US embassy cable - 05PORTAUPRINCE2653

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 002653 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
WHA ALSO FOR USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, KJUS, HA 
SUBJECT: HAITI: NEPTUNE/LA SYRIE CASE UPDATE 
 
REF: PAP 2574 
 
Classified By: CDA Douglas Griffiths, REASONS 1.5(B) AND (D). 
 
1. (C) Summary: Appeals filed by co-defendants in the La 
Syrie case involving former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune have 
suspended further action by the court.  Citing legal 
technicalities, Minister of Justice Henri Dorleans rejected a 
new proposal to release the former PM either on bail or on 
his own recognizance.  MINUSTAH Human Rights Office chief 
Thierry Fagart further complicated efforts to resolve the 
case by incorrectly critizing the investigating judge's 
decision to call for a trial without jury.  Faggart also 
broadly criticized the government's human rights performance, 
provoking a predictably defensive response from the Prime 
Minister.  End Summary. 
 
Visit to Neptune 
----------------- 
 
2. (U) Former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune acknowledged to 
Poloff on October 7 that Office of the State Prosecutor for 
St. Marc delivered the official notification of the charges 
against him on September 28.  He said that he refused to 
confirm receipt of the package, did not read it, and left it 
outside his cell door where he assumes it was put out for 
trash.  According to Haitian law, defendants have 10 days 
from official receipt of the charges to file an appeal, a 
deadline which has now lapsed.  As Neptune has stated 
previously, he has no plans to file an appeal.  Two of the 29 
co-defendants, former police Director General Jocelyne Pierre 
and former Justice Minister Calixte Delatour, have already 
filed appeals.  The court has suspended further action on any 
of the co-defendants pending its ruling on these appeals. 
 
Dorleans Dashes Proposal 
------------------------ 
 
3. (C) During a meeting with Justice Minister Dorleans on 
October 18, CDA Carney raised the proposal of releasing 
Neptune on his personal recognizance while awaiting trial (an 
idea that was originally proffered during CODEL Hoekstra's 
visit to Neptune on October 10 (reftel).  Dorleans explained 
that in light of the appeals filed by the co-defendants, the 
Court of Appeals now has the power to decide whether to 
dismiss the charges or uphold the case.  He noted that if the 
court decided to uphold the charges and proceed with the 
trial, the court could also decide to continue to detain 
Neptune and the four others already in jail, or to release 
them pending a trial date.  The Minister reminded Charge that 
at this stage in the legal process, the law does not allow 
for bail or release on personal recognizance.  He emphasized 
that bail could only have been considered at the level of the 
state prosecutor's office before the investigation began a 
year ago. 
 
UN Misinterpretes Law 
----------------------- 
 
4. (C) MINUSTAH Human Rights Chief Thierry Fagart commented 
on the judge's La Syrie decision during a press conference on 
October 14.  Fagart held that the judge's decision to hold a 
trial without jury (jure unique) was unconstitutional, 
maintaining that Article 50 of the constitution calls for a 
trial by jury in cases of blood crimes.  Upon further 
research into the Haitian criminal code, Poloff learned that 
in cases such as La Syrie where multiple "blood crimes" were 
committed (crime connexes), the law provides for a trial 
without jury.  Fagart also raised his concerns over whether 
the town of St. Marc possessed the capacity to host the 
proceedings of such a politically-sensitive case.  Fagart 
concluded by generally condemning the human rights situation 
as "catastrophic."  When asked by a reporter whether his 
office could assist in finding a solution to the Neptune 
impasse, Fagart offered a technical reply, stating "the 
integrity and independence of the Haitian judicial process 
must be respected.  MINUSTAH's role is one of assistance and 
not substitution."  Fagart later informed Poloff that he had 
transmitted his formal analysis of the judge's report on the 
Neptune case to the High Commissioner for Human Rights 
headquarters in Geneva.  He hoped that the UN would soon 
release the report with a UN position on the judge's decision. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
5. (C) Rather than providing a detached analysis on which we 
might have based a further approach to the government and 
mitigated the Justice Minister's stance, Fagart's erroneous 
and provocative statements prompted the Prime Minister to 
reply to Fagart in kind and sidestep the issue of Neptune yet 
again.  We need to remind MINUSTAH leaders here and UN 
leaders in New York that the UN mission must carefully weigh 
its remarks on Neptune in order to break the impasse over his 
case.  End Comment. 
GRIFFITHS