Haitian Strongman Living Next Door

N E W  Y O R K, Dec. 26 -- In his heyday, Emmanuel “Toto” Constant intimidated an entire nation. Now he’s the strongman next door.

Wanted for murder and mayhem in Haiti, Constant, 43, has livedwith relatives in a quiet Caribbean neighborhood in Queens for thepast four years.

The fugitive paramilitary leader once boasted that voodoo — aswell as the CIA — protected him from harm. But a vocal group ofHaitian-American activists wants to break the spell.

The group has been demanding that he be deported to Haiti andtried for atrocities committed after a military coup — charges hedenies.

“I can’t believe this guy is living in our midst,” RayLaForest, a labor organizer and head of the Haiti Support Network,said recently. “It’s an outrage.”

The anti-Constant campaign was energized last month by news thata Haitian court had sentenced him to life in prison following hisconviction in absentia for the 1994 massacre of slum-dwellers loyalto ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Activists hereresponded by circulating a Constant wanted poster and turned uppressure on Washington, where officials have argued that Haiti isstill too unstable to give him a fair trial.

Daily Source of Menace

Human Rights Watch and other civil rights groups sent a letterto Attorney General Janet Reno and Secretary of State MadeleineAlbright.

The letter said the trial, resulting in the conviction of 16defendants and the acquittal of six, “illustrates that the Haitianjustice system has the capacity to provide a fair trial to majordefendants.” The group said the United States should honor Haiti’sextradition request.

“Constant’s presence in New York is a daily source of dismayand even menace to the city’s large Haitian community,” the lettersaid. “A number of these Haitians are terrified that Constant isfreely walking the streets.”

Justice Department spokeswoman Gretchen Michael said thegovernment’s position on Constant has not changed. “The StateDepartment has asked us not to deport Constant because it would bedestabilizing,” she said.