Haiti Report, September 9, 2024
A compilation of news about Haiti from the past week.
Draft Resolution to Replace Security Support Mission with UN Peacekeeping
The United States and Ecuador circulated a draft resolution on September 6, asking the United Nations to begin planning for a U.N. peacekeeping operation to replace the Kenya-led mission now in the Caribbean nation helping police to quell gang violence. The proposed Security Council resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, says U.N. peacekeepers are needed "in order to sustain the gains" made by the U.N.-backed multinational mission which has seen almost 400 Kenyan police deploy since June to help the Haitian National Police. The circulation of the short resolution to all 15 council members follows U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Haiti on Thursday where he reaffirmed the U.S. government's commitment to the multinational mission and pushed for long-awaited general elections.
America's top diplomat also said a U.N. peacekeeping force was an option to address a funding crisis for the Kenya-led mission, which depends on voluntary contributions. The U.S. and Canada have provided the bulk of funds so far. Peacekeeping operations, by contrast, are funded from a special U.N. budget. The draft resolution would determine that "the situation in Haiti continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security and to stability in the region." Extending gratitude to Kenya, it would extend the mandate of the Multinational Security Support mission until Oct. 2, 2025, while the U.N. plans a transition to a peacekeeping operation. Security Council experts held their first meeting on the text of the resolution Friday afternoon and negotiations are expected to continue, a council diplomat said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because discussions were private. No date has been set for a vote.
More troops expected to arrive in Haiti before the end of the month
Godfrey Otunge, Commander of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMSS), revealed on Saturday, September 7, that troops from Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize are expected to arrive in Haiti before the end of September. "This will give the MSS mission a multinational face that has been lacking, thus making MSS a Kenyan mission," he said in a note.
Deployed in late June, the Kenyan-led MMSS has about 400 police officers and has benefited from a base built by military contractors. The United States has allocated about $300 million to the mission, while U.S. Southern Command has provided equipment. Otunge also promised to support the ongoing security operations in Delmas, Solino and Croix des Bouquets. He stressed that gang leaders will have nowhere to run and hide unless they put down their weapons and surrender to government where they should expect to face charges. https://haiti.loopnews.com/content/mmss-dautres-troupes-devraient-arriver-en-haiti-avant-la-fin-du-mois?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1725890871-1
Tensions between MSS forces and Haitian Police
The Haitian National Police (PNH) and the Kenyan forces must work together to combat gang violence. But two months after the arrival of the 400 foreign agents, frustration and mistrust on both sides threaten to render the collaboration dysfunctional. A senior official of the Kenyan mission contacted by AyiboPost insists on his agents’ determination to fight gangs. He accuses some Haitian police officers of “not being cooperative with [their] troops on the ground.”
Five Haitian police officers — three of whom worked directly with Kenyan forces — express their concerns about the motivation and the ability of the Kenyans to carry out the fight against insecurity in Haiti. They criticize the Kenyans’ refusal to enter certain high-risk areas. These tensions came to light following the publication of at least one voice memo in which Haitian agents complained of Kenyan reluctance during an intervention underway in Bel-Air and Solino since August 28, 2024. In response, the senior officer of the mission criticized the dissemination of “operational information” by PNH officers. He denounced a “disinformation campaign” aimed at “tarnishing the image” of the mission.
Three Haitian officers expressed frustration with the wage disparity and differential treatment of foreign and Haitian police officers. Kenyans deployed to Haiti receive a monthly salary of $1,490, seven times the average income of a Haitian police officer. “It’s hard to imagine effective collaboration between the two forces when you consider these differences," said Garry Jean-Baptiste, spokesman for the Haitian National Police Union (SPNH-17). The two structures can collaborate, according to Jean-Baptiste, but the authorities must address these disparities "as soon as possible.” A source close to the government contacted by AyiboPost acknowledges the wage differences. “Kenyans are expats and they are treated as such,” according to the source.
https://ayibopost.com/tensions-rise-between-the-haitian-police-and-the-kenyan-forces/
Interview with MSS Commander Godfrey Otunge
In an exclusive interview with the Miami Herald, Godfrey Otunge, the commander on the ground of the Kenyan force, recently reflected on the mission’s challenges and needs, and his focus. He insists that the mission, which currently has 400 Kenyan police officers in Haiti, is well poised to restore “the lost glory of security” to Haiti. Godfrey says once additional police and military personnel from Jamaica and five other nations join them in Haiti “and we have the equipment, we have the funding,” gang leaders’ days will be numbered.
