Gérard Jean-Juste (February 7, 1946 – May 27, 2009) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Saint Claire's church for the poor in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, Haiti. He was also a liberation theologian and a supporter of the

Fanmi Lavalas Fanmi Lavalas ( en, Lavalas Family, Lavalas is Haitian Creole for ''flood''), is a social-democratic political party in Haiti. Its leader is former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 1 ...

political party, as well as heading the

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

-based

Haitian Refugee Center Haitian may refer to: Relating to Haiti * ''Haitian'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Haiti ** Haitian Creole, a French-Creole based ** Haitian French, variant of the French language ** Haitians, an ethnic group * ...

from 1977 to 1990. In 2004, he became internationally noted as an opponent of the interim government of Prime Minister

Gérard Latortue Gérard Latortue (born 19 June 1934 in Gonaïves) is a Haitian politician and diplomat who served as the prime minister of Haiti from 12 March 2004 to 9 June 2006. He was an official in the United Nations for many years, and briefly served as for ...

following the overthrow of the government of

Jean-Bertrand Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in ...

in the

2004 Haitian coup d'état A coup d'état in Haiti on 29 February 2004, following several weeks of conflict, resulted in the removal of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office. On 5 February 2004, a rebel group, called the National Revolutionary Front for the Liber ...

. He was arrested twice for his political work, leading

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

to designate him a prisoner of conscience. In his obituary, the

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described him as being "often considered the Martin Luther King Jr. of Haiti".

Background

Gérard Jean-Juste was born in 1946 in

Cavaillon Cavaillon (; Provençal: ''Cavalhon'') is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France.

, Haiti. A Roman Catholic, Jean-Juste attended a Canadian seminary before becoming the first Haitian to be ordained in the U.S. at

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

's Church of St. Avila. Following his ordination, he worked for a time in a rural parish in Haiti, an experience which increased his commitment to

liberation theology Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". In ...

and the service of the poor. In 1971, however, Jean-Juste was asked to sign a loyalty oath to the

Jean-Claude Duvalier Jean-Claude Duvalier (; 3 July 19514 October 2014), nicknamed "Baby Doc" ( ht, Bebe Dòk), was a Haitian politician who was the President of Haiti from 1971 until he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February 1986. He succeeded his father F ...

government. He refused and fled to the U.S. There he served at

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

's Cathedral of the Holy Cross while also completing bachelor's degrees in

engineering technology An engineering technologist is a professional trained in certain aspects of development and implementation of a respective area of technology. Engineering technology education is even more applied and less theoretical than engineering education ...

and

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

. Observing the

due process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...

violations that many Haitian refugees faced in the 1970s, Jean-Juste founded the Miami-based Haitian Refugee Center to assist them. He would supervise the organization from 1977 to 1990. A major point of his advocacy was to change to the U.S.'s differing treatment of Cuban and Haitian refugees; Jean-Juste argued that while the former were treated as political and granted asylum accordingly, the latter were almost always viewed as economic refugees, despite having fled the dictatorship of Duvalier. As part of his work with the organization, Jean-Juste picketed Miami's Archbishop

Edward A. McCarthy Edward Anthony McCarthy (April 10, 1918 – June 7, 2005) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the second archbishop of the Archdiocese of Miami in Florida from 1977 to 1994. He previously served as bishop of the Dio ...

, calling him a racist for failing to advocate on behalf of refugees. As punishment, Jean-Juste was forbidden by his church superiors from celebrating

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

in the area. He also found himself in trouble with church hierarchy for conducting Catholic funeral services for refugees who had drowned at sea regardless of their religious background.

Return to Haiti

Jean-Juste returned to Haiti in 1991, becoming a "prominent supporter" of

, Haiti's first democratically elected president, and his

party. Following a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

Raoul Cédras Joseph Raoul Cédras (born July 9, 1949) is a Haitian former military officer who was the ''de facto'' ruler of Haiti from 1991 to 1994. Background A mulatto, Cédras was educated in the United States and was a member of the U.S.-trained ''Leop ...

that unseated Aristide less than a year after his election, Jean-Juste then spent the next three years in hiding. When Aristide resumed office in 1994, Jean-Juste resumed his work as well, becoming rector of Saint Claire's church in Port-au-Prince. One of his legacies is a food program for hungry children in the St. Claire's neighborhood, which continues to be supported by the What If? Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Berkeley, CA.

