Haiti Report, August 21, 2024
A compilation of news about Haiti from the past week.
US Imposes Sanctions on former President Michel Martelly
The United States has imposed sanctions on Michel Martelly, Haiti’s former president, “for his role in the global illicit drug trade,” the State Department said Tuesday. Martelly served as president of Haiti from 2011-16 and has maintained a prominent profile in the country ever since. In a statement, State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said that Martelly “abused his influence to facilitate drug trafficking and has sponsored multiple Haiti-based gangs.” “Narcotics trafficking and gang-related violence have contributed to political instability and insecurity in Haiti, which has created an untenable living situation for the Haitian people,” the statement said. ”It is unacceptable for Haitian political and economic elites to plunder Haiti’s future,” Patel added. “Today’s action demonstrates the United States’ unwavering resolve to promote accountability for all individuals whose activities contribute to gang violence and destabilize the political environment in Haiti, regardless of their rank or stature.” https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article291211995.html#storylink=cpy
During his visit to the northern region of Haiti on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, U.S. Ambassador Dennis Hankins took the opportunity to discuss the recent sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department against former Haitian President Michel Martelly. Ambassador Hankins explained that the United States, as a nation governed by the rule of law, takes action based on solid information. "We took our time in imposing sanctions on Michel Martelly because we wanted to ensure that all the evidence was gathered and that the decision was justified," Hankins stated. According to him, the former Haitian president is believed to have facilitated drug trafficking, a crime that, under U.S. law, warrants severe sanctions.
The ambassador emphasized the significance of this decision within the broader context of combating drug trafficking and gang financing in Haiti. "For a long time, we have worked closely with various Haitian governments to control drug trafficking, as it directly impacts gang financing. We now have enough information to take action," the ambassador affirmed. https://lenouvelliste.com/en/article/249803/us-ambassador-to-haiti-justifies-the-sanctions-imposed-on-former-president-martelly
Police use tear gas on peaceful protestors calling for security
Police in Haiti’s capital tear-gassed hundreds of peaceful protesters Monday as they called on law enforcement to help them stop the gangs that have been violently seizing control of their neighborhoods. Protesters burned tires to show their anger over the police action and express their frustration as recent moves to quell rampant gang violence in Port-au-Prince have largely been unsuccessful. Protesters like 24-year-old phone repairman Marclin Jean-Pierre said he took to the streets “to express my anger towards the government, who isn’t listening.”
“We’re vulnerable to the bullets being fired day and night. Everyone is scared to walk outside because we’ll be the next victims,” he said. “We’re asking them for help and they’re not coming.” Jean-Pierre lives in the hillside neighborhood of Solino, which since last year has become a battleground for gangs seeking to take over the area. Local media reported that the attacks were carried out by a coalition of gangs led by Kempes Sanon, a convicted kidnapper who escaped from prison in 2021, and notorious gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, also known as “Barbecue”. In Solino, the gangs sought to seize control of a strategic route, including the road leading to the capital’s international airport. Families in the area have been left terrorized and with few options left.
Residents of the Solino neighborhood protested in hopes that their plight would be heard by officials and police would be sent to take on the gangs. Instead, marchers were blocked with barricades and sprayed with tear gas. https://apnews.com/article/haiti-protests-gangs-police-violence-solino-9291e7d49dd0b914a729a0b7a5090c39
Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) remains underfunded and underwhelming
The U.S.-backed and Kenyan-led international police force that deployed to Haiti almost two months ago to defeat a powerful coalition of armed gangs has struggled to achieve its mission goals and restore order to the Caribbean nation. The 400 police troops sent in have yet to advance through the capital of Port-au-Prince to clear out armed gangs, and the only two major clashes so far have both resulted in setbacks. The Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission remains underfunded, lacking the resources and necessary forces to bring Haiti back to normalcy, which has put pressure on the international community, along with the operation’s main sponsor, the U.S., to increase financial support.
