Haiti Report, June 18, 2024
A compilation of news about Haiti from the past week.
Political Transition: Cabinet established
The Presidential Transitional Council (TPC) inaugurated Prime Minister Garry Conille and his 14-member cabinet on Wednesday, June 12, 2024 at Villa d’Accueil in Musseau, just a few meters from the National Palace. The inaugural ceremony marks the beginning of a new chapter for the nation watching with cautious optimism, the people of Haiti watch, hopeful that this new government can steer them toward a brighter future.
During his inauguration speech, Conille laid out a bold agenda, pledged swift action to tackle the problems that have troubled Haiti for years: widespread insecurity, persistent corruption, and the dire living conditions of its population. “I commit before you, fellow citizens, to serve our nation with integrity, transparency, and dedication,” Conille declared, his voice resolute. “My government will work tirelessly to improve the living conditions of every Haitian. Together, we will build a more secure and prosperous future and restore the dignity of our people.” [Article includes short summary on each of the members of the new cabinet: https://haitiantimes.com/2024/06/13/haiti-pm-conille-ministry-cabinet-is-officially-swearing-in/]
Government spokeswoman Kettia Marcellus confirmed the existence of the new Cabinet and its ministers to The Associated Press. Carlos Hercules, the attorney for Prime Minister Garry Conille, was appointed as minister of justice and public security. Conille himself will be interior minister. Jean Marc Berthier Antoine will be defense minister. Dominique Dupuy, a UNESCO ambassador who was once a member of the transitional council before resigning, will be foreign affairs minister. She resigned in part because of political attacks and death threats. The new Cabinet has four women. Critics note that Haiti’s government barely has female representation. One woman with non-voting powers sits on the transitional council, and no women were interviewed for the post of prime minister. “It is an insult to the 6 million women and girls in Haiti whose participation is necessary for the transition’s success,” said Pascale Solages of Nègès Mawon, a Haitian feminist organization.
Others in the new Cabinet include Ketleen Florestal, minister of economy and finance. She takes charge as Haiti has deepening poverty, with inflation reaching nearly 30% in recent years. People continue to lose their jobs due to gang violence, which has forced businesses to close. Florestal previously worked at the World Bank as adviser to the executive director for Haiti. Antoine Augustin will be education minister. Hundreds of schools in Port-au-Prince remain closed because of gang violence.
The work of the transitional council, however, is not done. It is tasked with appointing a provisional electoral commission, a requirement before general elections can take place. The council’s non-renewable mandate expires Feb. 7, 2026, when a new president is scheduled to be sworn in. (https://apnews.com/article/haiti-new-cabinet-gangs-19fadbd9a84eeb79d854c7ed2ba2869c?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share)
Prime Minister Conille will prioritize security and cracking down on corruption
Haiti's Prime Minister Garry Conille said Wednesday that greater security and a crackdown on corruption would be priorities for his newly installed government in the troubled Caribbean nation. "Haiti is confronted by major challenges. Violence and instability paralyze our daily lives," Conille said at an official ceremony. "My government will work without rest to improve the conditions of each and every Haitian," Conille said, adding, "without security, no sustainable progress can be achieved.It is crucial our police and soldiers are ready to face today's security challenges. And we will ensure that they have the tools they need to carry out their mission effectively and professionally."
Conille also said Wednesday that Haiti's state institutions need to be "cleaned up and strengthened. The fight against corruption will be an absolute priority of my government," Conille said, promising regular audits of public resources. The president of the transitional council, Edgard Leblanc Fils, said the government's goal was to "open a path to establishing free, democratic, credible and transparent elections."
Nou Pap Dòmi welcomed the call for Zero Tolerance against corruption that was launched by PM Conille: “We take note of your declaration and consider that it is a commitment that you have made to work against this plague which is eroding our society in general and public institutions in particular. However, we await concrete actions likely to send clear signals about your government's real desire to fight corruption in all its forms. To this end, we submit to you proposals for transparency and anti-corruption actions. We firmly believe that the implementation of these measures will send clear and powerful signals of your government's determination to eradicate corruption.
