[IMC-US] Story Idea

[Bajwrites at aol.com]

Dear Editors, 

Some of the more sordid aspects of U.S. foreign policy -- including gang rape 
and physical abuse -- have been called to the dock. While Defense Secretary 
Donald Rumsfeld stands accused of condoning torture in Afghanistan and Iraq, 
another lawsuit filed on behalf of three Haitian women will undoubtedly be met 
with less than open federal arms. Indeed, the action calls into question why 
the man known as "The Devil" has been allowed to live and prosper in the U.S. 
and why the CIA has continued supporting him.

One year after the U.S.-backed ouster of President Jean Bertrand Aristide, 
the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) and the 
Center for Constitutional Rights in New York have targeted the infamous Emmanuel 
"Toto" Constant. The founder of FRAPH, "Revolutionary Front for the Advancement 
and Progress of Haiti," Constant leads a CIA-backed paramilitary group that 
during the 1990s committed numerous human rights violations. After the 
overthrow of the Duvalier regime, he fled to Queens, New York. Public outrage spurred 
the INS to initiate deportation proceedings after a judge found his "continued 
presence ...sends the message that the United States actively endorses his 
position ..." The order was never executed. 

Nicknamed as "The Devil," Constant "is arguably THE WORST abuser who is being 
openly harbored by the U.S.," says Sandra Coliver, CJA's executive director. 
In 2000, a Haitian court convicted him -- in absentia -- of murder for his 
role in what is now called the Raboteau Massacre. The CJA suit relies on the 
concept of "command responsibility." Lawyers will try to establish, for the first 
time ever, culpability within a death squad context. (One Jane Doe was twice 
gang-raped for her pro-democracy efforts; another beaten after publicizing her 
husband's disappearance; and a third raped by paramilitaries seeking to 
intimidate her spouse.) "Death squads were set up precisely to avoid command 
responsibility -- or, indeed, any sort of accountability," Coliver says. 

Still, Constant's enduring relationship with the CIA -- and FRAPH's continued 
campaign of terror since resuming power after Aristide's ouster -- guarantees 
the suit will meet strenuous opposition. In the Bush administration, 
intelligence agency activities have assumed an unprecedented prominence. 
Simultaneously, the administration has successfully maintained contorted positions 
regarding torture in the Middle East and Guantanamo Bay. 

I propose a 2,500-word story about the Constant lawsuit. Using the post-9/11 
environment of legalized physical abuse as backdrop, the story will examine 
its unique importance and highlight CJA's on-going efforts in the human rights 
arena. Sources will include attorneys, legal scholars, human rights activists 
and government officials. 

An alumnus of the University of California at Berkeley School of Journalism, 
I am an award-winning investigative reporter whose work has appeared in 
national and regional publications such as The Progressive Magazine, California 
Lawyer Magazine, Black Diaspora Magazine, The San Francisco Recorder, The San 
Francisco Business Times, CalBusiness Magazine, the Oakland Tribune, the Lexington 
Herald-Leader and The (New York) Journal of Commerce.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Brian Johns 
1527 Walnut Street
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 848-6859
bajwrites at aol.com