“This is not moving at the speed that I think everyone expected,” said Georges Fauriol, a senior adviser with the Latin America program at the U.S. Institute of Peace. “The MSS itself is sort of a three-legged vehicle that is missing a wheel, and everyone’s trying to figure out whether to rebuild the whole vehicle, or whether to stop and actually add another wheel.” U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), the military headquarters overseeing South America and the encompassing region, said they were delivering armored and unarmored vehicles, protective gear, riot-control gear and other supplies for MSS, the first of which arrived last month. A spokesperson added that they would soon deliver Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles as well and stressed the MSS was a “long-term campaign” that requires sustained international support.
https://thehill.com/policy/international/4831943-us-mission-haiti-gang-violence/
Fighting between PNH, MSS and armed groups in Ganthier feeds doubt about strategy to restore security
In the predawn hours on a Sunday in late July, members of one of Haiti’s largest armed gangs attacked the town of Ganthier, about 25 miles east of the capital and on a road that the authorities say is used to smuggle weapons. When police reinforcements arrived in armored vehicles hours later, officers found the streets deserted, the gang members having left after destroying Ganthier’s police station and torturing and killing several residents, according to the town’s mayor and the police. “The whole town of Ganthier is emptied; there is no one left,” the mayor, Jean Vilonor Victor, told The New York Times.
The international effort to reinforce the Haitian police and a transitional government has alleviated conditions in some sections of Port-au-Prince, experts say, but gang members have refocused their attacks on the outskirts, marauding towns that had escaped their campaign of killings, kidnappings and rape. The attack on Ganthier, a town of 60,000 people on a major highway linking the capital to the border with the Dominican Republic, is emblematic of the persistent security problem Haiti’s government faces as it tries to rebuild the shattered country, which has seen three years of violence, mass migration and economic ruin. The first wave of Kenyan police officers to deploy in Haiti as part of the multinational force lacks the numbers or the armaments to dismantle the powerful gangs, experts said.
Nixon Boumba, a Haitian human rights advocate, said: “Corruption and security go hand in hand. For most of us, the more things change, the more things remain the same.” The arrival of 400 Kenyan police officers this summer was meant to reinforce the beleaguered Haitian police force, which has been fighting a coordinated gang offensive since late February. For now, the Kenyans are not straying very far from their base, built by U.S. contractors, at Port-au-Prince’s international airport, which reopened to commercial flights in May after being closed for more than two months because of gang violence outside the airfield. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/11/world/americas/haiti-gangs-kenya-police.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EU4.Fp7-.wxuScsDx-iEK&smid=url-share
The head of the Kenyan support mission in Haiti is refuting allegations that his forces had to be rescued by Haitian police after armed gangs fired on them during a recent joint operation to protect a city 28 miles east of Port-au-Prince from being overtaken. Godfrey Otunge, the force commander of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission, told the Miami Herald that while his officers were fired upon by armed gangs during the operation with the Haiti National Police last month in rural Ganthier near Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republican, the combined forces acted together to return fire.
On Monday Frantz Duval, the editor in chief of the country’s oldest daily newspaper, Le Nouvelliste, cited the failed operation in Ganthier as an example of how promises by both the United States and Canada to help Haiti restore security have fallen short. Little has changed in Haiti, Duval said, since Feb. 29, when the gangs united and launched an offensive to bring down the government. Nor has much changed, Duval added, since the first contingent of 400 Kenyan police officers began arriving in Haiti on June 25. To drive home the point, Duval highlighted the operation in Ganthier, which came under fresh attacks on July 21 from the powerful 400 Mawozo gang.
In the three weeks since Ganthier has been under gang control, the paper’s journalists have been digging into the incident to understand what went wrong. The reporters found that public frustrations over the Kenya mission are shared by the country’s transitional government. Under pressure from panicked residents of Ganthier and neighboring Fond-Parisien to help, Haitian officials have been increasingly critical of the Kenya security mission, citing a lack of equipment, from helicopters to armored vehicles, to the lack of personnel. In the weeks since the mission’s deployment began, armed gangs have not only taken control of Ganthier but are also close to taking over the cities of Fond-Parisien, Arcahaie and Gressier in the areas around the capital. After the Kenya mission and Haitian police failed to secure Ganthier, residents told the Miami Herald the Kenyan forces did not fire back at the gangs and ultimately left Ganthier. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article290995965.html#storylink=cpy
Transitional Presidential Council renews State of Emergency for another month
The state of emergency, established on July 17, has been renewed for another month. A decree was issued by the Council of Ministers on August 12, according to a statement from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) released on August 19. The measure was enacted "to facilitate the restoration of public order, social peace, and security." The state of emergency affects the Artibonite and West Departments, as it did in July, but also extends to the Central Department, the Nippes, and the districts of Plaisance and Limbé. According to the decree reviewed by Le Nouvelliste, the government is authorized to take the following actions to restore normalcy: implement measures outlined in the intervention plan aimed at reestablishing public order, social peace, and security in the specified departments and districts; expedite fund disbursement procedures; make necessary expenditures; reallocate budget credits to address the situation, except for salaries, allowances, and pensions; enter into contracts deemed necessary according to expedited procedures provided by public procurement regulations; grant any required authorizations or exemptions for activities or actions necessary under the circumstances, as detailed in paragraphs 1 through 6 of Article 2.
