Haiti: Criticism of Judicial System Returns

February 7, 2024 Hour: 9:08 pm

On Tuesday, the performance of the justice system in Haiti is now the target of criticism after only two out of three inciters of violence in the Antillean country were summoned to appear before the authorities.

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Political activists Magalie Habitant and Myrthil Marcelin will be received on February 9 at the Prosecutor’s Office in Port-au-Prince, both accused of promoting violence, conspiracy against the security of the State, death threats and criminal conspiracy, among other charges.

Meanwhile, former senator Jean Charles Moïse, who called for the country to be paralyzed for five days, insisted that the riots were not peaceful and asked the police not to intervene, was not summoned to appear before the authorities.

The secretary general of the Pitit Desalin Platform also invited the population to attack all the country’s institutions, in particular the ministries, the residences of members of the government and commercial banks.

The crisis in #Haiti is worsening, with nearly 314,000 Haitians displaced by armed violence. The number of internally displaced children has more than doubled compared to last year.

More from our latest Latin America & The Caribbean Situation Update: https://t.co/Wrn1bKbpPE pic.twitter.com/RTJ7wsgrMx

— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA)
February 5, 2024

The local media, which is always firing all the time against corruption in the country, is now questioning the difference in the judicial treatment between the two activists and the former senator.

Gérard Laborde, head of Legal Regulation and Corporate Affairs at Digicel Haiti, called for calm and suggested a real public debate so that the protagonists could present their points of view.

In his opinion, this would be a first step towards a dialogue, as only serenity will allow a consensus to be reached.

“It is not a question of winners or losers, but of an agreement which would put an end to the anguish experienced by the population and other actors of society,” Laborde stressed.

On December 21, 2022, an agreement was signed, underlining that the Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, would remain in power for 14 months, which he would hand over on February 7 of the current year.

He was to form a new government, establish a Provisional Electoral Council and assume the organization of the next elections.

Faced with the silence on the matter and the absence of an attitude that would please his detractors, the opponents began to promote protests, calling for a popular uprising.