Q: What makes this different from United Nations peacekeeping missions?
A: The only issues that ties this mission so much to the U.N. is about the trust fund, the human-rights due diligence and compliance and accountability in terms of international human-rights law. The mandate says we have to support the Haiti National Police. We cannot work alone. We complement and support them fully. It was designed in a way that after this mission, the international community, other countries, expect the Haitian police to be professional as the way we are working with them, because part of our mandate is to build up the Haitian police in terms of giving them some subject-matter expertise that we have in various areas.
Our focus is about ensuring we clear all the roads, the major roads, so that there’s access for all the humanitarian organizations that ought to support the population. Number two, we ensure all critical infrastructure, the airport, the seaport, the hospital and the schools are well protected. Number three, all intersections, we must ensure that all intersections are accessible to everybody without limitation.
US Secretary of State Blinken Visited Haiti
Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a one-day visit to Port-au-Prince on September 5 by announcing an additional $45 million in humanitarian aid and reiterating the United States’ push for putting for elections and restoring security. “The United States appreciates Haiti’s leaders putting aside their differences, working together to put the country on the path to free and fair elections,” Blinken said at a press conference.
Washington, the Secretary added, was looking forward to Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council “swiftly naming a provisional electoral council to organize those elections. That is the critical next step.” Blinken only touched on the corruption scandal in his closing remarks, saying that “the United States welcomes Haitian efforts to address corruption allegations, promote transparency and accountability. These are essential for this transition government to maintain the trust of the Haitian people.” Then, he issued a warning, reminding Haitians of the U.S.’s recent economic sanctions against former Haitian President Michel Martelly: “We will use every tool that we have to hold accountable those who facilitate violence, drug trafficking, instability.”
In addition to funding Haiti’s security efforts, the U.S. is also a leading contributor on the humanitarian side. With nearly 600,000 Haitians internally displaced by the gang violence and more than 5 million in humanitarian need, the additional $45 million “means more food, water or sanitation or health and support services for one and a half million more Haitians in the long term,” Blinken said.
U.S. officials said that Mr. Blinken — paying the first visit to Haiti by a U.S. secretary of state in nearly a decade — would assess the state of the security mission, which has so far done little to dislodge the power of well-armed gangs that have marauded through the country, blocking roads, emptying prisons and attacking police stations. Also at issue is what will become of the mission after its current U.N. mandate expires on Oct. 2. Some analysts have said the Kenyan-led deployment, which is authorized but not funded by the United Nations, should be replaced by a traditional U.N. peacekeeping force. After stopping in Haiti, Mr. Blinken will visit the neighboring Dominican Republic, State Department officials said. The Dominican Republic has been a political and economic success story in contrast to its neighbor and, unlike Haiti, is secure enough for the secretary of state to spend the night.
The Biden administration put diplomatic weight behind its Haiti policy with Secretary of State Antony Blinken making an official visit to the beleaguered country Thursday. Blinken is doubling down on Haiti — a diplomatic conundrum that’s stumped Democratic and Republican administrations — 60 days before a hotly contested presidential election in the United States. “It’s not a queen-making visit type — or a president-making type event. But I think it’s a pretty big deal. I think it shows high-level interest in Haiti. I also think it shows that the administration thinks it’s got something significant at stake,” said Brian Concannon, executive director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.
“Introducing foreign troops into Haiti without proper human rights training, use of force protocols and accountability mechanisms further endangers the population, particularly children, who endure the daily onslaught of violence,” Ana Piquer, the Americas director at Amnesty International, said in July. That violence has become fodder for the U.S. media landscape, with notorious gang leaders such as Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier drawing attention away from the country’s civil society, its elites and the complex political groupings behind them.
One such grouping, the Haitian Tèt Kale Party (PHTK), formally ran the country between 2017 and 2024 through the presidency of Jovenel Moïse, who was assassinated in 2021, and the nominally transitional government under Ariel Henry, whose resignation in April paved the way for the transitional council. But Moïse was the chosen successor of former President Michel Martelly, technically not a member of the PHTK, but the political force behind its creation and Moïse’s rise to power. Martelly was sanctioned in August by the United States, accused of playing a role in the international illicit drug trade.