"Movement by any means is prohibited across the specified departments and districts during the period and times indicated in the curfew announcement. The provisions of Article 5 do not apply to on-duty public force agents, firefighters, paramedics, health personnel, or duly identified journalists," stipulate Articles 5 and 6 of the decree. The state of emergency has been extended despite its failure to curb the activities of criminal gangs. Even under the state of emergency and despite the presence of the Multinational Security Mission (MSSM) in Haiti, two more communes, Gressier and Ganthier, have joined the long list of territories controlled by criminals. Violent incidents continue in the West and Artibonite Departments. On July 30, Rameau Normil reported that during the initial weeks of the state of emergency, 104 individuals were killed in shootouts, 65 others were arrested, and authorities confiscated 7 vehicles, 19 firearms, 9.24 kilograms of cocaine, and 6.089 kilograms of marijuana. https://lenouvelliste.com/en/article/249770/security-state-of-emergency-extended-after-unsuccessful-initial-month
11 Inmates killed after prison break in Saint Marc
Inmates broke out of a prison in the coastal town of Saint-Marc in central Haiti on Friday, police said, as authorities in the country struggle to quell widespread gang violence. Eleven suspected escaped inmates were killed in shootouts with police and one was arrested, said Michel Ange Louis Jeune, spokesman for Haiti’s National Police. He did not provide further details, including how many inmates escaped.
The newspaper Le Nouvelliste said officers at the prison went on strike to demand better treatment, and it quoted government commissioner Vension François as saying he feared a “mutiny,” suggesting guards may have been complicit in the prison break. But the report did not elaborate. Local officials could not be immediately reached. In a brief statement, police asked for help from the public in identifying escaped inmates. Gunfire was heard near the prison, and videos posted on social media showed smoke and fire billowing from it. It wasn’t immediately clear how many inmates the prison held. It is the third prison break this year in Haiti. In March, gangs freed thousands of inmates after storming the country’s two biggest prisons in the capital of Port-au-Prince as part of coordinated attacks that led to the eventual resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
CARICOM Eminent Persons Group issues statement after visit to Haiti, August 11-16
In response to an invitation from the President of the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) and calls from stakeholders, the CARICOM Eminent Persons Group (EPG) made an in-person visit to Haiti on 11-16 August 2024 as a follow-up to previous virtual meetings with the Presidential Council, the Prime Minister and the nominating sector leaders. The EPG was encouraged that the TPC appeared to be making some effort to overcome the delays in putting in place a number of the key institutions and entities required under the April 3 Accord between the stakeholders, such as the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), the Government Action Oversight Organ (OCAG), the National Security Council, and the National Conference. The issue of the estrangement between some sectors and their Council representatives and the resulting friction was raised.
The EPG also discussed the unease among the stakeholders resulting from the non-publication of the April 3 Accord, the absence of the proposed critical institutions, Council inaction, and the negative impact on the Council of its inaction on the allegations of corruption against three of its members. A major concern articulated by both governance institutions was the difficulties experienced by the Haitian police and the Kenyan force in addressing insecurity. This remains the foremost expectation of the Haitian people. The common concern articulated was that the Kenyan force was both under-staffed and under-equipped and as a result lacked the capacity to hold reclaimed territory. The need for the provision of adequate funding for the MSSM for an early resolution of these equipment and personnel shortfalls was emphasized -- necessities also required by the Haitian police.
For his part, the Prime Minister was acutely aware that the window of opportunity would not last long and that the people of the country expected delivery. He made it clear that the lack of resources and the breakdown of State institutions were impediments, but that efforts were underway to address the critical socio-economic and humanitarian issues that beleaguered the population. The Prime Minister emphasized that, unless the issue of insecurity is resolved, progress in other critical theaters of government action would very likely be compromised.
