February 2, 2010
Detained Americans Questioned by Haitian Judge
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 7:15 p.m. ET

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- A Haitian judge on Tuesday was questioning
a group of U.S. Baptist missionaries arrested trying to leave Haiti with
a busload of children they gathered from the disaster zone.

The investigating magistrate queried the five women for several hours
and will follow up with the five men on Wednesday, according to the
Haiti's communications minister. No lawyers were present, and the
Americans have yet to be charged.

Minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue says the evidence will be
presented to a Haitian district attorney to decide whether to file charges.

The Baptists from Idaho say they were only trying to help orphans
survive the earthquake. *But legal experts say taking children across a
border without documents or government permission can be considered
child trafficking.*

At the SOS Children's Village orphanage where authorities are protecting
the 33 children, regional director Patricia Vargas said none who are old
enough and willing to talk had said they were orphans: ''Up until now we
have not encountered any who say they are an orphan.''

Vargas said most of the children are between 3 and 6 years old, and
unable to provide phone numbers or any other details about their origins.

*The Americans apparently enlisted a clergyman who went knocking on
doors asking people if they wanted to give away their children, the
director of Haiti's social welfare agency, Jeanne Bernard Pierre, told
The Associated Press.*

*''One child said to me, 'When they came knocking on our door asking for
children, my mom decided to give me away because we are six children and
by giving me away she would have only five kids to care for,''' Bernard
Pierre said.*

About 10 parents have come forward saying their children were taken, but
it wasn't clear if any are related the case involving the Americans,
Bernard Pierre said.

Prime Minister Max Bellerive has suggested the Americans could be
prosecuted in the United States because Haiti's shattered court system
may not be able to cope with a trial.

''It is clear now that they were trying to cross the border without
papers. It is clear now that some of the children have live parents. And
it is clear now that they knew what they were doing was wrong,''
Bellerive told the AP.

The White House has said the case remains in Haitian hands for now.

Central Valley Baptist Church Assistant Pastor Drew Ham in Idaho called
Tuesday for their immediate release, saying questioning them without
lawyers violates the Haitian Constitution.

The U.S. government could claim jurisdiction to try them in the United
States, but one expert on international abductions doubts it will
happen, since prosecutors are likely to take into account the mitigating
circumstances.

''They have obviously made a huge mistake by unilaterally going into
Haiti and taking children without the permission and knowledge of the
Haitian government. It's a crime in Haiti and anywhere in the world to
take or abduct children even if the underlying intentions were
humanitarian or good in nature,'' said Christopher Schmidt, an attorney
with Bryan Cave LLP in St. Louis.

''Whether or not a prosecutor would choose to prosecute these
individuals in this case is an open question. Frankly I have doubts
whether a prosecutor would want to go down that path,'' he said.

------


If you see baptists prowling in your neighborhood, bring the kids inside
and bolt lock the doors.