Kidnappers release 6 Catholics, others

BY THE HAITIAN TIMES APR. 30, 2021

At least nine people kidnapped were set free separately on Thursday in Port-au-Prince, including the six remaining Catholics that “400 Mawozo” gang members took hostage earlier this month.

Reports did not mention whether a ransom was paid for any of the victims.

The Catholics, initially a group of 10, were kidnapped in Croix-des-Bouquets, a town six miles from Port-au-Prince April 11. One worshipper was released days later after the gang members received USD $50,000, according to local reports. The gang members set free three more worshippers a week ago without ransom.

The churchgoers included five priests, two nuns and three members of a priest’s family. One priest and one nun are of French nationality.

Also released Thursday are Youri Dérival, a psychology student, Marie Josette Malvoisin, a professor and Manuel Gaston Orival, a former police commissioner.

Orival was kidnapped on Tuesday in his home at Avenue Pouplard in Port-au-Prince. News of his release brought much relief and joy to his neighborhood. Source

US House Foreign Affairs Committee : « No elections under the current administration in Haiti will be free, fair, and credible »

26 avril 2021

Washington, D.C. – Today, Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Hakeem Jeffries, Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, co-led a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken encouraging the United States to reassess its policies in Haiti.

The letter, signed by 68 members, including every Democrat on the Western Hemisphere subcommittee, calls on the Biden administration to withhold funding for the constitutional referendum proposed by Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and warns of the dangers of pushing forward with flawed elections later this year.

“Listen to the voices of Haitian civil society and grassroots organizations, who have been clear that no elections under the current administration in Haiti will be free, fair, and credible. The State Department should instead focus on the underlying democratic legitimacy issues identified by Haiti’s civil society and support a Haiti-led process for change. Elections held without meeting internationally accepted standards for participation and legitimacy will only further undermine faith in democratic governance, waste scarce resources and perpetuate a cycle of political instability and violence.”

The full text of the letter can be found here and below:

Dear Mr. Secretary: 

We write to express our serious and urgent concerns regarding the quickly deteriorating situation in Haiti. Although we appreciate your personal engagement with Haiti, and the State Department’s recent criticism of some of the unconstitutional actions by the administration of President Jovenel Moïse, we believe it is past time for a more significant review of U.S. policy in Haiti. We look forward to working with you to make this a reality.

We encourage you to support the sovereignty of the U.S.’s oldest neighbor in the hemisphere by reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the principles of democracy and rule of law. The Biden Administration inherited a multifaceted crisis (constitutional, human rights, economic, social) that the actions of the previous administration exacerbated. However, we must also recognize that the crisis of today did not start yesterday. For decades, the international community has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to help Haiti achieve political stability and a representative democracy. In order to move forward more productively, we must acknowledge that these efforts have failed to achieve their desired results, and that continuing along the same path will only exacerbate the situation.

Nationwide unrest and political turmoil have increased significantly since 2018 and have brought about severe instability and political violence. In January 2020, the mandates of all but 10 members of the Haitian Parliament and all Haitian mayors were terminated due to delayed elections, leaving President Jovenel Moïse to run the country without any legislative oversight. He has since abused his rule by decree powers in direct violation of the Haitian Constitution.

As a result of the political instability, a crashing economy, lockdown from protests, and street gang violence, the Haitian federal government is failing to meet even the most basic needs of its citizens. The Moïse administration lacks the credibility and legitimacy to oversee a constitutional referendum scheduled for June 2021 or to administer elections that are free and fair. The proposed constitutional reform, which legal experts maintain is unconstitutional, would further concentrate executive power.

Parliamentary, local, and presidential elections set for Fall 2021 could increase the risk of violence throughout the country significantly. We are also concerned about inclusiveness of elections, lack of preparedness of electoral institutions to hold elections, as well as the unconstitutional composition of the provisional electoral council. Further, we are deeply concerned by the risk of gender-based violence against Haitian women and girls, as increased political violence and a weak legal system foster widespread impunity for heinous gender-based crimes.

Despite this alarming situation, the State Department has been insistent, both in public and in private briefings with members, that elections – now scheduled for later this year – are the only path forward. While elections will clearly be needed in the near future to restore democratic order, we remain deeply concerned that any electoral process held under the current administration will fail to be free, fair, or credible and that continued U.S. insistence on elections at all costs will only make this outcome more likely. President Barack Obama’s former Ambassador to Haiti, Pamela White, made clear during her testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in March that legitimate elections are not possible in the current context. Witnesses from Haitian civil society agreed strenuously.

