State of siege and systematic violation of the civil and political rights of the population:
RNDDH demands compliance with the Haitian Constitution
RESEAU NATIONAL DE DÉFENSE DES DROITS HUMAINS (RNDDH)
NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE NETWORK
RESEAU NATIONAL DE DÉFENSE DES DROITS HUMAINS (RNDDH)
REZO NASYONAL POU DEFANN DWA MOUN
NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE NETWORK
COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE
CONTACTE:
Marie Rosy Kesner AUGUSTE DUCENA
(509)2940-1222 / 3755-9591 / 3463-4192 (509) 3782-2897
__________________________________________________________________________________
1. For some time, illegal and arbitrary acts have been perpetrated in the country by individuals in the payroll of the now former President of the Republic of Haiti, Jovenel MOÏSE, with the obvious objective of sowing terror among the Haitian population and establishing the state of siege.
2. Indeed, on February 6, 2021, the day before the end of the constitutional mandate of former President Jovenel MOÏSE, agents of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) went to the residence of Ralph Youry CHEVRY, former mayor of Port-Au-Prince and active member of the opposition and broke his barrier with the help of a vehicle of the PNH; A few days earlier, he had been, according to the statements made to the RNDDH, invited to the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ). Following his hearing, he had been invited to return home;
3. On February 7, 2021, a home invasion perpetrated at the Residence Petit Bois, in Tabarre, by agents of the General Security Unit of the National Palace (USGPN) – accompanied by the de facto Minister of Justice and Public Security, Rockfeller VINCENT, of the director general a.i. of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) Léon CHARLES, of the head of the USGPN, the police commissioner Dimitri HERARD, of the Government Commissioner at the Court of First Instance of the Croix-des-Bouquets, Maître Elder GUILLAUME, Justice of the Peace of the Croix-des-Missions, Maître Jean FLORESTAL and the Government Commissioner at the Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince Maître Bed-Ford CLAUDE – led to the arrest of eighteen (18) political prisoners, including a Judge at the Court of Cassation, Yvickel Dieujuste DABRESIL;
4. At the time of the unlawful and arbitrary arrest of the magistrate Yvickel Dieujuste DABRESIL, the USGPN agents who were operating, asked him for the address of Louis Pressoir JEAN PIERRE and Joseph Mecène JEAN LOUIS, two (2) other Judges at the Court of Cassation;
5. During the day of February 7, 2021, any group of people was systematically dispersed by the National Police of Haiti (PNH) with tear gas or automatic weapons. These events were recorded in Port-au-Prince, at the Crossroads of the airport named Kafou Rezistans, at Champ de Mars, in Lalue as well as in some provincial cities;
6. On February 8, 2021, after the appointment of the oldest magistrate of the Court of Cassation Joseph Mecène JEAN LOUIS as Provisional President of the Republic of Haiti, the barriers of the Court of Cassation and the Superior Council of Judicial Power (CSPJ) where the School is also located of the Magistracy, were padlocked and agents of the General Security Unit of the Palace National (USGPN), deployed in front of these premises;
7. Also on February 8, 2021, by presidential decree, former President Jovenel MOÏSE and his
de facto team, decided to retire three (3) magistrates from the Court of Cassation, all three (3) holders of mandates in the course of execution which, according to Article 177 of the Haitian Constitution, make them irremovable. These are the magistrates and magistrate:
Yvickel Dieujuste DABRESIL, age fifty-four (54);
Wendell COQ THELOT, born June 25, 1966, age fifty-five (55);
Joseph Mecène JEAN LOUIS, born March 6, 1949, age seventy-one (71).
8. On the same day, at the same time, citizens demonstrating at the Champ de Mars were brutalized by agents of the Departmental Unit for the Maintenance of Order (UDMO). In addition, the heavily armed individuals claiming to be from the Armed Forces of Haiti (FAD'H) fired lethal bullets to the demonstrators. At least two (2) journalists who were injured. They were:
Jean Ril MEUS, journalist with Télé PAM, an online media outlet and Radio Intrépide Canada, was hit with one (1) bullet in the stomach. On the same day, he underwent surgery to remove the bullet from his body. However, given the condition. On the same day, he underwent surgery to extract the bullet from his body. However, given the state of his liver, he must undergo a second operation as soon as its physical state permits;
Alvarez DESTINE, journalist at BCN Télévision and online media received one (1) bullet to the right arm. The bullet came out. He was treated the same day. However, his doctors fear a complication of his health.
9. On the afternoon of February 8, 2021, a Trace Notice was issued by the DCPJ against former mayor of Port-au-Prince Ralph Youry CHEVRY.
10. The above facts clearly demonstrate that de facto President Jovenel MOÏSE and his team established a state of siege in the country, which is unacceptable. Because, in addition to the palpable terror that characterizes the current situation, they attack with virulence the power Haitian judicial that they want to muzzle by all means.
11. The RNDDH also denounces with the greatest vehemence, the decree dated February 8,
2021 by the former President of the Republic, Jovenel MOÏSE, by which he intends to retire
the judges of the Court of Cassation, Yvickel Dieujuste DABRESIL, Wendelle COQ THELOT and Joseph Mecène JEAN-LOUIS.
12. The RNDDH recalls that, under the principle of the hierarchy of standards, an order may not
have primacy over the Haitian Constitution, the country’s parent law, whose article 177 prescribes the conditions under which the judges of the Court of Cassation, the Courts of Appeal and the First Instance may be retired.
13. The RNDDH takes this opportunity to point out to the attention of all that Jovenel MOÏSE is usurping the office of President of the Republic and has not been usurping it since February 7, 2021, when his constitutional mandate came to an end. Consequently, it has no authority as of February 7, 2021 to engage the nation, publish decrees in the official newspaper, or arbitrarily drag the country, as it does.
14. Finally, the RNDDH invites once again the Haitian population to remain vigilant in order to protect its democratic gains, which are currently in jeopardy.
Port-au-Prince, February 9, 2021