Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 6 avril 2022

 Money transfer tax lawsuit : allegations against Haitian rulers

BY THE HAITIAN TIMES APR. 01, 2022

The Haitian Times

The lawsuit against Haiti’s last three presidents and remittances and phone companies — Celestin v. Caribbean Air Mail — has been winding its way through the courts since 2018. In 2021, a district court dismissed it on the grounds that United States courts cannot render another country’s laws invalid. On Thursday, a federal panel of three judges weighed in, saying the case may proceed.

The Haitian Times dug through a https://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/f0d10ad9-f15c-4d8f-821a-1fbf3891ed1e/1/hilite/">29-page ruling on the lawsuit from the United States Court of Appeals and the Celestin v. Martelly detailed lawsuit to provide a recap. Below are 15 major allegations and legal developments to know about based on that review.

1.    Defendants— Haitian government officials and multinational corporations—conspired to fix the  prices of remittances and telephone calls from the United States to Haiti. The defendants allegedly agreed to produce official instruments, including a Presidential Order and two Circulars of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) to disguise their agreement as a tax for domestic education programs.

2.    Martelly allegedly orchestrated a far-reaching price-fixing agreement with the Corporate Defendants before becoming President in 2011. The  “mechanism” for implementing the agreement was a Presidential Order and two Circulars of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti that Martelly would issue after taking office.

3.    The Presidential Order set a “floor price for all incoming international call[s]” at $0.23 per minute and required that $0.05 per minute be “turned over to the Government.” Similarly, the Circulars “memorialized” Defendants’ agreement to add a $1.50 fee to remittances of food and money sent to Haiti from certain countries, including the United States.

4.    Under both the Presidential Order and the Circulars, the Corporate Defendants and Natcom collected these surcharges as a condition of eligibility to provide services.

5.    Martelly represented to the public that these policies would raise revenues  to support a Haitian compulsory education program. But in fact, Plaintiffs say, no such program existed.

6.    Rather, just months after publication of the Presidential Order, “it was discovered that [$26] million in the new National Fund for Education was missing.” Plaintiffs assert that each Corporate Defendant retained a portion of the fees it collected rather than transmitting the full amount to the Haitian treasury. 

7.    Martelly, and successors Jocelerme Privert and Jovenel Moise, during their respective terms, profited personally from the fees as well, according to the suit. 

8.    For example, according to one accusation, Martelly used the transfer tax money for a beach house.

9.    Furthermore, the Presidential Order and Circulars ran afoul of Haitian law because “only the parliament may raise taxes and fees for the benefit of the state.” As part of the scheme, Plaintiffs allege, Defendants told customers that these fees were in fact collected pursuant to a “lawful tax” for education.

10.A district court in 2021 granted Defendants’ motion to dismiss all claims based on (1) the act of state doctrine and (2) in the alternative, as to some Defendants, forum non conveniens.

11.A federal panel of judges on March 31 chose to REVERSE the district court’s dismissal of the antitrust claim under the act of state doctrine and VACATE the dismissal of the fifteen state-law claims for reanalysis under the proper standard. it also REMANDED the case for further proceedings.

12.We may give the Presidential Order and Circulars their full purported legal effect and still conclude that Plaintiffs have plausibly alleged illegal price-fixing under the Sherman Act.

13.Plaintiffs’ antitrust claim depends not on “whether the alleged acts are valid, but whether they occurred” in a way that gives rise to liability. 

14.The plaintiffs are listed as: Odilon S. Celestin, Widimir Romelien, Goldie Lamothe-Alexandre, Vincent Marazita

Local airline, charters in Haiti suspend flights after protesters burn airplane

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Updated March 29, 2022

Domestic and charter airline operators have temporarily halted local flight service in Haiti after protesters in the southwestern city of Les Cayes on Tuesday tore apart and then burned a plane used by a Florida-based charity.

The eight-seat Piper Navajo Chieftain aircraft belonged to Agape Flights, which is based in Venice, Florida, a spokeswoman for Agape Flights told the Miami Herald.

“For 42 years we’ve been flying to Haiti and we have weekly mission flights carrying cargo, mail and humanitarian aid to missionary families throughout Haiti,” she said. “It is devastating but we are just thankful that the team is safe.”

On its web page the group announced that for the safety of its affiliated missionaries and staff, this week’s flight has been canceled.

The violence unfolded during a day of protests in Haiti against rising insecurity with demonstrators calling for an end to kidnappings. While mostly peaceful in the capital, they turned violent in Les Cayes, where protesters gained access to the airport and attacked the plane, which had arrived Sunday with a team of humanitarian aid workers helping in the region’s recovery from last August’s devastating magnitude 7.2 earthquake that left over 2,000 dead.

Haiti police said that at least one protester died and five others were injured, including four police officers who were attacked with rocks. Police spokesman Garry Desrosiers confirmed that a plane in the southeastern city of Jacmel was also burned Tuesday, but it was “not the same situation as Les Cayes.” The plane had crash-landed in November under mysterious circumstances and was abandoned. 

“It had already been vandalized and a group of people threw something in it,” he said.

In response to the incident, the country’s leading domestic carrier, Sunrise Airways, temporarily halted all flights to Les Cayes. Soon after, Mission Aviation Fellowship announced it was grounding all charter flights throughout Haiti for Wednesday.