Patriotic greetings, Nou Pap Dòmi” https://shorturl.at/H7qoi
Haiti has new leadership, and authorities there are vowing to take on the criminal gangs that control much of the country. Prime Minister Garry Conille, who’s been in office for just two weeks, is hoping the arrival of a thousand Kenyan security forces will bolster Haiti’s beleaguered police force. To learn more about the situation on the ground in Haiti, The World’s host Marco Werman spoke with Widlore Mérancourt, editor-in-chief at AyiboPost, who joined from the capital Port-au-Prince. https://theworld.org/stories/2024/06/14/haitis-new-leaders-vow-to-take-on-gangs
Haiti’s Police Chief Replaced
The newly installed government in Haiti announced the replacement of the head of the beleaguered national police force, in the latest effort to respond to gang violence in the crisis-wracked country. Police chief Frantz Elbe will be replaced with former chief Rameau Normil, the prime minister’s office has confirmed. Haiti’s police unions have also repeatedly called for Elbe’s resignation and arrest, pointing to gang raids on at least 30 police stations and substations in recent months as part of a series of attacks that began on February 29 (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/15/hait-to-replace-national-police-chief-amid-gang-violence).
Rameau previously served as police director-general under slain former President Jovenel Moïse, who appointed him in August 2019. Prior to that, he oversaw the detective division. He was ousted as police chief in November 2020 after Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe accused him of being incompetent and not producing results at a time when gangs were seizing control of more territory (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/haitian-leaders-replace-police-chief-as-officer-deaths-rise-amid-gang-violence).
Multinational Security Support Mission
Who is in charge of the Haiti mission? While gang violence rages in Port-au-Prince, the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission designed to tackle the crisis is yet to arrive in Haiti. Announced that it would be deployed in February 2024, then continually postponed, the MSS mission gained momentum in April. US military forces, supported by civilian contractors deployed on site, provided materials for the construction of the operations base, adjacent to the airport. This convinced the Kenyan president, William Ruto, to announce on 23 May the deployment of a contingent of Kenyan police officers during his official visit to Washington to support the mission. However, Kenyan experts, who had earlier arrived in Port-au-Prince to assess conditions, announced that the base was not ready to receive the Kenyan force. Following this setback, President Ruto, while facing a third legal challenge in Nairobi to interdict the deployment of the Kenyan police contingent, said on 25 May that the MSS would be delayed by around three weeks. That deadline has been and gone, and no further details have been provided, nor on the court’s decision, due on 12 June.
The MSS mission, while approved by the Security Council in October 2023, was conceptualized to be designed and financed outside the auspices of the UN. It therefore does not benefit, for example, from the infrastructure, funding mechanisms, logistics or communications support that the UN would normally provide in a traditional peacekeeping operation. As the mission falls outside of a centrally coordinated and financed UN framework, many have been left questioning who is in charge.
While the MSS mission is governed by Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, it is intended to be financed by a trust fund to which interested countries contribute. As of 10 June 2024, the fund had received just US$21 million from the United States, Canada and France – a far cry from the estimated US$600 million cost of the operation, which is scheduled to last one year. As of now, alongside this trust fund, it is mainly President Biden’s administration that is coordinating and financing the deployment.
