(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has written to Haitian Prime Minister Gérard Latortue voicing outrage over the disappearance of three quarters of the documents that made up the investigating judge’s case file in the April 2000 murder of journalist Jean Dominique. “The disappearance of this evidence proves that the persons targeted by this investigation still have the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has written to Haitian Prime Minister Gérard Latortue voicing outrage over the disappearance of three quarters of the documents that made up the investigating judge’s case file in the April 2000 murder of journalist Jean Dominique.
“The disappearance of this evidence proves that the persons targeted by this investigation still have the ability to do a great deal of harm,” the organisation said. “The government owes an explanation for the serious negligence, if not complicity, that allowed this to happen.”
RSF said it hoped a thorough investigation would be carried out into the disappearance and that appropriate sanctions would be applied. “The investigation should establish who is responsible and, whatever their rank, those responsible should be punished.”
The organisation also asked the prime minister to provide the Supreme Court prosecutor with all the necessary human resources so that the case file can be built up again as soon as possible.
“It is incredible that all this evidence has gone missing after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s departure, despite the fact you said the fight against impunity and the restoration of the rule of law were your priorities,” RSF said.
“Our outrage is all the greater because the documents went missing from the office of the Supreme Court clerk, even though the case file should have been sent back to the chief judge of the General Court months ago, so that a new investigating judge could be appointed. Not only did the case not advance because this was not done, but worse still, the delay made this deplorable episode possible,” the organisation added.
On 4 December 2004, RSF learned that more than 150 of the approximately 190 documents in the case file had gone missing from the Supreme Court. On 8 December, the National Coalition for Haitian Rights, a human rights group, specified that only 32 of a total of 196 documents were left. On 9 December, Justice Minister Bernard Gousse confirmed that 75 percent of the documents had indeed gone missing.
The documents’ disappearance presumably took place some time between 1 July, when the Supreme Court issued a ruling on the case, and late November. An inquiry has been launched.
