[rnddh-press] RNDDH Statement on Prisoner Release

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Statement
 
*RNDDH's Position on the Decision to Release, without Judgment, Numerous 
Prisoners for
Humanitarian Reasons
*
* *
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RNDDH has noted the decision made by the Public Prosecutor's Office of 
Port-au-Prince to liberate, without judgment, a large number of 
prisoners, either claiming it was for humanitarian reasons or to combat 
prolonged pre-trial detention.

RNDDH revealed in the list of 74 prisoners liberated from the National 
Penitentiary, Petionville, and Archaie on November 7, 2007, that the 
Public Prosecutor's Office did not record the dates of incarceration, 
nor the charges, nor the judicial situations of the prisoners. Therefore 
it is impossible to know where these cases stood in relation to the 
judicial system when the prisoners were released.

The following provides an analysis by RNDDH of the list of those 
released, revealing that amongst the aforementioned there were the 
following accusations:

    * Criminal conspiracy -- 14 released
    * Kidnapping -- 4 released
    * Fraud -- 4 released
    * Rape -- 4 released
    * Murder, Attempted murder -- 7 released
    * Drug trafficking, Drug consumption -- 7 released
    * Arson (Petionville market) -- 2 released

Within this list, there are prisoners who were liberated even though 
their cases are in the judge's investigation office; of the 74 total 
people released, 25 of them have cases in the judge's investigation 
office, and 45 of them have never, since their imprisonment, been 
brought to the judge.

If the decision to liberate these 74 people was made in an effort to 
fight prolonged pre-trial detention, it was a decision based on a double 
standard. We count at least 155 people who have been in prison since 
2004 without having been judged; perhaps only one of these people 
benefitted from these illegal and arbitrary measures taken by the Public 
Prosecutor's Office. Of the 74 released, RNDDH was able to obtain the 
year of incarceration for 54 of them. According to these prisoners, 32 
were imprisoned in 2007, 13 in 2006, 8 in 2005, and only one (1) in 2004.

In the list of those released, we find people such as: Pierre Richard, 
alias "Kanson fè," one of the leaders of a gang that was terrorizing 
Martissant, who was placed in the National Penitentiary on February 15, 
2007, under the accusations of criminal conspiracy and the murder of 
Jean Baptiste Hilaire on December 31, 2006.

We would also like to note that in the National Penitentiary there are 
at least 12 people who have been given release orders by the judge, but 
whose cases have not yet been followed-up on by the Public Prosecutor's 
Office to grant their release.

RNDDH considers the question of prolonged pre-trial detention a 
veritable cancer for the penal system, but the problem cannot be 
resolved with disorder and illegality.

What law gives the Public Prosecutor's Office the power to liberate 
people without judgment?

Friends, there is a Haitian proverb that says "chimen bouton chimen 
maleng" (untreated sores only get worse). When state institutions begin 
to act behind the back of the law, even if their motives are valuable, 
society cannot accept those actions because, little by little, we 
replace the laws with the whims driving them.

RNDDH believes that the question of prolonged pre-trail detention must 
be handled with respect for the law, respect for detainees, and respect 
for the right of society to know the truth about criminals' actions.

People must not be placed in prison behind the back of the law, nor be 
released arbitrarily. This is the only way we can fight impunity and 
prolonged detention while respecting the judicial system.

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