Hundreds of inmates are still on the run in Haiti after a massive prison break that resulted in 25 deaths

• Hundreds of prisoners escaped prison in Haiti on Thursday, according to multiple news reports. 
• At least 25 people have died following the break including citizens and prisoners, officials said. 
• A high-profile gang leader, Arnel Joseph, and the prison's director also died during the breakout.

More than 20 people have died and hundreds of inmates have escaped after a prison break at a jail nearby Port-au-Prince in Haiti, according to multiple reports. 

Over 200 people escaped from Croix-des-Bouquets Civil penitentiary on Thursday, as the Independent reported. Amid the escape, at least 25 people died, including the prison director and a high-profile gang leader, Arnel Joseph, the report said, citing authorities. 

According to the Associated Press, Joseph was the country's most-wanted criminal until he was arrested. He faced rape, murder, and kidnapping charges. According to the report, he was seen at a checkpoint on Friday on a motorcycle before he was struck in the midst of gunfire with local police. 

The bodies of two inmates lie on the street outside the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison after an attempted breakout, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. 

"Twenty-five people died including six prisoners and Divisional Inspector Paul Hector Joseph who was in charge of the prison," Haiti's Communication's Secretary, Frantz Exantus, said during a news conference Friday, according to BBC News. "Among those killed were some ordinary citizens who were killed by the prisoners during their escape."

Eyewitnesses told the Associated Press they saw armed men shoot at guards at the prison prior to the mass escape. 

In a Twitter post on Friday evening, Exantus said 60 inmates were captured, and over 200 were still at large. 

"I encourage the police to speed up investigations on the circumstances surrounding this incident, redouble its efforts to re-apprehend the escapees, and strengthen security around prisons throughout the country," Helen La Lime, United Nations Special Representative for Haiti told NPR in a statement. 

The Associated Press reported that hundreds of inmates similarly escaped the prison in 2014.

After a Decade of Misrule, the People of Haiti Have Had Enough

On Sunday, the people in Port-au-Prince filled its broad boulevards, blowing the traditional celebratory one-note vaksen horn, waving Haitian flags and branches of trees, and singing improvised songs, as well as the rousing Haitian national anthem. And I mean “filled,” curb to curb and out of sight against the horizon, coming and coming. There were similar protests in six other cities in Haiti. The Port-au-Prince demonstration was not like the lesser, though important, protests we’ve seen in Haiti in recent years against cost-of-living increases and food prices and gas taxes and government corruption. This well-organized, massive protest was an economy-stopping, throat-swelling, regime-changing political demonstration, more like the ones that preceded and followed the ouster of the Duvalier dynasty in February 1986. “Aba diktati,” read many of the handwritten pancartes held up by people in the surging crowd. Down with dictatorship.

A population with too much experience in the methods of dictatorship sees in President Jovenel Moïse an emerging strongman. In August 2020, a respected human rights group accused his government of outright collusion with the gangs in a Port-au-Prince shantytown, in a report ominously titled “Assassinations, Ambushes, Hostage-Takings, Rape, Arson, Home-Invasions.” Another much-feared gang, under the leadership of the strangely charismatic criminal Jimmy Cherizier (aka Barbecue), has staged marches honoring Moïse. Meanwhile, Moïse allowed the Haitian legislature to lapse, and has been ruling by decree for more than a year now. He is trying to amend Haiti’s constitution to permit consecutive presidential terms, which were outlawed in order to prevent the development of presidential cults of personality, as in the Duvalier era. Last month, Moïse, facing rising unrest, falsely accused opposition leaders of staging a coup against him and of planning to assassinate him, and rounded up 23 of them, many still languishing today in one of Haiti’s inexcusable prisons. Among them are health care workers and judges from Haiti’s Supreme Court. Because during this spate of arrests, Moïse also shut down the Supreme Court.

Here’s what’s really going on, and it circles around disputed elections—an incendiary topic that we in the United States now understand more intimately than we used to. Moïse and his predecessor, pop musician Michel Martelly, were each elected in highly questionable votes. Martelly seemed to have lost his election in 2011, but the OAS—with the support of then–Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her husband, the UN’s special envoy to Haiti, as well as the French and Canadian governments—investigated the balloting and decided that Martelly had won enough votes to participate in the runoff voting. In this OAS-sanctioned runoff, Martelly emerged as the victor. A wide sector of the Haitian public did not believe in this election’s validity.

Five years later, Moïse, tapped by Martelly to run for president after Martelly’s term ended, was elected in balloting with very low turnout and vote-counting issues. That election was annulled, and an interim president installed until a new election could be held, which also suffered from low turnout and questions about the final count, but was eventually validated by the OAS. Along with the OAS, the same outsiders, known as “the international community” or the Core Group, continued to support the Martelly-Moïse relay of the presidential office, and continue to this day. That means they’ve supported a decade of rule by presidents chosen in highly suspect elections.

Martelly’s was a crucial election for all involved, though, because it was the first election after the earthquake of 2010, and the aid moneys that were about to flow into Haiti had all the traditional partners in corruption salivating: politicians, businessmen, contractors, bankers, and the international charitable funders and development investors who also play their part in the depraved dance. It was important to have the right person as president, putting the right people in the way of all the millions and even billions of dollars that were supposed to begin flowing. In Haiti, charitable and entrepreneurial funding goes to members of a class of people already well known to those outside funders: people who are familiar, the people whom those people suggest, Haitians who speak English and have already done business with the donors.

Haitians are almost never surprised to hear who’s received a donation to build a school or a sanitation system or a power plant, or to start or expand a small business; nor are they ever surprised to find that the school, or sanitation system, or power plant has never been actually finally fully built nor the business expanded. And bigger projects, like hotels, agribusiness, mineral extraction, and free enterprise zones, also offered a chance for investment for foreign interests, if the right Haitians were in place to give the go ahead. The people who are left out of this big money giveaway are the people whose misery is the excuse for the funding in the first place: the masses of suffering Haitians.

But the people of Haiti have now had enough. Ras le bol. Enough of the corruption that milks money out of the public coffers, enough of the rampant violence that keeps taking the lives of everyday Haitians, mostly people who can hardly be expected to pay heavy ransoms. And the murders and kidnappings haven’t stopped, even after a seeming hunt by authorities for some of the more egregious gang leaders, and the timid 2020 US sanctions against Cherizier and two government officials for their involvement in the notorious 2018 massacre at the La Saline market in Port-au-Prince. It’s not about one criminal; it’s about a criminal system, supported by very heavy hitters, including the international community.

On Sunday morning, the morning of the incredible and inspiring demonstration against the Moïse government, a beloved and dedicated pediatrician, Ernst Paddy, was killed on the street in Port-au-Prince by five or six heavily armed kidnappers as he resisted his attackers. They reportedly kidnapped his wife, who was with him. The day before, a highly coordinated and dazzling prison escape by the infamous gang leader Arnel Joseph ended soon after in his point-blank execution by the Haitian police, along with 25 other deaths, including the prison director. It’s assumed among Haitians that Joseph was freed and then targeted and killed because of his connections to the Moïse regime and to others involved in violence and criminal retribution. To stop Joseph from talking, in other words. (An estimated 400 more prisoners escaped during the break.) Also this week, a film crew from the Dominican Republic and their Haitian translator were released by gang-associated kidnappers into the custody of the police who had demanded complete control over negotiations for their release and who in turn kept them incommunicado for 44 hours, despite pleas from the Dominican Republic that they be released to the embassy: They were kidnapped again, essentially, the second time by the Haitian National Police.

My WhatsApp feed has been full of blood and guns this week, simply following the lives of Haitians living in a country plagued by systemic corruption and violence. I scroll down and there is Arnel Joseph, in a bloody T-shirt, slumped over a motor bike. Pictures of others killed during the prison break follow. Blood on cement floors, bodies in strange positions. Scroll further, and I find a bleak black-and-white video of the killing of the poor pediatrician. The SUV arriving, the men and their machine guns leaping from within, the doctor dragged from his car… A few messages further down, and there’s a still of the two Dominican cameramen being interrogated by police. More messages and then a video of Dr. Paddy’s grown son sobbing over the loss of his father and the abduction of his mother.

A Haitian protest is never just a mass of disgruntled and hungry citizens. Participants always have certain interests in mind, and particular targets of their anger and frustration. They are filled with purpose and the desire for change. The huge protest yesterday stopped in front of BINUH, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, and called for the removal of its director, Helen Meagher La Lime, by name. La Lime is seen by Haitians as a symbol of the continuing unwanted hand of foreign powers in Haitian affairs. She’s made many unfortunate statements and seems to consort with all the wrong people in Haiti. She’s continued the UN’s almost unstinting support of Moïse, though his recent egregious activities seem to have diminished her enthusiasm slightly. Meanwhile, we have Joe Biden continuing Trump’s support of Moïse—a real slap in the face to the Haitian Americans who voted for him with high hopes.

