Gérard Jean-Juste

20th and 21st century Haitian activist

Gérard Jean Juste (February 7, 1946 – May 27, 2009) was a Roman Catholic priest and rector of Saint Claire's church for the poor in Port au Prince, Haiti. He was also a liberation theologian and a supporter of the Fanmi Lavalas political party, as well as heading the Miami, Florida based Haitian Refugee Center from 1977 to 1990. In 2004, he became internationally noted as an opponent of the interim government of Prime Minister Gérard Latortue following the overthrow of the government of Jean Bertrand Aristide in the 2004 Haitian coup d'état. He was arrested twice for his political work, leading Amnesty International to designate him a prisoner of conscience. In his obituary, the Associated Press described him as being "often considered the Martin Luther King Jr. of Haiti".

Gérard Jean Juste was born in 1946 in Cavaillon, Haiti. A Roman Catholic, Jean Juste attended a Canadian seminary before becoming the first Haitian to be ordained in the U. S. at Brooklyn'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 and the service of the poor. 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. He soon became a "target" of government pressure, 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". Signs calling for Jean Juste's release reportedly became a common sight around the Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti.

In late December 2005, Paul Farmer, a U. S. physician who co founded Partners in Health, examined Jean Juste and confirmed that he had chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 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. The charges against him were dismissed. The Carter Center named Jean Juste one of the "Featured Human Rights Defenders" of its Human Rights Defenders Initiative.