In the meetings with the wide scope of civil society representatives and the political parties not represented in the TPC and government, there was the common view that what was needed was a reset and a reconfiguration of the TPC. There was unanimity with regard to the concerns and issues raised - the inability of the State to improve security ; disappointment over the lack of impact of the presence of the Kenyan forces ; the erosion of public confidence in the TPC, exacerbated by the corruption scandal and strident demands for the three Councillors to be withdrawn ; increasing concern that because of delays, perceived as inaction, the transition process would not meet its deadline of February 2026 for the seating of an elected president. Delays in installing the critical institutions, the need for greater effectiveness in attaining the major objectives in the allotted time, and the corrosive impact of the allegations of corruption have contributed to the fragility of the transition process. The corruption allegations could not have come at a worse time, and will require speedy resolution in order to preserve the integrity of the institution and public confidence in the transition process. In this regard, the enquiry of the anti- corruption investigative agency will be of critical importance. There needs to be a return to the ethos of the agreement in Jamaica of March 11, 2024, which was built on inclusiveness, consensus and accountability. (CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana - Tuesday, 20 August 2024)
Provisional Electoral Council still not established
The Protestant sector takes the representation on the Provisional Electoral Council very seriously. Tensions have escalated to the point where insults and the rejection of fraternal love are used to impose their choice on the CEP. While the Protestant Federation has nominated Peterson Pierre-Louis to the electoral body, the Protestant organizations CONASPEH, FEPAH, and COPAH have backed Thomslay Budlaire Laguerre, even though only one representative was supposed to be sent from this sector.
Over a month after initiating the formation of the Electoral Council, the Presidential Council remains entangled in the process. With the exception of the Episcopal Conference and the press sector, all other sectors are divided on the choice of their representative. https://lenouvelliste.com/en/article/249766/protestant-sector-divided-over-choice-of-their-cep-representative
Revised National Budget for 2023-2024
The General Directorate of Budget (DGB) outlined the primary objectives to be achieved through the revised budget for 2023-2024, which was approved by the Council of Ministers last week. These objectives include strengthening security, supporting vulnerable populations—particularly women and children—through social programs, creating jobs, initiating measures to revive economic activities, promoting good governance, combating corruption, and launching activities related to establishing the electoral process. The total amount for the revised budget is 254.8 billion gourdes, representing a 20.5% reduction from the initial allocation of 320.5 billion gourdes.
While the government plans to introduce a new budget at the start of the next fiscal year (2024-2025), the revised budget is set to be implemented by September 30, 2024. During this period, the government aims to execute a series of rapid-impact actions under the Multisectoral Emergency Program for the Stabilization and Reintegration of Vulnerable Groups (PUMARSGV). "The implementation of these actions ensures continuity in the support plan for internally displaced persons," the statement reads. https://lenouvelliste.com/en/article/249763/revised-budget-monetary-transfers-job-creation-and-relocation-of-internally-displaced-people
Bank bribery scandal rocking Haiti threatens U.S.-backed transition to elections
Three members of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council — tasked with lifting the country out of its deepening crisis and prepare for elections — are accused of meeting with the director of one of the country’s state-owned commercial banks and allegedly asked him to pay 100 million Haitian gourdes, about $758,000, if he wanted to keep his job. That was the version of events Pierre-Louis gave investigators last week as he appeared alongside his lawyer before the country’s Anti-Corruption Unit. Although there had been whispers about council members asking heads of government agencies for kickbacks to keep their jobs, the accusations became public last month when a letter Pierre-Louis wrote to Prime Minister Garry Conille on July 24 detailing the accusations and asking for beefed-up security for him and his family — was leaked. On Thursday, Conille sent Pierre-Louis a letter informing him he was out of a job and that a commission will take charge of the bank until a new board of directors is named.
