Human Rights Organizations Urge Release of Haiti's Political Prisoners
In August 2006, Amnesty International called on Haiti's government to promptly bring to trial or release all political prisoners, condemning the prolonged detention of Lavalas activists as politically motivated. In October 2006, the National Lawyers Guild urged the Haitian government to release the remaining political prisoners, with particular emphasis on the defendants held in the La Scierie case. On December 14, 2008, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers(IADL) unanimously passed a Resolution calling for an end to Mr. Dauphin's persecution.
In May 2008, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) ruled that the State of Haiti had violated the human rights of former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, another defendant in the La Scierie case, by holding him without trial for over two years with no proof he committed a crime. While Mr. Neptune was provisionally released, as was another defendant, Amanus Maette - Ronald Dauphin remains in prison.
Read more about this topic: Ronald Dauphin
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“An inquiry about the attitude towards the release of so-called political prisoners. I should be very sorry to see the United States holding anyone in confinement on account of any opinion that that person might hold. It is a fundamental tenet of our institutions that people have a right to believe what they want to believe and hold such opinions as they want to hold without having to answer to anyone for their private opinion.”
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