Haiti: Change is not for tomorrow

Peace and Security are two commodities that are hard to come by on the embattled island of Haiti. Ask anyone who still dares to walk the gang-infested streets; they might tell you that living in hell might be no different than life in Haiti.

The governance structure in Haiti may have temporarily changed since April, but the actors remain the same, and the staggering challenges remain unmet. Power and self-enrichment continue to be top priorities for those in charge. Unity, constructive dialogue, government reform, good governance, and the well-being of the Haitian people seem to be impossible aspirations. The people’s despair grows while their hope for a better future dwindles with each passing day.

Gang violence continues to go unchecked in Port-au-Prince, where armed criminals are still controlling more than 80% of the nation’s capital, their reach stretching to many parts of the Artibonite Department, north of the capital, and steadily creeping to other regions on the island. Their firepower seems superior to that of the Haitian National Police despite the armored trucks, weapons, and ammunition that the United States government has recently provided to them, 31 years after the United Nations Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the island nation following the Haitian armed forces’ ousting of President Jean Bertrand Aristide from power in a 1991 coup d’état whose consequences are still being felt in Haiti today.

The impact of this unprecedented violence on business operations and daily life is monumental, with the population still unable to circulate freely without the fear of being assaulted, kidnapped, or killed. Many jobs have been lost, with businesses barely able to survive the daily assault of gangs. So, the money is running out, and, in many cases, there is no money. My friends and neighbors in Haiti, whom I call regularly, describe a dismal daily scene where many of my neighbors, now jobless, sit listlessly on the sidewalk, hoping for a Western Union transfer from family living in the United States and waiting for tragedy to strike. The lucky ones (if we can call them lucky) have packed up and left Haiti for safer, more promising horizons. Those who stay live in constant anxiety and fear. Tomorrow is not promised.

According to a UN report published on September 27, 2024, at least 3,661 people have been killed in Haiti since January due to rampant gang violence, “maintaining the high levels of violence seen in 2023,” stated the UN human rights office, OHCHR.

A September 2024 Security Council Report once again highlighted concern over the escalating gang violence and political instability in Haiti, which has resulted in a record 578,074 internal displacements earlier this year, including over 310,000 women and girls and 180,000 children, in the first five months of 2024, making Haiti the country with the highest internal displacement globally due to crime-related violence. A ReliefWeb report places the number of internally displaced people at 702,943 in September. And the number climbs higher every day as people continue to flee their neighborhoods as gang members ruthlessly rape, kill, and set fire to homes.

Yet, the nine-member Transitional Presidential Council (TPC), a political compromise to fill the institutional void left after the ousting of the controversial Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who held the reins of the country following President Jovenel Moïse’s murder in July 2021, does not seem to appreciate the suffering of the people it is here to serve. Their interest seems to lie closer to their pockets and a fight for the most power.

Since its constitution and swearing-in on April 25, 2024, the Council has been plagued with infighting, with its nine presidents barely being able to agree on anything and taking weeks to select a prime minister whose mandate was to restore security and organize free and fair elections in February 2026. Did I say nine presidents? Imagine the resources it takes to maintain them: security detail, homes, bullet-proof vehicles, salaries, benefits, and other privileges. All this in the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

After his inauguration as Prime Minister on June 3, 2024, Garry Conille tackled key challenges in a plethora of dire issues, all needing immediate attention. He replaced the head of the National Haitian Police, whose failure to control gangs during his mandate was catastrophic.   The Prime Minister initiated many reforms in public administration and announced that he would also make changes in the justice sector. His minister of foreign affairs, Dominique Dupuy, infuriated many as she boldly tackled the deep-seated problems in Haitian diplomacy, where acts of corruption allegedly funded many illegal activities and the campaigns of many corrupt politicians. Her damning declarations seemed to make many a politician very uneasy and unleashed the ire of the TPC, where its new coordinator, Leslie Voltaire, went as far as accusing her of treason. Garry Conille’s refusal to fire her and make changes in his cabinet of ministers eventually led to his own dismissal, with none of the security issues resolved. In my humble opinion, more men and women of the caliber and conviction of Ms. Dupuy, former Haiti representative to UNESCO, instrumental in Haiti’s ascent to the Vice-Presidency and responsible for UNESCO awarding our famous soup joumou (pumpkin soup) protected cultural heritage status, are needed if Haiti is to see better days.

In a letter to the National Press Director who publishes the national Gazette, Prime Minister Conille beseeched him not to publish the executive order firing him, as he deemed the decision illegal and in violation of the April 3, 2024, agreement and the May 27, 2024 executive order that organizes the transition and clearly outlines how a Prime Minister can be disposed of. In the meantime, the TPC, now headed by Lavalas representative Leslie Voltaire, moved forward with their decision to fire Garry Conille and install businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as the new Prime Minister.

A respected lawman weighs in

In a note published on November 9th by lawman Bernard Gousse, former Minister of Justice and Dean of Quisqueya Université’s School of Law, he affirmed that the Transitional Presidential Council’s decision to fire Conille was illegal on many fronts.