The scandal’s ripple effects could have serious repercussions for the U.S.-backed transition efforts, aimed at stabilizing Haiti to prepare for the first presidential and parliamentary elections in nine years. The bribery accusations also risk eroding the council’s already fragile leadership, and could fracture the tense working relationship between the council and the prime minister. “Politically speaking, there is a real danger here,” said Thomas Lalime, a Haiti economist and longtime observer of the country’s politics. Two of the accused, Augustin and Gilles, are poised to head the council as rotating presidents before the end of the its mandate in February 2026, when Haiti is supposed to swear in a new president and Parliament, effectively ending the political transition. Augustin is scheduled to take the reins from current President Edgard Leblanc Fils in October, followed by Gilles in 2025. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article290927264.html#storylink=cpy
Two members of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council are calling for an internal investigation on a bank bribery scandal currently engulfing the ruling entity and threatening U.S.-backed efforts to lead the troubled country to elections next year. Frinel Joseph and Régine Abraham, the two non-voting observers on the nine-member panel tasked with bringing political stability to Haiti, are proposing that the embattled council name a commission of inquiry to investigate allegations that three of its members sought a hefty kickback from the head of one of the country’s leading banks to keep his job. They also propose that the council adopt a code of ethics for members. They made the proposition in a letter, dated on Monday, to the council that was obtained by the Miami Herald. “The allegations in question are likely to undermine the good reputation” of the council, the letter states “and risk altering the credibility of its leaders.” https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article291082380.html#storylink=cpy
Haitian feminist and human rights leaders call for inclusion of women for an effective transition
Haitian feminist and human rights leaders are calling out Haiti’s transitional government for excluding women and their priorities, even as it purports to restore a rights-based democratic government. For example, Haiti’s nine-member Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) has only one woman, and she has no vote as one of the TPC’s two observers. No women were interviewed for the post of interim prime minister. The exclusion of women from decision-making in Haiti’s politics has become a pattern. This not only violates Haiti’s constitutional requirement for gender equality in the nation’s public affairs but also threatens the effectiveness of Haiti’s transition as a whole. Haiti’s international partners have remained shockingly silent.
Haitian advocates are fighting back with a Policy Framework for an Effective and Equitable Transition that has been endorsed by over 135 organizations from around the world. The Framework sets out the binding laws and best practices necessitating women’s inclusion in Haiti’s transition, emphasizing that to be meaningful, inclusion must be robust, resourced, and reflective of the priorities of Haiti’s women’s movement. It proposes recommendations that will serve as a foundation for advancing the rights of Haitian women and safeguarding Haiti’s transition. It must be urgently adopted if Haiti is to succeed in ending its crisis. https://haitiantimes.com/2024/08/07/where-are-the-women/
MSF makes urgent call to action to provide water and sanitation to internally displaced people
As violence and insecurity forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in Port-au-Prince in recent months, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) increased efforts to provide water, sanitation, and hygiene services (WASH) to people in makeshift camps across the city. Since fighting between armed groups and the government surged in February 2024, many people have fled their homes, seeking refuge in overcrowded shelters.
Over 578,000 people are now displaced in Haiti, with more than 112,000 living in 96 informal sites in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area such as schools, churches or sports fields. Many of these sites lack water supplies and sanitation facilities, such as latrines, leading to difficult and dangerous living conditions and increasing the risk of waterborne diseases. Through an emergency response, MSF provided more than 4.5 million litres of treated water in 15 sites, provided training to site managers on water chlorination and hygiene, built or renovated nine latrines and nine emergency showers and distributed hygiene kits. In areas with inadequate access to treated water and latrines, MSF mobile clinics have treated hundreds of people for waterborne diseases including acute watery diarrhea and scabies, a skin condition linked to hygiene. Cholera, which has surged several times in Port-au-Prince since 2022, remains a significant threat in these conditions.
However, the needs for treated water and sanitation in displacement sites and violence-affected neighborhoods are far beyond what MSF can provide. Efforts are underway to identify actors that can continue to provide water in the 15 sites served by MSF beyond Aug. 31, when MSF’s water and sanitation services in these areas are planned to end. MSF calls for more humanitarian aid to address the dire needs of the displaced population, especially in water, sanitation and hygiene services such as water trucking, latrine and shower rehabilitation, hygiene kits distribution and health and hygiene promotion. MSF also urges stakeholders to allocate necessary resources to ensure the safety and dignity of displaced individuals. https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/haiti-people-fleeing-violence-in-capital-urgently-need-water-and-sanitation/
Haitian Dignitaries choose not to travel to DR President’s swearing in ceremony
The president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Rodolfo Abinader, who has implemented tough migration policies toward neighboring Haiti and led his nation’s transformation into an economic and tourism powerhouse, will be sworn in for a second term on Friday in Santo Domingo. Missing, however, will be high-level representation from the country next door, Haiti. Both Prime Minister Garry Conille and Edgard Leblanc Fils, head of the Transitional Presidential Council, have declined the invitation to fly into the Dominican Republic for the swearing in.
Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez, in a series of social media postings on Tuesday, said while the airspace remains closed to commercial flights “it’s not closed to official, humanitarian and similar flights. There is no impediment to Haitian authorities attending the inauguration of President Abinader.” Haitians note, however, that Air Caraibes, a commercial airline, flies from Port-au-Prince to Paris every Monday with a stopover in Santo Domingo to drop off and pick up tourists visiting the country’s resorts. Both Conille and Leblanc were invited to attend the swearing in. Instead they opted to have Haiti represented by a low-level diplomat from the Haitian embassy in Santo Domingo, a sign of their protest over current relations. Haitian authorities discussed whether to attend the inauguration, but could not conceive doing so when those who have Dominican visas or legal authorization to travel to the Spanish-speaking country cannot do so from Haiti. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article291044100.html#storylink=cpy
Children victims of violence at alarming rate
At least five Haitian children have been killed or injured a week so far in 2024, charity Save the Children said on Tuesday, urging the United Nations and security forces to do more to protect kids from crossfire and gang violence. Citing U.N. data, Save the Children said at least 131 children were killed or injured in the first six months of 2024, often due to stray bullets or reprisals for supporting rival gangs or police, and said the true numbers were likely much higher. "Behind these horrifying numbers are real children who have been severely harmed or killed," the charity's Haiti director Chantal Sylvie Imbeault said.
"Entire neighborhoods have been burned, kidnappings and sexual assaults are rampant, and children are being directly targeted or caught in the crossfire." Schools are set to reopen on Oct. 1, but many in the capital have been turned into makeshift refugee camps as the number of people internally displaced by the conflict nears 600,000. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/haitis-child-death-toll-mounts-security-mission-lags-2024-08-13/
People of Carrefour-Feuilles mourn loss of neighborhood one year after being forced to flee
On Wednesday, August 14, under a scorching sun, dozens of residents from Carrefour-Feuilles, as well as from Canapé-Vert and Solino, took to the streets of Port-au-Prince to demand the restoration of security and better equipment for law enforcement. Armed with placards displaying their demands, these residents responded to the call of the coalition "du sang9," a group composed of inhabitants from these areas. The choice of this date was no coincidence. Exactly one year earlier, the Carrefour-Feuilles neighborhood, located on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, was overrun by gang members from Grand-Ravine, who forced the civilian population to flee. On November 10, 2022 armed individuals from the gang led by the notorious Ti Lapli launched an attack on the localities of Decayette, Valentin, Savann Pistach, Ti Cajou, and others. In the chaos, the Savane-Pistache sub-police station was also attacked. Trapped, residents had no choice but to flee to escape the terror inflicted by the gang members.
During this attack, the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH) recorded three homicides, two cases of child rape, the vandalism of 23 houses, and the burning of 61 other homes and 64 vehicles.
In July 2023, the gang returned. The local population, along with neighborhood police, fiercely resisted with the help of newly formed brigades. Despite repeated calls for help to the Haitian National Police (PNH), little to no assistance was provided. Between August 13 and 14, 2023, the gang penetrated Carrefour-Feuilles, forcing the population to retreat. Ti Lapli's gang looted, killed, and set fires with impunity. Many residents fled to the provinces or sought refuge in public spaces, where they live without comfort or basic sanitation. A year after the gang invasion, some displaced residents are still living in schools or public offices serving as shelters, while others have returned home.
"One year later, I've returned to Carrefour-Feuilles three or four times. What I've seen is that part of the neighborhood is inhabited, but another part remains deserted because gang members are still present. Some areas are impassable, traffic is difficult, and there's no electricity," a former resident of the area told Le Nouvelliste. https://lenouvelliste.com/en/article/249794/a-year-after-the-bandit-invasion-the-situation-in-carrefour-feuilles
Human Rights organization RNDDH issues report on violence in Gressier and Carrefour
The new report from the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH) chronicles murders, rapes, looting and arson in Gressier and Carrefour under the indifferent gaze of the new state authorities. For several months, the acts of violence recorded in the communes of Carrefour and Gressier have attracted the attention of the Haitian population. This situation, latent since 2021 and worsened in 2023 and 2024, has enormous consequences for the lives of people living in the aforementioned communes in particular, and in the departments of the great south, in general.
