In Brief | Back­ground | Legal Sta­tus | IACHR Doc­u­ments |
Reports |  Words from Nep­tune | News

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In Brief

Yvon Nep­tune, for­mer Prime Min­is­ter of Haiti, was impris­oned from June 2004 – July 2006. After win­ning his law­suit against the Gov­ern­ment of Haiti in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, all charges were finally dropped in Sep­tem­ber 2009.

Back­ground

Yvon Nep­tune was Prime Min­is­ter of Haiti from March 2002 – March 2004 under the Aris­tide admin­is­tra­tion.  After he was forced out of office, the pro­vi­sional gov­ern­ment began to inves­ti­gate cor­rup­tion alle­ga­tions.  On June 27, 2004, Nep­tune was arrested but not charged with any crimes.  In April 2005, Nep­tune began a hunger strike.  In Sep­tem­ber 2005, 14 months after he was first impris­oned, Nep­tune was for­mally charged with par­tic­i­pat­ing in the alleged La Sci­erie Massacre.

The Hait­ian Appeals Court pros­e­cu­tor found that there was no cred­i­ble evi­dence of Neptune’s involve­ment, and in May 2006, rec­om­mended that the charges be dropped. Nep­tune was pro­vi­sion­ally released in July 2006 on health and human­i­tar­ian grounds.

In April 2005, IJDH, BAI and the Hast­ings Human Rights Project for Haiti filed a peti­tion on Mr. Neptune’s behalf with the Inter-American Com­mis­sion on Human Rights. In July 2006, the Com­mis­sion ruled that the Gov­ern­ment of Haiti’s treat­ment of Mr. Nep­tune vio­lated his inter­na­tional human rights and referred the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IAC­tHR) for fur­ther proceedings.

On May 6, 2008, the IAC­tHR, in its first ever deci­sion involv­ing Haiti, ruled that the State of Haiti vio­lated 11 dif­fer­ent pro­vi­sions of the Amer­i­can Con­ven­tion on Human Rights by ille­gally impris­on­ing Mr. Nep­tune for two years and allow­ing the case to drag on in the courts for almost two more. The IACHR ordered Haiti to end what it called Mr. Neptune’s con­tin­u­ing “judi­cial inse­cu­rity” and to pay him $95,000 in dam­ages and costs. The Court also ordered Haiti to start bring­ing its inhu­mane pris­ons in line with min­i­mum inter­na­tional stan­dards within two years.

Legal Sta­tus

In Sep­tem­ber 2009, all charges were for­mally dropped mark­ing the Hait­ian Government’s first step at com­ing in to com­pli­ance with the Court’s decision.

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IACHR Doc­u­ments

• Infor­ma­tions Sup­ple­men­taires dans le Dossier 445/05, — Yvon Nep­tune / Haiti, BAI/IJDH — 22 decem­bre, 2005
• Press Release
• Peti­tion to Inter-American Commission
• Dec­la­ra­tion of Mario Joseph, Av.
• Dec­la­ra­tion of William Quigley, Esq.
• Cour de Cas­sa­tion Deci­sion re: Yvon Nep­tune (French)
• Min­is­ter of Jus­tice Cor­re­spon­dence (French)
• Min­is­ter of Jus­tice Cor­re­spon­dence (English)
• Depo­si­tion d’une Plainte Inter­na­tionale pour pris­on­nier poli­tique Yvon Nep­tune, — par IJDH, 19 avril, 2005

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Reports

• Eight Per­spec­tives on Yvon Nep­tune v. Haiti
  –Jens Iver­son, 32 Hast­ings Inter­na­tional and Com­par­a­tive Law Review 611 (2009)
• Inter-American Court Deci­sion in Yvon Nep­tune Case: Back­ground Paper
  –IJDH, July 10, 2008
• Report on Decem­ber 1 Mas­sacre in the Hait­ian National Pen­i­ten­tiary, — Human Rights in Haiti Inves­ti­ga­tion Report, Uni­ver­sity of Miami Law School
• Keep­ing the Peace in Haiti?: An Assess­ment of the United Nations Sta­bi­liza­tion Mis­sion in Haiti, — Har­vard Law Stu­dent Advo­cates for Human Rights & Cen­tro de Jus­ti­cia Global
• Impris­oned With­out Charge: Yvon Nep­tune and Haiti’s Polit­i­cal Pris­on­ers, — Coun­cil on Hemi­spheric Affairs, March 14, 2005
• Human Rights in Haiti Inves­ti­ga­tion Report, — Cen­ter for the Study of Human Rights, Uni­ver­sity of Miami Law School, Jan­u­ary 18, 2005

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Words from Neptune

• Exclu­sive Inter­view: Yvon Nep­tune Speaks Out– Hemi­spheric Court Con­demns His Treat­ment
  –Haiti Lib­erte, July 16–22,2008
• Dear Com­pa­triot, Dear Friend– A Mes­sage from Yvon Nep­tune–August 1, 2006

• Let­ter from Yvon Nep­tune to Pres­i­dent Rene Preval
  – Feb­ru­ary 21, 2006
• Let­ter from Polit­i­cal Pris­oner Yvon Nep­tune to Pres­i­dent Rene Preval
  - Feb­ru­ary 21, 2006