“They sanctioned him for pretty serious stuff, and they said he was running gangs, they said he was running guns, they said he was trafficking cocaine to the United States, you know, really serious accusations, and but then they hit him with these super light sanctions that are totally disproportionate to the misconduct alleged and disproportionate to what Martelly got in Canada for the same conduct, or what other Haitians got in the U.S. from the same conduct,” Concannon said. Martelly is still believed to play an important leadership role in the PHTK and related groups, including parties represented directly in the transitional council.
https://thehill.com/latino/4864939-biden-blinken-haiti-gangs/
The United States hopes to see "normal relations between the Dominican Republic and Haiti" and is willing to play a facilitating role, said Brian A. Nichols, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, on Wednesday, September 4. His statement came less than 24 hours before the U.S. Secretary of State's arrival for a two-day mission in Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo. Relations between the two neighboring countries, which share the island of Hispaniola, have deteriorated over the past year due to a dispute over a diversion project on the Haitian side of the Massacre River. In response, Dominican President Luis Abinader has taken drastic measures, including closing his country's airspace and intensifying crackdowns on Haitian migrants.
Haitian Police cleared double wall set up by gang on national highway through Croix-des-Bouquets
”The PNH cleared National Road #8 on the morning of Friday, September 6, where members of the criminal group '400 Mawozo' were attempting to erect a double wall," a resident of Croix-des-Bouquets told Le Nouvelliste. “The PNH demolished the foundations,” confirmed a source close to the local administration shortly after.
Early that morning, residents of the area, which is under the control of Wilson Joseph's gang known as "lanmò san jou," reported gunfire exchanges between PNH officers and the 400 Mawozo gang. Between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m., activities were paralyzed in the areas of Duval, Marassa, parts of Tabarre, and Santo due to the clashes. Locals contacted by the newspaper explained that even after the situation eased, traffic remained sparse, and small businesses did not resume as usual. By early evening, the PNH press office confirmed the road-clearing operation. "PNH officers from the Croix-des-Bouquets jurisdiction, accompanied by agents from the Western Departmental Unit for Law Enforcement (UDMO) West 2 and the PNH's heavy machinery section, cleared National Highway #8 on Friday, September 6, which had previously been blocked by 400 Mawozo bandits attempting to erect a wall to counter PNH's plans.”
For the intervention, the PNH deployed significant resources, including armored vehicles and a mechanical excavator. In addition to dismantling the foundations built on the public road, PNH officers also removed other items placed along the highway.
Several killed in Gressier, including alleged gang members
Several people, including alleged armed bandits, were killed in the municipality of Gressier (south of the capital, Port-au-Prince), during the past weekend (September 6-8), according to information collected by the online agency AlterPresse. Three alleged bandits were killed in exchanges of fire with the Haitian National Police (Pnh), in the locality of La Coline (Gressier) on Sunday, September 08, 2024, according to available information.
On Friday, September 6, two motorcycle taxi drivers identified as "snoopers" in the service of armed gangs were lynched by residents in the municipal section of Grande Rivière, in Léogane. Jorel, a truck driver, was murdered on the evening of Friday, September 6 by bandits in Gressier while he was trying to cross secondary roads in a motorcycle taxi, says trade unionist Pétrus Lérice, spokesman for the Association of Owners and Drivers of Haiti (Apch). https://www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article30878
Risk for sexual violence skyrocketing for displaced women and girls
Thousands of women and girls displaced by gang violence in Haiti are at risk of a "surge" in sexual assault, the UN warned Tuesday, denouncing the deplorable living conditions in the capital's makeshift camps. "The risk of sexual violence for women and girls living in displacement sites in the capital Port-au-Prince is increasing rapidly, in part due to their deplorable living conditions," the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said in a statement. Among the approximately 185,000 people forced to flee their homes in Port-au-Prince, many are living in makeshift camps that the UN agency visited.
