Haitian Women Pursue Atrocity Lawsuit Against Former Strongman

[Judi Lynn]

Summary Box: Haitian Women Pursue Atrocity Lawsuit Against Former Strongman
The Associated Press
Published: Sep 13, 2005

THE CASE: A former paramilitary leader from Haiti has been sued by three women who allege they were gang-raped and beaten by members of his right-wing group.

NEXT STEP: Lawyers for the alleged victims plan to ask a U.S. district judge in coming weeks to enter a default judgment against Emmanuel "Toto" Constant.

NO DEFENSE: Constant, who once boasted that voodoo and the CIA shielded him from trouble, has ignored the suit. He now lives in New York City.
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http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBY7H2RJDE.html

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Haiti: Tourist Free
By Lila Schow
March, 2003

His orders led to the violent murders of 3,000 innocent people. Heading a paramilitary organization, he masterminded the burning of neighborhoods, rape, torture and extrajudicial killings. He plotted the killing of a nation’s Justice Minister and ordered his followers to each “put down one American soldier.”

The CIA paid him while he committed these crimes. United States soldiers physically protected him against angry mobs. Convicted in absenteeism for his three years of terror, he lives, unaffected, in New York City. Many under his command fled with him to the United States rather than face their own trials. One, Colonel Carl Dorelien, won $3.2 million in Florida’s lottery.

His name is Emmanuel “Toto” Constant, leader of the FRAPH (Front for the Advancement of Progress of the Haitian People). In French Creole, FRAPH sounds like the words “to hit.” Constant overthrew the legitimate, democratically elected government of Haiti in 1991. The CIA kept him on their payroll at $500 a month until 1994 and he routinely met with US intelligence officials, “often daily.”

Ten years ago, the US embassy issued Constant a VISA. Ten years ago, US soldiers seized tens of thousands of classified documents from FRAPH. Despite demands from Haiti, the US government will only turn over the documents once the names and identifying characteristics of US citizens have been excised.
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Taken from: http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/index.php/Emmanuel_Constant

hAITIAN DEATH SQUAD LEADER, toto Constant, to be brought to justice for his campaign of rape and murder

Courageous women bring civil suit FOR ABUSES BY FRAPH

New York, NY: January 14, 2005. Emmanuel “Toto” Constant was served with a lawsuit today that accuses him of responsibility for torture, crimes against humanity and the systematic use of violence against women, including rape, for the purpose of terrorizing the Haitian population during that country’s brutal military regime in the early 1990s.

Despite being the outspoken leader of the paramilitary death squad known as FRAPH (Revolutionary Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti), Toto Constant has lived and worked openly in Queens, New York, for the last ten years. The U.S. government tried to deport Constant in 1995, but suspended its efforts and released him from detention after he threatened on the 60 Minutes news program to expose information about the CIA’s role in the formation of FRAPH.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York by the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), based in San Francisco, on behalf of several women who survived savage gang rapes and other forms of extreme violence, including attempted murder. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), based in New York, is serving as local counsel.
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CJA, based in San Francisco, has obtained favorable verdicts in similar cases involving human rights abusers from Bosnia, El Salvador and Chile who had come to live in the U.S. The Center for Constitutional Rights has brought human rights cases against individuals and corporations responsible for human rights violations since 1980, when CCR filed the groundbreaking case which allowed those who have suffered human rights abuses to bring their claims in U.S. courts.

Jennie Green, CCR Senior Attorney, commented: “The U.S. government claims to be fighting a war on terrorism, all the while allowing a man who terrorized people in Haiti to prosper in our midst. Documents released by the U.S. government show FRAPH’s role in human rights violations. Constant as its leader must be held accountable.”
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http://www.cja.org/cases/ConstantDocs/Constantpr1.14.04.htm

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