A Visit With Father Gerard Jean-Juste, Incarcerated Servant of the Poor

Fr. Jerry Jean-Juste (Photo by Joe Zelenka)

In the early 2000s, Maria and I used to attend Mass at Fr. Jerry Jean-Juste's church in Ti Kazo, a neighborhood in Port-au-Prince.

Fr. Jerry was the Martin Luther King, Jr. of Haiti. Years before he had escaped the Duvaliers and lived in the United States. While in the States for two decades, he worked in Miami on behalf of Haitians in Haiti and in the United States. 

Fr. Jerry returned to Haiti in the early 90s and lived underground. However, when the time was right, he started his parish in Ti Kazo. 

The man radiated courage. But as a member of the Lavalas party, he always had to be careful.  Fr. Jerry gave his homilies on Sunday over the radio so that he could not be accused of sanctioning violence. 

I wrote this about Fr. Jerry after he was arrested on trumped-up charges in November 2005--- 

He fled Baby Doc. He worked the streets in Miami. He never really got a parish but the Miami bishop liked him. He worked with boat people that slopped up onto the beach and couldn't draw triangles. He came back to Haiti after Jean-Claude became a gambler on the Riviera. He lived underground. He finally got his own church and set up a feeding program for kids and adults. He preached nonviolence and justice for the poor. He demanded that Haiti's democratically elected president return from his exile. His homilies were on the radio and went all over Haiti. He lived alone above the sacristy and finally was pulled out through a broken glass window of his church as three kids in his feeding program were being shot as they ran away from the men in black. He got out of jail and then was thrown back in accused of being the killer and torturer of a man as he was preparing to say the dead man's funeral mass. The people in the church spit on him and beat him. A lady who had laid in the morgue a few days before laid on his body and stopped the blows and the bullets that were ready for him.

A few warriors from his parish in Ti Kazo visit him in prison. And some indestructible church ladies bring him food from his own feeding program. But Haitian priests and bishops don't visit because they are part of the State and part of the problem. 

---

In December 2005, Maria and I visited Fr. Jerry in the Haitian prison a few times. And on one visit, he scribbled the following on a scrap of paper and we took it with us to make it available to the media.  

In the message,  Father Jerry did not think he had long to live. But he wrote that he was remaining faithful to the end. 

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Father Jerry always seemed very good in jail. He seemed like he was in charge rather than a prisoner.  On one occasion, I gave him a pair of reading glasses and he looked like a "professional" with them on. 

During one visit, Father Jerry told me that since he was slapped around by the Haitian police who had arrested him in his own parish in July, he had had neck pain and asked me if I would check him. 

When I palpated father's neck muscles in the front of his neck, I immediately stumbled onto a few large mobile masses that had a rubbery feel to them. Also, in both axillary regions, he had the same ominous large nodes. 

I glanced at Maria while feeling these large lymph nodes. These nodes did not feel like tubercular lymph nodes and were not hard and matted down like metastatic solid cancer lymph nodes. These nodes felt like they were leukemic or lymphomatous (blood cancer) in origin. Father did feel pain when he turned his head due to the enlarged nodes. Often, when people discover an enlarged lymph node due to cancer, they attribute it to recent trauma they have had. And Father Jerry attributed his neck pain to the trauma of being beaten by the Haitian police six months earlier when he was arrested.

After the quick prison exam, I asked father if he had labs drawn and he said that he did and called the guards to bring him his medical dossier. 

Scanning his complete blood count, which was typed on a white piece of paper from a lab in downtown Port-au-Prince, his labs appeared completely normal except for a somewhat low white blood cell count. I wondered if these lab results had been altered so they would appear better than they really were.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Haitian Priest and Prisoner...Who Cares?

Subject: Haiti and Father Gerard Jean-Juste

Dec 15, 8:54 PM EST

Haitian Priest Said to Need U.S. Doctor

 By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU 

Associated Press 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- 

A jailed Catholic priest who had been considered a potential candidate for Haiti's presidency may have cancer and should be released to seek medical treatment in the United States, his lawyer said Thursday.

