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home >> global news >> global visions >> Haiti's Father Jean-Juste Imprisoned!!
Haiti's Father Jean-Juste Imprisoned!!
Urgent Help Needed
Dear Friends of the What If? Foundation,
This afternoon, (October 13, 2004) our dear friend Father Jean-Juste was beaten and dragged from the rectory of St. Clare's Church in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. As you know, he is the Coordinator of the What If? Foundation's Feed My Lambs food program. As Father Jean-Juste was helping serve meals to the hundreds of children that had gathered to eat today's meal, several trucks filled with hooded men carrying weapons surrounded the building. They waited for the food program to end and then stormed in, beat him and took him away. I know this because Father Jean-Juste was able to call a member of the Haitian community in Miami from his cell phone as the armed men surrounded and barricaded the rectory. As Father Jean-Juste was taken, an eyewitness used his cell phone to call the contact in Miami. She immediately called me.
 I am so afraid for his safety and it breaks my heart as I write this. Father Jean-Juste has been advocating for the poorest of the poor in Haiti his whole life. He is truly one of the kindest, most loving, and courageous people I've ever met. He is a voice for the voiceless and has spoken out against the injustices inflicted against the poor in Haiti. Months ago, after the coup, as people who supported President Aristide were being sought out and murdered, we knew Father Jean-Juste's life was in danger. We thought this might happen and now it has.
I do not know if he is alive. I do not know if he's being tortured. I've called my Congressional representatives, the local newspaper and radio station, Amnesty International, my Catholic Diocese, and the UN office in Port-au-Prince.
Please help me save Father Jean-Juste's life. Please pray for his safety. In addition to your prayers, please call your congress people (www.house.gov and www.senate.gov will give you their names and contact information), and make any phone calls, emails, or other communications to local newspapers, your Catholic Diocese and any other place you can think of. Let them know about Father Jean-Juste and the food program and what happened this afternoon. With enough people working on his behalf, I pray we can save him.
With love,
Margaret
Margaret Trost, President
What If? Foundation
1563 Solano Ave., #192
Berkeley, CA 94707
margarettrost@yahoo.com
Read the transcript of a live radio interview with Father Jean Juste in Prison on KPFA Radio!
Next: Men Working with Haitian Police >>
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