Alerts and calls for help have been launched by various civil society organizations as well as by the media. However, the interventions of the State with a view to regaining control of Carrefour and Gressier remain insignificant compared to the scale of the situation of terror imposed by the armed bandits. RNDDH, which, as part of its monitoring program, has observed and continues to observe the escalation of violence in these two (2) municipalities, makes it its duty to share with those interested in the issue, the data collected on the ground, relating to this situation. See the full report: https://mcusercontent.com/9522ccb17971e097d3ff160b5/files/6ad586f1-3611-3407-4775-e86613d0f469/6_Rap_Carrefour_Gressier_15Aout2024.FR.pdf
12 Cases of Diphtheria reported in Central Plateau
Twelve cases of diphtheria have been reported this week in Boucan-Carré, in the Central Department, revealed Wesler Lambert, Executive Director of Zanmi Lasante, during a broadcast on Magik9 on Monday, August 19, 2024. According to Mr. Lambert, the number of cases is increasing, and the Ministry of Public Health and Population has already been notified. "For several years, there have been challenges related to vaccination in Haiti, especially over the past three years, with logistical issues making it difficult to supply health centers with diphtheria vaccines. Vaccination against this disease remains a major problem," Wesler Lambert explained, noting that the outbreak in Boucan-Carré is not surprising given the area's accessibility challenges, as it lacks community health workers. Mr. Lambert stated that Zanmi Lasante and MSPP teams are preparing to intervene in the area to address this emergency. "Regarding serums, when MSPP is unable to supply us, we turn to other partners to help children affected by diphtheria," he said.
In addition to the alert about the diphtheria outbreak and the increasing number of cases in the Central Plateau, Mr. Lambert also discussed the impact of gang violence on the organization's ability to provide services. "We are very affected," admitted the Executive Director of Zanmi Lasante. Due to gang violence, Mr. Lambert pointed out an increased number of patients at the Mirebalais University Hospital (HUM), as well as health facilities in Cange, Saint-Marc, and Hinche. These facilities continue to operate normally, providing necessary care for people living with HIV, those with tuberculosis, and even cholera patients. Zanmi Lasante operates in 16 public health institutions in lower Artibonite and the Central Plateau. According to Wesler Lambert, HUM hosts over 500 patients daily, with 25% of them previously coming from Port-au-Prince before the escalation of gang violence and the closure of some hospital facilities. https://lenouvelliste.com/en/article/249769/12-cases-of-diphtheria-reported-in-central-plateau-mspp-on-alert
Migrant landings and marijuana seizure in Turks and Caicos
A string of migrant landings over the past four days in the sun-swept Turks and Caicos Islands is bringing more than just undocumented Haitians to the British Overseas Territory less than 500 miles from Miami. Police in the Turks and Caicos say that along with detaining 217 undocumented migrants in five separate landings since Friday, they’ve also seized more than $2 million in marijuana. The marijuana was discovered following two separate interceptions of undocumented migrants coming from the northern coast of Haiti on Friday and Saturday. Haiti’s southern coast, because of its proximity to Jamaica, is a popular route in which guns are traded for marijuana and is known as “the guns for ganja” network. But it’s highly unusual for cannabis to be coming out of the northern coast, raising questions about its origin and transportation. Turks and Caicos police say they are investigating both the seizures and the landings. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article291178685.html#storylink=cpy
Haitians in Mexico Dream of Future in Boston
As Haitian migrants like Cesaire, stranded in Mexican cities across the border from Texas, anxiously await their turn to enter the United States, one hoped-for destination comes up, again and again: Boston. In interviews in Reynosa and other nearby cities last week, dozens of Haitians told similar stories. They’d trekked thousands of miles through jungles, deserts, mountains, and cities. As soon as they could, they registered for an appointment with US Customs and Border Protection through a phone app called CBP One. They were biding their time in Mexican shelters, waiting for the app to give them a date when they could present themselves at a port of entry and seek asylum, a form of legal protection that is now severely restricted for people who cross the border without authorization.