It’s not as if there aren’t scores of Haitians who are more responsible, politically astute, law-abiding, and patriotic than Moïse. Some have been around for years, and others are newer to the scene. Any one of them or all of them could participate in an interim committee of government that could organize respectable and credible elections. They are lawyers, human rights workers, community organizers, women’s group leaders, doctors, educators—everyone in Port-au-Prince knows them by name; the US Embassy knows them by name. They stand at the ready to do their duty to the Haitian people, I’m sure. But the government currently in place, illegitimately, must get out of the way before this can come to pass. And if recent Haitian history is any guide, no matter how large the peaceful demonstrations against Moïse may grow, he will never leave as long as he retains the unswerving support of the international community.

Haitian protesters, police clash after president moves against top judges

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian police on Wednesday clashed with rock-hurling protesters in the capital Port-Au-Prince amid street demonstrations against President Jovenel Moise after his government retired three Supreme Court judges earmarked as his potential replacements.

Police fired teargas and shot in the air in an attempt to disperse pockets of protesters, who pelted the security officials with rocks, according to a Reuters witness.

"We are back to dictatorship! Down with Moise!" the protesters shouted as music blared from speakers amid chaotic scenes in the poor Caribbean nation of about 11 million people.

The protesters also yelled "Down with Sison," a reference to the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, Michele Jeanne Sison. Washington has so far backed Moise's claim that he should step down in February 2022 after presidential elections are held this year.

The latest political tumult in the volatile island nation comes amid a crippling economic crisis and a sharp rise in crime, especially kidnappings for ransom.

The opposition is demanding Moise leaves power immediately, accusing him of acting like an authoritarian leader and violating the constitution.

Tensions intensified over the weekend after Moise alleged there was an attempt to overthrow his government. Authorities on Sunday arrested 23 people, including a Supreme Court judge and a senior police official.

On Monday, the government issued an executive decree retiring the arrested judge and two other Supreme Court justices.

All three had been approached by the opposition as possible interim leaders to replace Moise and head a transitional government. In the end, the opposition chose magistrate Joseph Mecene Jean Louis, 72.

The opposition says Moise should have stepped down on Feb. 7, when they say his five-year term in office expired, following disputed 2015 elections.

Moise rejects that, citing a term that began in February 2017 after he won fresh elections in 2016. He has pledged to step down in February next year.

A group of journalists on Wednesday also complained to security officials about heavy-handed policing.

Two journalists covering the protests received minor injuries when the police dropped a tear gas canister into a pickup truck, labeled as media, which was transporting journalists, according to reporters and television footage.

Police could not immediately be reached for comment.

EXPLAINER: Why Haiti’s political strife has worsened

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Political strife in Haiti has deepened as opposition leaders and supporters claim that President Jovenel Moïse’s five-year term has expired, demanding that he step down on Feb. 7. But on that day, Moïse announced that authorities had arrested 23 people accused of plotting an alleged coup to kill him and overthrow his government, including a high-ranking police official and a Supreme Court judge favored by the opposition. Hours after the arrests, the opposition nominated a supposed transitional president that no one has recognized.

The AP explains what is driving the protests and what the ongoing demonstrations and alleged coup conspiracy mean for Haiti.

WHO IS PROTESTING AND WHY?

Opposition leaders from various political parties organized protests in the weeks leading up to Feb. 7, the day they allege that Moïse’s term ended. Hundreds of supporters marched in the streets, often clashing with police as they clamored that Moïse step down. Haiti’s Constitution allows presidents to serve a five-year term, and opponents argue that Moïse already reached that limit. Moïse won after former president Michel Martelly’s term expired in 2016, receiving more than 50% of the vote but with only a 21% voter turnout in a country of more than 11 million people. The elections were so chaotic, though, that it forced the appointment of a provisional president for one year, so Moïse wasn’t sworn in until February 2017. He has repeatedly said he will step down in February 2022 and has called for legislative and presidential elections to be held Sept. 19, with a runoff scheduled for Nov. 21. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden appears to support Moïse, with a State Department spokesman recently saying that a new elected president should succeed him when his term ends in 2022.

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WHAT ELSE IS DRIVING THE PROTESTS?

Critics accuse Moïse of amassing more power in recent months, noting that he already has been ruling by presidential decree ever since he dissolved the majority of Parliament in January 2020 after failing to hold legislative elections in 2019 amid political gridlock. Moïse also has approved a decree that created an intelligence agency that answers only to the president and another that limits the powers of a court that audits government contracts and had accused Moïse and other officials of embezzlement and fraud, allegations they have denied. Another recent decree classifies robbery, arson and blocking public roads — a common ploy during protests —as terrorism, leading to heavy penalties. Some of the decrees drew rare criticism from the international community as well. Opponents also are rejecting an upcoming constitutional referendum scheduled for April 25, the first one to be held in more than 30 years. It calls for the creation of compulsory military service for those age 18, would create the position of a vice president to replace that of prime minister and establish a unicameral legislature to be elected every five years to replace the current Senate and Chamber of Deputies. In addition, the draft only states that a president cannot serve for more than two terms; it says nothing about whether they can be served consecutively as is currently prohibited. Experts note that the current Constitution bars changes to it via a referendum.

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WAS THERE A PLAN TO OUST MOÏSE?

On Sunday, Moïse announced that authorities arrested 23 people accused of a coup conspiracy to allegedly kill the president and overthrow his government. Among those detained is a high-ranking police official and a Supreme Court judge who was one of three judges favored by the opposition to become a potential transitional president. Authorities said they seized several weapons and a copy of the judge’s speech if he were to temporarily replace Moïse, along with a recording with top security officials at the National Palace talking about an alleged plot to arrest the president. The opposition condemned the arrests and noted the judge has automatic immunity as they accused Moïse’s administration of political repression.

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WHAT’S NEXT?

The opposition named another Superior Court Judge, Joseph Mécène Jean-Louis, as Haiti’s supposed transitional president after Moïse announced the arrests. Jean-Louis, who is the court’s oldest judge, said in a brief statement that he accepted the position. Neither Moïse nor anyone in the international community has recognized him. The normally congested streets in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and elsewhere remain largely empty amid growing political uncertainty as Moïse’s administration continues to face a spike in violence and demands for better living conditions.

Haiti opens debate on proposed constitutional changes

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti has unveiled multiple proposed changes to overhaul the country’s Constitution that officials plan to present to voters starting this week for an upcoming referendum that looms amid growing unrest.

The public meetings are scheduled to be held across Haiti for the next three weeks, ahead of the April 25 constitutional referendum, which would be the first one held in more than 30 years.

One of the biggest changes is an omission in the draft issued by an independent commission tasked with creating the constitutional changes that have generated heated debates. Haiti’s current Constitution bars presidents from serving two consecutive terms, but the draft only states that a president cannot serve for more than two terms; it says nothing about whether they can be served consecutively.

Human rights attorney Bill O’Neill told The Associated Press that his interpretation is that the omission would allow a president to serve two terms consecutively. He noted that those who drafted the 1987 Constitution currently in use were emerging from a 29-year dictatorship under two so-called “presidents for life”: François Duvalier and Jean-Claude Duvalier.

“The drafters were very wary of allowing anyone having too much unbroken time in the Presidency,” he said.

The new draft also drops the requirement that to be president of Haiti, one needs to have lived in the country for five consecutive years prior to the date of general elections. All it says is that one “must have habitual residence in Haiti,” a change that could allow the diaspora to run for the highest offices in Haiti, which is currently banned. The proposed change also would apply to the position of vice president.

Other proposed changes include creating the position of a vice president to replace that of prime minister and establishing a unicameral legislature to be elected every five years to replace the current Senate and Chamber of Deputies, which was largely dissolved more than a year ago when President Jovenel Moïse began to rule by decree following a lack of legislative elections.

Another change also calls for legislators to be elected every five years to match the presidential term since some senators are currently elected every two to six years.

“This requires elections every 18 months on average,” states the document issued by the independent commission. “The difficulty of respecting this binding electoral agenda plunges the country into a chronic institutional crisis.”

Critics of the proposed changes say they see it as a power grab by Moïse, who says he will step down in February 2022 when his five-year term ends. The opposition, however, argues that his term began when that of former President Michel Martelly ended in February 2016, even though Moïse wasn’t sworn in until February 2017 following a chaotic election process that led to the appointment of a provisional president for one year.

