Haitian Journalists Protest Police Brutality
VOA / VOICE OF AMERICA
WASHINGTON/PORT-AU-PRINCE - Dozens of journalists, lawyers and former police officers held a peaceful march around Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, Thursday to denounce police brutality.
Some of the protesters held photos of reporters who had been injured while in the line of duty. Others held posters depicting scenes of police brutality during demonstrations.
As they made their way around town, they chanted, “When they don’t get paid, we’re the ones they call!” a reference to the role journalists often play giving a voice to citizens’ efforts to hold the government accountable.
Protesters make their way through the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, to protest against police brutality.
Members of the Haitian media allege they are often targeted by aggressive law enforcement officers while covering protests and other news events. They say they also face intimidation and death threats.
“I think the point of this protest is to say journalists' rights must be respected. That is what we are fighting for. That is our objective," Radio Zenith reporter Robeste Dimanche told VOA.
Daniel Lamartiniere, a reporter for Impartial Info, told VOA he is a recent victim of police brutality."On Wednesday January 20, 2021, I was ... doing a live update when I saw a policeman in a beige and blue uniform start shooting. When I realized he was firing a gun, I ran for cover so I wouldn't get shot. But I miscalculated (in choosing) a shelter because that is exactly where a rubber bullet hit me in the eye," he said.
Lamartiniere had a plastic shield over his left eye as he spoke to VOA.
Complaints about abuses
Dimanche told VOA he delivered a letter on behalf of the journalists to the Office for the Protection of Civilians (OPC) before the protest started to complain about police brutality. Dimanche said he spoke to Jacques Desrosier, the official responsible for human rights issues, and was well-received.
"I think that (the) OPC is going to act on the message we delivered. And what we asked for is what we have been asking all along — we denounce police brutality. We listed the barbarian acts committed by police against journalists, and that's basically what is contained in our complaint,” he said.
Press freedoms eroded
Press freedom deteriorated substantially in Haiti in 2020, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which described working conditions for journalists as “dangerous and precarious.”
On a scale of one to 100, the Caribbean nation's ranking fell from 62 in 2019 to 83 in 2020. RSF's annual report cites multiple factors for the deterioration, including corruption and increasing hostilities.
The Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) and RSF have called on the Haitian government to investigate attacks on journalists.
Reporter Robenson Alphonse of Magik 9 FM was covering the protest and lending support.
"We insist that law enforcement must be professional and follow the law when they interact with journalists who are covering protests," he told VOA. "Just as the Association of Haitian Journalists has deplored the aggression toward the Radio-TV Caraibes journalist, I believe we must remind people that it is necessary to protect the press and act responsibly always. This is fundamental, and that is why I'm participating in this protest."
The march ended peacefully without incident or police interference, according to the VOA Creole reporter who covered the event.
The United States Commits an Additional $75.5 Million for Assistance to Haiti
On January 11, the American people provided an additional $75.5 million in development assistance to Haiti. The agreement between the U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Government of Haiti, through the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation, will improve development outcomes throughout Haiti in the health, education, agriculture, and governance sectors, among others. U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Michele Sison noted: “Through USAID, the U.S. government has helped improve health and education outcomes, advance economic and food security, and strengthened local government institutions and citizen engagement.”
This latest agreement brings USAID’s total assistance to Haiti to nearly $1.9 billion since 2011. Furthermore, to date, the U.S. government has provided more than $16 million in COVID-19-related assistance, which includes USAID, U.S. Southern Command, and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention support for Haiti’s COVID-19 response.
This new funding will be used to implement USAID programs in Haiti in health, education, food security, agricultural development, economic growth, water and sanitation, and governance. USAID’s strategy in Haiti is focused on working with the Haitian government, civil society, and our partners to achieve sustainable development results and keep Haiti on the path to self-reliance.
Our programs aim to build resilience in people, communities, and systems in response to ongoing shocks and stresses, fostering more inclusive, locally-driven economic growth and social development, and bolstering governance that is more responsive to citizens' needs. Our interventions are centered around building the local capacity to provide for basic human needs that improve fundamental living conditions; helping Haitians become more productive and find stable, diversified, and sustainable livelihoods; promoting inclusive economic opportunities through the development of local markets; and enabling a business environment more conducive to investment and economic growth.