Opposition to the Latortue government and arrests

In 2004, Aristide was again deposed by a military coup. Jean-Juste became an outspoken critic of the U.S.-supported interim government that followed, headed by

. He soon became a "target" of government pressure, leading a brief arrest in late 2004 on charges of hiding pro-Aristide soldiers. In July 2005, Jean-Juste and Fanmi Lavalas were accused by Haitian state media of involvement in the death of journalist

Jacques Roche Jacques Roche (21 July 1961 – 14 July 2005), a Haitian journalist and editor for '' Le Matin'' newspaper and a host of a TV show in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was kidnapped, tortured and killed during a wave of abductions carried out before electi ...

. Roche, a columnist for '' Le Matin'' had been kidnapped on July 10, held for ransom, and "tortured with extreme cruelty" before being found dead four days later. When attending Roche's funeral on July 21, Jean-Juste was attacked by a group of mourners and arrested; he was then held without charges on suspicion of involvement in the murder. As Jean-Juste had been in Miami for the duration of the kidnapping, international organizations generally found the charges to be "laughable". His ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' obituary, for example, describes the charges as "universally regarded as politically motivated".

designated him a prisoner of conscience, "detained solely for the legitimate expression of his opinions". Signs calling for Jean-Juste's release reportedly became a common sight around the Miami neighborhood of

Little Haiti Little Haiti (french: La Petite Haïti, ht, Ti Ayiti), is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is known historically as Lemon City, Little River and Edison. It is home to Haitian immigrant residents, as well as residents from the ...

. At the time of his arrest, Jean-Juste was being considered as a Fanmi Lavalas candidate for the 2006 presidential election. However, electoral authorities ruled that Jean-Juste could not be properly registered as a candidate due to his incarceration, prompting Fanmi Lavalas to threaten to boycott the poll. Jean-Juste later endorsed the eventual winner,

René Préval René Garcia Préval (; 17 January 1943 – 3 March 2017) was a Haitian politician and agronomist who served twice as President of Haiti; once from early 1996 to early 2001, and again from mid 2006 to mid 2011. He was also Prime Minister from ...

Leukemia and release

In late December 2005,

Paul Farmer Paul Edward Farmer (October 26, 1959 – February 21, 2022) was an American medical anthropology, medical anthropologist and physician. Farmer held an MD and PhD from Harvard University, where he was a Harvard University Professor, University ...

, a U.S. physician who co-founded

Partners in Health Partners In Health (PIH) is an international nonprofit public health organization founded in 1987 by Paul Farmer, Ophelia Dahl, Thomas J. White, Todd McCormack, and Jim Yong Kim. Partners in Health provides healthcare in the poorest areas of ...

, examined Jean-Juste and confirmed that he had

chronic lymphocytic leukemia Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). Early on, there are typically no symptoms. Later, non-painful lymph node swelling, feeling tired, fever, nigh ...

, telling a reporter that "Father Gerry's in serious trouble if he isn't released from jail to receive proper medical attention in the United States." Jean-Juste was given temporary release from prison to seek care in Miami in early 2006. However, he returned to Haiti in November 2007 to defend himself against the still-pending charges. When asked about his experience with weapons, he replied, "My rosary is my only weapon". The charges against him were dismissed. Jean-Juste died in a hospital in the Miami area on May 27, 2009.

Awards and recognition

On September 11, 2006, the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

conferred an Honorary Doctorate degree on Fr. Jean-Juste to recognize his human rights and social justice work on behalf of Haiti's poor."University of San Francisco recognizes Jean-Juste with Honorary Doctorate"
University of San Francisco

The Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University just after his defeat in the 1980 United States presiden ...

named Jean-Juste one of the "Featured Human Rights Defenders" of its Human Rights Defenders Initiative.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jean-Juste, Gerard 1947 births 2009 deaths Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Haiti Haitian democracy activists Haitian expatriates in the United States Haitian Roman Catholic priests Liberation theologians People from Port-au-Prince Haitian prisoners and detainees Northeastern University alumni 20th-century Roman Catholic priests