Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PORTAUPRINCE669
2006-04-12 15:46:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Port Au Prince
Cable title:  

HAITI: NEPTUNE CASE STALEMATED

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL HA 
pdf how-to read a cable
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O 121546Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2797
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 1009
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0856
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC 0444
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1218
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0879
RUEHPU/USDAO PORT AU PRINCE HA
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000669 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA)
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL HA
SUBJECT: HAITI: NEPTUNE CASE STALEMATED

REF: PAP 0479

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JANET A. SANDERSON, REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000669

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA)
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL HA
SUBJECT: HAITI: NEPTUNE CASE STALEMATED

REF: PAP 0479

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JANET A. SANDERSON, REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D).


1. (C) Summary: Embassy reports indicate that the health of
former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune continues to decline as
both he and Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue remain
locked in a stalemate. The interim government is willing to
broker a humanitarian release deal, provided that the
government obtain medical confirmation of his grave medical
state and a formal request for release from Neptune or a
legal representative (similar to the formula followed in the
humanitarian release of Father Gerard Jean-Juste). Neptune
has refused to cooperate with either request that would lead
to his release on humanitarian grounds and denied any deal
that would shed a favorable light on the interim government
in its last days. Ambassador, UN SRSG Valdes, Canadian
Ambassador Boucher, and other local representatives of the
international community have increased pressure on PM
Latortue recently to reach an agreement but to no avail. At
this point, there are more obstacles than solutions on the
horizon for resolving Neptune's case. End Summary.


2. (C) Despite signals last month that he would be receptive
to a release deal, Neptune has become further entrenched in
his uncooperative stance (reftel). Emboffs received word
from UN officials that Neptune's health had taken a turn for
the worse during the last week of March which emboffs visit
appeared to confirm. The former PM's wife, Marie-Jose
Neptune, returned to Haiti on March 31 and has visited her
husband daily since then. During a meeting with Ambassador
Sanderson on April 4, Mrs. Neptune confirmed that since she
last saw him in May 2005, her husband's condition had
declined considerably due to his continued hunger strike.
She said that she didn't expect him to last much longer.
Indeed, he had provided her with details for the disposition
of his body. Mrs. Neptune told the Ambassador they both felt
that they had been burned in the past by the interim

government. She said that in previous deals, when it
appeared his release was confirmed, the deal would always
fall through at the last minute through some fault of the
government. She said her husband was tired of playing games
and that he adopted his position of refusing to cooperate
since Summer of 2005. She urged the Ambassador, however, to
try again with Latortue to reach a solution.


3. (C) Ambassador met with PM Latortue on April 7 to press
him further on resolving Neptune's case. Latortue
acknowledged that Neptune's health has apparently worsened
and expressed concern that Neptune might die on his watch.
He didn't believe that it would benefit the Preval government
to inherit this situation. Latortue continued to push the
"Jean Juste" formula of a lawyer requesting a humanitarian
release and a medical certificate stating that the inmate's
health is in jeopardy. He suggested to Ambassador that the
lawyer need not be an actual representative of Neptune rather
an "interested outsider" like an Amnesty International
lawyer. Latortue stressed that this legal step was
non-negotiable because the President (and Chief of Cabinet
Michel Brunache) insisted on following some type of legal
procedure. Ambassador encouraged Latortue to look at the big
picture and the blemish that Neptune's death would leave on
his legacy once he departed Haiti. Indeed, an issue that
could follow him to the U.S. Latortue said that he was aware
of that aspect but said that his hands were tied.


4. (C) Poloff explored the possibility raised by Latortue of
an international legal representative with Mrs. Neptune. She
said that "the international community can do whatever it
wants but without her husband's cooperation." She said that
after SRSG Valdes spoke to her husband on April 7 asking him
to consent to a medical evaluation, he became extremely upset
and depressed and remained so for the entire weekend. She
said that she realizes the international community is
determined to work with the interim government but that she
and her husband know that they are only interested in a
humanitarian release for political gain and to boost their

PORT AU PR 00000669 002 OF 002


image on the world stage as its mandate terminates.


5. (C) Comment: Unfortunately, Neptune's case has become
another in a series of Haitian standoffs. The government
won't budge on the necessity for a legal basis for his
release and Neptune won't cooperate with anything. Post will
continue to explore the option of international legal
representation for Neptune and inform of local efforts of
other international missions. If the case is not resolved in
the next four weeks, it will be on Preval's agenda to
resolve, provided that Neptune survives that long. End
Comment.
SANDERSON