Haiti Protest Demands Justice for 3 Slain Deaf Women
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
APRIL 1, 2016, 7:43 P.M. E.D.T.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Hundreds of protesters marched in Haiti's capital on Friday to demand justice following the brutal killings of three deaf women who were tortured, stoned and left in a gully by attackers.
Mickelson Jean, leader of a Haitian association for the deaf, was one of roughly 300 people who marched in Port-au-Prince to call attention to the recent slayings. The women lived in the coastal village of Leveque where scores of homes are reserved for deaf people and their families.
"These murders are an act of absolute barbarism and we must have justice," Jean said.
The three women were killed as they were trying to return home by foot late at night because a bridge had collapsed, preventing public transport from Haiti's capital. They all worked as street vendors and went into Port-au-Prince that day to stock up on supplies.
Jentullon Joel, the police commissioner in Cabaret near where the killings took place two weeks ago, said arrest warrants have since been issued for two men, and three women are being held for questioning.
Joel said that one of the female suspects told investigators that her husband killed the deaf women because he feared they were "lougawou," a Haitian Creole word for vicious supernatural creatures who fly at night.
But Nicole Phillips, a lawyer representing the victims' families, believes that story is "a false defense to try and justify a heinous crime." Mob violence is common in Haiti and experts say there is a widespread acceptance of the killing of perceived evil-doers.
Phillips alleged that one of the victims was known by members of the family who attacked the deaf women. "They only came to this house late at night and asked for shelter because one of the victims knew them," she said.
PORT-AU-PRINCE'S PARQUET HAS A NEW LEAEDER
Jean Danton Leger is new State Prosecutor of Port-au-Prince. He replaces Clamé Ocnam Daméus. The head of the Prosecutor’s Office was scheduled to take office on Friday April 1st, 2016.
Haiti Provisional Electoral Council Re-Established
Press Statement
John Kirby
Assistant Secretary and Department Spokesperson, Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
March 29, 2016
The United States welcomes Parliament’s confirmation of Haitian Prime Minister Enex J. Jean-Charles and his Cabinet. We are encouraged by the re-establishment of the new nine-member Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). The CEP is responsible for organizing the second round of presidential elections, remaining parliamentary elections, and local elections in Haiti to complete the electoral process begun in 2015.
As called for in the February 5 accord, we encourage the CEP to quickly implement the technical recommendations of the Independent Electoral Evaluation Commission, designed to improve the transparency and fairness of the final round. Such action will enhance public confidence in the election process.
The United States looks forward to all provisions of the Accord being implemented -- and a new democratically-elected president seated -- as quickly as possible, so that the government can work together with Haiti’s partners to rapidly address the challenges facing the country.
14 HAITIAN WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS HONORED BY THE CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF HAITI IN MIAMI
For the fourth year in a row, the Beacon of Hope and Achievement Award ceremony, in celebration of Women's Month 2016, went off without a hitch, last evening at the Moca Café in North Miami. It was our pleasure to recognize these amazing business leaders in our community including Caroline Prato Zenny, Béatrice Cazeau, Jessie Alkhal, Marie Louissaint, Jeannifer M. Bonnet, Nathalie Vertus, Sandra Pierre, Guerline Dossous, Carline Phanor, Murielle LeConte, Wanda Gilles, Kara Vaval Ferrier and Dorice Vaval.
The well-deserving honorees received their award in the presence of their supporting families and friends, past honorees, the Consulate General in Miami staff, members of the press and important leaders in the community at large. The women inspired all as they accepted the honor, which reiterated once more the influence as well as the important role they play in keeping business alive in well in the Diaspora community. We look forward to continuing this wonderful tradition for years to come.
THE CEP (Provisional Electoral Council) settles down and invests
A second step for President Jocelerme Privert, writes the newspaper Le Nouvellise - a functioning Provisional Electoral Council. Nine new members of the CEP took their oath before judges recently, it was Justice Minister Camille Edouart Jr. who installed the nine members of the CEP at the institution’s offices in Pétion-Ville.
One promises made was that they would not follow the members of the former CEP. “We are going to make a difference,” they said.
Carlos Hercule, Frinel Joseph, Kenson Polynice, Marie Herolle Michel, Josette Jean Dorcelé, Léopold Berlanger, Lucien jeans Bernard, Marie Frantz Joachim and Jean Simon Saint-Hubert are the 9 new members of CEP appointed by the President and officially installed in office.
DOMINICANS INAUGURATE THE BIGGEST PARK OF SOLAR ENERGY OF THE CARIBBEAN
Last week, Dominican President Danilo Medina inaugurated his country’s first solar energy park.
Known as Monte Plate Solar, the project occupies approximately 300,000 square meters in the province of Monte Plata. It was built by the Taiwanese Company General Enerby Solutions for about 110 milions dollars.
As the biggest solar energy park of the Caribbean, it also represents the largest investment by Taiwanese entrepreneurs in the Dominican Republic, but also in the Caribbean and in Central America.