The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, a supporter of ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has declined an examination by government doctors because he doesn't trust them, attorney Bill Quigley told reporters outside the jailed priest's church in the capital.

Dr. John Carroll, a supporter who examined Jean-Juste in jail, said the priest has swelling in his neck and under his arms and had an abnormal white blood cell count, which are possible indications of cancer or an infection."Every day that goes by, we are wasting time," Carroll said. "If this is indeed cancer, his life is in danger."

Michel Brunache, chief of staff for interim President Boniface Alexandre, said government doctors had examined the priest and said there was no indication that he had cancer.

Jean-Juste has been jailed since July, when Haitian authorities accused him of suspected involvement in the abduction and slaying of a well-known local journalist. Authorities later expanded the investigation to include alleged weapons violations. The priest denies the allegations.The investigating judge, Jean Perez-Paul, has declined to reveal his findings but said he will soon forward his recommendations to a government prosecutor. Jean-Juste, who has been compared to Aristide, a former priest, has emerged as a prominent figure in the ousted president's Lavalas Family party. Lavalas activists had attempted to register Jean-Juste as a presidential candidate in elections, but Haitian authorities ruled he was ineligible because he is in prison and could not appear in person to register his candidacy. Haiti's national elections are scheduled for Jan. 8.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 

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HAITI--Posted on Thu, Dec. 29, 2005
Doctor: Jailed priest has developed leukemia
A Harvard doctor said Father Gerard Jean-Juste, a former Miami activist now in jail in Haiti, has leukemia and needs immediate treatment.
BY JOE MOZINGO
jmozingo@MiamiHerald.com

Gerard Jean-Juste, a Haitian priest whose continued imprisonment in Port-au-Prince has become a cause célebre for political allies and human-rights advocates, has developed an early stage of leukemia, according to a prominent U.S. physician who runs hospitals in Haiti.

Dr. Paul Farmer, a friend and supporter of Jean-Juste, says the jailed priest has chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a form of the blood and marrow disease that progresses slowly but can develop into a more virulent strain of cancer.

In several e-mails and a telephone interview from Rwanda, where he is working this week, Farmer explained that he examined Jean-Juste without guards' knowledge on Dec. 23. He drew blood and brought it to Miami, where it was analyzed by a University of Miami hematologist.

''I can assure you he has leukemia,'' Farmer wrote to The Miami Herald on Wednesday.

Jean-Juste, known as ''Father Gerry'' when he lived in Miami and led the nation's most powerful Haitian rights group, was arrested July 21 for alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Haitian journalist Jacques Roche.

He and his supporters vehemently deny the allegations. Many observers have expressed concerns that his detention is simply a move to silence Jean-Juste. Amnesty International calls him a ''prisoner of conscience'' and 42 members of the U.S. Congress signed a letter demanding his release.

Since an armed rebellion ousted President JeanBertrand Aristide in February 2004, Jean-Juste has become a potent critic of the U.S.-backed transitional government. Police arrested him in Oct. 2004 for inciting violence, but he was released seven weeks later after a judge found the allegation baseless.

Many of the urban poor see Jean-Juste as a natural successor to Aristide, a former slum priest himself, and his Lavalas political movement.

After Jean-Juste's second arrest on July 21, Lavalas leaders tried to register him as a presidential candidate for elections tentatively scheduled for next month. But the electoral council rejected the application because the imprisoned Jean-Juste did not show up to register in person.

Earlier this month, more than 1,000 people marched through Miami to protest his incarceration.

''It's an outrage,'' said Steve Forester, a Miami attorney who has been organizing the campaign to free Jean-Juste. ``He's a nonviolent priest. He's a prisoner of conscience. And if the Bush administration wanted him out, they'd get him out.''

``This is about saving his life.''

Farmer, a Harvard professor and expert in infectious diseases, wrote that ``Father Gerry's in serious trouble if he isn't released from jail for proper work-up in the States.''

He said the priest, at the very least, needs a CT scan and a bone marrow biopsy -- procedures Jean-Juste does not trust doctors commissioned by the Haitian government to perform.

Farmer said the University of Miami blood specialist told him that the cancer is progressing rapidly and could turn into a more virulent form of leukemia. Because of the unorthodox circumstances in which the blood was drawn, Farmer said the hematologist did not want to be named.

