Ex-Haitian warlord sentenced

A New York state court sentenced a former Haitian paramilitary leader for conducting a mortgage fraud scheme.

Emmanuel “Toto” Constant led the right-wing Haitian militia FRAPH during the early 1990s. He had been accused of crimes like mass murder and in 2006 he was forced to pay $19 million in damages to a gang rape victim. Nevertheless, he faces a sentence of 12 to 37 years, and possibly up to 45 years for bilking lenders out of $1.7 million.

As we noted in July, Constant’s conviction was welcomed by Haitian exile groups, human rights organizations, and even by actor/activist Danny Glover. Constant’s sentencing was viewed favorably by some of these same people:

Center for Constitutional Rights lawyer Jennie Green said she was "absolutely thrilled" with Constant's sentence.

"The sentence sends an important message that powerful people such as Constant have to face penalties when they commit horrible crimes," she said…

Green said her group agreed with the judge that Constant should serve his sentence in the United States and not be deported to Haiti, where he could "evade justice" for the human rights crimes he's accused of committing.

Image- New York Times (“Emmanuel Constant in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.”)
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Brooklyn Eagle, Guardian UK, IHT, Wikipedia

Ex-Haitian strongman convicted

Former Haitian paramilitary leader Emmanuel "Toto" Constant (image) was convicted in a U.S. federal court on Friday. Despite being accused of crimes like torture and murder in the 1990s, Constant was convicted of mortgage fraud after he fled Haiti to the U.S.

He is expected to be sentenced in September and faces a maximum of fifteen years in jail. A previous plea deal arranged between prosecutors and Constant’s attorneys was dropped after his human rights abuses became public:

(…) At the time, prosecutors and the Department of Homeland Security had urged state Supreme Court Justice Abraham Gerges to sentence Constant to time served, about 10 months, to speed his deportation to Haiti.

Instead, the judge ordered Constant to go to trial, saying the murder and torture allegations facing him in his homeland "are heinous, and the court cannot in good conscience consent to the previously negotiated sentence"…

In Haiti, victims of paramilitary violence cheered news of Constant's fraud conviction, saying it bolstered hopes he would next face prosecution on murder and torture charges at home.

"I hope the (Haitian) government was taking notes, so they can be ready," said Mario Joseph, a lawyer for the victims of the 1994 attacks in Raboteau, where soldiers and paramilitaries are believed to have killed an unknown number of Aristide supporters.

Constant’s trial even drew the attention of actor Danny Glover who argued that victims in Haiti deserve for Constant to “stand trial there.”

Image- The Empire Zone

Sources- International Herald Tribune, New York Daily News, The Latin Americanist, WNYC

Justice sought in ex-Haitian strongman trial

The trial of the ex-leader of a violent Haitian paramilitary group began on Monday in a U.S. federal court. Emmanuel "Toto" Constant had been previously accused of crimes such as torture and murder due to his command of the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH) between 1993 and 1994. (In 2006, he was forced to pay $19 million in damages to three women who were gang raped by FRAPH soldiers). Yet Constant is standing trial for the white-collar crime of mortgage fraud after he fled Haiti to the U.S.; a fact that drew the ire of actor Danny Glover in an op/ed piece:

(…) Remarkably, for more than a decade until 2006, Constant has been living in relative comfort in Queens (New York) thanks in part to intervention by our own federal government. The twists and turns of Constant's road from paramilitary leader to defendant awaiting trial for mortgage fraud tell us volumes about the last decade of Haiti's difficult history - and the twisted U.S. policy toward the poorest country in our hemisphere…

One day, Emmanuel Constant must be returned to Haiti and stand trial there. First, he must face trial for what he has done to the people of New York.

In the meantime, we must fight to ensure that in the future, our government does not allow our country to be a haven for war criminals.

The chief of one Haitian activist group in New York has advocated that Constant be punished with “the maximum sentence possible”. One would hope that is the case for someone who lived ten years in impunity and masterminded atrocious crimes against his own countrymen.

Image- City Room (“Members of the Center of Constitutional Rights organized a rally in front of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn for the trial of Emmanuel Constant…”)

Sources- New York Daily News, The Latin Americanist, Wikipedia, Guardian UK, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: January 11, 2008

* A record $4.1 billion in remittances were sent to Guatemala in 2007 according to newly released figures.

* Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega proposed transforming the country’s legislature into a parliamentary system.

* A study that examined Bolivian infants concluded that a simple set of health guidelines would save the lives of thousands of babies in impoverished countries.

* Follow-up: Ex-Haitian paramilitary leader Emmanuel Constant faces 25 years in jail on mortgage fraud charges in New York.

Sources- Reuters, Bloomberg, The Latin Americanist, New York Daily News, AFP

Image- banknotes.com