News

• Jus­tice Cry from Haiti to Cari­com
  –The Nation (Bar­ba­dos), August 26, 2008
• La Cour Inter­amer­i­caine des Droits de l’Homme Declare Que Haiti Viole Les Droits De l’Ancien Pre­mier Min­istre Yvon Nep­tune
  –Note de Presse, 15 juil­let, 2008
• Yvon Nep­tune Con­tre Haiti, Cour Inter­amer­i­caine des Droits de l’Homme
  –Dossier Sup­ple­men­taire, 15 juil­let, 2008
• Vic­tory for For­mer Haiti PM
  –Rickey Singh, the Bar­ba­dos Nation, July 14, 2008
• National Lawyers Guild Applauds Inter-American Court Deci­sion Uphold­ing the Human Rights of For­mer Hait­ian Prime Min­is­ter Yvon Nep­tune
  –Press Release, July 14, 2008
• Inter-American Court Declares Haiti is Vio­lat­ing Yvon Neptune’s Human Rights
  –IJDH (press release), July 10, 2008
  
• All Charges Dropped Against For­mer Hait­ian Prime Min­is­ter
  -San Fran­cisco Bay Indy­media, April 20, 2007
• The BAI is deter­mined to obtain repa­ra­tions for the harm done to for­mer Prime Min­is­ter Nep­tune
  –AHP, March 19, 2007
• Yvon Nep­tune Speaks Out Against Sys­tem of Injus­tice
  –AHP, Jan­u­ary 15, 2007
• Yvon Nep­tune: Wikipedia Entry
  
• News Reports of Neptune’s Release
• Del­e­ga­tion of media direc­tors and civil soci­ety rep­re­sen­ta­tives unable to meet with Yvon Nep­tune
  –July 20, 2006
• Amer­i­can gov­ern­ment is con­cerned by the the pro­longed pre­emp­tive deten­tion of for­mer prime min­is­ter Yvon Nep­tune
  –AHP, July 11, 2006
• Let­tre ouverte aux autorites hai­ti­ennes au sujet de Ynon Nep­tune
  –Juin 2006
• La Deci­sion de la Cour d’Appel dans le Dossier de la Sci­erie
  — 13 juin, 2006
• Appeal of La Sci­erie Case, Day 1
  –AHP — May 8, 2006
• World Lead­ers Call For Release of Haiti’s Polit­i­cal Pris­on­ers
  - Dis­si­dent Voice — Novem­ber 30, 2005
• La Com­mis­sion Inter­amer­i­caine des Droits de l’Homme Declare la Peti­tion de Yvon Nep­tune Admis­si­ble
  - 12 Octo­bre 2005
• UN Offi­cial Deplores Polit­i­cal Pris­on­ers in Haiti
  - Asso­ci­ated Press — Novem­ber 29, 2005
• Inter-American Com­mis­sion on Human Rights finds Nep­tune Com­plaint Admis­si­ble
  
• Rep. Max­ine Waters and 24 Other U.S. Rep­re­sen­ta­tives Call for Release of Yvon Nep­tune
  - Octo­ber 21, 2005
• UN– Nep­tune Case a Fla­grant Vio­la­tion of the Con­sti­tu­tion
  - AHP — Octo­ber 14, 2005
  
• UN Mis­sion Head Calls for Release of Yvon Nep­tune
  – AHP News — August 9, 2005
  
• US Ambas­sador Calls for Lib­er­a­tion of Yvon Nep­tune
  — AHP News August 12, 2005
  
• Haiti Under US Pres­sure to Release Nep­tune, But No Men­tion of Jean-Juste or Annette Auguste
  - Vil­lage Voice — August 15, 2005
  
• Reports that Yvon Nep­tune Has Been Ordered Released
  AHP, June 21, 2005
• Take Action: Help For­mer Prime Min­is­ter Yvon Nep­tune
  Amnesty International
• Jailed, fast­ing ex-leader so weak he can’t walk
  Miami Her­ald, May 11, 2005
• Clear­ing the Fences in Haiti: Yvon Nep­tune Nears Death
  - Coun­ter­punch May 5, 2005
• Yvon Nep­tune Ail­ing, But Refuses to Leave Haiti With­out Jus­tice
  - May 2, 2005
  
• Yvon Nep­tune Report­edly Will Be Forced Into Exile
  - Mar­guerite Lau­rent, May 1, 2005
• Polit­i­cal Pris­oner Yvon Nep­tune Let­ter fro Prison Announc­ing Com­plete Hunger Strike
  - April 22, 2005
• Impris­oned With­out Charge: Yvon Nep­tune and Haiti’s Polit­i­cal Pris­oner
  - Coun­cil on Hemi­spheric Affairs, March 14, 2005
• Press Release*
• Peti­tion to Inter-American Com­mis­sion*
• Dec­la­ra­tion of Mario Joseph, Av.* Dec­la­ra­tion of William Quigley, Esq.* Cour de Cas­sa­tion Deci­sion re: Yvon Nep­tune (French)* Min­is­ter of Jus­tice Cor­re­spon­dence (French)*
• Min­is­ter of Jus­tice Cor­re­spon­dence (Eng­lish)*
  
• Depo­si­tion d’une Plainte Inter­na­tionale pour pris­on­nier poli­tique Yvon Nep­tune
  - par IJDH, 19 avril, 2005
  
• Report on Decem­ber 1 Mas­sacre in the Hait­ian National Pen­i­ten­tiary
  - Human Rights in Haiti Inves­ti­ga­tion Report, Uni­ver­sity of Miami Law School
• Inter­na­tional Asso­ci­a­tion of Demo­c­ra­tic Lawyers Calls on Haiti to End Per­se­cu­tion of Polit­i­cal Pris­on­ers, –Decem­ber 14, 2008
• New Eng­land Human Rights Orga­ni­za­tion Calls on Pres­i­dent to Preval to End Yvon Neptune’s Per­se­cu­tion
  –Octo­ber 2008

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In Brief | Back­ground | Legal Sta­tus | IACHR Doc­u­ments |
Reports |  Words from Nep­tune | News