by MARK SNYDER, BEVERLY BELL, and ALEXIS ERKERT
“Those before you were strong. Now they’re all dead. Stop what you are doing, or the same will happen to you.”
Those were the words delivered to Frena Florvilus, Director of Education and Advocacy of the Haitian human rights organization Defenders of the Oppressed (DOP), early on the morning of August 11 by one of four unidentified men who attempted to enter DOP’s office. The threat echoed numerous others that have been leveled against the DOP office and its staff since they took on the case of a young man who died in police custody within hours of his April 15 arrest, his body left covered with bruises and wounds inflicted by a severe beating. DOP has also been targeted for its work to support displaced peoples who face violent eviction from their camps, by the government and private landowners who are determined to rid the country of camps. Never mind that the people, homeless since the January 2010 earthquake, have nowhere else to go.
Reynald Georges, a lawyer representing Haiti’s ex-dictator, Jean-Claude Duvalier, has brought formal accusations of arson and “association with wrongdoers” (conspiracy) against DOP’s founder and director, Patrice Florvilus, and five others. The accused received criminal court summons for Monday, August 19. Their lawyers filed an objection and request that the charges be dropped, but the prosecutor’s office has reissued the summons for Thursday, August 22.
On Monday, hundreds from the displacement camps and community organizations in Port-au-Prince marched to the courthouse together to show their support. A second march will occur Thursday.
Florvilus is one of several Haitian human rights defenders being accused of committing the very crimes they are investigating. In the past year, other lawyers have received threats of arrest or death to silence their probing into corruption and human rights violations taking place under Haiti’s current administration.
DOP is a pro bono legal service and advocacy organization serving social movements in their efforts to seek justice. DOP also runs a human rights school for activists, conducts trainings with grassroots organizations, and provides hands-on experience for law students. This work has made the non-profit and its director a target for violence.
Toward Freedom for more