Welcome to the latest edition of Woy Magazine’s biweekly newsletter, providing you with must-know news and commentary on Haiti and our Diaspora.
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Nan tan grangou, patat pa gen po In times of famine, potatoes have no skin (Haitian Proverb)
CHAY LA | Main Story
CARICOM Negotiations
After appointing the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) of Caricom to facilitate a transition plan in Haiti, political negotiations are not progressing as quickly as hoped.
Jacques Ted Saint-Dic, Montana Accord spokesperson, points to inconsistencies among the various actors in the question of an EPG proposal and to Caricom’s lack of sovereignty with regard to Western influence:
The EPG notes having received “encouraging responses from stakeholders” on the proposal they put together during the course of their mediation efforts, and that they are planning to move forward by drafting a framework of accord accounting for the feedback received thus far.
Politik/Polemik
Koripsyon
On November 15th, the government agency in charge of investigating corruption ULCC (Unité de lutte contre la corruption) published 11 reports of investigations which it conducted, and handed over in a press conference to the Haitian judiciary. Since July 2021, when Hans Jacques Ludwig Joseph became the head of the institution, it's been pumping out reports.
Several state institutions and former public officials have been indicted, such as former Senator Nènel Cassy, notably for acts of embezzlement of public property, illicit enrichment, and the illegal taking of interests. According to these reports, former senators Joseph Lambert, Wanique Pierre, Richard Lénine Hervé Fourcand and Garcia Delva are also suspected of embezzling public assets.
The National Center for Equipment (CNE) is at the center of these investigations, as public machinery and other equipment have been found unlawfully under the control of several former parliamentarians.
In one of its partial reports, ULCC is calling for an administrative, financial, and accounting audit of the CNE, as well as the establishment of a legal framework governing the CNE's mission and operations.
It is also recommending the prosecution of former parliamentarians Willot Joseph, Francisco Delacruz, Worms Périlus, Clovis Obas, Wolf Papillon, former mayor of Gros-Morne (Artibonite) Jean Renel Tidé, Morel Espérance Hérard, Daniel Ossé, Malherbe François, Bel Ange Pierre, Sergeot Remarais, Marthis Fortuné, Jean Marcelin Jean Claude, and Roosvelt Délimont, also accused of misappropriating public property.
In the last newsletter, we discussed the recent UN report on the Martelly regime’s support of gangs and emptying out of the country’s coffers. If the UN proceeds with making a list of those sanctioned public, Ariel Henry and his team will find themselves in a very difficult position. That the ULCC is doing its job is a good thing because thousands of Haitians marched against and organized in the anticorruption movement that erupted in 2018, and many lost their lives for it. But we shouldn’t believe that Ariel Henry is committed to fighting corruption. It’s important to point out that most of those targeted by ULCC’s investigations are politicians and officials who were loyal or allied with President Moise. These two camps, which have broken off from PHTK, are still fighting to remain politically relevant.
Like the revelations from the UN report, ULCC’s investigations will require that the justice sector mobilize human and financial resources to see these cases through, with the leadership of honest judges, pressure from the Haitian civil society, and a legitimate group of people at the head of the executive.
POLITIK / POLEMIK
Kenya approves deployment
The Kenyan parliament voted to authorize the deployment of Kenyan police officers to Haiti. The request, which was suspended on claims of lack of public involvement and calling on the police rather than the military for international intervention, is now being said to meet Kenyan constitutional requirements, according to Parliament's deputy speaker Gladys Boss. Notably, it takes into account public views based on polls collected between Nov. 2 and Nov. 9.
“Kenya’s own defense ministry has publicly stated that UN missions provide “ a rare opportunity to obtain UN allowances that are ordinarily not offered by the KDF (Kenya Defense Forces)” (Source: The Nation)
Though the parliament has approved the deployment, it is still undecided whether the deployment will actually take place. A scheduled court hearing in Kenya, slated for Jan. 26, 2024, still remains in order to decide whether the mission is constitutional according to the Kenyan constitution.
“Change in Haiti will not come through yet another UN or outsourced US intervention.
Speaking after UN approval of the Haiti mission, Kenya’s president William Auto said Haitians were being punished for “choosing to be free human beings’. He was referring to the country’s independence in 1804.
