Human Rights

• Author: International Law Group
• Pages: 9-10

Page 9

Lexiuste Cajuste and Marie Jeanne Jean (plaintiffs), Haitian citizens, filed a lawsuit in Florida against Carl DorÈlien (defendant), a former Colonel of the Haitian Armed Forces. The U.S. Immigration Service had arrested defendant and had sent him back to Haiti in January 2003 (In a curious development, DorÈlien came back to the U.S. and won $3.2 million in the Florida State Lottery.).

In the complaint, one plaintiff alleged his subjection to torture, arbitrary detention, as well as to inhuman and degrading treatment by defendant. The other alleged that defendant was responsible for the extra-judicial killing of her husband. Plaintiffs based their claims, inter alia, on the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), 28 U.S.C. ß 1350, the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA), 28 U.S.C. ß 1350 note, Pub.L. No. 102-256 (1992).

The district court granted defendant's motions to dismiss. In particular, the court dismissed Cajuste's claims for failure to file suit within the 10-year statute of limitation, and dismissed Jean's claims for failure to exhaust her remedies in Haiti. This appeal followed.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacates the district court orders and remands for further proceedings.

The Court first turns to the dismissal of Cajuste's claims based on the statute of limitations. Under the TVPA and the ATCA, plaintiffs must file an action within 10 years of the alleged torture, extra-judicial killing or other torts committed in violation of the law of nations or a U.S. treaty. This limitation, however, is subject to equitable tolling.

Page 10

Cajuste stated in his complaint that he was arrested in April 1993 and severely beaten. He fled Haiti in September 1994. The Court agrees with Cajuste that it has to treat the statute of limitations as equitably tolled because defendant remained in office until 1994 and was not physically present in the U.S. Pursuant to the TVPA, the courts should toll the statute of limitations at least until defendant had entered the U.S. making it possible to serve process upon him.

In the Circuit Court's view: "... [T]he district court erred in finding that 'equitable tolling should not be applied in this case.' The pattern and practice of torture, mass murder, intimidation and reprisals against perceived opponents of the government during the military regime in Haiti from 1991 to 1994 as alleged in Cajuste's complaint, clearly qualify as extraordinary circumstances to toll the statute of...