Something I never knew I was thankful for

Weds. November 18 was a big national holiday here. It’s the anniversary of the last battle of the Haitian Revolution in 1803, when the last French ships finally sailed away after a brutal, long battle at the last fortress on the north coast. After our morning assembly in which kids did dramatic readings of Jean Jacques Dessalines’ pronouncement on that day, and sang a few extra patriotic songs, Mr. Hubert, the principal, quietly informed the staff of an unfortunate incident which had taken place the night before. Franklin, a recent LCS graduate and current staff member, was studying in his university library while some student protests were going on outside. University students protesting their situation is practically a daily occurrence here, but this one had special significance because it was on the holiday … and because in their exuberance they lit a few cars on fire. One of these cars happened to belong to a high ranking government official. Well … the police sprung into action to catch the perpetrators of the violence, and when they couldn’t find them, they just swept into the library and arrested the first 13 people they saw. Franklin was one of them.

When I first heard about this, I honestly thought it was kind of comical. Franklin is one of the sweetest, gentlest, actually most socially awkward people I’ve met here. He’s also brilliant and speaks English better than I do. But the thought of him getting caught up in something like that was just so absurd. I just assumed they’d sort it all out and he’d have a funny story to tell tomorrow. Then I looked in the faces of the Haitian people around me and realized that this was no joke. At all. There was true fear in their eyes. I came at this situation from an “innocent until proven guilty” mindset, and that’s not how criminal justice works here. I assumed that given the total lack of evidence connecting him to any crime, that they wouldn’t even be able to charge him and keep him in custody. Well, here they don’t really need evidence to keep someone in custody, and people sit in jail for months and years awaiting trials. They were confident that he would be OK as long as he stayed in the city jail, but if he was transferred to the prison … no one ever really finished that sentence, but they didn’t need to. I knew what they were afraid of. Franklin the bookworm who frequently talks to himself because honestly, he loves the sound of his own voice … in a Haitian prison. It really was terrifying.

Of course the people who run this place mobilized immediately to plead the case of not only Franklin, but the other 13 students and faculty members who were arrested with him. People in jails here don’t get food (or actually, they have to pay for it) so families and friends have to bring food. So people here started making 14 sandwiches every day to bring over there. They did all the work that a court appointed lawyer would have done ... if there was such a thing as a court appointed lawyers here. After three days, our fears were realized when the students were transferred to the prison. And then the weekend came, and there would be no further action on their case until Monday. The case had become a political football. The cops couldn’t admit they had screwed up, the government minister whose car had been burned was furious, and no one wanted to touch it with a ten foot pole. If they let them all go, they’d look weak. Someone had to pay for the violence … but there is literally ZERO evidence connecting any of them with the crimes.

This past week it has become clear that the authorities will have to release them, but not without trying to make themselves look good first. They’ve heard each person’s case separately, and released the least likely suspects first (a professor, 2 women, a library staff member – who’s also an LCS graduate.) There are four still in prison, and Franklin is one of them. /The “good” news is that the police treatment of all of them has been excellent. Families and friends have been allowed easy access to them. They have been held separately from the rest of the prison population, and by Franklin’s description and still positive attitude, they have not been mistreated. It’s Friday night and people are confident that Franklin and the others will be released Monday or Tuesday … after another weekend in prison.

I just had no idea how totally naïve I was about “justice” in the developing world. Evidently this is quite common in many parts of the world – that prisoners can be held without charge or evidence, and that dehumanizing violence inside prisons is the norm. I know that the American criminal justice system has problems, and that innocent people sometimes go to jail, and that many poor people do not trust the system at all. But I also happened to read last week about student protests at the University of California in which many people were arrested for occupying a University building. The line that caught my attention was about a woman who was arrested, charged and released, “to await her trial in 60 days.” We US Americans are lucky people. Franklin’s been awaiting his day in court in prison for the last 10 days. Hopefully it will come on Monday or Tuesday.