Report No. 91 (2011) IACHR. Petition No. 483-00 (Haiti)

• Report Number: 91
• Petition Number: 483-00
• Court: Inter-American Comission of Human Rights
• Respondent State: Haiti
• Alleged Victim: Jean Paul Bin-Aimé
• Case Type: Archive

3

REPORT No. 91/11

PETITION P-483-00

DECISION TO ARCHIVE

HAITI

July 21, 2011

ALLEGED VICTIMS/ PETITIONERS: Jean Paul Bien-Aimé

INITIATION OF PROCESSING: September 22, 2001

ALLEGED VIOLATIONS: Article 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights (the “American Convention”)

1. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES

A. THE PETITIONER

1. On September 22, 2000, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the “Inter-American Commission” or the “IACHR”) received a petition from Jean Paul Bien-Aimé (the “petitioner” or “alleged victim”), alleging an assault on his person by those associated with the political party Lavalas.

2. According to the petition, Mr. Bien-Aimé was a pastor and a member of the political party MOCHRENHA. One night when the petitioner was returning to his church, he heard a loud voice say, “Here is a pastor of MOCHRENHA.” At this point, the petitioner claimed he was physically assaulted by people he alleges were members of the Lavalas political party, though he also stated he was unable to identify the individuals. In a letter to the Commission dated March 6, 2001, the petitioner further explained that he had been an active member of MOCHRENHA supervising the contested elections of May 21, 2000. For denouncing election irregularities, petitioner alleged he had been subject to threats since July 27, 2000. He did not elaborate further.

3. The Commission informed the petitioner on October 30, 2000, that it was not possible to process the petition due to a lack of information on exhaustion of remedies, or undue delay in those remedies. In response, on February 2001 the alleged victim wrote the Commission claiming that his house had been burned down as a result of his persecution by Lavalas, and sent copies of a medical certificate; copies of a subpoena to “the head of the bandits”; and a statement about the fire, which was submitted to a Haitian judge.

4. The petitioner wrote to the Commission on December 31, 2002, alleging his family was in continual danger and requesting help. He was informed that the pertinent parts of his communication had been transmitted to the State of Haiti, which had 30 days to respond. The petitioner again wrote to the IACHR on April 20, 2004, stating there had been continued threats. The Commission responded to the alleged victim on May 12, 2004 requesting more detailed information regarding the recent threats. In his communication to the Commission on July 5, 2004, the petitioner stated that “no judicial decisions would help him from the bandits”, but provided no further information on continued threats.

5. On January 11, 2006, the IACHR received a letter from a family member of the petitioner stating that the petitioner had been murdered. The IACHR responded on April 29, 2009, asking whether the letter’s author wished to continue the petition in the petitioner’s name and to send further information. The Commission wrote again to the family member on October 8, 2010. There has been no further response.

...