Sunrise Airways Director Philippe Bayard told the Miami Herald that for now only flights to Les Cayes will be canceled. 

“We’ve stopped the flights and are seeing what kind of security they are implementing at the airport because we cannot put at risk the people who are working with us, the passengers or the airplane,” Bayard said. “I know they are doing an evaluation to see how much damage they did at the airport and after that, we will make a decision.”

He called Tuesday’s violence in Les Cayes “sad” and “unacceptable.”

“It’s a missionary group that has come to do good in a country and they burned the airplane. Is this something that is acceptable?” Bayard said. “Regardless of the reasons why people were protesting, is the destruction they did here justifiable? It’s something that is lamentable.”

Tuesday marked the 35th anniversary of Haiti’s 1987 Constitution. Amid growing discontent over a surge in kidnappings and gang criminality, Haitians have taken to circulating a petition demanding that Prime Minister Ariel Henry do something to address the problems. Condemning the incident in Les Cayes, Henry said in a tweet that he has ordered authorities to track down those behind the violence.

Les Cayes now becomes the latest big city to be without scheduled air service in Haiti, where armed gangs have made traveling the country’s national roads to large cities outside of the capital a dangerous undertaking. 

Since June, more than 20,000 Haitians have been forced from their homes in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Martissant at the southern entrance of the capital, which serves as the gateway to five different regional areas including those struck by the August 14 earthquake. Gangs are attacking public buses and carjacking motorists and holding them for ransom.

The violence on the roads has led to full domestic flights and an increased demand for private charters. In Les Cayes, demonstrators have accused airline owners and the government of profiteering from the insecurity in Martissant.

“A business cannot exist on a road that is closed and an area that is isolated,” said Bayard. “Insecurity with chaos and disorder has never been good for anyone.”

Bayard said Les Cayes has long been in need of regular air service, and after starting it a year ago, demand began to increase after the earthquake. The air service also allowed aid to pour in quickly after the earthquake. While customers come for air travel because of the insecurity in Martissant, he said, there are also fewer people traveling because they don’t want to go to Port-au-Prince because of the security issues.

Richard Hervé Fourcand, a former senator who lives in Les Cayes and provided his personal aircraft to take injured earthquake victims to safety, said “activists went too far” on Tuesday.

He called the protesters’ argument against the local air carriers “exaggerated.” He acknowledged that the situation in Martissant is increasingly becoming unbearable and affecting the recovery of the south. “Everything is expensive,” he said. “You have to pay four gangs just to get one container through.”

Agape Flights, the spokeswoman said, is focused on getting their team members safely back home rather than future plans.

This story was originally published  March 29, 2022 8:28 PM.

Humanitarian missions continue to Haiti despite plane set on fire by protestors

Staff was not injured in the incident

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Staff from Agape, the Sarasota-based missionary group is speaking out after one of their planes helping with humanitarian aid in Haiti was burned by protesters.

"You're instantly hurt and devastated and as the day goes on you realize, you know what, no one on our team was harmed in all this," said Abby Duncan the communications manager for Agape.

Duncan said their group flew into Haiti on Sunday to do earthquake relief, and when the fire happened they were helping rebuild a church in a remote village.

They weren't injured in the fire, but the organization is working to bring them back.

"The aircraft is a tool. It's a very useful tool. It's our ministry but we're so thankful that our team is safe," said Duncan. "The aircraft can be replaced but lives cannot."

Agape has been flying to Haiti for 42 years and takes weekly flights to Haiti, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and serves about 300 missionary families.

Haiti remains a nation in turmoil.

This incident follows peaceful protests in other parts of the nation calling for the government to address gang violence and kidnappings.

Agape staff said demonstrators may have mistaken their aircraft for a politician's plane.

"When they see a private aircraft, they think that those are people profiting from their misfortune and Agape's plane happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, they didn't realize it was a nonprofit's plane," said Duncan.

"I was shocked, we've been in that airport many times last fall after the earthquake hit, it's getting unsettling," said Joe Karavensh the president/pilot of Missionary Flights International (MFI), a Chrisitan-based non-profit organization. "I actually flew yesterday (Tuesday) and I hadn't heard about it until I landed here."

MFI was founded over 50 years ago and provides transportation for about 550 different Christian organizations, mostly working in Haiti but also working in the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.

Karavensh said they are in and out of Haiti twice a week from the

Treasure Coast bringing in about 3,000-4,000 people a year doing short-term mission projects as well as a quarter-million pounds of baggage and cargo to help with churches, hospitals, clinics, schools and more.

"We don't want to risk having any incidents happening. Even if we're on the flight and we fly over the airport, we generally do a visual looking down where we come around and land and if it looks like there's a crowd of people or something that's not normal, we'll bypass it. That's our precautions right now on our plane," said Karavensh.

WPTV reporter Joel Lopez asked Karavensh:

"Your volunteers, were there any concerns after this news especially with the flight being so close to when the events happened?"

"We contacted all the ones that are traveling tomorrow and, at this point, I understand that they're all aware of what happened but they're all still ready to go," said Karavensh.