The MSS mission has a complex mandate, as analyzed in our February 2024 report, and this situation has raised several objections. At the US foreign relations committees, Republican representatives have been blocking the funding requested by the government for several months, demanding more details on the logistics, duration and objectives of the mission. To date, these reservations have gone unanswered. Their concerns about the mission’s rules of engagement and timetable are shared by Haitian and foreign observers. (https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/who-is-in-charge-of-the-haiti-mission/)
U.S. Military Planes Are in Haiti. Haitians Don’t Know Why: Haitians have been told too little about the international security mission set to deploy on their soil. By Pierre Espérance, the executive director of the National Human Rights Defense Network in Haiti. https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/06/13/haiti-gangs-violence-us-military-planes-international-security-mission-kenya/
Gang Attacks Continue
Ten people were killed between June 14-15 in an attack by members of the gang operating in Tibwadòm, near the commune of Gros Morne in the upper Artibonite. Six were killed in Lagon, 3rd communal section of Terre Neuve, and the other four in the locality of Grande Plains near Savane Carrée in the vicinity of Gros Morne. It all began after members of the gang, transported by about ten motorcycles, stormed into the communal section, catching residents by surprise. After spending several hours, they apprehended and abducted Dieubon Desrameaux, a school teacher known as Noula. Leaving Lagon to head towards a locality called "Kafilip," the gang members encountered barricades set up by the local population who had been alerted to their presence in Lagon, preventing them from crossing. Upon returning to Lagon, they attacked local farmers, executing 6 people, including a pastor from the Bethel Church named Pascal Célibon, burned down a house belonging to a former coordinator of the local CASEC, and inflicted the greatest tragedy in the communal section's history. After their rampage in Lagon, the criminals continued on their path, killing four more people in the locality of Grande Plaine and, according to a local leader, setting fire to about ten houses. (https://lenouvelliste.com/en/article/248691/artibonite-over-10-fatalities-and-homes-ablaze-in-tibwadom-gang-assault)
Heavily armed men identified wearing police uniforms broke into a house in Delmas 33 on Sunday night to execute four members of the same family. Neighboring residents reported hearing shots after the hooded individuals entered the victims' house. The victims (3 brothers and a cousin) who hoped to find peace, after fleeing the Delmas 9 district plagued by gang violence to come and live in the Delmas 33 area (https://rezonodwes.com/?p=335322).
Another market relocated: The market at Croix-des-Bossales continues to come under attack by armed groups, so vendors have moved to the street by the old Tabarre sports park. “I was selling at the Croix-des-Bossales market and it’s the same situation for the majority of merchants there. Because of the situation at the bottom of the city since February, we are forced to come here to get by. It is with the support of the Tabarre town hall that we occupy this space,” confided a vegetable seller.
No less than 7 trucks carrying several bags of goods are parked in the space. According to the testimonies of more than one, it is the “merchants from the Foret de Pins” who used to sell downtown (anba lavil) who ended up here. A space is reserved for them by the Tabarre town hall. https://lenouvelliste.com/article/248587/fuyant-les-attaques-des-bandits-au-bas-de-la-ville-des-marchands-de-la-croix-des-bossales-sinstallent-a-tabarre
The United Nations envoy charged with reporting on violations against children in conflicts around the world said on June 13 that first and foremost she is worried about what’s happening to youngsters in war-torn Sudan, followed by Congo and Haiti. In the report, the U.N. chief expressed deep concern at the “indiscriminate armed gang violence and grave violations against children.” It says the U.N. verified 383 grave violations against 307 children in the last six months of 2023 — 160 boys, 117 girls and 30 whose sex wasn’t known — and it lists about a dozen gangs that were responsible for the violations. Virginia Gamba said she is very concerned because grave violations of children’s rights seem to be “endemic, and particularly systemic (is) the rape of girls.” https://apnews.com/article/un-children-conflict-sudan-congo-haiti-myanmar-715de8adbff61b1bfac8d04f7751f2e1?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share
Deportations to Haiti continue despite crisis
See this video from Al Jazeera Plus, featuring Guerline Jozef and the Haitian Bridge Alliance: Haiti is near collapse, and yet the U.S. is deporting Haitian migrants to the unstable nation. Why? https://x.com/ajplus/status/1800489404773077446
Venancio Alcántara, Director of the General Directorate of Migration (DGM) in the Dominican Republic, declared that his institution had repatriated around 300,000 Haitians in an irregular migratory situation since taking office in August 2022. Nearly 500,00 Haitians (including “voluntary departures ") returned to Haiti during the first mandate of Luis Abinader. Furthermore, the DGM announced that 5 new "administrative detention centers" were being built in the country (Santiago, Dajabón, Elías Piña, Jimaní and Benerito, in Higüey) to receive illegal migrants for processing before their repatriation to their country of origin. https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-42539-icihaiti-dominican-rep-more-than-300-000-haitians-repatriated-to-haiti.html
President Joe Biden’s recent decision to impose unprecedented restrictions on the right to seek asylum in the United States casts doubt on his willingness to renew much needed temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians in the US, which is due to expire on August 4. Despite the current TPS designation for Haitians, which grants people the right to temporarily live in the US because their home country is deemed too unsafe to return to, the Biden administration has renewed deportation flights to Haiti after nearly all commercial flights had stopped landing in the country over safety concerns. Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince has warned US citizens to leave there “as soon as possible.”