Many had heard from relatives and friends that Massachusetts was a place of opportunity and warm reception. Though the native language of Haiti is Haitian Creole, the Globe interviewed migrants in Spanish and French, which many had learned in school or by living in other countries. “I have friends in Boston, and they have told me there is a lot of support in Boston,” said Wendell Alcé, a Haitian father staying at a migrant shelter in the Mexican border city of Matamoros, with his wife and 8-year-old daughter Wenderly. “There is work there, too.”
They had not heard Governor Maura Healey’s plea that they should go somewhere else because Massachusetts, while sympathetic, is full. Healey recently sent a delegation to the southern border, and in almost daily pronouncements, her administration has tried to circulate the warning that the state’s shelter system is at capacity. Shut out of shelters in Boston and surrounding towns, some newly arrived families have had to sleep on the streets and at Logan Airport. Haitians made up nearly three-quarters of recent migrant arrivals in Massachusetts in the last federal fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, 2023, according to data from the Office for Refugees and Immigrants. Boston-area providers say that the majority of new arrivals currently living in the state’s shelter system are Haitian. Haitian migration to Boston goes back decades, said Guerline Jozef, the executive director and cofounder of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. Along with Florida and New York, Greater Boston — which as of 2021 was home to more than 50,000 Haitian-born residents according to a recent Boston Indicators report — has one of the largest such communities in the country, Jozef said. “It is natural for people to go to Boston because that is where they have relatives and family,” she said. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/08/15/metro/migrants-border-boston/
Transforming Pont Neuf Market in Cap-Haitien
One of the largest public markets in the northern Haitian city of Cap-Haïtien, Pont Neuf plays a vital role in the local economy. However, management challenges and environmental concerns – notably a lack of solid waste management – are limiting the market’s ability to drive local economic growth and provide sustainable livelihoods for vendors. This directly impacts women, who make up the majority of its traders. The LAVIL programme, implemented by Cities Alliance with funding from USAID, is supporting the city of Cap-Haïtien to improve the management of the market and stimulate sustainable local development. The city is working with partners including market vendors, community organisations, the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS), Fondazione AVSI, Habitat for Humanity (HFH), and the Institut de Formation et de Services (IFOS). https://www.citiesalliance.org/newsroom/news/results/haiti-transforming-pont-neuf-market-boost-local-economy
New Haitian passport production temporarily suspended
The Directorate of Immigration and Emigration (DIE) announces that from Monday August 19, 2024, it will stop the production of new Haitian passports. This decision was made due to the large number of passport files which remain blocked in the system (at control level). This decision is made in order to allow the service to work better, the DIE can concentrate its forces and resources, on the 10,154 passports which are still inside the system and which have never been delivered. This is a provision which is also part of the vision of the DIE, which hopes that each passport is properly produced and established within a short time. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-43001-haiti-flash-production-of-new-passport-temporarily-suspended.html
Saving Mangroves to Improve Lives
Conservationists in Haiti are helping communities and restoring mangroves in order to help climate adaption and increase biodiversity. According to a 2020 study, between 2000 and 2016, human activity was the primary driver of mangrove area loss, with urbanization being a key factor. In Haiti, the total mangrove area decreased from 16,462 hectares in 1996 to 14,759 hectares in 2016. Guy Cezil, an engineer-agronomist and a member of a local organization called the Marbial’s Sons and Friends Association (AFAM in French) has been working at Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) on an ecosystem-based adaptation project in the Nippes department in the south of Haiti. Cezil says that there are two projects being implemented in the southern peninsula of Haiti to protect coastal and marine biodiversity by strengthening the resilience of ecosystems, particularly mangroves.
"Ecosystem-based adaptation implies the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of a comprehensive adaptation strategy to help people adapt to the negative effects of climate change," he says, adding that 385 community members were trained in natural resource management and 45 fishers were trained in sustainable fishing techniques. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewwight/2024/08/18/how-can-saving-mangroves-help-improve-lives-in-haiti/
ANALYSIS
Mwen se chanjman an - I am the Change, by Johnny Celestin
This piece attempts to answer the question “What can I do?” by proposing three key actions: establishing a formal diaspora task force, leveraging existing financial mechanisms to raise funds to support the security forces, and creating impactful civil society organizations to increase food security while promoting economic development. However, before these ideas can be implemented, the government must be a partner and address the crucial prerequisites of transparency and accountability. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mw-se-chanjman-i-am-change-johnny-celestin-6nmse/