 2006.
In August 2005, officials of the Fanmi Lavalas party threatened to boycott the elections if Jean-Juste and other alleged political prisoners were not released. They believed Jean-Juste's arrest, made by the opposition-controlled interim government, was an effort to prevent Lavalas from again prevailing in elections. In September 2005, Lavalas attempted to register the incarcerated Jean-Juste as a candidate for President, but the attempt was were denied. The provisional electoral council said that Haitian electoral law required all candidates to register in person. On February 7, 2005, Jean-Juste formally endorsed René Préval
René Préval
René Garcia Préval is a Haitian politician and agronomist who was the President of the Republic of Haiti from 14 May 2006 to 14 May 2011. He previously served as President from February 7, 1996, to February 7, 2001, and as Prime Minister from February 1991 to October 11, 1991.-Early life and...
.
In late December 2005, a U.S. medical doctor confirmed a colleague's initial diagnosis that Jean-Juste had cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. After examining Jean-Juste and analyzing a blood sample drawn from him, prominent Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
physician and Aristide supporter Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer
Dr. Paul Edward Farmer is an American anthropologist and physician. He is currently the Kolokotrones University Professor at Harvard University, formerly the Presley Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an attending physician and Chief...
said Jean-Juste had chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
. Farmer said the disease was not immediately fatal, but can develop into a more virulent strain of cancer. He told the Miami Herald, "Father Gerry's in serious trouble if he isn't released from jail to receive proper medical attention in the United States."
Fr. Jean-Juste was represented legally by Haitian human rights lawyer Mario Joseph of the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux
Bureau des Avocats Internationaux
The Bureau des Avocats Internationaux is a public interest law office located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, founded in 1995. Its mission is to work with victims of human rights violations to force open the doors of Haiti's justice system for the majority of Haitians who are poor...
and by Bill Quigley, a professor at Loyola New Orleans Law School and a volunteer lawyer for the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
The Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti is a non-profit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA that seeks to accompany the people of Haiti in their non-violent struggle for the consolidation of constitutional democracy, justice and human rights. IJDH distributes information on...
. On January 26, 2006, a judge dropped charges against Jean-Juste regarding the death of Roche. However, Jean-Juste was indicted on two lesser counts of weapons possession and conspiracy, according to Jean-Juste's lawyer, Mario Joseph.
On January 29, 2006, Jean-Juste, after having been granted temporary release by the interim Haitian government, arrived in Miami to receive medical treatment for his leukemia.
On September 11, 2006, the University of San Francisco
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco , is a private, Jesuit/Catholic university located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1855, USF was established as the first university in San Francisco. It is the second oldest institution for higher learning in California and the tenth-oldest university of...
conferred an Honorary Doctorate degree on Fr. Jean-Juste to recognize his human rights and social justice work on behalf of Haiti's poor.
On November 26, 2007, the Court of Appeals of Port-au-Prince heard Jean-Juste's challenges to the remaining charges against him- weapons possession and criminal conspiracy. Jean-Juste declared that "my rosary is my only weapon." The prosecutor even conceded that there was no evidence in the file against Jean-Juste, and asked that the charges be dismissed. Although Jean-Juste's appeal was filed 22 months previously, the Haitian Appeals Court judges declined to dismiss the case on the grounds that they needed more time to consider it. Large crowds of Fanmi Lavalas supporters gathered to cheer on the Jean-Juste.
In a June 2008 interview with HaitiAnalysis, Jean-Juste confirmed that all charges had been dropped against him.
Fr. Jean-Juste died on May 27, 2009, in Florida after a long illness.
External links
- Miami Herald Article, August 2005 (Link dead as of 03:02, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- sevenoaksmag.com
- HaitiAction.Net
- The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haïti
- Haiti Action Committee
- HaitiAnalysis Articles on Father Jean-Juste appeared frequently.