PHTK, Moise’s political party, opposes upcoming referendum
Liné Balthazar, president of the PHTK, said the political party rejects the constitutional referendum planned for June 27.
Balthazar said logistically, the process will be a fiasco, that the draft Constitution is a reproduction of an authoritarian model and that no consensus has been reached. Several other political parties have also opposed the referendum, which Haiti president Jovenel Moïse has organized.
The PHTK is the political party that brought Moïse to power in 2016. It is unclear what the party’s stance may mean for Moïse’s standing in the party.
Haiti’s Catholic Church begins speaking out amid swirling crises
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Might the Catholic Church help chart a way out of the multiple crises facing Haiti?
By openly criticizing governmental “inaction” and demonstrating last week its capacity for wide-scale mobilization, the church has made clear it plans to take a more direct role in addressing the daunting challenges facing this small Caribbean island.
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Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, is grappling with multiple crises including out-of-control gang violence and months of political instability.
In recent days, Haiti’s Catholic Church has found itself thrust into the spotlight over the still-unresolved abduction of 10 people, including seven Catholic clergy.
The shocking kidnapping on April 11 sent shock waves across the island and beyond.
It was the final straw for many increasingly exasperated Haitians, forcing Jovenel Moise, the country’s widely criticized president, to announce on Wednesday a reshuffling of the government.
Official ‘impotence’
“The Catholic Church can help bring about change. The country needs it,” said Andre Michel, a member of the opposition.
Catholicism is the dominant religion in Haiti.
The church “enjoys great confidence among the majority of the population,” said Haitian Cardinal Chibly Langlois, in an exclusive interview with AFP a few days after Moise named Claude Joseph as the new prime minister.
In difficult moments, the cardinal said, people expect “a word from the Catholic Church,” as it stands with them “in the most abandoned and remote parts of the country.”
Denouncing the “impotence” of the authorities in the face of a troubling spike in kidnappings, Langlois said an effective means had to be found to “stem this crisis.”
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While emphasizing that church officials are “not in a position for now to play the role of mediator,” Langlois — the first Haitian cardinal — said he was weighing “other means to help find a solution to a crisis that has gone on too long.”
In 2014, at a time of high tension, the cardinal took part in talks between the executive branch and political parties.
On Thursday, the church, joined by many businesses and schools, observed a work stoppage to demand the liberation of the hostages — among them five Haitian clergy members, and a French priest and a nun — bringing economic activity to a standstill.
Catholic masses have quickly been transformed into a protest movement against the authorities.
By launching this national movement, the Catholic Church has proved “its importance in a country with a strong religious tradition,” said Reginald Boulos, a businessman and political figure who sees the church as “a moral force.”
‘Descent into hell’
On Monday, the archdiocese of Port-au-Prince issued a statement deploring “the descent into hell of Haitian society” and denouncing as unprecedented the “violence of armed gangs.”
It added that the “public authorities” were not “immune from suspicion.”
This more direct approach by Catholic officials “may offer some hope of resolving this crisis,” said sociologist Auguste D’Meza. But he added that the church alone “is not strong enough to play an important role in this transition.”
The church hierarchy in Haiti has long been dominated by French priests. In the 1950s they engaged in a power struggle with Haiti’s former “president for life,” Francois Duvalier.
“Papa Doc” Duvalier had revived the island’s voodoo traditions as part of a fierce assault on Haitian Catholicism, finally obtaining from the Vatican the power to name the Catholic hierarchy, helping to consolidate his authoritarian regime.
That opened an era of church subordination to the state, which continued during the reign of his son, Jean-Claude Duvalier, known as “Baby Doc.”
But under Pope John-Paul II, the Catholic Church sided with the forces of change that eventually led to the downfall of the Duvalier dynasty.
So with its recent criticism, the church has returned to the more forthcoming attitude of the early 1980s, D’Meza said.
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Kidnappers release all but two captives
All but two of the 10 people kidnapped on April 11 have been released. The last two captives are a French nun and a French priest - abducted in the town of Croix-des-Bouquets.