The first phase of the park which has 132,000 solar panels, will bring to approximately 30 megawatts of clean energy and avoid the emission of 35,700 tons of carbon dioxide in the environment.
ELECTION CANNOT TAKE PLACE BEFORE SIX MONTHS, SAID PIERRE L’ESPERANCE
Pierre l'Espérance, Executive director of the National Network of Defense of the Human rights (RNDDH), estimates that elections cannot be held before October, 2016 according to his report. The CEP will also have to organize partial senatorial elections for 10 senators elected in 2009, and whose terms end on January, 2017.
Joe Biden speaks about Haitian elections
The American Vice-president Joe Biden met with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet at the Naval Observatory last week. Both leaders discussed the state of the Mission of stabilization of United Nations in Haiti (Minustah). They also addressed the necessity for the international community to support a free and fair electoral process in Haiti, in order to make progress with the political stability and the economic recovery of the country.
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Two friends of Haitian origin find themselves mayors in Quebec A long path was crossed since the university campus of Haiti, when Ulrick Chérubin and Michel Adrien dreamed about a life abroad, while their country was under the influence of the dictator François Duvalier, nicknamed Papa Doc. Both men, who today are mayors of the cities of Amos and Mount-laurel, would have never imagined where fate would lead them. It’s been about forty years since they fled the Duvalier regime respectively to settle down in Quebec. There, they were eventually elected in their respective cities, each of which has a population of about 13,000 inhabitants. Both enjoy high popularity ratings. Although there are few minority residents in either the municipality of Amos or Mount-laurel, the voters of those cities have repeatedly granted the mayors new mandates. Cherub, 69-year-old, has been the mayor of Amos since 2002. He asserts having felt at home there as soon as he set foot in this mining city, where he moved to obtain a two-year teaching contract. It was in 1973, and he had just completed his teaching degree in Trois-Rivières. Cherub said, during a recent interview with La Presse Canadienne that he had planned to stay just two years in Amos - a city situated in 600 kilometers northwest of Montreal. It has now been 40 years since he set down his suitcases there. Adrien also talks about receiving a warm welcome after moving to Mount-laurel, in 1969. Like Cherub, he moved there to land a teaching contract. The former high school science teacher emigrated from Haiti and had settled in Montreal the previous year. Adrien, who is 66-year-old, said that his first memories of his life in Mount-Laurel was "the extreme kindness" of its residents. Both men met at the University of Port-au-Prince in the 1960’s. At the time, Adrien had been tutoring Cherub to prepare for some math exams. "If we had be told that we would have found ourselves mayors of cities in Quebec, we would have said that it was impossible," said Adrien. They had lost touch in Haiti and had not seen each other again since then, until they crossed paths in Quebec in the 1990’s, while they both worked for their respective cities. In many respects, the lives of Cherubin and Adrien followed similar paths. Both men were born in the city of Jacmel, and they married, nurses after they established themselves in Quebec. Both also worked for their respective cities for eight years before successfully launching their races for city hall. Agriculture : Survey results on national agricultural production |
The Ministry of Agriculture, in partnership with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the European Union, presented the past week, the results of the National estimation of agricultural production survey in Haiti for the three crop seasons of 2014 and that of spring 2015.
The study reveals that production volumes nationally remain rather low compared to the large quantity of farms involved in the production in Haiti. Although dissatisfied in terms of production volume and productivity, the authorities are satisfied to have made available authentic data, which they believe will enable decision makers to better target their interventions in addition to attracting investment in Haiti's agricultural sector.
This study takes into account among other sectors: cereal, fruit, food, legume, cattle shows that in several areas, Haiti is moving towards the self-sufficiency especially in the sectors: cattle, goats and mangos.
Some key figures in this report :
Cereal sector :
The country produced almost sufficient quantities of sorghum (millet) and maize. However, rice production for the three campaigns is estimated at just over 136,000 metric tons (Tm) or 34% of annual consumption (nearly 400,000 Tm).
Fruit sector :
More than 155,000 tons of mango Francisque, a major export foods were produced in Haiti (2014), but also more than one million tonnes of other varieties were also produced.
Besides mango, Haiti in 2014 also picked up: 81,000 tons of oranges, 458,000 tons of real tree, 97,000 tons of coconut 457,000 tons of avocado.
"Vivrière" sector :
For the period studied more than 32,000 tonnes of bananas, about 150,000 tonnes of sweet potatoes and more than 118,000 tons of yams were produced on the whole territory with a predominance in the departments of Artibonite and the West (like in almost all sectors)
Legumin sector :
In 2014, the country produced more than 83,000 Tm bean, over 54,000 Tm of pigeon peas and more than 15,000 Tm strain of peas.
The statistical experts of this survey point out that the survey data can be used among other of elements for constitute indicators for assessing the performance of the agricultural sector that will particularly enhance production and productivity.
TB/ HaitiLibre