HAITI: FATHER JEAN-JUSTE, THE PM, AND THE FOMIN

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL HA
SUBJECT: HAITI: FATHER JEAN-JUSTE, THE PM, AND THE FOMIN

REF: PAP 0110

Classified By: CDA TIMOTHY M. CARNEY, REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D).


1. (C) On 14 January Charge stressed to Prime Minister Gerard
Latortue the need to transfer Father Gerard Jean-Juste from
Haiti for medical treatment in the U.S. for what is clearly a
genuine and serious illness (reftel). In Charge's presence,
the PM then called Justice Minister Henri Dorleans for a
legal update on the case and to make the point that the
interim government would look better in the eyes of the
international community if the government allowed Father
Jean-Juste to seek treatment abroad. Dorleans accepted the
urgency of the matter, according to the PM, but said that
such a decision would be unprecedented in Haitian
jurisprudence. Dorleans asserted that it is likely that
Jean-Juste's case would be decided this week and that the
government could then grant him amnesty and he could leave
the country to seek treatment (COMMENT: The Haitian judicial
system is not likely to operate with such alacrity. END
COMMENT). Charge wondered if the IGOH needed to make the
point to the investigating judge that Father Jean-Juste could
go abroad for treatment, expecting him to return at the end
of it. Latortue relayed the notion to the Justice Minister
who said he would update the PM when they meet at the High
Counsel of National Police (CSPN) meeting on 17 January.


2. (C) On 17 January, upon departing discussions with Foreign
Minister Herard Abraham on "Baby Doc" Duvalier's passport
issuance (septel),Charge took the occasion to enlist
Abraham's assistance in persuading his fellow cabinet members
to push for Jean-Juste's release for treatment. Abraham
expressed a completely personal view that the interim
government should allow Father Jean-Juste to seek treatment
rather than risk a deterioration of his health and eventual
death in prison in Haiti, thereby conferring a martyr-like
status upon him and creating more problems for the interim
government. Abraham said that he thought it would be better
for the interim government to permit Jean-Juste to go to the
U.S., under the condition that he be made to return to Haiti
to participate in any judicial proceedings once completing
his treatment. Abraham reasoned that if Jean-Juste caused
any problems while in the U.S. for treatment, then he would
be a problem for the U.S. authorities and not for the interim
government.
TCARNEY