Last week, Judge Bernard Saint-Vil issued his recommendation for provisional release of the Americans after interviewing family members. His recommendation was sent to the prosecutor who was considering what action to take.

In his Feb. 17 statement, Saint-Vil said those released would not be required to post bail as long as they agreed to return to Haiti as the investigation warrants.

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said two volunteers would not be freed. Laura Silsby, the group's leader, and Charisa Coulter are being kept for further investigation on charges leveled against the group for allegedly attempting to transport 33 Haitian children without proper documentation into the Dominican Republic to an orphanage Silsby was founding.

CNN reported earlier in the day that Coulter, who is diabetic, was taken to a field hospital "in a lot of pain." Friends and family members of the detainees had expressed concern about the volunteers' access to health care since their arrest Jan. 29.

The missionaries went to Haiti as part of a missionary outreach affiliated with a Baptist church in Idaho, but were arrested Jan. 29 for trying to bring a group of children into an orphanage in the neighboring Dominican Republic. The group did not have official paperwork allowing them to take the 33 children out of the country. While some of the kids were orphaned others were handed over by Haitian parents seeking a better life for their children.

Appeals to the U.S. State Department to intervene on their behalf have been met with resistance.

“Obviously, this is a matter for the Haitian judicial system,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters on Feb. 5, the day after the Haitian government filed kidnapping and criminal association charges against the entire group. The charges could bring 5 to 15 years and three to nine years respectively.

A few days earlier Clinton appeared to admonish the group by telling reporters “it was unfortunate that, whatever the motivation, this group of Americans took matters into their own hands.”

In light of the devastating 7.0-earthquake that leveled much of the city, killing an estimated 200,000 and leaving more than 1 million homeless, the Haitian government decided to limit adoptions in an effort to protect its children from human trafficking.

Edwin Coq, the groups’ attorney, told reporters, however, that the group was merely bringing the children to the orphanage where they could provide more resources for the kids. In addition, he said that nine members of the group were unaware of the paperwork requirements and were merely following the instructions of Laura Silsby, the leader for the trip.

Efforts by the Southern Baptist Convention to get President Barack Obama to intercede on behalf of the missionaries were unsuccessful.

Immediately after the missionaries were charged, Coq said he tried to get Haitian officials to allow the Americans to head home until the court date would be set, expected to be at least three months away.

Hampering efforts to get the missionaries home are a wide range of rumors circulating about the situation. Several news agencies reported that Coq has dropped the Americans as clients, while others said the attorney was fired for making a $60,000 bribe attempt. Coq said the money was to cover his legal fees and that it was not bribery.

Meanwhile, U.S. Marshals as well as authorities in El Salvador reportedly now are pursuing Jorge Puello, who had stepped forward as a presumed legal adviser in the Dominican Republic on behalf of some of the Americans.

Puello called the Associated Press Feb. 16 and said he was in Panama preparing to return to El Salvador to face charges for leading a ring that lured young girls and women into prostitution. He also acknowledged he is named in a 2003 federal indictment in Vermont that accuses him of smuggling illegal immigrants from Canada into the United States, AP said.

AP said Puello, 32, is identified as Jorge Torres in the Vermont indictment and managed to avoid arrest because he was living in Canada at the time. The United States requested extradition, and Puello fled.

The AP report also noted that Puello was convicted of theft of U.S. government property in 1999 in Pennsylvania and sentenced to six months in prison and five years probation, and in 2001 a court found he violated the terms of his probation and issued a warrant for his arrest.

After the Americans were detained Jan. 29, Puello contacted their relatives by calling their church, Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho, AP said. Before he initiated the call, he had never met any of them. In subsequent days, Puello reportedly delivered food and medicine to the prisoners and helped them find a Haitian lawyer, whom he later fired.

Puello was born in the United States but has strong ties to the Dominican Republic, AP said, and authorities in El Salvador noted his resemblance to the suspect in a sex trafficking case in their country after seeing him portrayed as representing the Americans.

Johnny Hunt, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, expressed gratitude for the detainees' release.

"We are thankful for the release of these eight Baptist volunteers. We are concerned for the health and release of the remaining two volunteers. From the beginning, our hope and prayer for them all has been that their motives would be vindicated and their freedom secured. We continue to pray to that end," said Hunt, pastor of the Atlanta-area First Baptist Church in Woodstock.