Alfredo Antoine, a former legislator, said the changes are simply a proposal at this point and that people have the right to study them. He also said opposition leaders should seek to create a dialogue with Moïse instead of organizing protests as they insist he leave office by Sunday.

“They should not put oil on the fire,” he said.

Opposition leaders could not be immediately reached for comment.

As officials meet with certain sectors of society to discuss the proposed constitutional changes, some are demanding more inclusion. Ulrich Louisma, a 40-year-old air conditioning repairman, said people and officials other than the president should provide input on a potentially new Constitution.

“It can’t be a one-man show,” he said.

Haiti Opposition Agrees on Plan to Replace President Moise on February 7

WASHINGTON/PORT-AU-PRINCE - Haiti's opposition leaders have agreed on a plan to replace President Jovenel Moise with a new head of state on Sunday.

They accuse Moise, who has ruled for nearly four years, of being an autocrat who failed to curb the rash of kidnappings that have terrorized the nation. They also criticize Moise for what they regard as his weak response to a crippling economic crisis.

Moise has said he will not step down until February 2022, noting he has one year left of his five-year term.

The opposition agreement, named Ako Final Teras Garden (Terrace Garden Final Accord), creates a commission made up of seven members of civil society and seven opposition leaders. The commission would be tasked with choosing a president to lead the transitional government from members of Haiti's Supreme Court.

The prime minister would be chosen among the opposition politicians, and the heads of government ministries would be selected by the new government.

The opposition is determined to finalize their choices before February 7, they announced Monday.

Former Senator Nenel Cassy of the Fanmi Lavalas opposition party attends a meeting to discuss a political accord to establish a transitional government to replace President Jovenel Moise on Feb. 7, 2021. (Photo: Renan Toussaint/ VOA)

Moise has said he intends to transfer power to the winner of the general election scheduled for September of this year.

Moise has also said he intends to make changes to the country's constitution. A hand-picked Provisional Electoral Council (KEP) was chosen last year, despite criticism from the opposition that it is not representative of civil society. The KEP announced in January that a referendum on the constitution will be held on April 25.

In an exclusive interview with VOA, Haitian Ambassador Bocchit Edmond said the opposition's plan to form a transitional government has been tried before — and failed.

"It is time for Haiti to leave that cycle — that cycle of using illegitimate people to replace elected officials," he told VOA. "Every time we have elections, we have to reverse the electoral votes. We have to ask the president to go, (only) to be replaced by a transitional government, which has never served the good of the Haitian people."

But the opposition isn't listening. Leaders announced a nationwide mobilization in all 10 departments of the country that began January 28-31, followed by general strikes Monday and Tuesday, and again on February 7 to keep the pressure on Moise, who was a businessman before entering politics, to step down.

Former Senator Jean Charles Moise of the Pitit Dessalines opposition party joined protesters in the streets of Port-au-Prince on Sunday.

"When I was a senator and my term expired, I left the Senate. I was elected to a six-year term, so I resigned. We all know that the constitution states that every five years there must be elections to choose a new president. A president's term lasts five years. That is why we have told President Jovenel Moise that his term is expired," Moise (no relation to the president) told VOA.

Former senator Moise said after February 7, there will be a new "system" governing Haiti and a there will be a transition period.

"The leader will not be a member of the opposition — I want to reassure the people (of Haiti) about that — whether you are living in Haiti or abroad, this time we must liberate our nation, this is our country. (General Jean Jacques) Dessalines did not win the revolutionary war to end up with this result," he said.

Haitian opposition leaders aren't the only ones calling for a transitional government. U.S. Representatives Andy Levin, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Gregory Meeks, incoming chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Albio Sires, chair of the Western Hemisphere Civilian Security and Trade subcommittee, expressed the need for a transition in Haiti in a joint statement issued in December 2020. The U.S. lawmakers said there was "growing concern" about political events in Haiti.

“Haitian President Jovenel Moïse is pursuing an increasingly authoritarian course of action, issuing a series of recent decrees that include creating an extraconstitutional domestic ‘intelligence’ force,” the statement said. “His latest actions are reminiscent of past anti-democratic abuses the Haitian people have endured, including the run-up to the Duvalier dictatorship. We will not stand idly by while Haiti devolves into chaos.”

Former Senator Youri Latortue attends a meeting in Port-au-Prince to discuss a transitional government that will replace President Jovenel Moise on Feb. 7, 2021. (Photo: Renan Toussaint / VOA)

Reacting to the statement in December, Ambassador Edmond expressed frustration and said he intended to meet with the congressmen.

“It is really disturbing,” he told VOA. “It saddens us to see democratic officials call for a transitional government. We don’t think that going through a transition again will help Haiti.”

Haiti has had eight provisional governments since the departure of Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier in 1986.

Last week, Edmond told VOA he had a "lengthy discussion" with Congressman Levin that lasted more than 45 minutes. He said they met virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions.

"We will continue to discuss the situation and show that maybe they had erroneous information. But we will continue the dialogue to make sure they have accurate information. I'm here to answer all their questions and give them any information they ask for," Edmond told VOA.

The ambassador said he plans to speak with Congressman Meeks later this month.

Meanwhile, a general strike announced by Haiti's unions to protest against insecurity and to demand the president resign was observed Monday. The streets of the capital were mostly empty, with only pedestrians and a few motorbikes moving about, according to VOA Creole reporters in the capital.

Most businesses, markets and schools remained shuttered. A second day of strikes is planned for Tuesday.

Matiado Vilme and Florence Lisene in Port-au-Prince contributed to this report.

Haiti leader speaks of more power for diaspora amid strife

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian President Jovenel Moïse said Monday that proposed constitutional amendments would allow members of the country's diaspora to run for the presidency and other high-ranking offices.

The announcement came during an online public address during which Moïse reiterated that he would not step down until February 2022 and urged Haitians to support the creation of a new constitution, which is due to be voted upon in April.

“It’s time to change it,” he said. “We can’t continue like this. The country is paralyzed.”

Moïse spoke on the first day of a two-day transportation strike that paralyzed parts of Haiti and forced the closure of banks, schools and businesses. Haiti also has been hit by ongoing, often violent protests in recent years against corruption and for better living conditions.

The proposed constitutional changes are expected to be made public this week as opposition leaders step up their demands that Moïse relinquish power on Sunday, arguing that his five-year term began when that of former President Michel Martelly expired in February 2016.

However, a chaotic election process led to the appointment of a provisional president for a year until Moïse was sworn in a year later.

Moïse also pledged to keep fighting a rise in kidnapping, saying he won’t allow gang members to scare people into not participating in the upcoming constitutional referendum or the general elections scheduled for later this year.

The road to racial justice must also run through Haiti

From the inequitable loss of life and livelihood caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to obscene public exhibitions of racial injustice, the events of 2020 have held up a mirror. At times, we saw the best of ourselves. But it is also clear that many of us have continually failed to care for others as much as we care for ourselves. That is, we have for too long failed to see others as ourselves. As a result of this failure of recognition, the groups of people who have been left behind rather than lifted up are too numerous to name.

The pain and suffering—including but not limited to the killings of unarmed individuals in our streets—has given us a new lens through which we may apprehend unconscionable injustices. Nearly 160 years after the end of slavery and 60 years after the height of the civil rights movement, we must finally steel our resolve to correct them.

I help lead an institution operating in two countries, the oldest and second oldest republics in this hemisphere, so it is impossible for me not to appreciate how this work necessarily extends beyond our shores and in particular to Haiti—the most impoverished country in our hemisphere, whose per-capita income is tragically more at home with some of the most impoverished nations on the African continent.

It is often overlooked that Haiti is the birthplace of our entire hemisphere. It is where everything we now know as the Americas, for better and for worse, began in 1492, when Columbus established the first European settlement near what is now the port city of Cap-Haïtien. Haiti was also the first nation to throw off the shackles of slavery, a full 60 years before the United States did.

"Haiti was the first nation to throw off the shackles of slavery, a full 60 years before the United States did."

An auspicious beginning, however, does not guarantee a bright future. European powers, as well as the newly minted United States of America, quickly took steps to marginalize Haiti after it gained independence from France in 1804. Blackness, never mind a nation freed and led by formerly enslaved people, was a threat. The economic success of the United States relied on the oppression and exploitation of Black bodies, and President Thomas Jefferson imposed an embargo on trade with the independent nation. The United States would not formally recognize Haiti until President Lincoln sent a diplomatic representative there in 1862.

