HAITI: NEPTUNE/LA SYRIE CASE UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 002653

SIPDIS

SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
WHA ALSO FOR USOAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2014
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KJUS HA
SUBJECT: HAITI: NEPTUNE/LA SYRIE CASE UPDATE

REF: PAP 2574

Classified By: CDA Douglas Griffiths, REASONS 1.5(B) AND (D).


1. (C) Summary: Appeals filed by co-defendants in the La
Syrie case involving former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune have
suspended further action by the court. Citing legal
technicalities, Minister of Justice Henri Dorleans rejected a
new proposal to release the former PM either on bail or on
his own recognizance. MINUSTAH Human Rights Office chief
Thierry Fagart further complicated efforts to resolve the
case by incorrectly critizing the investigating judge's
decision to call for a trial without jury. Faggart also
broadly criticized the government's human rights performance,
provoking a predictably defensive response from the Prime
Minister. End Summary.

Visit to Neptune
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2. (U) Former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune acknowledged to
Poloff on October 7 that Office of the State Prosecutor for
St. Marc delivered the official notification of the charges
against him on September 28. He said that he refused to
confirm receipt of the package, did not read it, and left it
outside his cell door where he assumes it was put out for
trash. According to Haitian law, defendants have 10 days
from official receipt of the charges to file an appeal, a
deadline which has now lapsed. As Neptune has stated
previously, he has no plans to file an appeal. Two of the 29
co-defendants, former police Director General Jocelyne Pierre
and former Justice Minister Calixte Delatour, have already
filed appeals. The court has suspended further action on any
of the co-defendants pending its ruling on these appeals.

Dorleans Dashes Proposal
--------------


3. (C) During a meeting with Justice Minister Dorleans on
October 18, CDA Carney raised the proposal of releasing
Neptune on his personal recognizance while awaiting trial (an
idea that was originally proffered during CODEL Hoekstra's
visit to Neptune on October 10 (reftel). Dorleans explained
that in light of the appeals filed by the co-defendants, the
Court of Appeals now has the power to decide whether to
dismiss the charges or uphold the case. He noted that if the
court decided to uphold the charges and proceed with the
trial, the court could also decide to continue to detain
Neptune and the four others already in jail, or to release
them pending a trial date. The Minister reminded Charge that
at this stage in the legal process, the law does not allow
for bail or release on personal recognizance. He emphasized
that bail could only have been considered at the level of the
state prosecutor's office before the investigation began a
year ago.

UN Misinterpretes Law
--------------


4. (C) MINUSTAH Human Rights Chief Thierry Fagart commented
on the judge's La Syrie decision during a press conference on
October 14. Fagart held that the judge's decision to hold a
trial without jury (jure unique) was unconstitutional,
maintaining that Article 50 of the constitution calls for a
trial by jury in cases of blood crimes. Upon further
research into the Haitian criminal code, Poloff learned that
in cases such as La Syrie where multiple "blood crimes" were
committed (crime connexes),the law provides for a trial
without jury. Fagart also raised his concerns over whether
the town of St. Marc possessed the capacity to host the
proceedings of such a politically-sensitive case. Fagart
concluded by generally condemning the human rights situation
as "catastrophic." When asked by a reporter whether his
office could assist in finding a solution to the Neptune
impasse, Fagart offered a technical reply, stating "the
integrity and independence of the Haitian judicial process
must be respected. MINUSTAH's role is one of assistance and
not substitution." Fagart later informed Poloff that he had
transmitted his formal analysis of the judge's report on the
Neptune case to the High Commissioner for Human Rights
headquarters in Geneva. He hoped that the UN would soon
release the report with a UN position on the judge's decision.

COMMENT
--------------


5. (C) Rather than providing a detached analysis on which we
might have based a further approach to the government and
mitigated the Justice Minister's stance, Fagart's erroneous
and provocative statements prompted the Prime Minister to
reply to Fagart in kind and sidestep the issue of Neptune yet
again. We need to remind MINUSTAH leaders here and UN
leaders in New York that the UN mission must carefully weigh
its remarks on Neptune in order to break the impasse over his
case. End Comment.
GRIFFITHS