| A broad coalition of
Haitian elected officials, community organizations and human rights
groups, including Fondayson Trant Septanm (September 30th Foundation)
have announced plans for a series of activities in Haiti calling for the
safe return of Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine. At a press conference in
Port-au-Prince on Monday, August 27th, the coalition, Gwoup Inisyativ
Pou Sove Lavi Pierre-Antoine (Group Initiative to Save the Life of
Pierre-Antoine), announced that it would stage vigils and peaceful
marches this Wednesday and Friday, August 29 and 31.
Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine is a Haitian
grassroots leader, member of the Lavalas Party, and the head of
Fondayson Trant Septanm, a Haitian human rights organization that
advocates for victims of the 1991 and 2004 coup d'etats against the
democratically-elected governments of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He has not
been seen since the evening of Sunday, August 12, 2007 after meeting
with a U.S. human rights delegation then in Haiti. He is presumed
kidnapped.
As a young psychologist working in Port
au Prince, Lovinsky helped establish Fondsayon Kore Timoun Yo
(Foundation for the Support of Children) for young street children in
Port au Prince; FAM (Foyer pour Adolescentes Mères), a center for
teenage mothers; and Map Viv ("I Live"), a program designed to give
psychological and medical aid to the victims of the first coup against
Aristide in 1991. The September 30th Foundation, named for the date of
the first coup against President Aristide in 1991, emerged out of this
work. Similar to the work of Mothers of the Disappeared in Central and
South America, September 30th Foundation held weekly vigils demanding
justice for victims of human rights violations and the release of
political prisoners.
Forced to leave Haiti after the 2004
coup, Lovinsky returned to the country in April 2006. Since that time,
he has continued his efforts on behalf of human rights. A delegation of
activists with the Haiti Action Committee had the privilege of meeting
with Lovinsky in his home last month. We are deeply concerned over his
disappearance.
Please support the call by the Gwoup
Inisyativ Pou Sove Lavi Pierre-Antoine.
Contact the following offices of the
Haitian government, the U.S. Embassy and the U.N. occupying powers.
Express your concern that all efforts are being made to facilitate the
safe and peaceful return of Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine.
Haitian Ministry of Justice
Tel: 011-509-245-0474
UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
Tel: 011-509-244-9650-9660
Fax: 011-509-244-9366/67
Or, Fax, Office of General Secretary (New York) – (212) 963.4879
United States Embassy
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Telephones: 011-509-223-4711, or 222-0200 or 0354
Fax: 011-509-223-1641 or 9038
|
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