OPEN LETTER FROM THE HAITIAN COALITION IN CANADA AGAINST DICTATURE IN HAITI TO DEPUTIES (ELECTED)
Saturday March 6, 2021 ((rezonodwes.com)) –
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Haitian Coalition in Canada against the Dictatorship in Haiti (CHCDH) wishes to alert members of the Chamber of Deputies to the extremely serious situation the Haitian people have been facing for more than two years. She also wants to share with them her concern regarding the unconditional support of Canada, among others through the Core Group, to the power devoid of constitutional legitimacy, corrupt and dictatorial of Mr. Jovenel Moïse.
Since 2018, social mobilizations and demonstrations have followed one another in Haiti to denounce corruption, the deterioration of rights and living conditions, authoritarianism and demand the departure of Mr. Jovenel Moïse.
1. According to the terms of articles 134-2 and 134-3 of the Haitian Constitution of 1987 amended in 2011, February 7, 2021 marked the end of the mandate of the President of the Republic, Mr. Jovenel Moïse. This was confirmed by the Superior Council of the Judicial Power (CSPJ), the Federation of Bars of Haiti, the Episcopal Conference of Haiti. It should be remembered that Mr. Jovenel Moïse, relying on the electoral law of March 2015, declared the lapse of parliament in January 2020, dismissed the deputies and two-thirds of the senators, installed new municipal councils. Since then, he has governed by decree and wants to hold a constitutional referendum, which is contrary to the prescriptions of the Haitian constitution.
In addition, the subjugation of justice by Mr. Jovenel Moïse took a tragic turn with the retirement, on February 8, 2021, of three judges of the Court of Cassation who are constitutionally (article 177) irremovable and their replacement by decree on February 11, 2021. In 2020, forty-one (41) decrees and one hundred and twenty (120) orders were promulgated dismantling the foundations of the rule of law and establishing a system of generalized economic predation. Among these illegal instruments we can cite: the decree of June 24, 2020 on the new Penal Code, the decree of November 6, 2020 restricting the a priori control power of the Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Disputes, the decree of November 26, 2020 creating the National Intelligence Agency (ANI) and organizing the strengthening of public security in Haiti. All this unequivocally shows the establishment of a dictatorial power.
2. Waste, embezzlement of funds in favor of those close to the regime characterize the functioning of the Moïse-Jouthe administration. Mr. Jovenel Moïse as well as companies and personalities close to power are implicated in the reports of the Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Litigation (CSCCA), in particular for the waste and embezzlement of funds of the Petrocaribe agreement. Recently, a senator close to power and his wife, Haitian consul in Montreal, bought a villa for $ 4.5 million in Canada without a mortgage! Despite the end of his mandate, Jovenel Moïse, by the decree published on Monday February 8, 2021, granted the status of free zone to agricultural land of Savane Diane, in Saint-Michel-de-l’Attalaye (Artibonite) classified as a priority area in 2018 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) for the country’s food self-sufficiency. However, the said project grants 18 million dollars (US) to the company Stevia agro-industrie SA (Stevia SA) for the manufacture of sweetener for the transnational Coca-Cola. It should be remembered that in 2017, the MARNDR had granted part of this land to the feminist organization. Solidarity of Haitian women (Sofa) for the development of an organic farming project and the strengthening of the Délicia Jean Farm School.
3. Insecurity is rife throughout the national territory and produces a climate of terror. The armed gangs regroup (G-9 in family and allies), they act in the open and with complete impunity. Massacres have been perpetrated daily since 2018 in working-class neighborhoods, in particular in La Saline, Cité Soleil, Martissant, Bel-Air, Carrefour-feuille, Tokyo and Pont-Rouge. Women, students and children are kidnapped, murdered, raped. From January to August 2020, 944 individuals were murdered, 124 cases of kidnappings were recorded according to the Platform of Human Rights Organizations (POHDH). Since then, cases of kidnapping and murder have multiplied: a 5-year-old girl kidnapped and murdered on February 7, 2021, two lawyers between February 16 and 17, a doctor murdered on February 28!
These crimes documented by human rights organizations, some of which by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) index those close to the regime as protagonists. None of them has been arrested, they circulate freely, despite the arrest warrants issued against some of them. So many revealing facts about the connection between power and armed gangs.
4. The National Police has become the armed wing of power. Summary executions, arbitrary arrests, excessive use of tear gas, live ammunition in demonstrations organized by opponents of the government have become the norm. The repression against political opponents is increasing. On the night of February 7 to 8, 2021, at 3 a.m., 23 people – including a judge from the Court of Cassation – were arrested and accused of plotting a plot against state security. Judge Dabresil is the only one to have been released on February 11, 2021. This strangely recalls the practices in force during the Duvalier dictatorship.
5. Canada’s support for the de facto Moïse regime is evident with: a) the announcement of bilateral cooperation projects; b) Ambassador Stuart Savage’s meeting with the controversial Police Chief Léon Charles on January 18 to discuss “police capacity building”; c) the February 12 telephone conversation between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Marc Garneau, with the de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs of Haiti, Claude Joseph. This is despite the fact that Canada has not denounced human rights violations and has so far chosen to reaffirm its support for the de facto regime.
Ladies and gentlemen deputies,
On the strength of these objective facts, the Haitian CHCDH asks that Canada stop supporting the dictatorship in power and recognize the sovereignty and the right to self-determination of the Haitian people.
She appeals to the elected officials and calls on them to demand that the Canadian government dissociate itself from the de facto government of Mr. Jovenel Moïse.
Who are we :
The Haitian Coalition in Canada against the Dictatorship in Haiti is a group of personalities, organizations and associations operating in various sectors of Canadian society. It aims to:
1. to denounce the non-respect of the Constitution, the dismantling of institutions, the systematic violation of the rights and dignity of Haitian citizens, the installation of a generalized climate of terror and persecution politics, the arbitrary and dictatorial practices of the de facto government of Jovenel Moïse.
2. to listen to the demands of the Haitian people
3.express our solidarity with the struggle of the Haitian people and their right to self-determination
4. mobilize the Haitian community in Canada and create synergies with the Haitian diaspora around the world.
For authentication:
_____________________________
Pascale romain
Contact : Dominique MATHON
Email: [email protected]
Signatories
Fritz Edner Almeda
Amazer War
Frantz André, Action Committee for Persons Without Status (CAP)
Jean-Pierre Bejin
Marie-Florence Casimir
Orlando Drive
Magalie Civil
Frantz Clairvil
Hérold Constant
Marie Sunday
Renel Exentus
Reginald Germain
Ricardo Gustave
Jean-Claude Icart
Robert Ismaël, Cercle Jacques Roumain
Chantal Isme
Joseph Lamarre
Marie-Élise Lebon
Kela Manigat-Tardieu
Richard Mathelier
Dominique mathon
Maguy Metellus
Walner Osna
Elisabeth philibert
Ninette Piou
Marlene Rateau
Edenne Roc
Pascale romain
Celia Romulus
Jocelyne Saint-Leger
Alain Saint-Victor
Jennie-Laure Sully
Lenous Supprice
Marjorie Villefranche
Frantz Voltaire
