| March 1, 2005
Pax Christi USA
Rapid Response Network
Dear Friends,
Below please find a
news release and several action items concerning a
raid today at the Antwan Izmery Visitation House in
Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Staying at the house were Visitation
House director Ron Voss, Pax Christi USA Executive
Director Dave Robinson, Pax Christi USA Communications
Director Johnny Zokovitch, and Pax Christi USA Teacher
of Peace William Quigley.
After the search, Haitian
police detained Ron Voss for further questioning,
but did not offer an explanation for the search, or
present a warrant for Voss. At this hour, Voss is
still being held by Haitian police.
Yesterday the Haitian
Minister of Justice, Bernard Gousse, alleged a connection
between the Parish Twining Program of the Americas,
and the February 19 jailbreak at Haiti's national
prison, in which 500 inmates escaped in an armed attack.
Gousse stated that actors in the jailbreak had allegedly
met at Visitation House prior to the incident.
At this time, we are
calling on Pax Christi members and friends to circulate
the release below, and to contact the U.S. Embassy
in Haiti, the U.S. State Department, and the Haitian
Embassy in Washington, to assure the safety of Voss
and his immediate return. Contact information for
these is below.
We also call for your
ongoing prayers for the people of Haiti, especially
our partners with Pax Christi Haiti. As more information
comes in, we'll be sure to forward it on.
In peace,
Phyllis Jepson
Rapid Response Network Coordinator
Haitian police raid Visitation House in Port-au-Prince
and detain one U.S. citizen
Washington, D.C. - At 1:45
pm, Wednesday, February 23, heavily-armed and masked
Haitian national police raided Antwan Izmery Visitation
House in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The police, who were
accompanied by three Haitian officials and a Haitian
judge, searched the house and the occupants which
included Ron Voss, Visitation House director; David
Robinson, Executive Director of Pax Christi USA; Johnny
Zokovitch, Communications Director of Pax Christi
USA; and William Quigley, Professor of Law at Loyola
University in New Orleans and Pax Christi USA Teacher
of Peace. All are U.S. citizens.
Police then detained
Voss, a U.S. citizen who lives in Haiti and has overseen
the Antwan Izmery Visitation House since 1993. Neither
police nor the judge gave reason for search or detention
of Voss, but yesterday the Haitian Minister of Justice,
Bernard Gousse, alleged a connection in a public press
conference between the Parish Twining Program of the
Americas, and the February 19 jailbreak at Haiti's
national prison, in which 500 inmates escaped in an
armed attack. The minister stated that actors in the
jailbreak had allegedly met at Visitation House prior
to the incident.
This is one more in
a pattern of illegal detentions that have taken place
in Haiti since the February, 2004 coup.
"At least eight
heavily armed and masked police entered Visitation
House, guns out and aiming at us," said Robinson,
who is in Haiti this week and staying at Visitation
House. "They gave no reason for the search, or
for why they were detaining Ron Voss, except that
he must come with them and answer more questions."
William Quigley, a human
rights attorney from Loyola University in New Orleans
who was also staying at the house, went with Voss
as he was taken by the police. The police also confiscated
Voss's computer, and a camera belonging to Robinson.
"Pax Christi USA
believes that this illegal detention of a U.S. citizen
is a violation of his rights, and we are asking people
to call on the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, the U.S. State
Department, and the Haitian Embassy in Washington,
DC to assure the safety of Mr. Voss and his immediate
release," Robinson said. "Further, we call
for the U.S. to play a more constructive role in supporting
those calling for dialogue and bringing all sectors
together to address the spiraling violence and to
lay the foundation for a just and lasting peace, as
has been called for by the Haitian Church, United
Nations and others."
Contact
information
U.S.
Ambassador to Haiti James B. Foley
Direct Line: 011-509-223-4711
Switchboard: 011-509-222-0200 or 011-509-222- 0354
Fax: 011-509-223-9038 or 011-509-223- 1641
US State Department - Haiti Desk - Anthony Beaver
202-736-4628 or 202-647-5088
Embassy of the Republic of Haiti - Washington, DC
Phone: (202) 332-4090
Fax: (202) 745-7215
Email: embassy@haiti.org
For more information, please contact Michael Jones
at (814) 490-9378 or email mike@paxchristiusa.org.
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