In 2013, Britain agreed to compensate 5,228 Kenyans who were tortured during the Mau Mau uprising against the colonial regime in the 1950s. Although the money hardly restores the dignity and livelihoods lost through colonialism, the decision to settle and aware each claimant approximately US$4,000 is historic.
Real change for Haiti would begin with reparations.” (Source: The Nation)
Border Negotiations
Negotiations between truckers from Haiti and the Dominican Republic are underway to reopen the border and restore trade between both sides. Steven Josef, president of the Ouanaminthe Truckers' Association, reports having received several offers from the Dominican side.
The president of the Ouanaminthe Truckers' Association said he would be responding to the Dominican offers on Saturday, November 25th, following a meeting with the Haitian government on Thursday, November 23rd. While negotiations are underway, the Haitian side of the border has remained closed, impeding the flow of goods from the Dominican Republic into Haitian territory.
Migrasyon
After a surge in migrants from Cuba and Haiti via Nicaragua, the U.S. hits Nicaragua-bound charter flights with visa sanctions. This comes a few weeks after Haiti's de facto government banned flights to Nicaragua in an effort to stop the surge.
It isn’t clear who the State Department plans to stop from traveling to the United States. However, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols said in a tweet that these restrictions are aimed at those facilitating the charter flights into Nicaragua, such as travel agencies and the companies who provide the charter flights. Brian A. Nichols also said that this is aimed at protecting migrants from abuse.
In response to the decision to end the flights, several flight organizers in Haiti sued the country’s Civil Aviation Authority, arguing that the decision was made unilaterally “without taking into account the expenses incurred in millions of American dollars by the applicants and others.”
On Sunday, Ortega, who governs Nicaragua alongside his wife, Rosario Murillo, announced his country’s formal withdrawal from the Organization of American States. The State Department called it “another step away from democracy.”
The move “further isolates Nicaragua from the international community,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller wrote on X. (Source: Miami Herald)
ON THIS DAY IN HAITIAN HISTORY (10 November - 24 November)
Raboteau Massacre Convictions
A landmark victory in the fight against impunity in Haiti 23 years ago, November 16th marked the 23rd anniversary of the Raboteau Massacre Convictions, where government forces of the paramilitary group ruling the country following the first coup against Aristide, were held responsible for attacking a pro-Artistide neighborhood. Civilians were beaten, tortured, and killed in their homes, and the families of the deceased were not allowed to collect the bodies. Of the 37 men convicted in absentia by the Haitian court in question, none have served any time following their sentencing.
“Haitian law requires that any individuals convicted in absentia be arrested upon returning to Haiti and either accept the conviction issued against them or request and participate in renewed proceedings. In a positive step, the government has been detaining former death squad leader Emmanuel ‘Toto’ Constant “the founder and head of a paramilitary group complicit in the Raboteau massacre” since he was deported to Haiti in June pursuant to his in absentia conviction.
But justice remains elusive as the prosecutor on the case first publicly stated that he couldn’t find case documents and therefore might have to release Constant and then dodged victims’ representatives seeking clarification on potential proceedings.
More troubling still, the present administration installed one of the men convicted in absentia for the Raboteau massacre, Colonel Jean-Robert Gabriel, into a top leadership role in Haiti’s reconstituted armed forces, along with several other individuals with troubling human rights records.” (Source: IJDH)
ON THIS DAY IN HAITIAN HISTORY (10 November - 24 November)
Battle of Vertières - 18 November 1803
November 18th marked the 220th anniversary of the Battle of Vertières, the decisive battle that cemented Haiti’s victory against the French and ushered in Haiti’s independence.
KILTIRÈL
Festival 4 Chemins
Festival 4 Chemins has started for its 20th edition. This year, the famed theatre festival is putting dance in the spotlight by honoring legendary choreographer and teacher Jean-Guy Saintus, founder of Ayikodans. You can check out what they have in store for this year’s festivities here. The festival will run from November 20 to December 2, 2023 in Port-au-Prince.
LeKit’s Documentary Film Festival
LeKit Haiti dropped the trailer for this year's documentary film festival (Rencontre du Documentaire en Haiti). The festival will explore the theme "EXILÉ.ES DANS SON PAYS" or “Exiled in one’s own country,” starting Sunday, Dec. 3 to Sunday, Dec. 10 in Port-au-Prince.