Christian Examiner staff report and BP wire reports

Missionaries detained in Haiti; Judge recommends conditional release

Christian Examiner staff report

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil issued his Feb. 11 recommendation for provisional release of the Americans after interviewing family members. Details of what the provisions would entail were unclear as different news agencies reported conflicting criteria. One report said that if the team were released from jail its members would still be required to stay in Haiti. Another report, however, said that all but one of the missionaries could return home, as long as one stayed behind to answer questions during the investigation.

One of the prosecutors involved with the case reportedly said the judge would not make an official decision on releasing any of the Americans at least until Monday.

Talk of their release is welcome news to the 10 U.S. missionaries who are sleeping on the floor of an under-ventilated Haitian jail cell awaiting trial.

The missionaries went to Haiti as part of a missionary outreach affiliated with a church in Idaho, but were arrested Jan. 29 for trying to bring a group of children into an orphanage in the neighboring Dominican Republic. The group did not have official paperwork allowing them to take the 33 children out of the country. While some of the kids were orphaned, others were handed over by Haitian parents seeking a better life for their children.

Appeals to the U.S. State Department to intervene on their behalf have been met with resistance.

“Obviously, this is a matter for the Haitian judicial system,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters on Feb. 5, the day after the Haitian government filed kidnapping and criminal association charges against the entire group. The charges could bring five to 15 years and three to nine years respectively.

A few days earlier Clinton appeared to admonish the group by telling reporters “it was unfortunate that, whatever the motivation, this group of Americans took matters into their own hands.”

In light of the devastating 7.0-earthquake that leveled much of the city, killing an estimated 200,000 and leaving more than 1 million homeless, the Haitian government decided to limit adoptions in an effort to protect its children from human trafficking.

Edwin Coq, the group’s attorney, told reporters that the group was merely bringing the children to the orphanage where they could provide more resources for the kids. In addition, he said that nine members of the group were unaware of the paperwork requirements and were merely following the instructions of Laura Silsby, the leader for the trip.

Since the charges were filed, Haitian officials have apparently separated the men and women, housing them in “dire circumstances,” BP news reported.

Efforts by the Southern Baptist Convention to get President Barack Obama to intercede on behalf of the missionaries have been unsuccessful.

“The continued detainment and possible conviction of these Baptist mission volunteers will distract the world’s attention and undermine the relief efforts so desperately needed by the Haitian people,” read a Feb. 5 letter written by Morris Chapman, president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee, SBC president Johnny Hunt and former SBC president Frank Page.

In the letter, the church leaders said they did not know all of the facts surrounding the group’s work, but added that their motives appeared to be right.

“The Haitian government and the international community immediately interpreted their actions in the worst light possible, alleging that they were trafficking in children,” the letter read. “As the story has unfolded, it has become more and more apparent that these 10 individuals were driven by the true selflessness of altruism. Moved with compassion, they acted.”

Former President Bill Clinton, who was in Haiti the first weekend in February as part of a fund-raising effort for quake relief, did appeal for both sides to work out the issue.

“I think they'll find a way to defuse the crisis and work through this,” he told Reuters, while adding that he had no jurisdiction over the case.

Immediately after the missionaries were charged, Coq said he tried to get Haitian officials to allow the Americans to head home until the court date would be set, expected to be at least three months away.

Hampering efforts to get the missionaries home are a wide range of rumors circulating about the situation. Several news agencies reported that Coq has dropped the Americans as clients, while others said the attorney was fired for making a $60,000 bribe attempt. Coq said the money was to cover his legal fees and that it was not bribery.

The Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, with the Christian Defense Coalition, said it’s imperative that the group—whom he calls “The Idaho 10,”—is released, especially after losing its lawyer. Concerned for their plight, Mahoney traveled to Haiti to meet with the Haitian ambassador in hopes of securing their release. He said comments made by Haitian officials make it appear that a fair trial for the Americans is unlikely.

“There is no doubt that serious mistakes were made by the 10 missionaries in their desire to help the needy children of Haiti,” Mahoney said. “Zeal and compassion must always be tempered with accountability and planning. However, their goals were based on mercy and love for these children and it is clear they were not kidnappers or traffickers. At no time were these children in danger and their whereabouts were always known.”

Mahoney challenged the Obama administration to use as much effort and diplomacy as it was using to secure the release of several hikers being held by the Iranian government. To draw attention to the matter, Mahoney said he was starting a fast and hunger strike.

“These Christian missionaries should not be treated as second-class citizens by President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton,” the coalition leader said.