The attack happened when the Catholic clergy were on their way to the installation of a new parish priest.
A police source told AFP that a gang calling itself 400 Mazowo was most probably behind the abduction.
Kidnappings have surged in Haiti, with the Catholic Church describing the situation as "a descent into hell".
Roman Catholic institutions including schools and universities closed Wednesday across Haiti in a three-day protest to demand the release of five priests, two nuns and three other people kidnapped more than a week ago amid a spike in violence that the government is struggling to control.
Catholic officials also organized Masses to pray for those kidnapped — at least two of whom are French — as they tolled the bells at noon at St. Pierre church in Pétionville, where hundreds gathered to show their support.
“No one is safe,” said 65-year-old Margaret Jean Louis. “I’m hoping the people kidnapped will make it out safely.”
The April 11 kidnapping of the priests, nuns and three relatives of one of the priests in the capital of Port-au-Prince is one of the most shocking recent abductions in Haiti, which saw a 200% increase in kidnappings last year, according to the United Nations.
Those kidnapped were identified as nuns Anne-Marie Dorcelus and Agnès Bordeau, priests Michel Briand, Evens Joseph, Jean-Nicaise Millien, Joël Thomas and Hugues Baptiste and three relatives of another priest. Briand was identified as French.
Critics Say The U.S. Isn't Doing Enough To Help Haiti With Its Deteriorating Security
Carrie Kahn
NPR
Heavily armed gangs are fueling a crippling spasm of crime in Haiti. Kidnappings have more than tripled in the last year. Five priests and two nuns are among those most recently abducted, sparking protests by the Catholic Church on the Caribbean island. Critics charge the U.S. is not doing enough to find a solution out of Haiti's current crisis.
Bells in churches across Haiti rang out at noon as an act of protest. Catholic leaders have closed all their schools and other businesses for three days.
But pews are full with parishioners praying for peace in the capital. Smith Silvera was one of the faithful who came to a recent Mass. "They may kill me today, but nobody can live in this situation anymore," said Silvera. "We must have liberation and freedom for all."
Gangs have taken control of many areas of Port-au-Prince, unleashing a spate of brazen kidnappings and attacks that has shocked Haitians, even those accustomed to the country's high crime rate. This month, armed gunmen burst into a church, snatching the pastor and three other people during a Mass streaming over the Internet; the director of an orphanage says gang members broke in, sexually assaulting two girls; and seven Catholic officials, two of whom are French, were abducted nearly two weeks ago. Their kidnappers demand a million-dollar ransom.
Kesnar Pharnel is an economic consultant and radio host in Port-au-Prince. “Difficult is an understatement in Haiti right now,” he said. “Because people - we are so desperate. We don't know what's going on. We are living under a very stressful situation right now in Haiti.”
Haiti's spiraling violence and continual political turmoil have left the economy in shambles. The U.N. has warned that more than 4.4 million Haitians don't have enough food. Opponents want current president Jovenel Moise out. They insist his term ended in February, but Moise says he still has another year because he started his term late. The U.S. has backed that claim. Moise says the way out of this crisis is through a referendum this June on a new constitution. Velina Elysee Charlier, an activist in Haiti, says that constitution would just give him more powers.
“Not only is it illegal, but it has no credibility, no trust from us the people,” said Charlier. She added that Moise's attempt to reform the constitution is a clear power grab. “We do not have a constitution problem in Haiti. We have an impunity and corruption problem in Haiti.
The country is not capable of holding credible elections anytime soon, says political science professor at the University of Virginia, Robert Fatton. “The idea of having elections at this time, you know, is absolutely crazy. You can't have elections given the conditions in Haiti.”
Opponents want a transitional government to take over. It's unclear what the Biden administration is going to do. For now, it backs Moise. Fulton Armstrong, a former national intelligence officer for Latin America, says that's a mistake.
“We dash over to the person that promised us the greatest stability, that promises the most expedient solution rather than the solution that's going to lead to a better outcome over the longer term,” he said.