Considering these factors, we urge the State Department to: 

1. Make clear that the U.S. will not provide any support, financial or technical, to facilitate the proposed constitutional referendum, including through multilateral institutions. We take note that, in briefings with members, Department of State officials have said they do not think moving forward with the referendum is appropriate. However, both the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations mission in Haiti (BINUH), have offered vocal support for the process. We urge the Department of State to use its voice and vote within these institutions to ensure U.S. taxpayer dollars are not spent in support of this referendum.  
2. Listen to the voices of Haitian civil society and grassroots organizations, who have been clear that no elections under the current administration in Haiti will be free, fair, and credible. The State Department should instead focus on the underlying democratic legitimacy issues identified by Haiti’s civil society and support a Haiti-led process for change. Elections held without meeting internationally accepted standards for participation and legitimacy will only further undermine faith in democratic governance, waste scarce resources and perpetuate a cycle of political instability and violence.   
3. Clearly identify and communicate to Congress what specific metrics you will use to evaluate whether Haiti’s elections will be free and fair, including a realistic timeline for achieving those necessary predicates.  
4. Refrain from opining on constitutional interpretations in Haiti, specifically regarding the dispute over the mandate of Mr. Moïse. We note that myriad legal experts in Haiti, including the Federation of Haitian Bar Associations, and a broad cross-section of civil society have offered a different interpretation to that of the Department of State. Rather than taking sides in an internal political dispute, the U.S. must listen to and recognize all voices. It is the Haitian people who will determine the legitimacy of their leaders, and not any foreign government.  
5. Promote the protection of human rights and the rule of law by enforcing Global Magnitsky Act sanctions on individuals credibly implicated in abuses. We take note of the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions on three individuals, including two former government officials, for their role in the La Saline massacre this past December. This positive development must be expanded upon further. 
6. Combat corruption and impunity by tasking U.S. law enforcement agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to investigate compliance with U.S. tax laws on the part of Haitian politicians and private sector actors with interests in the U.S. Such an investigation should also look at the use of U.S. financial institutions in money laundering operations as well as the networks that traffic arms and drugs through Haiti. 
7. Support the redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian migrants living in the U.S. and put a temporary freeze on all Title 42 related expulsions to Haiti. We note that, amid the current political crisis, the Department of Homeland Security has expelled more than an estimated 1,500 individuals to Haiti just since early February, despite awareness that those returned to Haiti “may face harm.” It is vital that the U.S. comply with U.S. and international legal obligations and allow all migrants access to the asylum system.  
8. Refocus and reform U.S. policy in Haiti through the appointment of a trusted and credible actor to serve as Special Representative for Haiti. Such a position could oversee a top-to-bottom review of U.S. foreign assistance, as well as work to bring disparate actors, both within Haiti but also within the international community, together with the view towards supporting a Haitian-led strategy of democratic development. A high-level appointment would not only open channels for communication within your Department but send a clear message about Haiti’s importance to you and to the rest of the Biden administration. 
9. Hold high-level consultations with Haitian civil society and diaspora groups to hear their concerns and recommendations for a democratic path forward. 

We thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to your response.  

‘Descent into hell’: Kidnapping explosion terrorizes Haiti

A wave of kidnappings is sweeping Haiti. But even in a country growing inured to horrific abductions, the case of five-year-old Olslina Janneus sparked outrage.

Olslina was snatched off the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince in late January as she was playing. The child's corpse, bearing signs of strangulation, turned up a week later, according to her mother, Nadege Saint Hilaire, a peanut vendor who said she couldn't pay the $4,000 ransom. Saint Hilaire's cries filled the airwaves as she spoke to a few local radio stations seeking help raising funds to cover funeral costs.

Saint Hilaire is now in hiding after receiving death threats, she said, from the same gang that killed her daughter. "I wasn't supposed to go to the radio to denounce what had happened," she told Reuters.

Police in her impoverished and crime-ridden neighborhood, Martissant, told Reuters they were investigating the case.

Haiti’s epidemic of kidnappings is the latest crisis to befall this Caribbean island nation of around 11 million people, roiled by deepening political unrest and economic misery. Kidnappings last year tripled to 234 cases compared to 2019, according to official data compiled by the United Nations.

The real figures are likely much higher because many Haitians don't report abductions, fearing retribution from criminal gangs, according to attorney Gedeon Jean, director of the nonprofit Center for Human Rights Analysis and Research in Port-au-Prince. He said the research center recorded 796 kidnappings last year.

Haiti's national police force did not respond to a request for comment. President Jovenel Moise has said repeatedly that his government is doing all it can, and has put more resources into anti-kidnapping efforts. Still, he publicly acknowledged on April 14 that “kidnappings have become generalized” and that efforts to combat persistent insecurity have been "ineffective."

Human rights activists and a new report from Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic allege that Moise’s government has allied itself with violent criminal gangs to maintain its grip on power and to suppress dissent. Opposition groups have called for Moise to resign and hand power to a transitional government that would delay presidential and legislative elections slated for September until the nation is stable enough to ensure a free and fair contest.