WPTV reporter Joel Lopez asked Karavensh:

"Your volunteers, were there any concerns after this news especially with the flight being so close to when the events happened?"

"We contacted all the ones that are traveling tomorrow and, at this point, I understand that they're all aware of what happened but they're all still ready to go," said Karavensh.

The non-profit said some 10 volunteers and supplies are flying into Haiti Thursday morning.

Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada announces judicial appointment in province of Québec

World

29 Mar 2022

The Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointment under the judicial application process established in 2016. This process emphasizes transparency, merit, and the diversity of the Canadian population, and will continue to ensure the appointment of jurists who meet the highest standards of excellence and integrity.

Marie-Hélène Dubé, Senior Partner at Goldwater, Dubé in Montréal, is appointed a puisne Judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the district of Montréal. Justice Dubé replaces Justice J. Mainville (Montréal), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective November 21, 2021.

Quote

“I wish Justice Dubé every success in her new role. I know she will serve the people of Québec well as a member of the Superior Court.”

-The Hon. David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Biography

Justice Marie-Hélène Dubé graduated from the Université de Montréal and was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1991.

Justice Dubé began her career with the firm Goldwater, Dubé, where she gained a great deal of experience in family and civil litigation, including cases involving constitutional law, which led to frequent appearances before the Superior Court of Quebec and the Quebec Court of Appeal and, on two occasions, before the Supreme Court of Canada. She also practised as a mediator in family law matters. She has been actively involved with the Bar of Quebec, where she was part of a group of experts in family law, and in with the Bar of Montreal as a member of the committee on ethno-cultural diversity.

Justice Dubé’s commitment to the legal community has also been evident in her many efforts in mentoring and training young lawyers. In this capacity, she recently collaborated with the École du Barreau du Québec to develop training on the right to equality in legal practice, as well as with the Quebec section of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers. Justice Dubé has also presented at conferences and written various articles, notably as co-author of the section on the maintenance obligations of former spouses in the publication JurisClasseur – Personnes et Famille. In the course of her career, she has provided pro bono legal services to improve access to justice in the context of matters of public interest.

Justice Dubé is fluent in French, English, and Haitian Creole. She raised her three children in a Montreal neighbourhood known for its great social mix.

/Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) may be of a point-in-time nature, edited for clarity, style and length. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s).View in full here.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 30 mars 2022

 HAITIAN MIGRANTS

Congresswoman demands policy changes, visits detained Haitians

TAMARAC. FLA. (WSVN) - Months after becoming the first Haitian from Florida to be elected to Congress, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is working to help Haitians who sail to South Florida look for better and safer lives.

“We’re still discriminating against Haitian migrants,” said Cherfilus-McCormick.

Weeks after hundreds of men, women and children, desperate to escape conditions in Haiti, boarded boats to make it to the U.S., Cherfilus-McCormick and other Haitian Americans are demanding policy changes to make the immigration process fair.

“We’re seeing the terror that’s going on in Haiti. It’s a terror that’s similar to what we see in other areas and in other countries that are being granted asylum, but yet the Haitian community is still being denied asylum,” said Cherfilus-McCormick.

A Trump era directive called Title 42, which uses the COVID pandemic as a reason to expel migrants, is still in place. Some Ukrainians, however, have reportedly been allowed in to argue their case.

“Our Haitian brothers and sisters are desperate. That’s the only way you’ll risk your life like that. When you’re a mom and you have your babies, you’ll go to any extent to protect them,” said State Representative Rosalind Osgood.

President Joe Biden, while campaigning in Little Haiti in 2020, said, “I won’t quit on my part as your president, making sure the Haitian community has an even shot, gets back on its feet and moves in the directions that they’ll realize it’s incredible, incredible potential.”

Cherfilus-McCormick sent a letter to the Biden administration, asking Title 42 be rescinded.

“We stand here representing the Haitian diaspora, demanding that equity in immigration is actually enforced,” said Cherfilus-McCormick.

Elected officials and activists toured the Broward Transitional Center where many Haitian migrants are kept until they are deported. She said they are concerned about the conditions they saw there.

National Center of Haitian Apostolate

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT (March 27, 2022)

The Prodigal Son OR The Merciful Father

Let us be touched by the teachings conveyed by the well-known parable of the PRODIGAL SON. Let’s refresh our memory! A thoughtless young man, not waiting for his father’s death, demands his share of heritage. The rich father yields to the request and the light-headed son goes away to a distant land where he squanders his fortune with prostitutes. Reduced to extreme poverty, he comes back to his senses and returns to the Father’s House pleading for forgiveness. But the old father, instead of blaming him, orders to slaughter the fattened calf and throws a welcome party for his return.

That short story concerns you and me. We are God’s children since the day of our baptism. But when we sin, we act like the mindless prodigal son. We give up God’s treasures of grace blindly seeking the passing pleasures of sin. We greedily go after money and the cravings of the flesh.

Jesus in this parable begs us to come to our senses and return to the real joys procured by repentance.

Don’t we realize that God is a God of infinite mercy like the good rich man of the story? He persists in his love for us in spite of our disgusting conduct. The delights of grace await the repentant sinner!

