MUTINY OVER COKING CHARCOAL IN A HAITIAN PRISON LED TO GANG RAPES, HUMAN-RIGHTS GROUPS SAY
JACQUELINE CHARLES
THE MIAMI HERALD NOVEMBER 22ND 2019
It started around noon, when male detainees inside a prison for men and women north of Haiti’s capital heard there was no charcoal or propane gas to cook their food, and began violently protesting prison conditions and attempting to escape.
By the time it was over and the jailbreak had been stopped by Haiti National Police, at least one inmate was dead, several others had been injured and 10 female detainees, including a 15-year-old teen girl and 62-year-old woman, had been gang raped, two Haiti-based human rights groups said.
Accusing the government of being irresponsible and neglectful in its mission to protect detainees in its custody, the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights and the Solidarite Fanm Ayisyèn are demanding an investigation into the Nov. 7 incident inside the Gonaives Civil Prison, and are calling on Haitian authorities to identify and prosecute everyone involved in the alleged rapes.
The human-rights groups are also demanding that medical, psychological and social assistance be given to the victims, and for prisons exclusively for women to be constructed in the country.
NEW DEVELOPMENT OPPOSING THE HAITIAN STATE TO SOGENER.
A new development occurred in the conflict between the Haitian State and the Société Générale de l'Énergie (SOGENER). Last week, the Prosecutor of Port-au-Prince accompanied by officials from the electric company EDH, took control of the sites hosting the power plants of Varreux. The decision was taken by judicial authorities, 24 hours after issuing an invitation to company officials, who did not show up.
After several days of threats, the Moises/Lapin administration went from words to deeds. In fact, the government commissioner of Port-au-Prince, Jacques Lafontant, accompanied by police officers, a justice of the peace and officials of the EDH, resumed possession and full enjoyment of the power plants of Varreux, managed by Société Générale d'Energie (SOGENER).
Les Cayes (South): 2 Mexicans and a Haitian arrested after a plane landed clandestinely
The Commissioner of the Government of Les Cayes (South), Ronald Richemond, has arrested two individuals of Mexican nationality and another of Haitian nationality. This is in connection with the clandestine landing of a plane in Saint-Jean du Sud.
The suspects are: Villeda Juan Jose, Vargas Flores Andres and Archil John Jhimy. These individuals were arrested at Cartagena Avenue, in the city of Les Cayes, at about 8 o'clock in the evening.
The initials reports said that a plane crashed in a locality called “Nan mwen” at the 3rd communal section of Saint-Jean du Sud.
The National Civil Aviation Office (FOCA) not only confirmed the information but also indicated that officers of the Anti-drug Brigade (BLTS) were on the scene, because the aircraft in question would have been transporting illegal goods.
HS/Haiti standard
The United States encourages the actors of the Haitian crisis to dialogue
VISIT OF THE AMERICAN EMISSARY IN HAITI:
OPPOSITION REFUSES TO SIT DOWN WITH PRESIDENT JOVENEL MOISE
The Permanent Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations (UN), Kelly Dawn Knight Craft failed to convince opposition leaders and business representatives to sit down with the President of the Republic Jovenel Moïse. After a few hours visit to the country, the diplomat Kelly Dawn Knight Craft met the Head of State, one of the leaders of the Haitian Party tèt kale (PHTK), Liné Balthazar, opposition leaders including Senators Youri Latortue, Joseph Lambert and Evalière Beauplan, the president of the Fusion of Haitian Social Democrats, Edmonde Supplice Beauzile and one of the representatives of the business sector in Haiti Bernard Craan.
Rep. Waters Statement on 1-Year Anniversary of Lasalin Massacre in Haiti
‘Those responsible for acts of politically motivated violence in Haiti must be held accountable.
Impunity in Haiti must end now’
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) issued the following statement on the one-year anniversary of the Lasalin Massacre in Haiti:
“Following the anniversary of the brutal attack in the Lasalin neighborhood of Haiti’s capital – which resulted in the deaths of at least 71 civilians, in addition to the rape of at least 11 women, and the looting of more than 150 homes – I renew my call for justice for the victims and survivors of Lasalin and the protection of Haiti’s citizens in exercising their democratic rights to free expression and assembly.
“In April 2019, I led a delegation to Haiti, which met with residents of Lasalin and surrounding areas, who described acts of unconscionable violence that occurred the previous November. Survivors expressed concern that government-connected gangs, working with police officers, carried out the attacks to punish the neighborhood for participation in anti-government protests.
“In the months since my trip to Haiti, credible investigations by Haiti’s National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH), the United Nations (UN) Mission for Justice Support in Haiti together with the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR), and Haiti’s national directorate of judicial police have all consistently pointed to politically motivated violence. Furthermore, the judicial police investigation report named two senior officials from the administration of Haiti’s President, Jovenel Moise, in the list of alleged perpetrators.
“As a longtime friend of Haiti, I am deeply concerned that one year after the massacre, the state officials implicated in the Lasalin killings remain at liberty, and they were only suspended from their posts in September 2019, after repeated calls for accountability by victims and human rights organizations. Meanwhile, judicial processes in Haiti regarding Lasalin appear stalled.
“Without justice for Lasalin, impunity for violence against civilians continues, and acts of repression are increasing. Early reports suggest that the recent killing of at least 15 people in the Bel-Air neighborhood between November 4-7, 2019, may have been carried out by the very same gang leaders implicated in the Lasalin massacre. OHCHR has verified that Haitian security forces were responsible for at least 19 killings since September 15, and attacks on journalists have steadily increased in recent months. Moreover, Amnesty International reported that Haitian police have repeatedly used excessive force during recent anti-government protests, including unlawfully firing live ammunition at protesters and indiscriminately launching tear gas. These acts of violence are alarming and raise grave concerns about human rights in Haiti.