Their findings support those of another U.S. doctor, John Carroll, who examined Jean-Juste earlier in the month and reported finding enlarged lymph nodes and abnormal white blood cell counts.

Haitian officials have countered that their own doctors examined Jean-Juste and found no sign of cancer, according to The Associated Press. A government spokesman could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Farmer said the cancer itself is not likely an immediate threat to Jean-Juste's life, but because it weakens his immune system, an infection could be fatal.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Leukemia

http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/JeanJusteII

What's At Stake?

Jailed Haitian Priest Diagnosed with Leukemia: Your Support Urgently Needed

Father Gerard Jean-Juste, a human rights activist and Catholic priest from

Haiti, founded the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami, Florida in the 1970s,

and served as its Executive Director for more than a decade. During that

time, he worked closely with Human Rights First and others to help

refugees fleeing persecution under the Duvalier regime. He returned to

Haiti in 1991, where he became parish priest at the Sainte Claire Catholic

Church.

After an armed rebellion ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on February 29, 2004, Father Jean-Juste became an outspoken critic of human rights abuses perpetrated by armed forces with ties to the interim

government, led by Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. As a result of his

activism, Father Jean-Juste has endured several arrests and imprisonment on trumped up charges.

On October 13, 2004 on the heels of an upsurge of violence by armed

supporters of both the interim government and former President Aristide,

Father Jean-Juste was arrested by masked members of the Haitian National Police while running a soup kitchen at the Sainte Claire Catholic Church in Port-au-Prince. In an interview with reporters, Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue explained the arrest by saying that Jean-Juste's name had become "associated with" people suspected of organizing against the government.

Father Jean-Juste was jailed for almost five weeks before he was brought

before a judge on November 12. The judge dismissed all charges against

the priest and ordered his release, but authorities did not release Father

Jean-Juste for another 17 days. His lawyers credited his eventual release

to pressure by the international community and human rights groups,

including Human Rights First, placed on the Haitian government to treat

Father Jean-Juste with fairness and accord him due process.

In July 2005, Father Jean-Juste again found himself the target of

harassment, arrest, and detention by the interim government of Haiti. On

July 15, Father Jean-Juste was stopped at the airport in Port-au-Prince

upon returning from Miami, Florida. He was taken to Judicial Police

Headquarters and held for questioning for some hours before being released on condition that he return for further questioning the following Monday. When Father Jean-Juste complied, he was asked no questions and allowed to leave.

He then received a summons to appear before a judge on July 20 to answer to the charge of "plotting against state security," a charge which many political dissidents have faced. The summons stated that the alleged crime took place on October 18, 2004, when Father Jean-Juste was behind bars. Father Jean-Juste and his lawyers appeared before the judge as required and answered a series of questions about his political opinions. The judge did not issue a decision and allowed Father Jean-Juste to return to his parish.

On July 21, Father Jean-Juste was attacked while serving as one among

seven priests to proffer blessings at the funeral of his cousin, Haitian

journalist Jacques Roche, who was killed while Jean-Juste was traveling in Miami. When he emerged among the seven priests gathered to bless the coffin, funeral attendees began yelling "assasin," "criminal," and "arrest and kill the rat." The crowd physically attacked Father Jean-Juste,

punching him and spitting on him. Since Roche has been identified as a

supporter of those who overthrew the government of former President

Aristide, some have blamed his death on members of former President

Aristide's political party, Lavalas, of which Father Jean-Juste is a

supporter. After UN peacekeepers were able to disperse the crowd, police

indicated they would take Father Jean-Juste to the police station for his

own safety.

Father Jean-Juste waited at the police station with his lawyers for

approximately eight hours while the UN and Haitian police discussed

whether to release him. Finally, several Haitian officers produced a

piece of paper they claimed was an official complaint against Father Jean-Juste accusing him of assassinating Jacques Roche. The complaint was based on "public clamor" at the funeral accusing him of murdering Roche. It was their obligation, they said, to investigate this public clamor

identifying him as the murderer. He was locked into a jail cell with 40

other people and no beds, no running water, and just one toilet.