Like St Paul, I implore you on behalf of Christ “Be reconciled to God.” Lent is a time for reconciliation and Penance! The priest in the confessional is the dispenser of God’s mercy! Don’t delay! Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. Confess your sins and come back to the banquet of Holy Communion!

Former Haitian sports minister Evans Lescouflair accused of raping children

Ed Aarons and Romain Molina

THE GUARDIAN - A former sports minister of Haiti has been accused of repeatedly raping an 11-year-old pupil while a teacher in the 1980s and is facing a civil lawsuit brought by several other alleged victims who claim he sexually abused them.

Complaints against Evans Lescouflair, who served in several posts at Haiti’s Ministry of Youth, Sports and Civic Action between 2008 and 2011 and remains influential in Haitian football as president of youth side Club Sportif Saint-Louis, were sent to the commissaire of Port-au-Prince governorate on Thursday by lawyers working on behalf of Claude-Alix Bertrand and several other alleged victims. It is understood that they contain accusations that one of Lescouflair’s alleged victims killed themselves in 2008.

“It’s a criminal complaint about the repeated rape of minors under 15 years old,” the lawyer Franck Vanéus told the Guardian. “The sentence for this crime is life imprisonment.”

Bertrand – the Haitian ambassador to Unesco and captain of Haiti’s national polo team – told the Guardian that he was abused by Lescouflair when he was an 11-year-old student at Saint-Louis de Gonzague at the end of the 1980s.

“He touched my intimate parts in a way that no one did before,” said Bertrand. “It was so uncomfortable. I didn’t understand anything, I was just a child. I asked him why he was doing it. He kept doing it and asked me: ‘You don’t like it?’

“After that day, I tried to avoid his look. But he kept me a second time, a third time. Each time he kept me apart after a class, things were going further until the day he raped me. He penetrated me. I cried, begging him to stop but nothing changed. It lasted for two years. It happened in an office far away from the classroom.”

Bertrand says that he experienced severe depression but did not report the abuse because he was afraid of the potential consequences.

“I grew up in a society where the teachers had all the rights,” he said. “I thought that no one would believe me. I even thought that I may be punished for it … I was only 11 years old, I was a child and I was so scared. He kept going until the day I became sick.”

Bertrand’s family subsequently moved to the United States, where he has received psychiatric treatment for several years.

…

Lescouflair refused to answer questions from the Guardian but told the Haitian newspaper La Nouvelliste in February after Bertrand’s accusations first went public that he had “nothing to say, since the man who made this statement is married to a man of foreign nationality” – a reference to the fact that Bertrand is gay.

Former Haitian Senator to be extradited to the US

BY CANDICE HAUGHTON

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Former Haitian Senator, Joseph Joel John, a person of interest in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, has consented to be extradited to the United States.

The extradition application was brought before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Thursday, by Senior Deputy Director of Prosecutions, Jeremy Taylor.

"Your Honour, this is the matter of the request for extradition of Joseph Joel John, a citizen 0f Haiti to the United States," Taylor said, adding that a provisional warrant of arrest was issued for John on Tuesday by virtue of the extradition treaty between the US and Jamaica.

He also noted that under this treaty the US has 60 days to provide evidence of the supposed crime.

Taylor made it clear in court that only John is required to be extradited.

Before signing the written consent, John expressed his concerns about leaving his family behind. However, through an interpreter it was explained that he will not be sent to the US immediately.

Senior Parish Judge, Lori-Ann Montague-Cole advised John to "prepare himself" to be extradited after the written consent was handed to her.

She also said she can "appreciate a man having a concern about leaving his wife and children."

After the situation was explained to her in detail, John's wife, Edume, was observed with an asthma inhaler in hand and hyperventilating.

John, his wife and two children, were arrested in south-east St Elizabeth on January 20.

His family have since applied for asylum in Jamaica through the Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA), the application pending a response from the Permanent Secretary's Office in the Ministry of National Security. It was revealed that the permanent secretary is not in the country.

Meanwhile, Montague-Cole commended the police officers for their care of John's seven-year-old son, who was seen sleeping on the laps of the officers.

"The JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) has some good aunts and uncles," Montague-Cole said, noting that there is still kindness in the justice system.

The family is to return to court on April 5 for the decision regarding refugee status from the Permanent Secretary's Office.

Moïse was killed on July 7 when a hit team invaded the presidential residence and shot him dead. His wife, Martine was wounded but survived. Judicial police have questioned at least 21 presidential guards who were present on the fateful night.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 22 mars 2022

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden President of the United States The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Biden,

March 17, 2022

As members of Congress, we are committed to strengthening bilateral and trade relations with the Republic of Haiti, the second oldest republic in the Western Hemisphere. However, we are deeply concerned regarding the ongoing political crisis in the country. Therefore, we urge your administration to allow the people of Haiti to determine their political destiny by supporting consensus among political actors, civil society, religious and private sectors to create a civil society-led democratic transition.

Due to the extent of the insecurity challenges in Haiti, it is impossible to hold elections in this climate. In 2016, roughly 21 percent of the voting population participated in the presidential election. While elections are often a sign of democracy, holding elections in a climate where citizens are afraid to leave their homes for fear of being kidnapped or killed would severely undermine the electoral process. Hence, your administration must prioritize peace, safety, and security. Elections are necessary but not sufficient to bring about stability in the country if optimal conditions are not met, and consensus among various sectors has not been achieved.

