Family, activists seek answers in death of Haitian minister

Saturday, November 20, 2004

Family, activists seek answers in death of Haitian minister


By SAM DOLNICK
Associated Press Writer

November 19, 2004, 10:26 PM EST

NEW YORK -- In the midst of her grief, renowned Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat described her "own personal nightmare" involving the uncle who raised her in Haiti and died this month in U.S. custody after arriving in Miami.

"It is my nightmare that he died alone handcuffed to a bed," she said during a telephone interview from Brooklyn, where the wake of her uncle, Joseph Dantica, was held Friday night.

Dantica, an 81-year-old minister, died Nov. 3, five days after he fled Port-au-Prince for Miami in fear for his life, applied for asylum, and was detained by federal authorities as they reviewed his case.

As Brooklyn's Haitian community grieved for her uncle, Danticat, her family and a group of Haitian activists reiterated calls for an investigation into his death.

"They're claiming the detention had nothing to do with his death, but unfortunately the evidence suggests otherwise," Jocelyn McCalla, executive director of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights, said in a telephone interview.
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http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--haitiandeath1119nov19,0,6833212.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

bushie --- he just drips blood.