On Friday, July 22, after a brief meeting with a justice of the peace,

over a dozen masked police officers with machine guns forced a handcuffed Father Jean-Juste into a police van and sped away to an undisclosed location. It was later learned that Father Jean-Juste is being held in solitary confinement at the Haitian National Penitentiary. Initially, he had difficulty gaining access to his lawyers and is apparently facing new charges: "public denunciation" and "inciting to violence." The former

prime minister of Haiti, Yvon Neptune, who has been in prison for almost

two years without trial, is also imprisoned under the charge of "inciting

to violence." Some speculate that Father Jean-Juste is likely to remain

in prison until after elections take place in 2006.

While in prison, Father Jean-Juste has been suffering from health

problems. He was examined by U.S. doctor John Carroll in early December, who detected swellings in Father Jean-Juste's throat and underarms. After finding an abnormally low white blood cell count, Dr. Carroll warned that Father Jean-Juste may have a serious - and possibly cancerous condition. Father Jean-Juste then received a visit from Dr. Paul Farmer, a Harvard professor and expert in infectious diseases. Dr. Farmer took a sample of Father Jean-Juste's blood to a laboratory in Miami and confirmed that the priest has leukemia. Haitian government officials claim that they have run their own tests, and that Father Jean-Juste is in fine health.

------

A Visit With Father Gerard Jean-Juste, Incarcerated Servant of the Poor

On Wednesday, Sept. 7, as part of a human rights delegation from the U.S., I visited Amnesty International prisoner of conscience and Lavalas Party leader Father Gerard Jean-Juste. Jean-Juste, who seemed tired but in characteristically upbeat spirits, was recently moved from Port-au-Prince's main penitentiary to his current confines in a decidedly less medieval facility in the Pacot neighborhood.

 

The Pacot annex is a former private residence with clean surroundings, breatheable air, sunlight and room to move around, a far cry from the downtown lockup where I visited Jean-Juste in July. Getting in to see Jean-Juste was also more difficult in July, when the prison director told my colleague and me that we could not meet with the activist priest (apparently due to bureaucratic oversight, we later did anyway on a tour of the prison). On Wednesday, we arrived as a group of Jean-Juste's parishoners from St.Claire church were leaving. The five of them, including an elderly woman who was positively glowing, were happy to have relayed the message that Jean-Juste's feeding programs for hundreds of local children are ongoing despite his incarceration.

 

Jean-Juste's arrest on trumped-up charges was facilitated by a demonization campaign of ousted President Aristide's Lavalas Party waged by right-wing elites who control most of Haiti's media. Jean-Juste was violently attacked at a funeral he attended, the physical assaults on him only ending with his arrest, which he calls a classic case of "blaming the victim".

 

Lavalas has maintained consistent demands regarding Haitian elections the UN, with the support of U.S., Canada and France (the three countries most prominent in facilitating the coup which forced out President Aristide's Lavalas government and brought back a reign of military and paramilitary terror) has arranged for November and December. The party continues to argue that the elections cannot be free and fair unless there is an end to the brutal repression of Lavalas supporters, the over one thousand political prisoners are freed, and President Aristide and other political exiles are allowed to return to Haiti to help restore constitutional democracy. If this does not happen, Lavalas faithful are saying there will be "selections" by coup-friendly major powers, not true elections.

 

But given the millions of dollars being channeled into the electoral process (while cuts to Lavalas social programs by the coup regime exacerbate already dire conditions for most Haitians) seem likely to guarantee that elections will go forward no matter how the majorty feel, many on the streets are hoping that Jean-Juste will be named a last minute candidate.

 

Mario Joseph, Jean-Juste's Port-au-Prince based lawyer, told me, "People from the steets want him to run. People trust Father Jean-Juste and feel like they have no choice, so they'll take this chance. Father Jean-Juste feels embarassed at this call to be the candidate of the people, and doesn't want to leave his parish. But he's the only candidate people trust. Jean-Juste serves the poor, always goes to the poorest neighborhoods when there are demonstrations, and helps with funerals after police and UN soldiers kill protestors. Other politicians say they'll serve the poor, but usually don't."

