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Human Rights: Former Haitian Colonel Trial 2/20 in Miami

Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

sent by The Freedom Archives - Feb 17, 2007
http://freedomarchives.org/mailman/listinfo/news_freedomarchives.org

Center for Justice and Accountability
http://www.cja.org

Human Rights: Former Haitian Colonel to Go on Trial in Miami

Our trial against Colonel Carl Dorelien, former member of the Haitian High
Command, will begin on Tuesday, February 20th in federal court in Miami.
Colonel Dorelien was a member of the high command during the brutal military
dictatorship that ruled Haiti from 1991 through 1994. Dorelien fled Haiti
after the dictatorship ended and moved to the U.S. in 1995. Human rights
groups became aware of Dorelien's presence in the U.S. in 1997 when he won
$3.2 million in the Florida lottery.

CJA filed the suit against Dorelien on behalf of two courageous individuals:
Lexiuste Cajuste, a union leader severely tortured for organizing a general
strike against the military regime; and a woman whose husband was killed in
an infamous massacre. The suit charges Dorelien with extrajudicial killing,
torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity. Attached is a copy
of the media advisory issued yesterday.

The trial will likely last a week with testimony from CJA's clients, eye
witnesses, and expert witnesses. CJA's Legal Director, Matt Eisenbrandt, and
Dwayne Williams of Holland & Knight will be trying the case. Staff Attorney
Moira Feeney and Legal Intern Jeff Graham are also part of the legal team in
Miami.

Please keep our clients in your thoughts.
Visit our website for a copy of the complaint and more information on the case.

http://ww.cja.org

Best wishes,

Pamela Merchant
Executive Director

***

For Immediate Release - February 15, 2007

Contact:
Moira Feeney, Staff Attorney, mfeeney@cja.org, (415) 544-0444 x302
Pamela Merchant, Executive Director, pmerchant@cja.org, (415) 544-0444 x307

Susan M. Bass, Marketing Communications Manager
for Holland & Knight, LLP susan.bass@hklaw.com, (813) 769-4326

TRIAL TO BEGIN IN MIAMI AGAINST FORMER HAITIAN COLONEL FOR
TORTURE, EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLING

What: The trial against former Haitian Colonel Carl Dorelien for torture and
extrajudicial killing is scheduled to begin on February 20, 2007 in Miami.
The underlying lawsuit was filed by the Center for Justice & Accountability
(CJA) on behalf of two survivors of human rights abuses. These courageous
individuals have come forward against Colonel Dorelien to bring to light the
atrocities that they and thousands of others suffered at the hands of the
Haitian Armed Forces and death squads. CJA is joined by the firm of Holland
& Knight as co-counsel. The trial is expected to last approximately one
week.

Where: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, James
Lawrence King Federal Justice Building, 99 NE 4th Street., Miami, Florida,
Courtroom 2, 11th floor. Judge James Lawrence King presiding.

When: Tuesday, February 20, 2007, 9:00 a.m.

Who: The defendant, Colonel Dorelien, was a member of the high command of
the Haitian Armed Forces during the military dictatorship in Haiti from 1991
to 1994. Dorelien's presence in the U.S. became widely known after he won
$3.2 million in the Florida state lottery in 1997.

The plaintiffs are: Lexiuste Cajuste, head of Haiti's largest workers'
rights organization during the period of military dictatorship, who was
tortured for demanding the return of Haiti's democratic government; and, a
woman who lost her husband during an infamous massacre in Haiti in 1994.

The plaintiffs are represented by CJA and Holland Knight. CJA is a San
& Francisco-based human rights organization that works to end impunity by
bringing to justice perpetrators of human rights abuses, especially those
who live in or visit the United States.

Holland & Knight is among the world's 15 largest law firms, providing
representation in litigation, business, real estate and governmental law.
For more info, see: http://www.hklaw.fom

Why: CJA Executive Director Pamela Merchant explains, "After waiting more
than 12 years, our clients will finally have their day in court; one of the
many high-ranking members of the Haitian Armed Forces who found refuge in
the U.S. after the restoration of democracy to Haiti, will have to answer to
a U.S. jury for the allegations of widespread and severe human rights
abuses."

For more information and background on the case,
please visit:
http://www.cja.org/cases/dorelien.shtml

Center for Justice and Accountability
http://www.vcja.org

email: cja.org>center4justice@cja.org
phone: 415-544-0444

*
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