Haiti’s acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph denied those allegations and the report's findings. He said anti-democratic forces are whipping up violence to destabilize Moise's administration in an election year. “They are fomenting the gangs to stop there being elections,” Joseph told Reuters.

Criminals have targeted some poor people, like Saint Hilaire, for modest sums. Many more victims come from the ranks of the Haitian middle class - teachers, priests, civil servants, small business owners. Such targets aren't rich enough to afford bodyguards but have enough assets or connections to scrape up a ransom.

In one of the most high-profile recent cases, five Catholic priests, two nuns and three laymen were kidnapped on April 11 in the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets, northeast of the capital. Four members of the group were subsequently released and six are still missing, according to an April 25 statement by the Society of Priests of St. Jacques, a French missionary society linked to four of the kidnapped priests. An official with that group declined to comment on whether a ransom was paid.

“For some time now, we have been witnessing the descent into hell of Haitian society,” the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince said in a statement earlier this month.

‘KILLING THE ECONOMY’

Haiti last experienced a major surge in kidnappings and gang violence after a rebellion toppled then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004, prompting the United Nations to send in a peacekeeping force.

The departure of that force in October 2019 was followed by a resurgence in gang crime, according to human-rights activists, who say kidnapping has proven lucrative at a time when Haiti's economy is teetering.

Rights activists say politics also play a role. They allege Moise’s government has harnessed criminal groups to terrorize neighborhoods known as opposition strongholds and to quell public dissent amid street protests that have rocked the country the past three years.

The report released April 22 by the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School alleges “high-level government involvement in the planning, execution and cover-up” of three gang-led attacks on poor neighborhoods between 2018 and 2020 that left at least 240 civilians dead. The report relied on investigations of the attacks by Haitian and international human rights experts. It alleges the government provided gangs with money, weapons and vehicles and shielded them from prosecution.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury in December sanctioned reputed Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier and two former Moise administration officials - Fednel Monchery and Joseph Pierre Richard Duplan - for helping orchestrate one of the attacks. All three have denied wrongdoing.

Kidnapping is an outgrowth of impunity for criminal organizations, according to Rosy Auguste Ducena, program manager of the Port-au-Prince-based National Network for the Defense of Human Rights.

"We are talking about a regime that has allied itself with armed gangs," Ducena said.

Justice Minister Rockefeller Vincent denied any government alliance with gangs. He told Reuters in December that the wave of kidnappings was the work of political enemies seeking to undermine Moise "by creating a sense of chaos."

The rise in kidnappings has petrified many Haitians. The heads of seven private business associations this month issued a joint statement saying they had reached "a saturation point" with soaring crime. They endorsed a nationwide work stoppage that occurred on April 15 to protest Haiti’s security crisis.

"Kidnapping is killing the economy," said Haitian economist Etzer Emile. He said the tourism and entertainment sectors have withered.

Moise's administration says it is working hard to end the terror. Two years ago it revived a commission aimed at disarming gang members and reintegrating them into society. Over the past year, the government has increased the police budget and solicited advice from Colombia, which once battled its own kidnapping epidemic. In March, Haiti created an anti-kidnapping task force to attack the problem with tactics such as tracing laundered ransom money.

Still, four policemen died last month in a gun battle with alleged criminals in a slum where kidnapping victims are often held. The government declared a month-long state of emergency in gang-controlled neighborhoods. Yet abductions continue to mount.

Moise, who has opted not to seek re-election this September, has defied the opposition's calls for him to step down early. On April 14 he issued a statement saying he aimed to form a government of national unity to better tackle the "pressing problem of insecurity."

HOODS, GUNS AND TORTURE

Many Haitians remain skeptical - and on edge.

One victim was a 29-year-old doctor. He was kidnapped in his own vehicle last November after leaving the Port-au-Prince hospital where he had just finished an overnight shift. He told Reuters his story on condition of anonymity.

At dawn, four armed assailants hustled him into the back seat, threw a hood over his head and held him at gunpoint as they drove, he said. His captors eventually tossed him into a room with three other abductees - a man and two women - who had been snatched earlier.

The physician said his kidnappers ordered him to phone his family to request $500,000 for his release. The first two people he tried said they couldn’t pay. The kidnappers slapped him and delivered a threat.

"They said that if I called a third person that didn't give me a satisfying response, they would kill me," he said.

The doctor's girlfriend said she and three friends negotiated with the gang. She wouldn't say how much they paid, fearful of becoming targets for other criminals.

The doctor said he reported his abduction to Haiti's national anti-kidnapping police unit. That unit did not respond to requests for comment.

The physician does not know the fate of his fellow abductees. He said the kidnappers poured melted Styrofoam on their skin because their families had yet to pay up.

Saint Hilaire, the mother of the young girl who was kidnapped and murdered, said she continues to watch her back after speaking publicly about the abduction.

The kidnappers “told me to make sure I never ran into them, because they would kill me,” she said.

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