 

Joseph added, "He has the trust and love of the people for all he has done for them, which is why the government wants to stop him and he is in jail. The U.S. embassy and UN don't want to use him as a peacemaker, because that would make him politically stronger and a threat to elite interests."

 

Jean-Juste concurred, saying that the son-in-law of the current de facto President had targeted the priest for "incendiary sermons." Jean-Juste had repeatedly said that Article 21 of the Haitian Constitution forbids cooperation with anyone working to destroy the government of Haiti, hence the coup regime should not be supported. He also argued that corrupt elites behind death squads and arbitrary executions are the worst criminals, and hence are hypocrites to accuse all street dissidents of being "bandits" (a term constantly used to describe vicitims of police and UN repression, including a man sitting outside his home confined to a wheelchair who was shot in the head by UN "peacekeepers").

 

Jean-Juste told our delegation, "I also spoke out to condemn the July 6 massacre of civilians by Brazilian troops in Cite Soleil, and in a visit to Miami called for a demonstration at the Brazilian embassy. So I'm paying for a lot of things. It is wrong for the government to take state power against an innocent person, to crush me. But I will forgive them on a spiritual level if they release me."

Of the potential for his candidacy, he said, "the amazing part is this is coming from the poorest ones" and expressed his admiration for the persistence of their struggle. He also made clear that he needs to speak to President Aristide (who remains exiled in South Africa) before making any decision, but such communication had not been permitted by his captors.

 

Jean-Juste pointed out that George W. Bush's betrayal of the people of New Orleans was similar to his silence on the demands of Congressional Black Caucus members to oppose repression of Lavalas. "We should take a lesson from the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. When people are in need we should take care of them, and disengage from war. The young men and women at war in Iraq should not be there. It's a war for lies, the same as the right wing lies about Aristide."

 

He added, "if Aristide was still in Haiti, there would be uniforms and books for children who are now unable to start school. Malnutrition is so high, food is so expensive. This is what the coup has brought."

 

Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, another high profile prisoner the coup regime is refusing to release despite sustained international pressure, is confined in a separate wing of the Pacot annex. Jean-Juste had not been allowed to visit Neptune, but briefly saw him and said his health was "bad". Jean-Juste himself is in need of blood and other tests after collapsing in his former cell, but though the interim government provided treatment for a skin condition shared by many  in the National Penitentiary, the Lavalas leader has not yet received the needed tests. When asked how if he felt confident of his security in the current facility, he answered "no".

 

He expressed his appreciation for international solidarity, and asked that it be continued as much as possible. To disheartened fellow Haitians, he said, "Don't cry too much, there's work to do. Let's do it."

 

 

 

