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Gérard Jean-Juste (7 February 1946 – 27 May 2009) was a Haitian Catholic priest who served as rector of Saint Claire's Church for the Poor in Port-au-Prince. He was also a liberation theologian and a supporter of the Fanmi Lavalas political party, as well as heading the Miami, Florida-based Haitian Refugee Center from 1977 to 1990.
The Reverend Gérard Jean-Juste | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 February 1946 Cavaillon, Haiti |
| Died | 27 May 2009 (aged 63) Miami, Florida |
| Nationality | Haitian |
| Occupation | Catholic priest |
| Known for | advocacy and work with poor |
In 2004, he became internationally noted as an opponent of the interim government of Prime Minister Gérard Latortue following the overthrow of the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the 2004 Haitian coup d'état. He was arrested twice for his political work, leading Amnesty International to designate him a prisoner of conscience. In his obituary, the Associated Press described him as being "often considered the Martin Luther King Jr. of Haiti".[1]
Gérard Jean-Juste was born in 1946 in Cavaillon, Haiti. A Roman Catholic, Jean-Juste attended a Canadian seminary before becoming the first Haitian to be ordained in the U.S. at Brooklyn's Church of St. Avila.[2][3] Following his ordination, he worked for a time in a rural parish in Haiti, an experience which increased his commitment to liberation theology and the service of the poor.[2]
In 1971, however, Jean-Juste was asked to sign a loyalty oath to the Jean-Claude Duvalier government. He refused and fled to the U.S.[2] There he served at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross while also completing bachelor's degrees in engineering technology and civil engineering at Northeastern University.[2]
Observing the due process violations that many Haitian refugees faced in the 1970s, Jean-Juste founded the Miami-based Haitian Refugee Center to assist them.[3] He would supervise the organization from 1977 to 1990.[4] A major point of his advocacy was to change to the U.S.'s differing treatment of Cuban and Haitian refugees; Jean-Juste argued that while the former were treated as political and granted asylum accordingly, the latter were almost always viewed as economic refugees, despite having fled the dictatorship of Duvalier.[2]
As part of his work with the organization, Jean-Juste picketed Miami's Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy, calling him a racist for failing to advocate on behalf of refugees.[2] As punishment, Jean-Juste was forbidden by his church superiors from celebrating Mass in the area.[4] He also found himself in trouble with church hierarchy for conducting Catholic funeral services for refugees who had drowned at sea regardless of their religious background.[2]
Jean-Juste returned to Haiti in 1991, becoming a "prominent supporter" of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president, and his Fanmi Lavalas party.[1] Following a military coup by Raoul Cédras that unseated Aristide less than a year after his election, Jean-Juste then spent the next three years in hiding. When Aristide resumed office in 1994, Jean-Juste resumed his work as well, becoming rector of Saint Claire's church in Port-au-Prince. One of his legacies is a food program for hungry children in the St. Claire's neighborhood, which continues to be supported by the What If? Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Berkeley, CA.[2]
In 2004, Aristide was again deposed by a military coup. Jean-Juste became an outspoken critic of the U.S.-supported interim government that followed, headed by Gérard Latortue.[5] He soon became a "target" of government pressure,[2] leading a brief arrest in late 2004 on charges of hiding pro-Aristide soldiers.[6]
In July 2005, Jean-Juste and Fanmi Lavalas were accused by Haitian state media of involvement in the death of journalist Jacques Roche. Roche, a columnist for Le Matin had been kidnapped on 10 July, held for ransom, and "tortured with extreme cruelty" before being found dead four days later.[7] When attending Roche's funeral on 21 July, Jean-Juste was attacked by a group of mourners and arrested; he was then held without charges on suspicion of involvement in the murder.[5][8][9]
As Jean-Juste had been in Miami for the duration of the kidnapping, international organizations generally found the charges to be "laughable".[5] His New York Times obituary, for example, describes the charges as "universally regarded as politically motivated".[2] Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience, "detained solely for the legitimate expression of his opinions".[10] Signs calling for Jean-Juste's release reportedly became a common sight around the Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti.[6]
At the time of his arrest, Jean-Juste was being considered as a Fanmi Lavalas candidate for the 2006 presidential election.[2] However, electoral authorities ruled that Jean-Juste could not be properly registered as a candidate due to his incarceration, prompting Fanmi Lavalas to threaten to boycott the poll.[8] Jean-Juste later endorsed the eventual winner, René Préval.[6]
In late December 2005, Paul Farmer, a U.S. physician who co-founded Partners in Health, examined Jean-Juste and confirmed that he had chronic lymphocytic leukemia, telling a reporter that "Father Gerry's in serious trouble if he isn't released from jail to receive proper medical attention in the United States."[11] Jean-Juste was given temporary release from prison to seek care in Miami in early 2006.[2]
However, he returned to Haiti in November 2007 to defend himself against the still-pending charges. When asked about his experience with weapons, he replied, "My rosary is my only weapon".[12] The charges against him were dismissed.[12]
Jean-Juste died in a hospital in the Miami area on 27 May 2009.[2]
On 11 September 2006, the University of San Francisco conferred an Honorary Doctorate degree on Fr. Jean-Juste to recognize his human rights and social justice work on behalf of Haiti's poor.[13]
The Carter Center named Jean-Juste one of the "Featured Human Rights Defenders" of its Human Rights Defenders Initiative.[6]
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