While the US has provided TPS for Haitians since 2010, Haiti’s human rights crisis has only grown worse since. Human Rights Watch encourages Biden to not only renew TPS but also expand the “CHNV Parole Program” introduced for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, which provides a safe and orderly path to safety for those who qualify. He should also direct border officials to stop putting arriving Haitians in expedited removal procedures. Finally, all deportation flights to Haiti should immediately be suspended and the US Coast Guard should refrain from intercepting seaworthy boats and summarily returning people to danger. (https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/06/12/safety-haiti-remains-long-way)
Human Rights and Rule of Law Update from IJDH
IJDH’s latest Update on Human Rights and Rule of Law in Haiti is now available and covers key stories and developments relevant to human rights in Haiti from December 2023 through May 2024. In this moment of crisis and transition, we cover the nature of Haiti's catastrophic human rights situation and offer an analysis of the underlying structural drivers, which include widespread government corruption, collusion with armed groups, and impunity; long-term foreign extraction and interference; and persistent international support for the political actors ultimately responsible. The emerging transitional government can only live up to its promise of a participatory, democratic transition if women play an empowered role and if the international community finally renounces its policies of harmful interference and begins acting in solidarity with Haitian sovereignty. (https://www.ijdh.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Human-Rights-and-the-Rule-of-Law-in-Haiti-Key-Recent-Developments-December-2023-through-May-2024.pdf)
Extortion on all cash transfers in gang controlled area
In Bon Repos, there has been no police or government presence since the attach on the sub-police station there and now extortion of the population by armed groups is systematic: The inhabitants of Bon Repos, already vulnerable, are forced to submit to the new rules imposed by the bandits to ensure their survival. “In the rare transfer houses that still operate today, on every 100 US dollars received, the beneficiary must pay a thousand gourdes to the fund for the area's chiefs,” said beneficiaries interviewed by the newspaper on the weekend. of June 8, 2024. This new imposition, perceived as a forced tax, has become an obligation for those who still wish to benefit from this essential financial service. (https://lenouvelliste.com/article/248583/bon-repos-subir-la-loi-des-gangs-pour-survivre)
Haiti Joins UNESCO Committee
Haiti elected to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage at UNESCO: The Permanent Delegation of Haiti to UNESCO announces the unanimous election of Haiti to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Another first for the country within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
This historic election took place during the tenth session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, held in Paris on June 11, 2024, underlines the Haitian delegation to UNESCO in a communicated. https://lenouvelliste.com/article/248609/haiti-elue-au-comite-intergouvernemental-pour-la-sauvegarde-du-patrimoine-culturel-immateriel-a-lunesco
Haiti prepares for hurricane season
On June 13, Prime Minister Garry Conille, as Minister of the Interior and Territorial Communities, took part in a working session with members of the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT) around preparations for the season of hurricanes 2024, which promises to be higher than normal.Among the topics covered, emphasis was placed on :
• Updating evacuation plans and emergency accommodation centers • Strengthening vulnerable infrastructure to withstand bad weather
• Raising awareness and informing the population on the behaviors to adopt in the event of a cyclone alert
• Coordination with humanitarian organizations for a rapid and effective response. https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-42549-icihaiti-environment-important-meeting-of-the-cpt-on-the-response-to-the-hurricane-season.html