We believe there is a path forward to a democratic transition in Haiti backed by the Haitian people. However, any steps taken to lead to such a transition have limited prospects for success if the United States continues to support the de facto government of Dr. Ariel Henry, who has no incentive to negotiate in good faith while enjoying unfettered support from the United States. There is no doubt that aspects of U.S. policy towards Haiti have undermined the nation's development, peace, and security. However, we have a chance to fix our past mistakes and support the Haitian people to put their country on a path toward true democracy. Now is the time.

Furthermore, your administration's support for Dr. Henry appears contradictory to your stated goal that the United States will not tilt the scales of Haitian politics. Dr. Henry lacks the legitimacy to organize elections and does not have the consensus needed to galvanize the Haitian people to the polls. Dr. Henry's legitimacy comes from the international community, not the Haitian people. We are aware that a growing number of civil societies, the private sector, and political organizations in Haiti have mobilized to offer a more representative inclusive path forward to steer Haiti towards

1

the direction of sustainable democracy. We are hopeful that your administration will take meaningful steps to substantively engage with these groups.

Additionally, we are deeply concerned that, under the Henry government, there continues to be little progress in the investigation of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse that took place last July and that those investigating the case in Haiti have faced threats and intimidation. It is crucial that the intellectual authors and those directly involved in President Moïse’s assassination be held accountable to provide clarity and best help Haiti resolve its political crisis. As members of Congress, we urge your administration to take the necessary steps to keep us apprised of the investigation and to thoroughly examine and disclose any roles that American citizens or organizations may have played in the assassination, including any individual who has previously worked as an informant for the United States.

In closing, we humbly request that your administration allow the people of Haiti to determine their own political destiny and withdraw support from the de facto government; assist actors working to investigate the assassination and to address insecurity and other institutional challenges; and support free, fair, transparent, and inclusive elections in Haiti only after security and political conditions allow, as determined by the Haitian people. Policies coming out of Washington must be consistent with the will of the Haitian people, democratic ideals, and the rule of law.

Sincerely,

_________________________ Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20) Member of Congress

_________________________ Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8) Member of Congress

_________________________ Val Demings (FL-10)
Member of Congress

_________________________ Dwight Evans (PA-3)
Member of Congress

_________________________ Andy Levin (MI-9)
Member of Congress

_________________________ Yvette Clarke (NY-9)
Member of Congress

_________________________ Mondaire Jones (NY-17) Member of Congress

______________________ Ayanna Pressley (MA-7) Member of Congress

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CC:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken
U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols

Haiti wants Jamaica to turn over second suspect in president’s assassination

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Updated March 15, 2022 2:20 PM

Haiti wants a former politician accused in the brazen assassination of President Jovenel Moïse last July to be returned to the country from Jamaica.

The country’s foreign minister has sent an official request to Jamaica seeking the return of former senator John Joël Joseph, a high-ranking Haitian government source confirmed to the Miami Herald.

In Jamaica, Joseph is charged with illegal entry after he, his wife and two sons were arrested in January in rural St. Elizabeth parish. It is unclear if Haitian authorities are requesting Joseph’s deportation or extradition. Haiti and Jamaica do not share an extradition agreement. Joseph, who also goes by the name Joseph Joël John, is a Haitian citizen. He ended up in Jamaica after spending months in hiding after the July 7, 2021, assassination of Moïse at his private residence.

The late president, whose mandate officially ended last month according to the international community’s timetable, was shot 12 times and his wife was seriously injured after an alleged hit squad of former Colombian military stormed his home. They were joined by two Haitian Americans and current and former Haiti National Police officers.

Joseph is considered a key suspect in the case who can shed light on the motive behind Moïse’s slaying and why the mission changed from kidnapping and arresting the president to killing him. Several other suspects interviewed by both Haitian and U.S. investigators have said the initial plan was to arrest the president, who had been accused by opponents of remaining in office beyond his term. 

Haitian police say Joseph was in contact with several of the suspects in the assassination plot and attended meetings about the attack. A 124-page Haiti National Police investigative report obtained by the Herald also accused him of paying for the rental vehicles that were to be used in the assassination.

Documents seeking Joseph’s return to Haiti were sent to Jamaica on March 10, the same day that Joseph appeared in a Kingston court, where a judge put off a decision on his fate.

“Mr. John Joël Joseph is considered a fugitive from justice and is suspected of being an accessory to a crime,” the Haiti official said. “All of this has been clearly stated in the correspondence.”

Jamaica Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck did not respond to an inquiry from the Herald about the request.

The investigation of Moïse’s murder has stalled in Haiti, where the first investigative judge resigned from the case before even starting, the second had it taken from him after he was accused of corruption and failed to meet a legal deadline to bring formal charges, and a third turned down a request to take over the investigation due to safety concerns.

Earlier this month a fourth investigative judge, Merlan Belabre, was assigned to the case. But in a handwritten press release dated Saturday, Belabre expressed concerns about his safety, saying that 10 days after his naming no effort had been made to ensure his and his family’s security. 