Similarly, France did not recognize the country until 1825, and only after Haiti agreed to pay 150 million francs, the equivalent of $21 billion today, to compensate former slaveholders for their “loss of property” during the Haitian Revolution. (For comparison, Haiti’s current annual gross domestic product is just $8.5 billion.) As France made its demands, its warships in Port-au-Prince harbor served as an uncomfortable reminder of Haiti’s new chains.

For the next 200 years, the world’s relationship with Haiti generally ranged from neglect to outright abuse. More recent international support has not been nearly enough to put Haiti back on an equal playing field after centuries of marginalization.

Today, the state of the largest majority-Black country in our hemisphere is disturbingly analogous to the state of Black lives in the United States, where the net worth of a typical white family is nearly 10 times the net worth of a typical Black family. The average G.D.P. per capita of countries in the Western Hemisphere is just over $29,000, dwarfing Haiti’s GDP by a factor of 34.

"Today, the state of the largest majority-Black country in our hemisphere is disturbingly analogous to the state of Black lives in the United States."

As the Biden administration takes shape, there are several things that the United States and the international community can do for Haiti to ensure that the issue of racial justice is being addressed both at home and abroad.

First, give it historical recognition. Give Haiti credit for what it has accomplished in being first country to abolish slavery in the 19th century. Part of continued progress for Black lives means decolonizing the narrative of progress itself. It means reminding the world that slavery was ended first by Black people in Haiti.

Second, the U.S. government (and France, too) should see it as a moral imperative to help bring Haiti in from the margins. Fortunately, the United States has a capable and committed leader on the ground in the current U.S. ambassador, Michele J. Sison, and Haitians are eager to build a just and prosperous country for themselves and their children.

The ambassador should be given the resources she needs to be of service to the Haitian government so that the Haitian government can in turn be of service to its people. If the international community is looking for a starting point, a 10-year program to underwrite a national budget truly capable of supporting an 11-million person country, as my colleague Deacon Patrick Moynihan argued five years after the devastating earthquake of 2010, would create the institutional growth necessary for Haiti to become a thriving, independent nation.

Finally, for all foreign charitable organizations working in the country (and the donors who fund them), education must be the top priority. Haiti needs upstream solutions, not saviorism. It is illustrative to consider that enslaved people were given housing, as deplorable as it was, and access to food and in some cases even medical care—but not education.

Haitian boy, 9, detained as Trump's family separation policy pursued to bitter end

In the final hours of the Trump presidency, immigration officials detained a nine year-old Haitian boy with a valid US visa, separated him from his elder brother and incarcerated him, according to lawyers and activists.

Vladimir Fardin arrived in San Francisco from Haiti on Sunday, on a tourist visa. He was travelling with his 19-year-old brother, Christian Laporte, who has been studying in Diablo Valley College outside San Francisco, and had a valid student’s visa, according to lawyers acting for him.'My neighbourhood is being destroyed to pacify his supporters': the race to complete Trump's wallRead more

The two boys had been on a Christmas vacation with their mother in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, and Vladimir was flying back to California with Christian to spend some time with his elder brother and their godmother, who acts as their guardian in the US.

They were detained by border officials at San Francisco airport and held for two days without being allowed to contact family, lawyers or community organisations. On Tuesday morning, they were separated.

Nine-year old Vladimir was sent to a refugee resettlement facility in southern California as an unaccompanied minor, and Christian was deported to Mexico, apparently because that was where their connecting flight from Santo Domingo was from.

As of Tuesday evening, Vladimir had not been allowed to contact, or be contacted by, his family or any support groups.

“We are extremely worried because Vladimir has never spent time alone,” Guerline Jozef, the head of the Haitian Bridge Alliance community group, said. “He is nine years old, and his older brother has been extremely protective of him and taking care of him. So, this is beyond cruel.”

The Trump administration carried out a policy of separating migrant children from their families, and there are still hundreds of children whose parents have not been found. What makes Vladimir Fardin’s case distinctive is that he was reportedly travelling on a valid visa, with a family member also with a valid visa. The outgoing administration also has a record of targeting black migrants and asylum seekers and deporting them to countries irrespective of the threat to their safety posed by deportation.'We tortured families': The lingering damage of Trump's separation policyRead more

A deportation flight left Louisiana on Tuesday morning to Haiti carrying 25 people, including five children under the age of five. However, three would-be deportees were pulled off the flight at the last moment, including Paul Pierrilus, a 40-year-old financial consultant who is not Haitian and has never been to Haiti.

He had been detained on 11 January, after 35 years in the US and would have been sent to a nation in the throes of intense political violence and lawlessness, if not for the eleventh-hour intervention of lawyers, activists and his congressman from Rockland County, New York, Mondaire Jones.

“My team laboured into the wee hours of the morning, not taking no for an answer,” Jones told the Guardian. “At about 2am, when we were demanding from DHS [Department of Homeland Security] to see an approved travel document, which DHS could not produce for Paul, right before finally the handcuffs were taken off and he was allowed to stay in the United States.”

The Democratic congressman said he had been trying to find out what would happen to Pierrilus now, but had been told officials from immigration and customs enforcement agency (Ice) were unavailable to talk to him, for reasons not specified.

“I certainly expect a report from them as to how it came to be that a man from my district, who has been an upstanding member of our community and who has never even been to Haiti, was going to be unconstitutionally deported to that place,” Jones said.

“This is crazy. It represents the absolute worst of an inhumane racist administration, in the context of immigration.”

Kidnapping by Government-Backed Gangs Is Surging in Haiti

Demanding a ransom can seem an easy money in a country where 60 percent of people live below the poverty line.

Two of the men behind the kidnapping of Evelyne Sincère in Haiti late last year gave different accounts of her final moments in a live interview from police custody on November 9. They exchanged blame for her suffocation, each claiming he played a largely passive role while the other one’s hands encircled her neck. 

All three of the men who participated in the crimes that killed the twenty-two year old student were close to tears. One bowed his head, as if to hide from the camera. 

“I didn’t want to get into this,” said Obed Joseph, who lured Sincère to a secluded square in Port Au Prince on October 29. Strapped for cash, the three men resolved to kidnap Sincère, who they believed had a wealthy father. Their plan was to drug her so that she would be unable to identify them later, then release her after payment. In reality, Sincère’s father sells small goods on the street. Facing a demand of $8,000, the family could only lump together just over $1,000. 

Sincère’s body was discovered by her sister, Enette Sincère, four days after she disappeared, folded inside a metal barrel, perched atop a trash heap.

Kidnappings for ransom have surged in Haiti, from a total of 39 in 2019 to nearly 200 in 2020. At the same time, a spike in gang violence has caused several neighborhoods to go up in flames, murdered hundreds, and left a thousand people displaced.  “The gang phenomenon is going to be an issue in a place that has a deliberately underdeveloped state apparatus and deliberately poor and inegalitarian social structure.” Mark Schuller, president of the Haitian Studies Association told VICE World News. 

Recent victims of kidnapping for ransom include a prominent surgeon, a guitarist, and the wife of a security guard at the National Palace. 

“I was driving when they intercepted me and shot bullets into the air. Six guys with big guns kept me in my car for two days and one night. I still don’t know who they were,” Hans Telemaque, a doctor finishing his residency in Port-Au-Prince, told VICE World News. “My loved ones don’t want to tell me how much they gave for the ransom. Now, I don’t go out often, and when I do, I wear glasses.”

In a country where 60% of the population lives below the poverty line, kidnapping a member of the professional class and demanding tens of thousands of dollars can be a ticket to easy money. In several instances last year, up to a million US dollars were demanded by kidnappers for victims being held captive. “Kidnapping is a very profitable business that does not require a lot of investment in terms of costs to benefits,” said Jean Eddy Saint Paul, director of the Haitian Studies Institute at Brooklyn College. 

Though periodic spikes in gang violence are normal in Haiti, the escalation in kidnappings is not. The gangs’ seemingly indiscriminate selection of victims suggests the phenomenon sprouts from political as well as financial motivations. “It’s starting to affect people who are working class- neighborhoods that are strongholds of the [political] opposition. That’s a reason why people are deciding this is political in nature,” Schuller said. This year, kidnappers have begun to demand impossible sums of money from families in impoverished neighborhoods in Port Au Prince like Cite Soleil, a maze of fragile shacks where opposition to President Jovenel Moïse is thick on the ground. With families unable to bring forth the necessary funds, bodies are stacking up.

