Haitian Strongman Living Next Door

N E W  Y O R K, Dec. 26, 2000 -- 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.

Partying, Living the Good LifeConstant may be free, but he is lying low.

For all the sightings reported by his opponents on Web sites andelsewhere — Toto partying at nightclubs, selling phone cards andreal estate, living the good life — details about his whereaboutsand livelihood are few. He reportedly lives on and off with an auntin a white stucco house near Kennedy Airport.

When word spread in August that Constant had gotten his realestate license and was working in a modest storefront office inQueens, about 30 people responded with a noisy demonstration. Somescreamed, “Murderer!” and “Assassin!”

Constant wasn’t there at the time and hasn’t been seen theresince.

Several calls to Constant’s lawyer were not returned. But in arare interview with Newsday last month, he claimed he was theinnocent victim of political persecution.

Power of Voodoo

A charismatic, 6-foot-4 son of a military officer, Constantemerged as the leader of a right-wing paramilitary group, the Frontfor the Advancement and Progress of Haiti, or FRAPH, after Aristidewas toppled in 1991. Human rights groups allege that between 1991and 1994, FRAPH terrorized Aristide supporters, who were killed bythe thousands.

At the time, Constant boasted that he was a paid informant forthe CIA. He ran for president, calling FRAPH a “Salvation Army”eager to help the poor. He carried a .357-caliber Magnum revolver on the campaigntrail.

“The weapon is for psychological impact only,” he explained.“I have the power of voodoo with me.”

After U.S. forces helped restore Aristide to power, Constantslipped into the United States through Puerto Rico on a touristvisa on Christmas Eve 1994. Embarrassed U.S. officials deniedaccusations that they were harboring him because of his CIAconnections.

Who Is a Thug?

Warren Christopher, then secretary of state, warned thatConstant’s presence would damage U.S.-Haiti relations and askedReno to deport him. Five months later, Immigration andNaturalization Service agents captured him in Queens.

Constant appealed his deportation on the grounds he would bekilled if sent back to Haiti. He was released in 1996 on thecondition that he not travel outside New York City and that hereport regularly to the INS.

Raymond Joseph, publisher of the Haiti Observateur — aright-leaning Brooklyn newspaper long critical of Aristide — saiddeporting Constant would be unjust as long as a “terroristgovernment” still rules in Haiti.

“As far as I’m concerned, Toto Constant is no threat to me andnot a threat to anyone here,” Joseph said. “I’ve always said thatthe State Department would be crazy to send Constant to those thugsin Haiti.”