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A28 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 24 June 2020
U.S. deports ex paramilitary leader ‘Toto’ Constant to Haiti

By EVENS SANON with relatives in Queens,
and DÁNICA COTO New York, until he was ar-
Associated Press rested in 2006 and later
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti found guilty of fraud and
(AP) — Former paramilitary grand larceny. In October
leader Emmanuel Constant 2008, he was sentenced
was deported from the U.S. at least 12 years in prison
on Tuesday and arrested as for his role in a $1.7 million
soon as he landed in Haiti, mortgage fraud scheme.
where he faces murder and Constant has repeatedly
torture charges stemming alleged that he was on the
from killings committed dur- CIA's payroll and that he
ing the political upheaval is a scapegoat and would
of the 1990s that involved be killed upon his return to
the U.S. government. Haiti. There were no pro-
Constant did not say any- testers or supporters when
thing as he was placed into he landed in Port-au-Prince
a police vehicle, where one or when he was taken to a
officer held a cell phone jail cell shortly afterward.
up to Constant's ear so he His attorney, Ronaldo Saint-
could talk to an unidenti- Louis, told reporters that
fied person before he was Constant was being held
taken away for question- illegally. "This is a country of
ing. Constant was among injustice. We are going to
24 deported migrants who Former paramilitary leader Emmanuel Constant, center, is detained by Haitian police at his arrival fight for his right to be re-
to the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, June 23, 2020.
landed in the capital of Associated Press leased," he said.
Port-au-Prince, the fourth U.S. legislators including
such flight since the CO- be to have somebody tween 1991 and 1994, the with help from the U.S. mili- Rep. Maxine Waters of Cali-
VID-19 pandemic began, like 'Toto' Constant with so group that Constant led tary, Constant fled to the fornia have said it would be
said Jean Negot Bonheur much blood on his hands terrorized and slaughtered Dominican Republic and "dangerously irresponsible"
Delva, director of Haiti's mi- walking around," he said. at least 3,000 slum dwellers then entered the U.S. on to deport Constant without
gration office. "It would just epitomize the loyal to Aristide. Christmas Eve. He was or- a plan to prosecute him in
Some criticized his depor- impunity with which people According to the San Fran- dered deported in 1995 but Haiti and protect victims.
tation and worried whether have committed murder in cisco-based Center for was allowed to remain in Waters noted that Jean-
he would be held account- Haiti for so long." Justice & Accountability, the U.S. because of instabil- Robert Gabriel, who also
able for any of the charges Human rights groups have Constant had pictures of ity in Haiti. In 2000, Constant was convicted in absentia
he faces. Reed Brody, an accused Constant of kill- mutilated victims in his of- was convicted in absentia in the Raboteau trial, be-
attorney for Human Rights ing, raping and torturing fice and his group would in Haiti following a trial for came a top official in Haiti's
Watch known as the "dic- Haitians when he became perform facial scalpings the 1994 massacre in Rabo- military in 2018.
tator hunter," told The As- leader of the Front for the and display them. teau, a shantytown in the Brody, who worked in Haiti
sociated Press in a phone Advancement and Prog- "Constant sought to culti- northern coastal town of during the 1990s to pros-
interview that Constant ress of Haiti after President vate a nearly supernatural Gonaives where Aristide ecute human rights crimes,
should be prosecuted Jean-Bertrand Aristide's mystique for FRAPH," the supporters were killed. said the U.S. was not a by-
somewhere. "The worst so- presidency was toppled in center said. When Aristide Constant kept a low profile stander when Constant
lution for Haitians would 1991. They allege that be- returned to power in 1994 while in the U.S. and lived rose to power. q

Judge orders Brazil’s Bolsonaro to use face mask in public

By MAURICIO SAVARESE spread of the new corona- a mask, unlike some other
Associated Press virus. Failure to comply car- heads of state, includ-
SAO PAULO (AP) — A Bra- ries a possible daily fine of ing U.S. President Donald
zilian federal judge on $390. Trump, Mexico's Andrés
Tuesday ordered President Judge Renato Coelho Manuel López Obrador
Jair Bolsonaro to comply Borelli said in his ruling that and Argentina's Alberto
with local rules to wear a Bolsonaro "has exposed Fernandez, who has often
face mask whenever he is other people to the conta- hugged supporters and
outdoors in the capital of gion of a disease that has taken selfies with them
Brasilia. caused national commo- while not wearing a mask,
In recent weekends, a tion." although use of a mask is
sometimes unmasked Bol- The Brazilian presidentdid mandatory in Argentina's
sonaro has joined throngs not immediately comment capital.
of people protesting on the decision. An earlier The Brazilian president has
against Brazil's Congress court ruling required him to downplayed the risk of
and Supreme Court and publish the results of three COVID-19 and insisted the
he has visited bakeries and COVID-19 tests he took negative economic im-
outdoor food stalls, draw- early March, and all were pacts of social isolation will
ing crowds around him. negative for the virus. He be worse than the harm
In this May 26, 2020 file photo, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, Since the end of April, Bra- has not disclosed any tests caused by the virus.
wearing a face mask with a logo of the Federal Police, leaves zil's federal district requires since then. More than 51,000 people
his official residence of Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil. people to wear face masks Bolsonaro sometimes ap- have died of COVID-19 in
Associated Press in public to help control the pears in public events with Brazil.q