Since late 2019, Moïse has ruled by decree after the country failed to hold parliamentary elections in October 2019. He has lost public legitimacy while confronted with large-scale protests against his leadership. He has repeatedly refused to call new elections, despite international pressure. In May 2019, thousands of people went on strike and flooded the streets for six months after it emerged that Moïse had embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars pledged to public programs.

“It is pretty clear that for President Moïse, the source of his power is his close relationship with the United States.” said Schuller. 

An unexplained shift to kidnappings in opposition strongholds has led many to believe the government is working with gang members , neglecting official police departments and allowing gangs to serve as de-facto security forces. With collective fear in the air, streets in Port Au Prince are near empty - which is rare, even in the midst of a pandemic. “That is why gangs have become powerful, arrogant, because they are protected by the administration, armed with weapons, money and ammunition, involved in massacres, murders and kidnappings.” said Pierre Esperance of the Haitian National Human Rights Defense Network. 

The rise in kidnappings for ransom, which reached a level of nearly one per day towards the end of 2020, could also be a signal that the government has reduced the cash it dispenses to gangs. “Kidnappings have increased since October. That’s because the gangs say the administration hasn’t given them any money since August. The gangs say that’s why they kidnap - to make money,” Esperance said. 

“To end this, the living conditions need to improve. Vocational schools need to be set up to help people make money,” said Telemaque.

The Haitian state has created an “enabling environment for further violence” by allowing the demise of the rule of law, according to the UN Security Council. International aid could help remedy the situation, according to the body, although it acknowledged that foreign support, and its culture of post-crisis “short-termism,” has a history of helping aggravate violence, corruption, and social turmoil in Haiti. As recently as last year, hundreds of UN Peacekeepers stationed in Haiti were accused of sexual abuse, and of fathering children with Haitian women, then abandoning them.

Evelyne Sincère’s story embodies the fears of hundreds of other students, who fashioned hand-painted signs and popularized hashtags on social media to build a national movement against kidnapping using her image. President Moïse issued a statement when it became clear her story constituted significant national news, saying “such atrocities are unacceptable.” 

For those who hold Moïse’s administration partially responsible for this year’s kidnappings, the words ring hollow. “The state itself is operating as a gang,”  Saint Paul said.

Haiti braces for unrest as opposition demands new president

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Flying rocks. Burning tires. Acrid smoke. Deadly gunfire.

Haiti braced for a fresh round of widespread protests starting Friday, with opposition leaders demanding that President Jovenel Moïse step down next month, worried he is amassing too much power as he enters his second year of rule by decree.

“The priority right now is to put in place another economic, social and political system,” André Michel, of the opposition coalition Democratic and Popular Sector, said by phone. “It is clear that Moïse is hanging on to power.”

Opposition leaders are demanding Moïse’s resignation and legislative elections to restart a Parliament dissolved a year ago.

They claim that Moïse’s five-year term is legally ending — that it began when former President Michel Martelly's term expired in February 2016. But Moïse maintains his term began when he actually took office in early 2017, an inauguration delayed by a chaotic election process that forced the appointment of a provisional president to serve during a year-long gap.

Haiti's international backers have echoed some of the opposition’s concerns, calling for parliamentary elections as soon as possible. They were originally scheduled for October 2019 but were delayed by political gridlock and protests that paralyzed much of the country, forcing schools, businesses and several government offices to close for weeks at a time.

Some in the international community also condemned several of Moïse's decrees.

One of those limited the powers of a court that audits government contracts and had accused Moïse and other officials of embezzlement and fraud involving a Venezuelan program which provided cheap oil. Moïse and others have rejected those accusations.

Moïse also decreed that acts such as robbery, arson and blocking public roads — a common ploy during protests — would be classed as terrorism and subject to heavy penalties. He also created an intelligence agency that answers only to the president.

The Core Group, which includes officials from the United Nations, U.S., Canada and France, questioned those moves.

“The decree creating the National Intelligence Agency gives the agents of this institution quasi-immunity, thus opening up the possibility of abuse," the group said in a recent statement. “These two presidential decrees, issued in areas that fall within the competence of a Parliament, do not seem to conform to certain fundamental principles of democracy, the rule of law, and the civil and political rights of citizens.”

Moïse has dismissed such concerns and vowed to move forward at his own pace.

In a New Year’s tweet, he called 2021 “a very important year for the future of the country.” He has called for a constitutional referendum in April followed by parliamentary and presidential elections in September, with runoffs scheduled for November.

“There is no doubt elections will happen,” Foreign Minister Claude Joseph told The Associated Press, rejecting calls that Moïse step down in February. “Haiti cannot afford another transition. We need to let democracy work the way it should.”

Joseph said Moïse remains open to dialogue and is ready to meet anytime with opposition leaders to solve the political stalemate.

He also said the constitutional referendum won't give Moïse more power but said changes are needed to the 1987 document.

“It is a source of instability. It does not have checks and balances. It gives extraordinary power to the Parliament that abuses this power over and over,” Joseph said. “It’s not the president’s own personal project. It’s a national project.”

While officials haven't released details of the referendum, one of the members of the consulting committee, Louis Naud Pierre, told radio station Magik9 last week that proposals include creating a unicameral Parliament to replace the current Senate and Chamber of Deputies, extending parliamentary terms and giving Haitians who live abroad more power.

The referendum and flurry of decrees are frustrating many Haitians, including Rose-Ducast Dupont, a mother of three who sells perfumes on the sidewalks of Delmas, a neighborhood in the capital.

“The political problems in my country have been dragging on for too long,” she said. “They are never able to find a solution for the nation. ... We are the ones suffering.”

The nation of more than 11 million people has grown increasingly unstable under Moïse, who received more than 50% of the vote but with only 21% voter turnout.

Haiti is still trying to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew that struck in 2016. Its economic, political and social woes have deepened, with gang violence resurging, inflation spiraling and food and fuel becoming more scarce at times in a country where 60% of the population makes less than $2 a day.

“I don’t have a life,” said Jean-Marc François, who wants Moïse gone. “I don’t have any savings. I have three kids. I have to survive day by day with no guarantee that I’ll come home with bread to put on the table.”

Some days he works in construction; others he does yardwork or disposes of garbage or moves boxes at warehouses, which sometimes pays 500 gourdes ($7) a day.

François said he won't take part in the “circus act” of voting in the referendum or elections.

“We’re talking about voting for a new president? A new constitution? Deputies and senators? They’re all going to be the same,” he said. “This is a country of corruption.”

Moïse has faced numerous calls for resignation since taking office, with protests roiling Haiti since late 2017. The demonstrations have been fueled largely by demands for better living conditions and anger over crime, corruption allegations and price increases after the government ended fuel subsidies.

The most violent protests occurred in 2019, with dozens killed, and some worry about even more violence as the opposition steps up its demands that Moïse resign amid fears that elections will be delayed once more.

“Can the current status quo continue for another year?” said Jake Johnston, senior research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. “Moïse can announce an electoral calendar ... but what signs are there that that’s going to actually happen?”

Haitian-American Pastor, Daughter Released By Kidnappers

A Haitian American pastor and his daughter who were kidnapped in Haiti have been released and are now safe.

Pastor Elie Henry, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Inter-American Division, and his daughter Irma were freed by their kidnappers on Dec. 28, 2020 in Port-au-Prince “and are doing well.”

Pastor Henry and his daughter were the latest victims of a ransom kidnapping wave that has paralyzed Haiti this year. According to Adventist statements, they were abducted in Port-au-Prince on Christmas Eve on December 24th as they left an Adventist hospital.

Haitian media report their kidnappers demanded a $5 million ransom for their release, but the Adventist statement did mention a ransom amount.

Pastor Henry was born in Haiti and is based in Miami, where he heads the Inter-American office for the Adventists, a Protestant Christian denomination. Irma Henry is a physical therapist at the Adventist Hospital in Haiti.

EXCLUSIVE: 'It's a parody of justice!' Former Haiti Football Federation president who was banned for life from the sport over allegations he sexually abused female players says claims are baseless and that 'corrupt' FIFA is using him as a 'scapegoat'

• The head of the Haiti soccer federation Yves Jean-Bart was banned from the sport for life last month after being accused of sexually abusing female players 
• Jean-Bart, one of the region's longest-serving top soccer official, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that FIFA is 'corrupt'
• He said that FIFA is bent on keeping Haiti soccer 'in its place' because the men's national team is suddenly competitive against world powerhouses
• FIFA banned the 73-year-old, who is nicknamed Dadou, after giving him 10 minutes on Skype to respond to accusations 
• There are rumors he fathered children with his alleged victims - some of whom are reportedly under 18 
• But he says his long-term treatment for prostate cancer has made it physically impossible for him to impregnate anyone 
• He is now appealing the lifetime ban before the Court of Arbitration for Sport

The head of the Haiti soccer federation banned from the sport for life last month after being accused of sexually abusing and even impregnating some of the country's elite female players, said the accusations against him are pulled out of thin air and weren't properly investigated by world-wide soccer authority FIFA.