“The executive power, the superior council of the judicial power have delivered me and my family to the assassins and kidnappers,” he said in the note, which several sources confirmed was written by him. 

The little progress there has been in the investigation has occurred in the U.S. Two suspects are currently in custody when they voluntarily came to the U.S. after being detained outside of Haiti. A Colombian former soldier, Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios, was picked up by U.S. federal agents in Panama on Jan. 3 during the process of being deported to Colombia by Jamaica.

The second suspect, Rodolphe Jaar, a convicted drug trafficker, was escorted by U.S. federal agents to Miami last month after being detained in the Dominican Republic. Both are believed to be cooperating with U.S. prosecutors, who in a criminal complaint have accused both of conspiring to commit murder or kidnapping outside of the United States and providing material support resulting in death, knowing that such support would be used to carry out a plot to kill the Haitian president.

An American national of Haitian origin arrested at Toussaint Louverture Airport

Agents of the National Police of Haiti apprehended this Saturday, (March 19^th) at Toussaint Louverture International Airport, an American national of Haitian origin. This is Jean-Baptiste Jean Appolon who had a 9 mm caliber pistol in his possession, informs the PNH.

Port-au-Prince, March 19, 2022.- Agents of the Brigade for the Fight Against Narcotics Trafficking (BLTS), a specialized unit of the National Police of Haiti, proceeded to the arrest this Saturday at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport, of an American citizen of Haitian origin.

This is Jean-Baptiste Jean Appolon. The latter had in his possession a 9 mm caliber pistol, informs the PNH.
He was about to board a flight to New York.

The pistol he had in his possession is a Glock and serial BGAB363, police said.

For the moment, the defendant is kept in sight at the DCPJ (Central Directorate of the Judicial Police) pending his transfer to the judicial authorities after a hearing.

Jean Allens Macajoux

HAITI SECURITY

Vant Bèf Info 

 Police officer Davickson Désir and three other people killed Friday in Carrefour. Death yesterday Friday (March 18^th) in Carrefour, of the police officer Davickson Désir and three other individuals in different circumstances.

Carrefour, March 19, 2022. At least four gunshot deaths were recorded for Friday alone in Carrefour.
It is a policeman, Davickson Désir, and three other individuals. Two of the other victims would be members of a gang operating in Martissant, we learned.
These individuals were shot at Mon Repos 36, not far from the tribunal de paix.

MURDER OF POLICE OFFICER

Vant Bèf Info

As part of the investigation into the assassination of police officer Henry Marc Mollians, the national police apprehend the named Kecheler Pierre Louis.

Canaan, March 19, 2022. The National Police of Haiti arrested this Saturday, one of the alleged assassins of police officer Henry Marc Mollians.

He responds to the name of Kecheler Pierre Louis.

Born on November 15, 1994 in Moron, this individual is a member of the gang operating in the locality of Canaan, commune of Croix-des-Bouquets.

Apart from this assassination, the police accuse him of involvement in the armed attacks perpetrated against the Canaan police station.

Armed individuals had murdered the policeman last week after breaking into his house in Canaan.

The victim was assigned to the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ).

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 15 mars 2022

 Haitian films slated to show at Miami Film Festival

BY THE HAITIAN TIMES MAR. 07, 2022

The Haitian Times

“Parsley” is set in the midst of the 1937 massacre that took place on the Haitian-Dominican border. Photo Credit:  Timothy K Fitzgerald/Visit Films

MIAMI — Several Haitian movies are slated for screenings during the 39th annual Miami Film Festival that kicked off last Friday showcasing dozens of films, viewable both in-person and virtually. 

“Parsley,” directed by Dominican director José María Cabral, explores the relationship between a Haitian woman and her Dominican husband in the midst of the 1937 massacre called “El Corte,” or “the cutting,” when thousands of Haitians along the border were slaughtered by Dominican dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina. 

“I just wanted to have a human story where people could identify in a way and see how decisions made by a dictatorship really affected communities, affected families, affected human beings independently of where they are from,” saidCabral in an interview with The Miami Herald.

“Parsley” is showing on the evening of Mar. 7 and will be available to stream online the following day. 

On Mar. 8, the festival will feature “Madame Pipi,” a documentary by director Rachelle Salnave that looks at the lives of Haitian women bathroom attendants in Miami’s nightclubs. 

“Freda,” a film by Jessica Généus that garnered Oscar nomination buzz last year, will show in-person on Mar. 12. Généus will participate in a Q&A following the showing.

Looking at the life of a university student in the midst of a political tumult, Freda has garnered praise from Francis Ford Coppola and is Haiti’s official selection for the upcoming Academy Awards.

ARRIVAL OF HAITIAN BOATS TO SOUTH FLORIDA

Recent arrivals of hundreds of Haitians in the Keys is a sign of new trafficking routes

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES AND DAVID GOODHUE UPDATED MARCH 11, 2022 3:50 PM

The arrival of nearly 700 Haitians in a string of dramatic migrant landings near an exclusive wealthy enclave in the Upper Florida Keys over the past four months suggests that those behind the rise in Haitian boat migration are getting bolder, and using new trafficking routes, incouding the northern coast of Cuba, to get to the United States.

