Haitian man served five years after getting framed. Now, he’s suing Biscayne Park cops
BY JAY WEAVER
September 18, 2018 07:34 PM
Updated September 18, 2018 08:10 PM
Clarens Desrouleaux, a Haitian man who served five years in prison after being framed for unsolved burglaries by Biscayne Park police, is accusing the town and three officers of violating his civil rights in a federal lawsuit.
Desrouleaux, 41, was deported to his native Haiti after he completed his prison term last year. But last month, Miami-Dade prosecutors threw out his conviction after discovering that a former Biscayne Park police chief and two officers pinned three home break-ins on him that he did not commit in January 2013.
Desrouleaux’s lawyer filed the lawsuit on Friday, the very day that former Police Chief Raimundo Atesiano pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring with the other two officers in depriving the former El Portal man of his civil rights. Atesiano also admitted in court papers that he violated the civil rights of two other black men framed for other burglaries in Biscayne Park while he served as chief during 2013 and 2014.
Atesiano, 52, faces between 2 and 2 1/2 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. The other two officers, Charles Dayoub and Guillermo Ravelo, who also pleaded guilty after admitting to falsely arresting Desrouleaux, are awaiting sentence, too.
(HAITIAN TIMES)
Petition against foam utensils in Haïti
Dear citizens, supporters of the petition, please urge the Haitian government to apply the Ministerial decision of July 10, 2013, which bans the production, the importation, the commercialization and the utilization, in any form of polythene bags and other objects in polythene expanded (PSE or PS or Styrofoam) for single use, such as trays, bottles, bags, cups and plates.
It’s hygienic, practical, light, and very cheap. Small dessert plates, large containers, soup bowls, plates, large cups, lunch boxes; it is unavoidable. In Haïti, it can be found everywhere, in cooperation agencies, in NGOs, in Ministries, in restaurants, on the street, in the trees, in the ravines, in irrigation canals, in mangroves, in the sea and in the fish.
It’s a cancer. It’s a time bomb. It clogs the sewers. It pollutes. It does not decompose; it can’t be recycled. It breaks apart in tiny polluting particles. The smoke is highly toxic when burned. We call it bwat manje, anbwate, fòm, foam or Styrofoam.
It embarrasses (more or less and less than more) policy decision-makers and well-meaning organizations. And, all are outlawed since the Ministerial order of July 10, 2013 «banning the production, the importation, the commercialization and the utilization, in any form of polythene bags and other objects in polythene expanded (PSE or PS or Styrofoam) for single use, such as trays, bottles, bags, cups and plates. »
Another decree that stops nothing…
Higher incomes for mango farmers in Haiti
AUTHOR: RIK NIJLANDSeptember 2018
Wageningen researchers did a study for the World Bank to see how mango farmers could earn more from exports to the US.
‘A lot of mangos disappear or end up as juice in Haiti before they get to the harbour in Portau-Prince,’ says researcher Rene Oostewechel of Wageningen Food & Biobased Research. He and Jan Brouwers of Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation did a study for the World Bank to see how mango farmers could earn more from exports to the US.
This would require technical improvements such as different cultivation methods, good timing of the harvest and better refrigeration. The Wageningen experts also recommended setting up a more transparent system of trade, which the World Bank wants to experiment with. ‘This is a new form of Fairtrade, in fact,’ says the researcher.
For every box of mangos, the harvest location and temperature during transport are recorded digitally using blockchain technology, as are the costs of trading and transport.
The payment system is linked to this data. The Haitian farmer owns the mango until it reaches the supermarket shelf. In the end he is paid the difference between the sale price in the shop and the costs accrued along the way. Currently, farmers sell their mangos for a few cents per fruit before they have even harvested them.
Yet the new system may pose some dangers, warns Oostewechel. ‘The farmers get their money later and they run more risk – if something goes wrong in transit for example.’
Info:
(Haitian Times)
The Japanese of Haitian origin, Naomi Osaka qualified for the semi-finals in the Tokyo tournament by beating the Czech Barbora Strýcová in two set (6-3; 6-4).
The number 3 seated player who propelled herself to the summit by winning her first major title during the US OPEN at the beginning of the month, was not in a great shape against the Czech, but she still managed to succeed.