Yves Jean-Bart, one of the region's longest-serving top soccer official, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that FIFA is 'corrupt' and bent on keeping Haiti soccer 'in its place' because the men's national team is suddenly competitive against world powerhouses. He pointed to the night of July 2019 when the red-and-blue suffered a one-goal loss to Mexico at the last minute of the Gold Cup semi-finals.

FIFA banned the 73-year-old, who is nicknamed Dadou, after giving him 10 minutes on Skype to respond to accusations he used his status to abuse and harass players whose future he was entrusted with, some younger than 18.

Jean-Bart told DailyMail.com that powerful Switzerland-based FIFA found a convenient scapegoat in its attempt to root out corruption in the sport – and he is appealing the lifetime ban before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, also in Switzerland. +12

Yves Jean-Bart, one of the region's longest-serving top soccer official, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that FIFA is 'corrupt'+12

The head of the Haiti soccer federation Jean-Bart was banned from the sport for life last month after being accused of sexually abusing female players+12

A protester holds up a sign that reads in Creole "We are asking for justice," during the hearing of President of the Haitian Football Federation Yves Jean-Bart in May 

'Haiti football is disturbing the establishment,' Jean-Bart said in his native French. 'We have no sponsor, no advertising, no support and no money behind us, yet we beat Costa Rica and we push Mexico and the USA around. How dare we?

'Haiti makes no money for FIFA. Kicking me out and crippling Haitian football was the easy way out, the convenient thing to do. After all, what's Haitian football? It's nothing, right.'

The investigation into sexual abuse made by unnamed sources, purportedly coaches, players, referees and trainers, to The Guardian earlier this year are so preposterous, says Jean-Bart, that he can debunk them with nothing more than basic principles of biology and good old-fashioned common sense – something FIFA refused to do, he said.

Take the rumor he fathered children with young players.

Jean-Bart, who took over the country's soccer apparatus 20 years ago, filed documents with FIFA showing he has been fighting prostate cancer from the time he's been involved with soccer.

His long-term treatment has made it physically impossible for him to impregnate anyone, the 73-year-old Jean-Bart tells DailyMail.com.

According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer treatment can include the removal of the organ that makes sperm capable of fertilizing an egg, radiation, chemotherapy and medication. Any of the treatment is likely to cause erectile dysfunction and the inability to conceive, although each patient can be affected differently.

'Trust me when I tell you that part of me no longer works,' Jean-Bart says about his treatment without elaborating. 'I even sent (FIFA) a copy of the biopsy results.'

Jean-Bart is rumored to have gone underground since the ban and possibly crossed the border into the Dominican Republic.+12

He said on a Zoom call with DailyMail.com that FIFA is bent on keeping Haiti soccer 'in its place' because the men's national team is suddenly competitive against world powerhouses+12

'Haiti football is disturbing the establishment,' Jean-Bart said in his native French. 'We have no sponsor, no advertising, no support and no money behind us, yet we beat Costa Rica and we push Mexico and the USA around. How dare we?'

He appeared on Zoom at the agreed-upon time on December 4 from a room with no art on the sand-colored wall or any distinctive feature.

Wearing a sky-blue open-collar shirt and speaking in a firm but understated manner, Jean-Bart didn't look like a man on the run. As a matter of fact, he looked and sounded downright content and relaxed.

That's because the facts, he says, are on his side.

'They say I abused 100 girls and got some of them pregnant,' says the married father of four adult children. 'They alleged I've got children left and right, with such and such player. Where are all those babies? Not a single witness has come forward with a baby.'

The allegations included rumors Jean-Bart may have forced some of his alleged victims to undergo abortions.

Yet, according to published reports, the pregnancy-ending procedure is illegal in the Caribbean nation.

'Sounds like a good story,' Jean-Bart says, 'except that abortions are not legal in Haiti. What are they talking about?'

Since becoming president of the Haitian federation in 2000, Jean-Bart says, he has spent most of his time trying to get young men and women out of poverty through soccer.

'Our federation had the worst reputation when I came on,' Jean-Bart says. 'The sport here was plagued with theft and bribery. There were stories about drug trafficking conducted by players when they traveled to games in other countries.'

Arguably, the quality on the field of Haiti's soccer improved even as the island has been battered by earthquakes, hurricanes, poverty, environmental catastrophes, hunger, violence and political upheaval.

Jean-Bart oversaw the opening in 2002 of a FIFA-sponsored training center for the country's elite players set up in an aging ranch that once belonged to Haiti dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, the Centre Technique National.

And while the sexual abuse allegedly took place inside the center, it's also been fertile training grounds for the cream of the soccer crop. Today, dozens of male and female players formed there ply their trade in professional leagues in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

'Journalists are at the center all day long,' Jean-Bart says. 'They eat there. They watch the training. They talk to the players, the coaches, everybody. Yet, not a single time, have any of these journalists reported anything wrong.

'I recently counted 15 of our girls are playing in professional teams in France. I'd say the federation did some good work.'

Since Haiti's only appearance in the World Cup in 1974, soccer has risen to the status of religion on the island, making men like Jean-Bart some of the country's most powerful individuals. Rumors have it he has ties to criminal armed gangs, a charge Jean-Bart denied and called 'patently ridiculous.'

Incidentally, someone shot up an alleged victim's home when she wasn't around, and thugs are said to be engaged currently in a campaign of intimidation against believed to have testified against Jean-Bart.+12

'They say I abused 100 girls and got some of them pregnant,' says the married father of four adult children. 'They alleged I've got children left and right, with such and such player. Where are all those babies? Not a single witness has come forward with a baby'+12

There are rumors he fathered children with his alleged victims - some of whom are reportedly under 18. The national teams of the United States and Haiti have a moment of silence during a game between Haiti and USWNT

'I'm such a powerful, scary guy I don't even have security,' Jean-Bart tells DailyMail.com with a sarcastic smile and head shake. 'My house isn't protected by anyone. I drive my own car around town without a chauffeur. I'm a regular, normal person who cares about the country's youth.'

Soccer officials here control the fate of players who have a chance at the comfortable lifestyle of a pro in an industrialized county.

They also represent their country at international soccer gatherings – something that gives them the ability to network with some of the world's richest people.

Is it any wonder, says Jean-Bart, that the election for soccer federation president could spark negative campaigns against him?

Jean-Bart was cruising to what he thought was an easy victory for his sixth four-year mandate early this year when, he says, rumors portraying him as an out-of-control, sex-crazed despot who used money, food and threats to confiscate passports to entice young girls to have sex with him and others got to the ears of reporters at The Guardian and the New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch earlier this year.

'I'm still asking myself questions about this when I go to bed at night,' Jean-Bart said. 'The federation was in a period of election, and like in every election in Haiti, I couldn't escape made up stories and rumors about things that never happened.'

Jean-Bart said someone associated with a rival group contacted The Guardian in London, which assigned sports reporter Ed Aarons to the story.

Aarons is the newspaper's deputy sports editor who specializes in African soccer. Aarons recently published a book about African players who made their mark on English soccer. 

'This man never came to Haiti to investigate,' Jean-Bart said. 'He knows nothing about the subtleties of this country and why certain stories find their way to Europe. No one in Haiti reported this story. But from abroad, The Guardian did.

'This was a well-organized campaign that spread around the world.'

When asked if Aarons traveled to Haiti and why sources weren't named, a spokeswoman for The Guardian released this statement: 'The Guardian's reporting on Mr. Jean-Bart has been carefully considered and researched. The abuse allegations were made to the Guardian by numerous sources, including alleged victims and their families. We stand by our reporting and the sources who informed it, and we strongly reject any attempt to discredit our story.

'Following our reporting, FIFA's independent Ethics Committee conducted a formal investigation into allegations of systematic sexual abuse of female players. FIFA banned Jean-Bart for life after finding him guilty of sexually harassing and abusing multiple female players, including minors.'

Jean-Bart still won the election but, by then, FIFA was under pressure of Human Rights Watch to investigate and ultimately end his tenure.