USAID Haiti Mission Director Chris Cushing remarked: “The American people will continue to help our Haitian neighbors access better health care services, learn better in schools, acquire new professional skills, and increase agricultural production and economic opportunities. We are neighbors, partners, and friends. Together, we can build a brighter future in Haiti.”
Strikes, violence overwhelm Haiti’s crumbling judiciary
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A warning from a well-known judge in Haiti crackled recently over the radio: “Don’t let them arrest you, because you don’t know when you will be released from prison.”
Haiti’s justice system has long been dysfunctional. But in recent years delayed judicial appointments, a spike in violence and protests by judges and court clerks demanding higher salaries and better working conditions have overwhelmed a system in which some 80% of inmates are being held with no trial amid a rise in what activists say are illegal and arbitrary preventive detentions.
“These conditions are so unacceptable that they constitute a violation of the prohibition of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment,” the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti said in a statement this week.
Overall, some 11,000 inmates are being held in prisons across Haiti, including the National Penitentiary in the capital of Port-au-Prince, which was built for 800 prisoners but holds an estimated 3,800.
“The system is on its knees,” said Marie-Yolène Gilles, executive director of the human rights group Fondasyon Je Klere. “It has been crippled for a year now.”
On a recent afternoon, more than a dozen people stood outside the National Penitentiary, colorful plastic bags lying at their feet holding food for their loved ones inside.
Lina André had traveled for more than an hour to see her boyfriend, who has been incarcerated for 10 years but hasn’t seen a judge since he was arrested on suspicion of killing a man.
“I hope the system will work one day and people won’t have to suffer,” she said.
Haiti is among the top 10 countries in the world most affected by prolonged pretrial detention, with people often imprisoned for more than a decade as they await a judicial hearing, according to the U.N.
Activists expect the situation to worsen, given the increase in violence and protests and a decree that President Jovenel Moïse recently approved that classifies certain crimes as terrorism, including robbery, arson and blocking public roads, common events during protests.
During a hearing last month held by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, attorney Sonel Jean-François said Haiti’s Court of First Instance and Court of Appeals have not functioned properly for the past two years because proceedings are often interrupted by a powerful armed gang that operates in the area around the courthouse.
“This constitutes a violation of the victims’ right to justice and of the detainees’ right to be tried within a reasonable time,” he said.
It’s not uncommon to hear shootings in the courthouse area that force government employees to go home early, said Magistrate Yvenne Tibeau, a deputy government prosecutor. He said there has been no security at the courts for a year.
Tibeau joined a group of judges who went on strike last year after Monferrier Dorval, a well-respected lawyer and head of the bar association in Port-au-Prince, was fatally shot at his home. While the case remains unsolved and Tibeau has since returned to work, he still worries about his safety and said the government has not responded to his repeated requests for a police escort.
Court proceedings also have been interrupted by strikes as court clerks demand better conditions and higher pay. The majority of them earn roughly $270 a month.
“Whenever we have a strike, we know it hurts the inmates that have to come to court,” said Elysée Cadet, leader of a clerks union. “Not just the inmates; it damages the process of the system. But this is the only way for authorities to hear our voice.”
The strikes are consequential, Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said. “The minute a clerk is absent, the whole system fails.”
The lack of judges also contributes to a backlog in cases, he said, noting that some 40 judges once worked at Haiti’s main courthouse, compared with the 25 there now.
Brian Concannon, an adviser for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, said not appointing judges results in fewer voices ruling against the government and sends a message to current judges that their terms won’t be renewed unless they fall in line with Moïse’s administration.
It also has the effect of politicizing the judiciary, with well-known cases involving crimes against humanity and high-ranking officials being stalled while those of few resources and power await trial in detention, said Alexandra Filippova, a senior attorney at the institute.
Proposed solutions have ranged from freeing inmates held beyond the time prescribed by law to increasing the justice system’s limited budget. Jean-François, the lawyer, said more money for judges would translate into less corruption and fewer strikes.
In mid-January, the U.N. met with USAID and Haitian authorities to relaunch certain initiatives and agree on ways to reboot the judicial system and limit the number of people taken into custody. In its statement, the U.N. noted that similar efforts previously ended in “resounding failures.”
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