Observers warn of a migrant crisis if conditions don't improve soon. This week, two boats packed with nearly 400 Haitians were intercepted off waters north of the island.
Saint-Fleur sworn in as council member in Miami Shores, first Haitian-American
BY ONZ CHERY APR. 22, 2021
Katia Saint-Fleur, Miami Shores' first ever Haitian-American council member. Katia Saint-Fleur's Facebook Images
Katia Saint-Fleur highlighted her Haitian-American immigrant roots in a speechafter she was sworn in as a council member in Miami Shores Tuesday.
“To be able to live in a country where you can be the daughter of immigrant parents who worked as hard as my parents have worked, to live in a community you dreamed of living in as a child and now to represent that community as a council member is something that I will never forget,” Saint-Fleur said during the ceremony at Miami Shores Village Community Center.
Saint-Fleur said she will also never forget how the Miami Shores residents rooted for her and trusted her.
Miami Shores has about 10,000 residents with 14 percent of them being Black and 70 percent white, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The village is about two miles from Little Haiti.
Four candidates ran to fill three seats on the Miami Shores’ five-member council. Saint-Fleur finished third in the voting, accumulating 1,037 votes, just 22 votes more than the fourth-place runner, Jonathan Meltz.
The top two vote-getters became mayor and vice-mayor. Sandra Harris, who received the most votes, became Mayor of Miami Shores. She is the second Black woman to be in that role. Daniel Marinberg finished second to be elected as vice-mayor.
Mayor Harris and Marinberg will serve a four-year term while Saint-Fleur will be in office for two years.
Before becoming a councilwoman, Saint-Fleur was the legislative aide of Oscar Braynon, a former member of the Florida senate. She was also the principal at KSF & Associates, a firm that specializes in helping non-profit enterprises with the state legislative process.
Saint-Fleur vowed to go above and beyond in her new role as councilwoman.
“I will wake up every day and give a thousand percent of myself to make every one of you proud,” Saint-Fleur said. “This village is beautiful. Our goal I believe―I’ve met and spoken to everyone [in the council]―is to sustain that beauty.”
Report Finds Haitian Government Complicit in Crimes Against Humanity
April 22, 2021
Haitian human rights coalition, Harvard clinic release new analysis of state-sanctioned massacres
(April 22, 2021, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Cambridge, MA) — Three deadly massacres targeting impoverished neighborhoods in Haiti were carried out with Haitian government support and amount to crimes against humanity, according to a report released today by Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic and the Observatoire Haïtien des Crimes contre l’humanité (OHCCH). The report points to evidence that the gang-led attacks were resourced and supported by state actors, ranging from high-ranking officials in the Moïse administration to the Haitian National Police.
The report, “Killing with Impunity: State-Sanctioned Massacres in Haiti,” analyzes three attacks that took place between 2018-2020, which have together killed at least 240 civilians. The massacres targeted the Port-au-Prince neighborhoods of La Saline, Bel-Air, and Cité Soleil, which have played a leading role in organizing protests demanding government accountability for corruption and other human rights violations.
“Moïse’s government has been pushing the story that the attacks are merely gang infighting, but the evidence demonstrates high-level government involvement in the planning, execution and cover-up of the attacks,” said Mario Joseph, Managing Attorney of Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, a member organization of OHCCH.
The report relies on investigations by Haitian and international human rights experts that show that senior Moïse administration officials planned the attacks or otherwise assisted by providing the gangs with money, weapons, or vehicles. Off-duty police officers and resources were utilized to carry out the attacks. The Haitian National Police repeatedly failed to intervene to protect civilians despite the sites of the attacks being in close proximity to multiple police stations. In each attack, gangs arrived in the targeted neighborhood, shot at residents indiscriminately, raped women, and burnt and looted houses. The massacres repeatedly involved gangs affiliated with the G9 alliance led by Jimmy Chérizier, which reportedly enjoys government connections.