The arrival of nearly 700 Haitians in a string of dramatic migrant landings near an exclusive wealthy enclave in the Upper Florida Keys over the past four months suggests that those behind the rise in Haitian boat migration are getting bolder, and using new trafficking routes to get to the United States. While smugglers are still ferrying desperate Haitians in overloaded, battered sailboats from Haiti, the clandestine voyages have become much better organized and sophisticated, U.S. and Haitian authorities say. The boats are now bigger and even engine-powered as opposed to sail, and smugglers are employing GPS technology and other methods to evade detection by the U.S. Coast Guard. “They are taking the routes that will lead them to Key West and elsewhere via areas with less surveillance by the U.S. Coast Guard,” said Eric Prévost Junior, the director general of Haiti’s Maritime and Navigation Service. “That’s the tendency; they are changing routes from time to time, because there are routes they take that always lead to interception by the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Since November, four overloaded boats crammed with Haitians fleeing desperate conditions in Haiti have ended up near the ultra exclusive Ocean Reef Club in North Key Largo, located at the end of a remote two-lane highway that was made famous by drug traffickers in the 1970s and ‘80s. The most recent landing involved 356 Haitians, whose battered wooden freighter stopped just 200 yards from the shoreline of the resort Sunday after running aground. As the boat tilted on its side, 158 migrants jumped into the ocean and swam to the shore, their rush to freedom captured on video. Another 198 who remained aboard the boat were later transferred to a U.S. Coast Guard cutter for repatriation to Haiti.

Two days earlier, another overloaded sailboat, this one jam-packed with 123 Haitians, was stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard about 10 miles off Anguilla Cay, a Bahamian island just north of Cuba. U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Benjamin Golightly of District 7, which oversees Florida and Puerto Rico, would not say whether Haitian migrants trying to illegally enter the U.S. by sea are taking new routes, citing not wanting to disclose Coast Guard “patrol patterns.” But anecdotal evidence and interviews with those monitoring the recent uptick suggests that boats are using the coastlines and territorial waters of Cuba to reach the Keys, which are located just 90 miles north of the communist island. Last fall, after several Haitians arrived in the eastern and central provinces of Cuba, the country’s foreign ministry confirmed the arrival of an unspecified number of Haitians via boat in a bid to reach the U.S. By the end of last year, Cuba had repatriated 1,362 Haitians, according to the International Office for Migration, the U.N. agency tasked with receiving returning migrants. But even as some boats carrying Haitians are interdicted by the Cubans, there are also reports of them being helped in their journey.

This week, after a group of Haitian migrants were picked up in Cabo Rojo, a town in the southwest corner of Puerto Rico, a local newspaper reported that the migrants had reportedly left from the quake-ravaged city of Jérémie along the southwest peninsula of Haiti. The waters of the Caribbean reportedly took them toward Cuba where another boat found them and gave them food and gas, and redirected them to Puerto Rico. Golightly declined to provide specifics on how Cuba handles Haitian boats passing through its waters, other than to say each case is unique. “We make every attempt to work with our partners, both nationally and internationally to stop them at the point of origin,” he said, adding that the U.S. Coast Guard is always on regular patrols throughout the straits of Florida, the Bahamas and the Windward and Mona passages and areas north of Cuba. Still, in November when the first of the boatloads arrived, some of the 63 Haitians said they had been at sea for three weeks. “Our focus remains on trying to safely stop those voyages or working with anyone who is in a position to potentially safely stop those voyages to where we don’t have vessels capsizing and potentially hundreds of people lost at sea,” Golightly said.

FLEEING GANG VIOLENCE

Haitian émigré Jean-Pierre, who arrived in the U.S. five years ago, said his wife and three young children, ages 9, 6, and 4, were among the 123 people the Coast Guard stopped off Anguilla Cay last week. They were packed on the deck of the wooden vessel, which a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft filmed bobbing up and down in the high seas. “When I see that video, I cried,” said Jean-Pierre, who did not want to give his full name, nor that of his wife, fearing for his family’s safety.

He spoke to the Miami Herald after confirming with Bahamian authorities that his family was in custody. He said Bahamian authorities would not let him speak to his wife and were planning to send them back to Haiti. “They spent five days at sea, and now they’re going to go back,” he said. “Psychologically, they’re affected. We don’t know if there’s anything we can do.” Over the past five months, the U.S. Coast Guard has interdicted 1,152 Haitians trying to reach Florida and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The surge comes after years of negligible sea migration by Haitians, who over the last decade had chosen the dangerous jungles of South America and tenuous land borders of Central America to try to reach the U.S. But all that changed after last July’s assassination of the country’s president, Jovenel Moïse, and the deadly magnitude 7.2 earthquake that followed five weeks later in the country’s southern peninsula. Both helped fueled an increase in migration, along with an escalation in gang-related violence and kidnappings. Combined with deepening political and economic crises, Haitians are being pushed to take unimaginable risks, a study by IOM found.

