Global+Exchange+Appeal+on+behalf+of+Father+Jean-Juste



=**Global Exchange Appeal on behalf of Father Jean-Juste**=


 * Dear friend,**

We are writing to ask you to take immediate action on behalf of Father Gerard Jean-Juste, a prisoner of conscience in Haiti who was recently diagnosed with leukemia.

Father Jean-Juste, who is famous in both Haiti and the diaspora for his decades of service to the poor, has been held in prison without charges since July 21, 2005. He is among more than 1,000 people who have been arbitrarily detained by the Haitian government that came to power in a February 2005 coup d’etat.

Amnesty International has declared Father Jean-Juste a prisoner of conscience, because they believe he was detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression. He is an outspoken supporter of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and had announced his intention to stand as a presidential candidate for the Fanmi Lavalas party in the forthcoming Haitian elections, but the Electoral Council rejected his candidacy because he was not able to register in person.

Please send a fax on Father Jean-Juste’s behalf to the US Embassy in Haiti through Global Exchange’s website: **http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/actnow/jeanjuste.html**

For more information about Father Jean-Juste, you can read the recent article about him below by Dr. Paul Farmer, who won a Global Exchange human rights award in 2005.

Websites with good information about Haiti include:


 * http://www.haitiaction.net

http://www.ijdh.org

http://www.zmag.org/lam/haitiwatch.cfm**

Thanks as always for your hard work on behalf of peace and justice, Global Exchange

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