Haiti political prisoner released after two years without charge

A popular Haitian folk singer and political activist has been released from jail - more than two years after she was seized by US Marines and incarcerated without charge.

Annette Auguste, better known as So Ann ("Sister Ann") was released after her lawyer persuaded a judge in Port-au-Prince that there was no evidence to hold her.

Yesterday, freed after 826 days in jail, she spoke of her incarceration onDemocracy Now radio in the US.

"The conditions in prison were very bad for everyone," So Ann said.

"Everybody was suffering. It was not only me."

"I was only released yesterday after two years and three months. They had no evidence to condemn me - that is why I'm released and I'm free."

So Ann, 65, was one of several high-profile supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide rounded up and imprisoned with the barest of evidence after he was forced from power in the spring of 2004.

Her case was highlighted by Amnesty International who said she had been seized by US Marines - part of an international force deployed to Haiti - who said she had been arrested on suspicion of "possessing information that could pose a threat to the US-military force".

Even though the US military admitted it found no weapons or evidence to support the allegations against her, she was taken into custody and held by the interim government of Gerard Latortue, which had been imposed by the US, France and Canada.

She was held on suspicion of "incitement to violence", though Amnesty said she was never formally charged with a recognisable offence.

The Latortue government was widely criticised for its suppression of pro-Aristide supporters and his Lavalas political party.

Other high profile figures imprisoned were former prime minister Yvonne Neptune, who was freed on appeal last month.

The release of So-Ann and others comes five months after the election of Rene Preval, a former Aristide ally, who had formerly served as president.

During his election campaign he vowed to release all political prisoners.

"This is an important step forward," said Brian Concannon, director of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, a US-group that supported Aristide.

"The struggle now continues to release those other prisoners being held for political reasons who do not have such a high profile."

Mr Preval secured his election victory with the overwhelming support of Haiti's poor.

As he predicted at the time, turning around the fortunes of the poorest country in the hemisphere where three-quarters of the population survives on less than $2 a day, has not been straight-forward.

The charity ActionAid recently confirmed that a kidnapping in Haiti - which fell around the time of the election - has now risen again and the country has become the kidnapping capital of the Americas.

The charity's Jack Campbell recently called on the UN mission in Haiti to take on more to prevent such violence, saying: "Ordinary Haitians are crying out for change.

The Haitian government has opened its door for continued international support.

The United Nations must not let this opportunity for real progress slip by."

- INDEPENDENT