Said a spokeswoman for the non-profit: 'Human Rights Watch directly interviewed multiple female athlete survivors, witnesses, coaches and referees who spoke of the abuses they experienced or witnessed. These statements detail alleged abuses by Jean-Bart, and also other senior football officials in the federation he ran.'+12

Jean-Bart says his long-term treatment for prostate cancer has made it physically impossible for him to impregnate anyone, despite rumors he fathered children with his victims +12

In a verdict announced last month the FIFA ethics committee found Jean-Bart guilty, banned him from the sport for life and fined him dollars 1.1 million, following accusations of systematic sexual abuse of female players

A scan of Haiti news organizations, meanwhile, shows the country's media barely covered the allegations against Jean-Bart and did not independently investigate them.

The daily newspaper Haiti en Marche and others, however, memorialized the November 16 decision by the Haiti justice system to not prosecute Jean-Bart criminally in connection with the scandal.

A creole language story Haiti en March mentions that prosecutors underscored the fact no victim was identified by government investigators and that no member of the human rights organizations that complained against Jean-Bart 'shined by their absence' from meetings with prosecutors.

The newspaper noted Jean-Bart's criminal investigations were launched on the request of several women's rights groups, including Solidarite Fanm Ayisyen (SOFA).

No one at SOFA responded to an email requesting comments.

Said Evan Nierman, Jean-Bart's spokesman and CEO of the international crisis management firm Red Banyan: 'The Haitian judicial system properly investigated and cleared (Jean-Bart) of wrongdoing, yet FIFA raced to convict him without evidence.'

According to the Human Rights Watch Spokeswoman Minky Worden, there's a good reason why witnesses are not coming forward in public.

'The lack of justice for victims of gender-based violence in Haiti is a long-standing problem,' Worden said. 'The victims themselves end up being punished.

'But I can promise you a number of female players brought us specific evidence against Mr. Jean-Bart.'

She declined to provide more details as, she said, to not tip off Jean-Bart on the identity of the alleged witnesses.

Meanwhile FIFA, says Jean-Bart, may lack the moral authority to investigate.

The powerful soccer governing body itself, he points out, has been caught in scandal after scandal.+12

Former French national team star Michel Platini has been suspended from any soccer activity until 2023 for accepting suspicious payments totally more than $2 million from FIFA+12

Payments to Michel Platini were made by former FIFA president Sepp Blatter (pictured), who was also forced to resign in 2015 after more than 17 years at the helm. 'This is the kind of organization that pretends to be investigating what's happening in Haiti,' Jean-Bart adds

Reports over the past two decades showed how FIFA officials lined their pockets with rigged bids for World Cup tournaments, including the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a desert country where the weather has been found to be downright hazardous to the health of top-flight players.

Former FIFA executive committee member Jack Warner remains holed up in his native Trinidad & Tobago under an extradition request from the United States in connection with his organizing the distribution of bribes within FIFA.

Former French national team star Michel Platini has been suspended from any soccer activity until 2023 for accepting suspicious payments totally more than $2 million from FIFA.

The payments were made by former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who was also forced to resign in 2015 after more than 17 years at the helm.

'This is the kind of organization that pretends to be investigating what's happening in Haiti,' Jean-Bart adds.

FIFA didn't respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, the group sent a team of three investigators to Haiti. They allegedly gathered enough evidence to have Jean-Bart banned and fined the equivalent of $1.1 million.

During his hearing before FIFA's Independent Ethics Committee, Jean-Bart described himself as 'unnerved' in the 10 minutes he personally had to defend himself.

'I knew I was going to be found guilty no matter what,' he said. 'I sent FIFA a 2,000-page document in my defense. I do not believe they even read anything from it.'

His lawyers were given 30 minutes to speak.

'Members of the committee said something about zero tolerance,' Jean-Bart said. 'It was a parody of justice.

'You have to wonder if they'd do the same thing with the president of the French or Italian federations.'

Hundreds march in Haiti after outrage over student's slaying

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Hundreds of protesters – many dressed in school uniforms – marched through the streets of Haiti’s capital Thursday to demand answers after the kidnapping and killing of a young woman that has incensed the nation.

High school senior Evelyne Sincère was found in a trash heap Sunday after relatives said they were unable to pay the large ransom demanded by her captors. Human rights groups contend the incident highlights the nation’s worsening security crisis.

“I am worried,” said Katy Jean-Joseph, 19, who marched while carrying a photo of Sincère. “What happened to Evelyne could have happened to me.”

Haiti has been rocked by street protests demanding President Jovenel Moise’s ouster on allegations that he mismanaged the economy and failed to hold accountable those who siphoned billions in international aid into bank accounts overseas. Now the Caribbean nation is also grappling with growing concern over Moise’s decision to delay legislative elections and instead insist first on a constitutional referendum.

International leaders including the Trump administration and the Organization of American States are pressuring Moise to set a date for a vote.

Meanwhile, the United Nations and rights groups in Haiti are warning about a rising tide of violence by armed gangs whose crimes are largely going unpunished in a country that has struggled to buoy its weak national police force.

The U.N. envoy for Haiti painted a grim picture to the U.N. Security Council last month, saying that the nation is “once again struggling to avert the precipice of instability.” Helen La Lime added that the Haitian National Police would need at least 10,000 well trained and equipped officers to meet international standards.

“Gangs continue to challenge the authority of the state, especially in the more populous neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince,” she said.

Nearly 2,000 protesters gathered Thursday in a neighborhood known as a hotspot for kidnappings and marched to the Ministry of Justice. Many carried photographs of Sincère while chanting phrases like, “If we had a government, Evelyne would not have died.”

The protest ended after police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

“I want to be able to succeed in my country, without fear, and have a normal life — not wake up in the morning and hear about a crime like what happened to Evelyne on the news,” said Nerley Charles, 21, a protester. “We need justice and an end to impunity.”

Police have not released details about the crime, but a local justice of the peace told the newspaper Le Nouvelliste that she had been beaten to death. A video showing Sincère’s sister wailing as the corpse was discovered sparked outrage on social media. She said kidnappers demanded $100,000, far more than the family could raise.

“I begged for mercy and said I’d bring the money,” Enette Sincère told reporters.

Several high-profile radio hosts announced they were canceling their shows to protest the crime, and politicians have joined in the demand for justice. Moise called on police to “put the bandits out of harm’s way.”

“Normally children bury their parents – only in times of war should a parent bury their child,” Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe wrote on Twitter. “But in Haiti we are not at war.”

The crime comes two months after a prominent lawyer, Monferrier Dorval, was shot to death at his home. La Lime said Dorval’s death “epitomizes for many the weak state of rule of law in the country.”

Civil society groups have recorded 162 kidnappings this year, including 21 in October. Fifty-five of the kidnapping victims were reported to be women.

“Women do become more vulnerable as this continues to deteriorate,” said Ellie Happel, director of the Haiti Project at New York University School of Law’s Global Justice Clinic.

Human rights lawyer Mario Joseph called the current situation a “state of terror” in which police do little to hold those responsible for crimes accountable. He pointed to a video circulating online Thursday purporting to show a former policeman wanted on an arrest warrant turning in Sincère’s boyfriend – but facing no apprehension himself.

Joseph said most recent kidnapping victims have been people known to have enough money to pay a ransom – not students from poor families like Sincère. It is unclear whether gangs may have been involved in the crime.

He added that the security crisis is fueling mounting distrust of authorities, some of whom have been implicated in a big corruption scandal involving funds from an oil assistance program. In areas known for gang activity and kidnappings around the capital, police have repeatedly failed to mount an active response, he said.

“There are nearby police stations and there hasn’t been any police intervention,” he said.

In Pictures: Rubber bullets, tear gas at Haiti protests

Several people left injured after the latest unrest during more than a year of protests in Haiti.

l Moise, coinciding with the anniversary of the death of independence hero Jean Jacques Dessalines. [Jean Marc Herve Abelard/EPA]18 Oct 2020

Haitian police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters who blocked roads and set fires in the capital, Port-au-Prince, with several people left injured.

Saturday’s unrest was the latest during more than a year of protests calling for the resignation of President Jovenel Moise over corruption charges.

Haiti is currently experiencing a political impasse without a parliament and is now run by decree under Moise.

Many Haitians criticise the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, alleging it has not done enough to provide treatment or offer economic support to those who lost work due to a national lockdown aimed at preventing its spread.

Police have held their own protests this year, demanding better pay and working conditions. In February, police exchanged fire with Haitian soldiers outside the national palace where police were protesting working conditions.

Earlier this year, a scathing United Nations report accused Haitian police of corruption and failing to protect the population.