“We found that Moïse’s failure to stop or respond to attacks initiated by his subordinates may make the President himself liable for crimes against humanity,” said Beatrice Lindstrom, a Clinical Instructor at the Harvard Clinic who supervised the research and drafting of the report. “This should serve as a wake-up call to the international community to stand up for human rights, fully investigate allegations of serious abuses, and do its part to hold perpetrators accountable,” she added.
The report comes amidst a deepening crisis for democracy and human rights in Haiti. Widespread demonstrations have gripped the nation, with large swaths of the population protesting government corruption, rising insecurity, and Moise’s increasingly authoritarian conduct. Notably, to repress dissent, Moise has criminalized common forms of protest and created an intelligence agency to provide surveillance of the political opposition. Attacks against civilians, including the assassination of prominent government critics, have largely been carried out with impunity. Although most experts and much of civil society agree that President Moïse’s constitutional mandate ended on February 7, 2021, he has refused to step down, insisting that an illegal constitutional referendum take place before elections for his replacement.
The finding that the attacks amount to crimes against humanity strengthens the prospects for accountability. In addition to imposing an international obligation on the Haitian government to prosecute the people responsible, it opens the door to prosecutions in national and international courts outside of Haiti. It also means that perpetrators can be pursued indefinitely as no statutes of limitations apply.
“Just like Haiti’s former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier eventually had to stand trial for his brutal repression decades after he left office, the perpetrators of today’s massacres can no longer escape justice by relying on statutes of limitations,” Joseph added.
The UN has raised alarm that the ongoing lack of accountability for massacres has fostered an enabling environment for further carnage. Yet another attack on Bel-Air earlier this month bore striking similarities to the massacres analysed in the report.
“The attacks covered in the report are particularly severe and well-documented, but they are part of a widespread, systematic campaign of violence and intimidation of political dissidents,” said Pierre Esperance, Executive Director of the Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains (RNDDH), an OHCCH member that has led independent investigations into repeated attacks on impoverished neighborhoods. RNDDH has documented at least 11 massacres over the course of Moise’s presidency.
The report relies on evidence collected by a range of Haitian and international actors over the last few years and analyzes it under international criminal law. Harvard Law School students Joey Bui JD’21 and Nathalie Gunasekera JD’21 led the research and drafting of the report under Lindstrom’s supervision.
Read the report in English, French, and Haitian Creole.
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Contact:
International Human Rights Clinic, Harvard Law School
Beatrice Lindstrom, Clinical Instructor
+1-404-217-1302;
+1-617-495-9214;
Observatoire Haïtien des crimes contre l’humanité
Mario Joseph, Managing Attorney, Bureau des Advocats Internationaux
+509-3701-9879;
Hérold Jean-François, Journalist
+509-3727-5570;
About the Observatoire Haïtien des crimes contre l’humanité (OHCCH): OHCCH is a consortium of Haitian civil society organizations and prominent leaders that came together in October 2020 with a mission of monitoring human rights violations in Haiti that may amount to crimes against humanity. Members include the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), the Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains (RNDDH) and individual civil society leaders and prominent lawyers.
About the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School: The International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School works to protect the human rights of clients and communities around the world. Through supervised practice, students learn the responsibilities and skills of human rights lawyering. Learn more at http://hrp.law.harvard.edu/. Follow the Clinic on social media: Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School on Facebook, @HarvardLawHRP on Twitter, and humanrightsharvardlaw on Instagram.
Cash-strapped Haiti has an image problem. The government is spending thousands to fix it
By
April 20, 2021
More than 4.4 million are facing a hunger crisis. Inflation remains in the double digits and poverty is rising.
But none of that is stopping Haiti’s cash-strapped government from digging into its meager coffers to pay expensive U.S. lobbyists to help its embattled president, who is increasingly facing criticism from members of Congress and calls from Haitians to step down.
In the last month, the impoverished nation has added at least four new high-powered members to its lobbying team in the United States, according to foreign registration filings with the U.S. Justice Department. The new hires include a former U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic, a former chief of staff at the Organization of American States and two influential Democratic donors.