In 14 of the camps reviewed, more than half of the toilets and many of the showers are not separated between men and women, many of the showers do not lock, and many sites have no lights at night. "As a result, many women and girls are at risk of sexual assault every time they go to the toilet or take a shower," UNFPA said. According to UN figures, these acts of violence increased from 250 in January-February to more than 1,500 in March, reaching more than 2,000 in April-May. In total, from January to May 2024, 3,949 cases of gender-based violence were reported, including 65% rape and 7% other sexual assaults, mainly committed by gang members. These violences concerned 75% adult women and 20% minor girls, and 61% displaced persons. https://www.lapresse.ca/international/caraibes/2024-08-27/haiti/l-onu-craint-un-envol-des-violences-sexuelles-contre-les-femmes-deplacees.php
MSF denounces obstruction of ambulance
On Tuesday, September 3, a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) ambulance carrying a patient in critical condition was stopped by police in Port-au-Prince, and detained, preventing the team from providing the necessary care. The patient was suffering from an open fracture and was in urgent need of hospital care. Held for more than an hour, the patient finally died before reaching a hospital. “We denounce this serious obstruction of our medical mission,” said Sophie Mealier, MSF head of mission. “As an organization committed to providing free care to the people of Haiti without discrimination and according to the principles of medical ethics, MSF calls on all armed actors in Haiti to respect our medical teams and guarantee patients have rapid and safe access to medical care."
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/haiti-msf-denounces-obstruction-ambulance
Haitian ‘gangs are at war with us’
When violent gangs moved into her neighborhood in April, Haitian journalist and former UN official Monique Clesca left the Caribbean nation. She returned home a few months later, and in this episode, she describes what daily life is now like. “We are in more than a crisis situation”, she says. “The gangs are at war with us”.
The ongoing turmoil in Haiti is featured in The New Humanitarian’s annual list of ten crises that demand your attention now, which highlights places in the world where needs are rising, aid budgets have been cut or are insufficient, and where people feel forgotten by the international community. Over the coming months, our First Person series will feature aid workers and people affected by the crises on this year’s list. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/podcast/tnh-audio
Interventions at IDP camps in PAP and Leogane
The intensification of armed violence in the South of the capital has forced thousands of families to flee and take refuge in several sites around Léogâne. Faced with this situation, WHO-Haiti intervened in support of the Ministry of Public Health to provide an emergency response to the most vulnerable.
As the first barriers against the spread of epidemics, 17 epidemiological watchmen and 16 hygienists were trained in the prevention and detection of diseases in 8 new sites, housing more than 10,000 people. PAHO now supports the Ministry in a total of 41 sites in the Metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-43148-icihaiti-who-paho-emergency-response-in-41-displaced-sites.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Five names submitted for Provisional Electoral Council
For the moment, the Presidential Council has a partial list of five names to join the Provisional Electoral Council. These are personalities designated by five sectors which, according to Councilor Joseph, are not contested. Marie Florence Mathieu for the University; Patrick Saint-Hilaire for the Catholic Church; Jacques Desrosiers for the Press associations; Gédéon Jean for the Human Rights sector and Nemrod Sanon for the Trade Union sector. https://lenouvelliste.com/article/250039/le-conseil-presidentiel-peine-encore-a-former-le-cep
Member of Presidential Council to be replaced due to corruption scandal
At least one of the political coalitions at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal threatening Haiti’s U.S.-backed transition has agreed to remove its representative from the country’s ruling presidential council, sources confirmed to the Miami Herald.
The EDE-RED/Compromis Historique political coalition, led by former prime minister Claude Joseph, agreed on Wednesday to replace its representative, Smith Augustin, from the nine-member council. Smith was scheduled to take the reins of the council’s leadership next month. Smith, a former ambassador of Haiti to the Dominican Republic, Smith, and two other council members are accused in a bank bribery scandal that has blocked the panel’s ability to make decisions and the prime minister ability to secure members’ signature on certain decisions.
“We are in plain view of a new crisis,” Frantz Duval, the editor-in-chief of Le Nouvelliste, the country’s oldest daily, said Thursday during his appearance on the paper’s Radio Magik 9 morning news program. “We cannot say that the country is functioning better with nine people at its helm than when it had only one president or it didn’t have a president at all.” The scandal has highlighted the shortsightedness of those involved in the transition, observers say. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article291969185.html#storylink=cpy
Armed group in Gros Morne extorting residents
Since August 23, the Kokorat San Ras gang has established a reign of terror in the Rivière Blanche and Canifice communities of Gros-Morne, located about 20 miles north of Gonaïves in Haiti’s Artibonite department. This criminal group has made it impossible for residents to live normally, disrupting daily activities and livelihoods. The gang’s violent actions stem from a dispute over a kidnapped 5-year-old girl, resulting in at least 10 deaths, six kidnappings, and several homes and farms set ablaze. Many families have been forced to flee, and the gang is now extorting residents, demanding $298 per household to allow them to return or reclaim their homes.