“Following the one-year anniversary of the Lasalin massacre, we are reminded that impunity for brutality against innocent civilians enables and perpetuates violence. These acts of violence endanger the safety of the population and violate fundamental human rights.
“Those responsible for acts of politically motivated violence in Haiti must be held accountable. Impunity in Haiti must end now.”
‘Voodoo Is Part of Us’
By Gina Cherelus
Nov. 21, 2019
In a dark club in Downtown Brooklyn, surrounded by more than 100 people, Agathina Ginoue Nozy took a sip of Haitian rum. She stood near an altar stacked with skulls, lit candles, cigars, rum, coffee and bowls filled with charred salt fish, boiled plantains, cassava and piman (spicy peppers).
“You typically drink white liquor during Fet Gede, but if there is none you drink rum with no ice to feel the heat,” Ms. Nozy said. “Gede is a hot thing.”
Her face was painted to look hollow, like a skull, and she wore a dark skeleton bodysuit and a black veil. With her fingers wrapped around a smoking pipe and an austere look on her face, Ms. Nozy had become the embodiment of Maman Brigitte, a Haitian lwa (or goddess) of death.
Voodoo believers, Haitians and curious partygoers gathered last Saturday night to celebrate Fet Gede, or the Festival of the Dead.
Similar to Mexico’s Day of the Dead, Gede invites revelers to dress up, eat, drink and dance to honor the lwas and the ancestors who came before them. It is one of the most anticipated celebrations in the Haitian voodoo religious calendar.
Ms. Nozy, a 29-year-old Haitian immigrant who was born and raised in Port-au-Prince, moved to New York City just before she turned 17. As someone who believes in voodoo, she looks forward to the celebration each year, but acknowledges that many people, including Haitians, lack an understanding of what it is.
They believe that the religion “has something to do with black magic,” Ms. Nozy said. “Voodoo is part of us. It’s who we are. It’s the culture. Voodoo is the food that we eat. It’s the language that we speak.”
What voodoo is not, contrary to popular belief, is a dark spell-casting practice full of pin-dolls and demonic prayers, said the party’s organizers, Monvelyno Alexis, 43, and Riva Précil, 30, a husband and wife musical duo who have organized one of the city’s most popular Fet Gede events for the past seven years.
This means that the event of Fet Gede can be somewhat misunderstood, too.
“I know a lot of Haitians that dress up their kids for Halloween. But when it comes to Gede they say I am not interested in that thing,” Ms. Nozy said.
“Our generation is more open-minded when it comes to the voodoo religion,” said Ms. Nozy, who was part of a large crew at the party that night.
At the club, guests were dressed in the official Gede colors — black, purple, and white — and danced to rhythmic drumming. The room was thick with smoke from incense and cigars.
The night kicked off with a rum tasting at the altar, which helped guests get in the Gede mood. As Ms. Nozy and her crew danced, one man splattered Florida Water — a perfume used in voodoo for spiritual cleansing and protection — over their heads, leaving a sweet citrus and floral scent that covered the room. At times, Ms. Nozy and others would scream, throw their hands in the air or slam a wooden cane into the ground.
Fet Gede is observed typically in early November, although it can be celebrated all month.
Rituals include a special Gede dance, Banda, and making offerings to the spirits, the most famous of whom is Baron Samedi, known as the god of death (he is also the husband of Maman Brigitte, the goddess of death), Ms. Précil said. Together, both spirits — the Baron and Maman — revel in eroticisms, obscenities and drinking.
The ancestors, Ms. Précil said, like to party. “They don’t have the same restrictions or rules as we do here on earth,” she said. “They’re very fearless, so it’s a time where we sort of channel their ways and celebrate them by taking on their way of life.”
Haitian voodoo is a religion that emerged out of institutional slavery.
Starting in the mid-1600s, many Africans who had been brought against their will to the Island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) arrived with their own spiritual traditions, eventually integrating them with those of the indigenous people of the island. As a result, voodoo, which means “spirit,” was born.
Voodoo, often spelled Vodou, is still regarded by many Haitians as the spiritual source of the country’s strength, healing and resilience.
Mr. Alexis said that voodoo isn’t something he practices or follows with a strict set of rules; it is more of a connection. He emphasized the importance of working to help Haitians reconnect with voodoo through events like this one.
“Whenever somebody asks us questions we always answer them,” he said. “We want to bring the Haitian way back to Haitians.”
Despite more than 80,000 Haitian immigrants in New York City, Gede celebrations aren’t that common, Ms. Précil said. If her ever-expanding parties are proof, however, she sees a growing interest in the event. The couple has been asked recently to bring their party to parts of Canada and even Haiti.
Music and dance are key for a successful Gede. Last weekend, Mr. Alexis and Ms. Précil each sang, accompanied by a live band, and Ms. Nozy performed a Haitian folklore dance, gyrating and chanting to the drummer’s beat. The energy of the crowd swelled as the room became more congested, everyone trying to inch closer to the show.
Folks could be seen taking shots of liquor and eating different Haitian dishes, including griot (fried pork) or banan peze with pikliz (plantains with spicy pickled cabbage).
There was a tarot card reader and a face painter. At one point there was even a trivia contest, testing partygoers on their knowledge of Gede trivia and traditions.
“This is something that our ancestors left for us and we need to cherish it,” Ms. Nozy said. “Even though you’re not in Haiti, if you’re living in a foreign country, the culture is still alive. And it’s in you.”