" I played three times against Barbora Strýcová and every time, it was very difficult," declared Osaka which succeed 6 aces in the match. " I think that it is almost impossible to play perfectly every match. I knew that I did not play so today, but I still adjusted and I managed to win. I never know why certain things do not work, but I have the feeling that it is my job to do my best in this situation,” continued the # 7 world ranked-player during a press conference after the match.
Petro-Caribe: Haitians in the streets of Miami denounce the corruption in Haiti
Florida, Saturday, September 15th, 2018 ((rezonodwes.com)) - The members of the Haitian Diaspora living in Miami demonstrated regarding #PetroCaribeChallenge during the afternoon of Saturday, September 15th.
In a sit-in organized in front of the General Consulate of Haiti in Miami, situated at 259 SW 13th St #3, the demonstrators demanded that Haitian authorities bring to the light as soon as possible any waste of the funds of the Petro Caribe program.
"We organized this movement to demand the rendering of accounts on the 3.8 billion dollars of the program Petrocaribe, the use of $1.50 taken for more than seven years from every money transfer of money directed to Haiti and the 5 cents collected on every entering phone call," declared one of the organizers of the movement who wished to remain anonymous.
Unfortunately, there were no signs or banners in English. That’s unfortunate, because the whole world should be alerted.
The Haitian actress Fabienne Colas, is a finalist for the "Businesswomen of Quebec" award
Fabienne Colas is in 7th place among 30 women finalists for the 2018 "Businesswomen of Quebec," organized by the Network of the Women of Quebec in cooperation with VidéoTron Affaire and Telefilm Canada.
The 39-year-old actress said she delighted by this recognition on her Facebook page: "To be among 30 finalists for the Businesswomen of Quebec Award, fills me with pride. A recognition for my commitment for diversity and inclusion through the Colas Foundation, my initiatives, my programs and seven festivals created in Canada, in the United States and in Haiti."
Born in Port-au-Prince, on March 18th, 1979, Fabienne Colas represented Haiti to several beauty contests abroad. In Haiti, she won the star and Golden Ticket award for best actress for the movie Barikad, directed by Richard Sénécal. She also received a nomination for the same movie from the Haitian Entertainment Awards in Florida.
Trump to Cap Refugees Allowed Into U.S. at 30,000, a Record Low
WASHINGTON — President Trump plans to cap the number of refugees that can be resettled in the United States next year at 30,000, his administration announced on Monday, further cutting an already drastically scaled-back program that offers protection to foreigners fleeing violence and persecution.
Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, announced the limit at the State Department, saying it reflected the “daunting operational reality” of addressing what he called a “humanitarian crisis” involving people claiming asylum in the United States.
The number represents the lowest ceiling a president has placed on the refugee program since its creation in 1980, and a reduction of a third from the 45,000-person limit that Mr. Trump set for 2018.
The move is the latest in a series of efforts the president has made to clamp down on immigration to the United States, not only through cracking down on those who seek to enter the country illegally, but by making it more difficult to gain legal entry.
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It is also the culmination of a quiet but successful effort by Stephen Miller, the president’s senior policy adviser, to severely restrict the number of refugees offered protection inside the country. As one piece of his broader push to narrow a variety of legal pathways for migrants to make their way into the United States, Mr. Miller had pressed for capping the program at as low as 25,000 people, according to people familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.
Others inside the administration, including in the Department of Defense and, initially, the State Department, had supported maintaining the 45,000-refugee ceiling, these people said.
Mr. Pompeo, who was pivotal to the decision, had privately argued last month for keeping the number where it was, they said. He kept his final recommendation for a deep cut under wraps until Monday afternoon, when he announced it from the Treaty Room of the State Department.
In doing so, he adopted an argument made privately by Mr. Miller: that the United States needed to prioritize hundreds of thousands of people who have arrived at the United States border, claiming a credible fear of returning home, rather than refugees overseas who have already officially qualified as in need of protection and resettlement in another country.
“Some will characterize the refugee ceiling as the full barometer of America’s commitment to vulnerable people around the world,” Mr. Pompeo said. “This would be wrong.”