https://haitiantimes.com/2024/09/08/gangs-seize-families-homes-in-gros-morne/
How an Ohio Town Landed in the Middle of the Immigration Debate
Jobs attracted thousands of Haitians to Springfield, and employers were ecstatic. But then an immigrant driver was involved in a fatal school bus crash. And JD Vance entered the fray. Haitians were new to the region. During the last census, in 2020, a little more than 58,000 people lived in Springfield, a town at the crossroads of America that had fallen on hard times and shed population as opportunity slipped away. But it has changed dramatically in recent years, as a boom in manufacturing and warehouse jobs attracted a swelling wave of immigrants, mainly from Haiti. City officials estimate that as many as 20,000 Haitians have arrived, most of them since the pandemic.
The arrival of successive streams of immigrants has created friction throughout America’s history. In recent years, especially, people from all over the world have settled in places, like Springfield, unaccustomed to high levels of immigration. The issue has become even more politicized this year, as the presidential election campaign focuses on the record number of crossings on the southern border in 2023. So it came as no surprise that the influx of Haitians to Springfield would become a talking point for Mr. Vance. In a speech at the National Conservatism Conference in July, he described Springfield as a town that was nearly a carbon copy of Middletown, where he grew up, except that it had now been “overwhelmed” by Haitians who were pushing up housing costs and collecting benefits. “And you don’t have to believe, of course, that the 20,000, at least most of the 20,000 newcomers, are bad people” to recognize it as a problem, he said.
By most accounts, the Haitians have helped revitalize Springfield. They are assembling car engines at Honda, running vegetable-packing machines at Dole and loading boxes at distribution centers. They are paying taxes on their wages and spending money at Walmart. On Sundays they gather at churches for boisterous, joyful services in Haitian Creole. But the speed and volume of arrivals have put pressure on housing, schools and hospitals. The community health clinic saw a 13-fold increase in Haitian patients between 2021 and 2023, from 115 to 1,500, overwhelming its staff and budget.
On September 9, JD Vance doubled down on his comments about Haitians and took it even further with this post on X:
“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio. Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country. Where is our border czar?” https://x.com/JDVance/status/1833148904864465117
Within hours, other high profile Republicans had joined him in this smear campaign, including Senator Ted Cruz from TX: https://x.com/tedcruz/status/1833174142591365185
Haiti’s largest hydroelectric plant stopped producing electricity on Sep 3
Haitian state-owned power firm Electricite d'Haiti (EDH) said on Tuesday that output at Peligre, the Caribbean nation's largest hydroelectric plant, was down to zero after protests over distribution of the country's flailing power supplies. Output at Peligre has been down since Monday, EDH said, after people stormed the plant demanding other areas be supplied before the capital, Port-au-Prince, where some residents are relying on diesel-powered generators and solar batteries. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/haiti-power-firm-says-main-hydroelectric-plant-down-after-protest-2024-09-04/
Prisoners continue to be in danger of death from malnutrition
Prisoners in the country's various prisons are deprived of everything. No food, no drinking water, according to a source within the prison administration, which is launching an SOS for 7,560 prisoners in danger of serious malnutrition, warns our contact. https://x.com/Radio_Metronome/status/1831152699938578587
Anti-Corruption Agency issues several new investigation reports
Investigators with Haiti’s anti-corruption agency donned caps and face masks on Tuesday as they stood behind boxes of evidence that accuse high-ranking government officials of crimes ranging from illicit enrichment to abuse of office. It’s the latest crackdown on widespread corruption in the impoverished Caribbean country long known for its impunity. The newest cases involve food meant for public school students being diverted for other purposes to government fuel being used for personal benefit.