It’s all part of President Jovenel Moïse’s effort to get positive international press as detractors accuse him of trying to install a dictatorship with autocratic policies and a push to change the country’s constitution through a controversial June 27 referendum that Haitian legal experts say is illegal.
The government’s spending on lobbyists comes as domestic revenues are down, public spending is up and the country’s budget deficit is growing at an alarming rate, according to information provided by economists during a recent international summit on Haiti’s finances and economy. Meanwhile, the United Nations recently announced that it was looking for $235 million for 1.5 million Haitians facing food insecurity, which leaves another 2.9 million people still uncovered by the country’s national budget.
“I find it doubly tragic that money is being spent to support American lobbyists who use political access to get things done and taking the food out of the mouths of hungry Haitians. But two, the whole purpose is to circumvent democratic process,” said Fulton Armstrong, a Haiti expert and senior faculty fellow at the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at American University.
Records show that the Haitian government contracts amount to at least $804,000 a year in lobbying fees. The actual amount, however, is much higher. One of the firms, Mercury Public Affairs, routes its Haiti contract through Mercury International UK Ltd office, according to the firm’s disclosure, and it is unclear what the total contract is worth because it has not been disclosed publicly.
On the other side of the lobbying efforts to counter the government’s message are the Estopinan Group LLC, run by Art Estopinan, a former chief of staff to Rep. Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla. The firm is representing businessman Dr. Reginald Boulos, who has emerged as a vocal critic of Moïse.
“Our focus has been on the deteriorating human rights situation in Haiti with all of the kidnappings and the violence that have been breaking the country apart,” said Estopinan, who worked for Ros-Lehtinen for 27 years.
Most of the Haitian government’s contracts list the nation’s embassy in Washington and its ambassador, Bocchit Edmond, as the contractors. The contracts are tied to a larger pool of dollars being spent by the Haitian government on billboards and banners touting a controversial June constitutional referendum, trips by ministers and members of the provisional electoral council to support and explain the initiative, and citizen outreach at home and abroad.
“Events in Washington have wide repercussions, especially for small, insular states facing tremendous challenges,” Edmond said. “At present, our country is dealing with serious security issues that require pursuing all avenues to obtain assistance. National security is a costly business, for all states.”
He added that with the U.S. concentrating on its own issues, vulnerable countries like Haiti must find ways to get their voices heard in the corridors of power.
“Haiti is by no means the only country that is working very hard to reach influential policy makers in Congress and in the new administration, which is concentrating on internal issues,” Edmond said. “We are working hard to enlist Haiti’s friends, in all corridors of power, to help broker a solution to the political impasse at home.”
Many Haitians and some members of Congress are calling on the Biden administration to take a tougher stance on Moïse, amid concerns about corruption and human rights violations as Haiti becomes enveloped in a deadly crime wave, political chaos and a bitter constitutional crisis.
Haitians demonstrate during a protest to denounce the draft constitutional referendum carried by the President Jovenel Moise on March 28, 2021, in Port-au-Prince. VALERIE BAERISWYL AFP via Getty Images
Moïse’s detractors say they no longer recognize him as president because his terms ended on Feb. 7, and contend that no credible, fair or transparent elections can be held this year because the electoral commission unilaterally appointed by him lacks legitimacy and credibility. They have been advocating instead for a transitional government, a view shared by some U.S. lawmakers.
Moïse, who has been ruling by decree for the past 15 months, has pushed back. Refusing calls to step down, he has declared that his term ends in February 2022, a view shared by the Biden administration and pushed by lobbyists in press releases, opinion pieces and meetings.
Last month influential Democratic donor Ralph Patino registered his Coral Gables law firm, Patino and Associates, as lobbying on behalf of the Haitian government. Patino is a Democratic fundraiser who helped with Hispanic outreach on behalf of President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. In his firm’s U.S. government filing, Patino said he was contracted for $37,000 a month by the Haitian government.
Patino and Edmond signed a contract in late February and the firm began representing Haiti on March 4. It explained that its role is to consult and provide strategic advice to the Haitian Embassy to consolidate a positive relationship with the U.S.