No Holiday Compassion From Bush for Haitian Political Prisoner Gerard Jean-Juste by Ben Terrall www.dissidentvoice.org December 25, 2005
	On December 16, Congresswoman Maxine Waters and 41 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote President Bush calling for the release of Haitian political prisoner Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste. The nonviolent activist priest, who has been held on trumped-up charges by the current coup regime for five months, is in urgent need of medical care unavailable to Haitian prisoners. Five days later, Jean-Juste's two sisters sent an open letter to Bush and "interim" Haitian Prime Minister of Haiti Gerard Latortue calling for his release on medical grounds. Jean-Juste's sisters wrote, "We believe that as good and righteous Christians during this holiday season you will open your hearts and minds to ask for and demand his release so that he will not die in prison." The Congressional letter to Bush noted, "Amnesty International considers [Fr. Jean-Juste] a prisoner of conscience and has called for his unconditional release. The injustice of his imprisonment is all the more blatant because of his failing health. On December 1, Fr. Jean-Juste received a medical exam by Dr. John Carroll, who reported that he has swollen lymph nodes in his neck and armpits and an elevated white blood count.  This could indicate any of several serious medical conditions, including a blood cancer or an infectious disease.  Many blood cancers have a good prognosis if they are treated early by specialists.  It is therefore imperative that Fr. Jean-Juste be able to receive prompt medical attention." In early September, I visited Father Jean-Juste in a facility in Port-au-Prince. Jean-Juste was tired but in characteristically upbeat spirits. I arrived as a group of Jean-Juste's parishioners from St. Claire church were leaving, happy to have assured the Father that his feeding programs for hundreds of local children were still up and running. The priest had recently been moved to his new lockup in the Pacot neighborhood, from the downtown penitentiary which a friend accurately described as "medieval". When I asked Jean-Juste if he felt confident of his security in the new quarters, he answered "no." Jean-Juste was arrested in a fashion consistent with the hysterical demonization of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Lavalas Party waged by right-wing elites who control most of Haiti's media. Never formally charged, the priest was taken into custody after being accused of responsibility for a killing that took place when Jean-Juste was in Miami. Jean-Juste was assaulted at a funeral, but instead of arresting his assailants, Haitian police detained the priest. Human rights lawyer Brian Concannon noted, "To their discredit, United Nations Civilian Police participated in the illegal arrest, by handing Fr. Jean-Juste to the Haitian police without ensuring that he would be treated legally." Mario Joseph, Jean-Juste's Port-au-Prince based lawyer, told me, "Jean-Juste serves the poor, always goes to the poorest neighborhoods when there are demonstrations, and helps with funerals after police and UN soldiers kill protestors. Politicians say they'll serve the poor, but usually don't." Joseph added, "He has the trust and love of the people for all he has done for them, which is why the government wants to stop him and he is in jail. The U.S. embassy and UN don't want to use him as a peacemaker, because that would make him politically stronger and a threat to elite interests." From behind bars Fr. Jean-Juste continued to explain that elections the U.S., Canada and France have arranged for Haiti (which, after repeated postponements, will in theory take place in January) cannot be free and fair without an end to killings and other repression of Lavalas supporters, freeing of the more than one thousand political prisoners, and a return of Aristide and other political exiles to help restore constitutional democracy. Jean-Juste told me, "I spoke out to condemn the July 6 massacre of civilians by Brazilian troops in Cite Soleil, and in a visit to Miami called for a demonstration at the Brazilian embassy. I'm paying for a lot of things." Jean-Juste compared Bush's betrayal of New Orleans to the Administration's refusal to listen to Congressional Black Caucus pleas to halt repression of Lavalas. "We should take a lesson from the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. We should take care of people in need, and disengage from war. The young men and women at war in Iraq should not be there. It's a war for lies, the same as the right wing lies about Aristide." He added, "if Aristide was still in Haiti, there would be uniforms and books for children who are now unable to start school. Malnutrition is so high, food is so expensive. This is what the coup has brought." He expressed appreciation for international solidarity, and asked that it be continued as much as possible, not only for him, but also for other Haitian political prisoners and the millions of desperately impoverished Haitians barely able to survive outside prison. Republican Congressman Dan Burton, Chair of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere of the House Committee on International Relations, was among those calling the State Department to express concern about Jean-Juste's health and continued incarceration. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon assured Burton that "State  [Department] staffers in Haiti have access to political prisoners, and medical personnel saw Fr. Jean-Juste as recently as December 12th." Concannon calls Shannon's response “disingenuous”, pointing to a current State Department Consular Information Sheet for Haiti, which states, "Medical facilities in Haiti are scarce and for the most part sub-standard; outside the capital standards are even lower. Medical care in Port-au-Prince is limited, and the level of community sanitation is extremely low. Life-threatening emergencies may require evacuation by air ambulance at the patient's expense." Further, the State Department's February 28, 2005 Country report for Haiti states, "Prisoners and detainees continued to suffer from a lack of basic hygiene, malnutrition, poor quality health care, and, in some facilities, 24-hour confinement. Most prisons periodically suffered from lack of water, especially in the provinces. The incidence of preventable diseases such as beriberi, AIDS, and tuberculosis increased." A Third Circuit US Court of Appeals decision earlier this year also cited a source who "likened the conditions in Haiti's prisons to a "scene reminiscent of a slave ship. Concannon notes, "the State Department's finding Fr. Jean-Juste's medical care acceptable in these admittedly atrocious conditions is an accurate measure of its concern for his life." Ben Terrall is a writer and activist based in San Francisco. He can be reached at bterrall@igc.org.