Two years after the assassination of President Moïse, the investigation remains stalled

Despite the fact that dozens of suspects remain detained in Haitian jails and eleven others have been prosecuted in the United States, the investigation into the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse two years ago remains bogged down.

The Citizen Protection Office in the Caribbean nation requested this week that the authorities better protect Walter Wesser Voltaire, the fifth investigative judge appointed to the case since the assassination occurred.

Moise he was assassinated on July 7, 2021 at his residence in Port-au-Prince, the capital of the country. His wife, the first lady Martine Étienne Moïse, demanded last June that those involved compensate her family and that the case finally go forward.

“For whatever assets there are, we’re going to make sure these people pay,” attorney Paul Turner told The Associated Press.

The Citizen Protection Office in Haiti has called for an international investigation into the case and regretted that “many individuals denounced for this murder are still at large.”

In the US there are 11 suspects under arrest, one already sentenced last month. On the island, more than 50 suspects remain locked up in the precarious prison facilities there; 18 of them are Colombian citizens.

Ariel Henry took over as interim president pending the long-awaited elections. Criticism falls on him because four previous judges have been dismissed or resigned citing personal reasons.

chaos and violence

After Moïse’s death, the country became more insecure. The gangs exceeded police control, killed agents, several journalists have been killed and the United Nations Security Council has held several meetings calling for an international force to assist law enforcement.

“The Haitian people are trapped in a living nightmare. The humanitarian conditions are beyond appalling.” said Guterres this week upon his return to New York after a visit to Haiti, taking advantage of the Caricom heads of state meeting in Trinidad and Tobago.

Guterres stressed that the rape and kidnapping of civilians by gangs have become a weapon of intimidation in the country.

US support

The Haitian National Police has lost control of some of the most populous neighborhoods, and the United States has been the country that has provided the most resources and aid in training and supplies to that nation in the last two years, Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said after meeting in Trinidad and Tobago with President Henry

“We support the Haitian government’s call for a multinational force to help its police restore security,” Blinken said in line with the UN call.

blinken stood out in the meeting with the Haitian premier that since 2021, the State Department “has allocated almost 100 million dollars to security in Haiti,” and promised to expand support for humanitarian assistance.

However, civil society groups inside and outside Haiti have called on President Joe Biden not to send troops to the island, given a history of misuse of force that has occurred years ago.

“We are very concerned that the deployment of a military force will only perpetuate and strengthen Henry’s hold on power, without doing anything to ameliorate the root causes of the crisis we are witnessing today,” a group of activists said in November 2022. in a letter released in Washington.

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