Haitians March Against Torture & Murder

Angry protesters, including many Haitian-Americans, wound their way down 225th Street in Laurelton on Saturday afternoon, descending on the Queens residence of Emmanuel "Toto" Constant.
Constant is labeled by human rights activists as the leader of a Haitian death squad.
In 1991, Constant purportedly founded FRAPH (Revolutionary Front for Haitian Advancement and Progress), shortly after the bloody coup that ousted then president Jean-Bertrand Aristede.
FRAPH is believed to be responsible for the brutal deaths of more than 5,000 Haitians from 1991-1994.
Leaders from the Queens Haitian community, which numbers around 150,000, say that despite numerous legal actions taken against the man they call a torturer, rapist and murderer, he remains at large and continues to escape justice.
In 1995, Constant was arrested, held and deported by order back to Haiti. But a stay of deportation agreement, drawn in June of 1996, between the State Department, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Justice Department and National Security Council gave Constant the right to remain here. In 1998, the New York City Council passed a resolution demanding his deportation.
Chanting "Toto Must Go," members of the Center For Constitutional Human Rights (CCR), the Haiti Support Network and the National Action Network joined several other groups to demand the arrest of Constant on Saturday.
Armed with his City Council badge, Councilman Charles Baron climbed the stairs at Constants last known residence in Queens to make a citizens arrest.
"I am here to call for Constant to surrender himself," the Councilman stated. "This murderer must be brought to justice."
A neighbor across the street watched and shook her head. The woman, who refused to share her identity, said she was afraid to do so. She stated that Constant himself had moved from the house after the last protest, but that his sister Marie still lived there. With tears rolling down her cheeks the woman said that although she was not of Haitian descent she feels "terribly about what this monster has done to innocent people."
In a recent letter to US Congressman Charles Rangel, CCR Executive Director Ron Daniels wrote, "We are marching at this particular moment because… according to credible reports by international human rights organizations …FRAPH has already begun another wave of intimidation, killing and terror."
The letter also states that, according to an Associated Press report, one of Constants notorious associates, Louis Jodel Chamblain, has resurfaced in Haiti. He has declared himself a judicial magistrate in Cap-Haitian and is holding kangaroo court as judge, jury and executioner.
Protesters have been repeatedly frustrated by what they say is the shielding of Constant by the US government at a time when the US has made such a commitment to fight terror.
"How can the United States continue to hide this torturous murderer?" asked Ron Daniels. "This is a clear example of what we have been told by Dr. King: an injustice like this done to anyone anywhere is an injustice done to everyone everywhere." That is the sentiment the marchers tried to emphasize in this, the third such rally attempting to extradite Constant to Haiti.
Back in Haiti, the instability of the new US-backed government is a major source of concern for all who live there.
While they wait for justice to be served and for Constant and others like him to be arrested and tried, Haitian-Americans here in Queens have vowed to continue their relentless pursuit.