Patino’s monthly fee is more than most U.S. municipalities pay for Washington lobbyists. According to the documents, the Haitian government was expected to pay $74,000 in advance for March and April to the firm.
To help with the Haiti account, Patino has brought on former U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic James Walter Brewster Jr. In his filing, Brewster listed himself as a part-time consultant and said he would be paid $15,300. It is unclear if that is monthly. Brewster could not be reached and Patino said his firm doesn’t comment on clients’ contracts. .
In addition to Patino and Brewster, two other influential lobbyists were also tapped by Miami-based Latin America Advisory Group, which signed a contract last year with the Haitian government. The firm increased its monthly fee from $8,000 to $25,000 a month after extending its contract through January 2022.
Latin America Advisory Group has brought on Carlos Suarez, a partner at Continental Strategy of Coral Gables, and Los Angeles-based Democratic fundraiser and celebrity adviser Ronald Eric Baldwin to assist with lobbying efforts on behalf of Haiti, according to filings.
Suarez said his role is limited. He’s using his contacts, he said, to ensure that free and fair elections take place in Haiti and “to make sure that accurate information is being delivered and not hearsay.”
Baldwin, who served as executive director for almost four years in Port-au-Prince for actor Sean Penn’s J/P Haitian Relief Organization after the devastating 2010 earthquake, said he decided to get involved in Haiti after watching the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on March 12 about the country’s ongoing crisis.
“The way that it was presented just felt very incomplete at best,” Baldwin said. “I’m not a professional lobbyist. My connection to Haiti is pretty personal.”
Suarez is a former acting assistant administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He and Baldwin are each getting paid $7,000 a month. Suarez formerly served as chief of staff to former U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States Carlos Trujillo, who also is his partner at the firm and not involved in the account.
Damian Merlo, the founder of Latin America Advisory Group, said he decided to augment his team with Suarez and Baldwin because of their knowledge of the country.
“I’ve worked in Haiti for nearly 10 years...and was part of Moïse’s campaign team, and am working to better inform U.S. policymakers on the situation in Haiti and to work toward a much needed constitutional referendum and even more important presidential, legislative and local elections,” said Merlo, confirming that Trujillo is not involved in the account.
Also on the Haiti account is the global public relations firm Mercury Public Affairs.
Haiti first turned to Mercury in 2018 after it was reported that President Donald Trump described the country as a “shithole” during a White House meeting. Mercury was hired to manage the country’s “print, television, radio and digital media presence by crafting their narrative,” according to its filing at the time.
That year, Mercury LLC registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as representing the president of Haiti. Vanessa Lamothe, Haiti’s then ambassador to France and cousin of its former prime minister, was listed as the contact for the firm to provide media relations services for the president of Haiti.
The arrangement with Mercury has been difficult to track, although in 2019 it listed $312,935 in fees billed to the Embassy of Haiti in Washington as of May 31. Though one of its principal lobbyists on the Haiti contract is former Democratic lawmaker Joe Garcia, payments are made through Mercury’s U.K. office. In its February 2018 registration it listed at the time, a project fee of $10,000 and said it would be paid on a month-to-month basis after December.
Neither Garcia nor Mercury’s vice president responded to a request for comment.
Also with a government lobbying contract is Johanna LeBlanc. In a March 2019 filing, LeBlanc said she was being paid $5,000 a month to interact with “U.S. government officials and public entities in order to promote the interests of the State of Haiti and its citizens in the United States.”
LeBlanc did not respond to either a text or email seeking comment.
Armstrong, the Haiti expert, said when it comes to U.S. foreign policy toward the troubled Caribbean nation, the Biden administration is seemingly reluctant to come up with a new strategy. In that context, the Haitian government’s lobbying efforts just may work.
“You have an administration that is not well-informed, not well-engaged; doesn’t have any senior officials with Haiti experience, doesn’t have a senior assistant secretary of state for Latin America and the acting doesn’t know these issues,” he said.
Miami Herald/McClatchy DC Bureau reporter Alex Daugherty contributed to this report.