In Brief | Back­ground | IACHR Case | Pho­tos
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In Brief

Bob Moliere was arrested in April 2005 and was impris­oned for one year with­out charges. He was released in April 2006.  We are pained to report that Bob, a beloved friend and col­league, per­ished in the earth­quake that dev­as­tated Haiti on Jan­u­ary 12, 2010.

Back­ground

On April 18, 2005, Bob Moliere, a grass­roots activist, Lavalas sup­porter and second-hand mat­tress sales­man, was arrested by the Interim Gov­ern­ment of Haiti with­out a warrant. Prior to his arrest, he helped orga­nize peace­ful demon­stra­tions for the return of democ­racy in Haiti. While impris­oned with­out charges, he was beaten and kept in a grossly over­crowded, unhy­gienic cell with­out access to ade­quate food, water, and med­ical treatment. The Interim Gov­ern­ment of Haiti pro­duced no evi­dence of crim­i­nal activ­ity by Moliere. He did not appear before a judge until 4 months after his arrest.

On April 11, 2006, the Seton Hall Uni­ver­sity School of Law Immi­gra­tion and Human Rights Clinic, the Bureau des Avo­cats Inter­na­tionaux (BAI) and the Insti­tute for Jus­tice & Democ­racy in Haiti (IJDH) filed a Peti­tion before the Inter-American Com­mis­sion on Human Rights (IACHR) on behalf of Mr. Moliere chal­leng­ing his ille­gal arrest and pro­longed deten­tion and denounc­ing his sub­jec­tion to cruel treat­ment and inhu­man prison con­di­tions. Nine days later, a judge ordered his imme­di­ate release.

Mr. Moliere per­ished in the cat­a­strophic earth­quake that hit Haiti on Jan­u­ary 12, 2010. He was a leader in his com­mu­nity and will be sadly missed. We are for­tu­nate he was able to spend the last years of his life in freedom.

Inter-American Com­mis­sion Case

• Press Release: Seton Hall Law School, BAI and IJDH File Inter-American Com­mis­sion Peti­tion on Behalf of Polit­i­cal Pris­oner and Grass­roots Activist Bob Moliere (PDF), April 11, 2006
• Text of Peti­tion on Behalf of Bob Moliere (PDF), April 10, 2006

Pho­tos

Bob while in Prison

Bob and his wife in front of the National Pen­i­ten­tiary min­utes after his release — tears of joy and relief.

Bob with his four month old son, born while he was in prison.