Two Haitian human rights activists may be in danger, says a letter from CUPE’s Hospital Employees’ Union to the Haitian police director and minister of justice urging action.
Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, a psychologist who had declared his intention to run for the Haitian Senate, was kidnapped on Aug. 12, 2007. Wilson Mesilien has been repeatedly threatened and may be forced to go into hiding with his family.
“There’s fear that Pierre-Antoine may have been abducted by individuals connected with the former military,” says the letter signed by HEU president Fred Muzin. Pierre Antoine may be seen as a threat “because of his continued activism in denouncing past human rights violations.”
Mesilien has become a target since he has temporarily replaced Pierre-Antoine as coordinator of Fondayson Trant Septanm, an organization concerned about the victims of the 1991 coup.
The HEU urges the authorities to increase police resources to free Pierre-Antoine and capture and prosecute his kidnappers. It also wants them to provide protection for Mesilien.
Meanwhile, the Canada Haiti Action Network has also issued a news release expressing concern about the continuing human rights situation and notes that it is being “ignored in Canada.”
Amnesty International has issued three separate urgent action appeals on behalf of political rights activists in Haiti. They also issued a follow-up urgent action appeal on Jan. 11 concerning the dire conditions of Haitians working in the agriculture industry in neighbouring Dominican Republic.
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