Ronald Dauphin
Grassroots activist Ronald Dauphin, a supporter of President Aristide, was arrested by armed paramilitary troops on March 1, 2004 - the day after US officials forced Aristide into exile. Mr. Dauphin has spent five years in jail without having been convicted of any crime. For three years his case has been stuck in legal limbo, with no progress or active investigation.
Dauphin is the last detainee held for the so-called “La Scierie massacre.” No one has ever been convicted in connection with the La Scierie incident. Most defendants have had their charges ordered dismissed by courts. Human rights groups and the UN have concluded that the incident never happened as alleged in the courts.
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 Aristide supporters as politically motivated. In October 2006, the National Lawyers Guild urged Haiti’s government to release the remaining political prisoners, with particular emphasis on the defendants held in the La Scierie case.
In July 2008, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the State of Haiti had violated the human rights of former Prime Minister Neptune, another defendant in the La Scierie case, by holding him without trial for over two years with no proof he committed a crime. Neptune was provisionally released, as was another defendant in the case, Amanus Maette. Yet Ronald Dauphin remains in prison.
The above text comes from the Haiti Action Committee.