“These personalities have betrayed the country,” said Hans Joseph, general director of the Anti-Corruption Unit, who has been relentless in his pursuit of illegalities despite little to no repercussions for those accused. He said the corruption cases unveiled Tuesday have cost the Haitian government $4.7 million, “an amount that paradoxically exceeds twice the budget allocated to the (agency) to fight corruption.” https://apnews.com/article/haiti-corruption-government-ee8c03d035d0f85c4772ed1ebaa7a1fb
The Anti-Corruption Unit plays its role of producing reports that expose serious acts of alleged corruption by managers of public funds in Haiti. Since the ULCC reports are not judicial verdicts, the accused must have the opportunity to defend themselves before judges. Is the Haitian justice system aware of its responsibility to help in the fight against corruption in the country? Over the past 20 years, the ULCC has forwarded nearly a hundred reports to the Haitian justice system for the necessary follow-up. Surprisingly, only one conviction has been issued based on these reports that document corruption schemes in the Haitian public administration. In addition to the conviction, four closing orders have been issued, including one dismissal. This information was revealed this week by the ULCC, on the eve of the publication of new reports.
https://lenouvelliste.com/article/250031/a-quoi-servent-les-rapports-de-lulcc
In an investigation report presented to the press, this Tuesday, September 3, during a conference in its premises, on the embezzlement of 22.7 million gourdes from Electricité d'Haïti (EDH) during the period from January 2012 to January 2021, the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) pointed the finger at cashiers as being the perpetrators of this act of embezzlement of public property. Based on the facts and data collected, the ULCC recommends in this investigation report that public action be taken against the persons identified.
In this report, the ULCC also makes recommendations on the administrative level: the general audit of the EDH for the period from 2021 to date, - the establishment of a computerized and integrated control system for the various agencies and offices intended to collect funds for the EDH, - the strengthening of the financial management of the EDH so that it can better fulfill its roles, - the strengthening of a regular backup system and the establishment of a data recovery plan in the event of a disaster are essential for the Information Systems Department (ISD), - improving the performance of the EDH's IT systems and conducting ongoing training sessions for employees assigned to the ISD in order to help them maintain optimal operation of the said institution, - the establishment of strict IT procedures and policies to standardize processes in order to ensure continuity of service in the event of a change of personnel.
The Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) transmitted this Tuesday, to the judicial authorities, several finalized investigation reports and requests for failure to declare assets against Haitian diplomats. The requests for failure to declare assets concern ambassadors, a permanent representative of Haiti to an international organization, consuls general and consuls. https://lenouvelliste.com/article/250033/lulcc-recommande-des-poursuites-contre-13-diplomates-haitiens-pour-defaut-de-declaration-de-patrimoine
Me Aviol Fleurant, former Minister of Planning and External Cooperation (MPCE) is in the eye of the storm. The ULCC investigation report accuses the lawyer of false declaration of assets and illicit enrichment while he was managing the MPCE portfolio. The numerical value of the real assets of the former Minister Fleurant detected is worth more than three times the legitimate income they obtained during the period of the investigation, or exactly 353.26%.
An investigation by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) has brought to light a corruption scandal within the National Solid Waste Management Service (SNGRS). Two senior officials, Germain Paulémon, Director General, and Max Alex Joseph, Deputy Director General, are accused of embezzling fuel intended for the operation of the institution's equipment. The investigation, launched following the dissemination of accusatory voice messages on social networks, revealed that between December 2021 and April 2024, “the SNGRS spent approximately 227 million gourdes for the purchase of diesel. However, only 45% of this quantity, or 199,349 gallons, was actually used for the operation of the institution's equipment and generator. The remainder, or 197,500 gallons, representing a value of 125 million gourdes, was embezzled by the two leaders,” reads the executive summary of the investigation report, published on Tuesday, September 3, 2024.
On September 2, 2024, the organization "Ensemble contre la Corruption" (ECC) issued an open letter to Hans Ludwig Joseph, the Director General of the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC), requesting an investigation into the assets accumulated in Haiti by former President Michel Joseph Martelly, his family members, and close associates. This request is made in accordance with the Law of March 12, 2014, on the prevention and repression of corruption, and the Decree of April 30, 2023, which sanctions money laundering, the financing of terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in Haiti. In its letter, ECC highlighted various alleged offenses, including the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions against former President Michel Joseph Martelly for drug trafficking, as well as accusations of systematic looting of public funds under his administration, particularly those from the PetroCaribe program. The organization emphasized that the current situation is ripe for such an investigation.