Hundreds took part in anti-government protests in Port-au-Prince. [Jean Marc Herve Abelard/EPA]

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The country is currently experiencing a political impasse without a parliament and run entirely by decree under Moise. [Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo]

The opposition organised the large demonstration against President Moise on the anniversary of the killing of national independence hero Jean-Jacques Dessalines. [Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo]

Demonstrators carry a man wounded during the protest in Port-au-Prince. [Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters]

It was the latest unrest during more than a year of protests calling for the resignation of President Moise over corruption charges. [Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters]

Haitian police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters. [Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters]

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Protesters blocked roads and set fires in the capital. [Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters]

Prominent lawyer in Haiti is shot and killed at his home

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A prominent lawyer in Haiti was shot and killed at his home, police said Saturday.

Monferrier Dorval, head of the bar association in the capital, Port-au-Prince, was attacked on Friday night, police spokesman Garry Desrosiers said. He said an investigation was underway.

Haitian President Jovenel Moïse denounced the killing, saying on Twitter that it was a “great loss for the country.”

Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe said Dorval’s killing followed attacks on other Haitian citizens in recent days and that authorities will work to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Haitian Official Says at Least 14 Drown When Boat Sinks

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — At least 14 people drowned and more appeared to be missing after a packed sailboat sank in a channel between mainland Haiti and an outlying island Wednesday, a Haitian official said.

Jose Rethone, coordinator of the civil protection office in Haiti's Northwest Department, told The Associated Press that the boat sank around 1 p.m. as people returned to the Île de la Tortue from market day in the town of Saint-Louis-du-Nord, about an hour's trip across the La Tortue channel.

Nine survivors were rescued from the water, but an unknown number remained lost at sea, Rethone said. He said it was unclear how many passengers had paid about $1 to board the boat, but such vessels often hold dozens of people.

Rethone said the Haitian Coast Guard was unable to respond to calls for aid, and his office had asked the U.S. Coast Guard to help. He said weather was calm and waves were small at the time of the sinking.

FINCA Haiti secures 100 million gourde revolving loan facility from Banque Nationale de Crédit

First local source of funding bolsters microfinance institution’s ability to serve low-income entrepreneurs

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FINCA Haiti S.A. (“FINCA Haiti”) announced today that it has secured a $100 million gourde (approximately $1 MM) loan facility with a one-year renewable tenor from Banque Nationale de Crédit (BNC), Haiti’s largest financial institution. This is the first locally-sourced credit line obtained without a parent company credit enhancement in its 30 years of operation and will give FINCA Haiti stable liquidity with the flexibility and cost efficiency of a credit-line and the added protection against foreign exchange fluctuations without costly foreign currency hedging instruments. The credit line will be used for on-lending to support more than 50,000 microentrepreneurs and small businesses across the country via digital financial inclusion and 12 branches.

FINCA Haiti, one of the nation’s first microfinance institutions, executed a remarkable turnaround following Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Since January 2017, FINCA Haiti grew its loan portfolio by 42% to 762 million gourde and its client base by 13% to over 51,500. In 2015, FINCA Haiti partnered with mobile operator Digicel to launch MonCash, an e-wallet solution offering mobile loan repayment and disbursements. Mobile banking now accounts for 57% of all transactions processed by the institution—a critical lifeline for customers with limited transportation options amid challenging infrastructure.

“We appreciate the confidence of Banque Nationale de Crédit, which recognizes the strength and potential of FINCA Haiti to expand access to affordable, accessible financial services,” said Hamidine Bako, CEO of FINCA Haiti. “With this stable source of local funding, FINCA Haiti will be well-positioned to expand our product offerings and provide vital support to businesses and entrepreneurs emerging from the COVID19 pandemic.”

About FINCA Haiti

FINCA Haiti is a microfinance institution that currently serves more than 50,000 customers – 85% of whom are women – across 12 branches and digital services. FINCA Haiti is part of FINCA Impact Finance, a global network of 20 microfinance institutions and banks that provides socially responsible financial services to low-income individuals to invest in their futures. For more information, visit www.FINCAImpact.com or follow us on Twitter @FINCAImpact.

Tropical Storm Laura kills 9 in Haiti

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) — Haitian authorities yesterday confirmed that nine people had died as Tropical Storm Laura moved away from the French-speaking Caribbean Community country, with residents in Jamaica and Cuba bracing themselves for up to 12 inches of rain.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC), in its latest bulletin, said that swells generated by Laura are affecting portions of Hispaniola, eastern Cuba, the south-eastern end of The Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

It said Laura is expected to produce rainfall accumulations in Jamaica and Cuba of between four to eight inches, with an expected maximum of 12 inches, while the Cayman Islands would receive maximum amounts of up to six inches up until today.

The authorities in Haiti said that the storm, which pounded the country over the last weekend, killed five people in the capital and four in the South-East Department, while two others are missing.

“I share the sorrow of the families whose loved ones were killed on August 23 during the passage through the country of Tropical Storm Laura. I urge the population to respect the instructions of the authorities,” President Jovenel Moïse said.

Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe, who is also president of the National Committee for Risk and Disaster Management, expressed condolence to the family of a 10-year-old girl in the locality of Cachiman.

According to the provisional report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in collaboration with humanitarian partners on the ground, initial information shows that the storm has caused flooding in four departments.

Numerous rivers were also flooded across the country.

The authorities said that they had also evacuated several communities in the Centre and Artibonite departments along the banks of the Artibonite River.

They said telecommunication services were temporarily interrupted on Sunday and that several hospitals were short-staffed due to the inaccessibility of roads, and the health center in Anse-à-Pitre was reportedly flooded.

“Bad weather makes it more difficult to quickly restore the network and electrical circuits. As a result, several areas are at risk of being without electricity for a few days,” the electricity company Électricité d’Haiti said in a statement.

Haiti Calls for Dialogue Over China’s New Law Regarding Hong Kong

PORT AU PRINCE – Haiti has joined the United States and other western countries in condemning the decision by China to enact the National Security Law aimed at curbing protest in Hong Kong.

Last month, China passed the wide-ranging new security law for Hong Kong which makes it easier to punish protesters and reduces the city’s autonomy. Critics have called it “the end of Hong Kong” and the new law came into effect on June 30, an hour before the 23rd anniversary of the city’s handover to China from British rule.

“The Haitian government is concerned about the possible consequences of this legal instrument on the fundamental rights and freedoms enjoyed so far by the Hong Kong people. After an in-depth analysis of this text, the Haitian government realizes that this law systematically violates the fundamental provisions of the Sino-British retrocession agreement as concluded in 1984,” the Jovenel Moise administration said in a statement.

It said it is important to emphasize that the agreement had provided that from the year of handover, in 1997, “the region would enjoy broad autonomy for half a century and that the sacramental principle ‘one country, two systems’, should in any event characterize the relations between the People’s Republic of China and the special administrative region of Hong Kong.

“However, the National Security Law seems to call into question this principle, which the Chinese authorities had nevertheless promised to guarantee at the time of the conclusion of the Retrocession Agreement.

“It should also be added that this law intervenes in a context where the inhabitants of Hong Kong demonstrated massively for the respect and the defense of their fundamental rights, in particular their civil and political rights, recognized under the British administration and maintained in the Retrocession agreement.”

The government said that it “deplores the fact that this law will inevitably lead to a significant, even irreversible, decline in the fundamental freedoms that have ensured the prosperity of Hong Kong and its people for several decades.

“Based on the opacity characterizing the definition of the offenses that this law would punish, such as secession, collusion with foreigners, terrorism and subversion and the heavy penalties that their alleged perpetrators face, the Haitian government urges the Chinese authorities to bring back this controversial legal instrument which will only push back the prospect of establishing the atmosphere of harmony essential between the Hong Kong people and the Chinese mainland authorities.

“In short, the Haitian Government maintains that dialogue remains the royal road by which a solution can be found between the various protagonists involved directly or indirectly in this file,” the statement added.

Last week, Dominica, which like Haiti belongs to the 15-member regional integration movement, said supports the legal efforts by China to maintain law and order in “all of China including that of Hong Kong” even as Roseau indicated it does not get involved in the internal affairs of countries.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit speaking at the handing over of three bridges funded by Beijing, said while his island does not interfere in the internal affairs of countries, it has nonetheless “recognised that in the international press and in some countries they have attempted to attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of countries.

“And sometimes they do it with impunity and I want to say to you, your Excellency, as I have conveyed to your President and to your government that Dominica stands in total solidarity with all of the legal actions which China has had to take to maintain law and order in the whole of China, including that of Hong Kong and we stand in solidarity with the government of the People’s Republic of China in this regard”, he added.

Dominica enjoys diplomatic relations with China, while Haiti has diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.