National Center of Haitian Apostolate

TALK SHOW OF THE HEALTH SYSTEM OF HAITI WITH HAITIAN DOCTORS AND HAITIAN NURSE FROM 5 COUNTRIES

https://youtu.be/LsbI_s6vu9U

   The staff of Radio Telé Solidarité continues to do everything that depends on them to have a close relationship with the young people and professionals of the Haitian community of the diaspora and Haiti. Sr. Annecie Audate FMA, one the of religious stars of the Congregation of Salesian Sisters in the Eternal City and General Director of VIDES International despite her multiple obligations, has agreed to conduct a program for us once a month on Radio Telé Solidarité. The staff of Radio Telé Solidarité is very grateful to Sr. Audate. Allow me to paraphrase Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) who wrote: "Gratitude is the memory of the heart". 

    For this talk show we had: Argentina: Dr. Egzer Prophete, Dr. Mackendy Oge and Dr. Jehu Joseph, Brazil: Dr. Louis Hercule Jr. Thymogene, United States: Dr. Gabrielle Bien Aimé, Mrs. Jeannette Jean Pierre RC and Mr. Kevin Borgella, Haiti: Dr. Ralph Papouche Desmard and Dominican Republic Dr. Gerome Claff Kelly and Sr. Annecie Audate FMA directed this program.

     In the first part of the program the panelists introduced themselves and after Sr. Annecie made a presentation on the International Day of the Sick inaugurated by Blessed Pope John Paul II almost 3o years ago. Each patient is a unique person with their weaknesses and limitations. Compassion towards the sick has motivated several members of the Christian Community to found several hospitals to welcome the sick. Sr. Annecie focused on the war in Ukraine and the cases of abortions that are happening around the world, these innocent people who are sometimes murdered after 6 months in their mother's womb because they cannot speak or defend themselves. Sr. Annecie took the opportunity to ask this question to the panelists: What are the challenges of Haiti's health system?

      Dr. Gehu Joseph who studied medicine in the Dominican Republic and who practices his profession in Argentina was the first to intervene. He insisted a lot on security and education to improve the health system of Haiti. I mentioned that doctors have no back up or support in Haiti What is the salary of a doctor in Haiti? Factory workers in North America can earn better wages than many doctors in Haiti.

      Dr. Gabrielle Bien Aimé focused on social inequalities in Haiti, especially in terms of health care. The peasants of the most remote places in Haiti do not have access to health care. She insisted a lot on the health care given in the public hospitals of Haiti where the patients are obliged to buy gloves, bandages for their care. Do the doctors of Haiti still have the best medical equipment  to take care of the patients of Haiti? How can we structure Haiti's health system?

       Several of them spoke about the problem of insecurity that the doctors of Haiti face in the exercise of their profession at the time when I write this text there are at least 3 Haitian doctors who are knocked in their Clinic and the kidnappers always ask for big money for their release. They went on to reminisce with sadness despite their great love for their homeland Haiti they are not yet ready to return. Even in the Dominican Republic, Haitian doctors are more numerous than those of Haiti

     Sr. Annecie encouraged the doctors to return, she let them know that the Republic of Port-au-Prince (Port aux Crimes) is not Haiti and they will be welcomed by the people of Haiti if they are ready to practice their profession in the provinces of Haiti. She mentioned the name of her aunt Marie Abdon (Donne) Audate who is 93 years old and who practiced the profession of Midwife for nearly 70 years in her hometown of Carice in the North East Department of Haiti. Aunt Donne is among the famous people of Carice and she thanked the Lord who allowed her during her career as a Wise Woman to save the babies and her mother. To listen to this show click on the link: https://youtu.be/LsbI_s6vu9U

Brother Tob

Rally in Front of the Dania Beach Border Patrol Station to Stop The Deportation of Haitians

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Family Action Network Movement

Dania Beach Border Patrol Station

1800 NE 7th AVE, Dania Beach, FL 33004

 Family Action Network Movement (FANM) Rallies in Front of the Dania Beach Border Patrol Station Against All Haitian Refugees Expulsions 

 WHAT: Family Action Network Movement (FANM), Community Leaders, Stakeholders, Immigration Advocates, and impacted community members Strongly Urge the Biden Administration to Stop All Deportations!

WHO: Family Action Network Movement (FANM), Community Leaders/Stakeholder, Immigration Advocates and impacted community members

WHEN: Saturday, March 12, 2022

 TIME: 4:00 PM ET

WHERE:  Dania Beach Border Patrol Station, 1800 NW 7th AVE Dania Beach, FL 33004

 MIAMI, FL----  On March 6, 2022, a group of 300  Haitian refugees, including women and children were detained by U.S. authorities after arriving ashore in Key Largo. This follows the arrival of two previous large groups traveling from Haiti to the United States this past week – 179 people were detained on Sunday, February 27 , stopped just off of the Bahamian island of Andros, and 123 people were detained on Friday, March 4th.  The arrival of these refugees does not come as a surprise, given the ongoing turmoil in Haiti, amidst widespread insecurity, kidnapping, state sponsored killings, gender based violence and other atrocious acts against activists, journalists, workers  compounded by natural disasters and challenges stemming from the COVID 19 pandemic.  Family Action Network Movement (FANM) joins elected officials, community, faith, and business  leaders to urge the Biden Administration to release all of the refugees including women and children in their own recognizance and not deport them to Haiti where their lives might be in danger. 

Family Action Network Movement (FANM)  is a private not-for-profit organization dedicated to the social, economic, financial and political empowerment of low to moderate-income families.

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