First, ex-Minister Gousse’s analysis touches on the very functioning capacity of the TPC. In Article 2 of the April 10, 2024 Decree that created the TPC, it is stated that “no person may be a member of the Council who is the subject of a legal charge or prosecution”.  Several months ago, three sitting members of the TPC were accused of trying to extort 100 million gourdes (roughly the equivalent of 757,580 USD) from the President of the Banque Nationale de Crédit, a commercial bank owned by the Haitian State, should he wish to keep his job.  This is likened to an act of corruption and has been referred to the courts. These three members are legally unable to sit on the Council, effectively crippling its capacity to function. Therefore, any decision from that body of individuals is rendered null and void for not having the quorum required to adjudicate on such a resolution.

Secondly, the TPC’s request to Prime Minister Conille that he effect changes in his cabinet of ministers, specifically imposing their own man at the Ministry of Justice, is a conflict of interest as “it is a principle of administrative law that an administrative authority may not take part in a decision that concerns itself or its close relations”, stated Professor Gousse.  This was reportedly at the root of the Council’s decision to fire Conille. It is then not unreasonable to deduce that their decision to control that particular Ministry would be for the sole purpose of having the Minister stop all legal pursuits against the three shamed members of the TPC. As a Haitian citizen, I am outraged by that kind of shameless behavior. But then again, this has been a burden that Haiti has borne, time and time again, with past authorities who have seldom been brought to justice for their blatant abuse of power.

Thirdly, the decree creating the TPC confers on it the power to name a prime minister but not to fire them. Instead, this responsibility falls to the Organe de Contrôle de l’Action Gouvernementale (OCAG), a body charged with the oversight or audit of government action. This body, however, has never been set up. So, we are faced with an institutional void where the OCAG does not exist and the Prime Minister has not resigned. Mr. Gousse suggests that the resolution of this impasse lies only with the political parties and alliances involved in creating this structure of governance, who can then meet to declare a vote of non-confidence against Prime Minister Conille.

In other words, until that happens, Garry Conille would continue to be the only legitimate Prime Minister of Haiti, and Mr. Alix Fils-Aimé can quietly wait his turn. But then again, the TPC will do whatever it wants, and there’s no one to stop it. Except, perhaps, the people, if they weren’t so out of breath.

Moving forward

In his inaugural speech on November 11^th, the new Prime Minister recentered the mission of his transitional government around two major objectives: restore security and organize general elections that would not be contested.  Haiti elections are crucial to provide Haiti with legal and legitimate political authorities, as there are no officials today who have had the benefit of being elected by the people.  Mr. Fils-Aimé vowed to maintain all that has been well done by Conille’s government and to improve what needs to be improved, a hint at a rarity in this country—continuity of government action.

Prime Minister Fils-Aimé called all Haitians, regardless of social status or profession, to band together for Haiti’s success. “The time is not for despair but to band together in hope,” said the new Prime Minister in an emotional moment. The country’s situation is dire, but nothing is impossible, he concluded.

It didn’t take long for the social media rumor mill to attack his character, alleging his affiliation with many controversial businessmen who have been sanctioned by the United Nations, the United States, or Canada for their alleged involvement in funding gangs, while the actual coordinator of the TPC, Leslie Voltaire, is rumored to be the puppet of another powerful businessman, also sanctioned by the international community. If true, it doesn’t bode well for Haiti’s future.  And that would be regrettable.  I met Mr. Voltaire almost 20 years ago when I religiously attended weekly meetings at the Civil Society Initiative (ISC), where he, in his capacity as an urban planner and another engineer, once presented a magnificent and ambitious project for the waterfront area of Cité Soleil (now a shantytown run by gang leader, Jimmy Chérisier, a.k.a. Barbecue). This area would be prime real estate in any other country, and Mr. Voltaire proposed to turn it into a little Venice with waterways and multiple connecting bridges.  I still think about that project and how wonderful it might have been for Port-au-Prince and tourism had the country not repeatedly plunged into chaos.

Haiti is isolated once again

As the drama unfolds and the crisis deepens at the head of the nation, gang violence has caused another tragedy. On November 11^th, a Spirits Airlines aircraft arriving from Fort Lauderdale to Port-au-Prince was hit by gunfire, where bullets pierced the fuselage and entered the cabin, hitting overhead compartments.  A flight attendant is reported to have been injured during the incident. JetBlue also received a bullet under its hull, as observed when it landed in New York. As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration has prohibited U.S. carriers from flying into Haiti airspace for 30 days as of November 12th, causing the airport in Port-au-Prince to close for the second time this year, locking people in and out of the country.  The last airport closure cut us off from the rest of the world for 77 days.  JetBlue, American Airlines, and Air Caraïbes have all announced that their service to Haiti will be suspended until February 12, 2025. The Canadian carrier Air Transat won’t resume its service to Haiti until January 15, 2025.  Other airlines like Intercaribbean Airways and local carrier Sunrise Airways won’t be flying to Port-au-Prince until further notice. If gangs should once again invade their neighborhoods, there would be nowhere for people to run as the Dominican Republic has maintained its borders closed to Haitians while the country is traversing its worst humanitarian crisis since the 2010 earthquake.  It also didn’t stop our Dominican neighbors, with their racist tendencies, adding to the trauma of Haitians aboard the Spirits flight, which had to land on their territory to escape gang gunfire, by reportedly not allowing them to leave the Dominican airport in search of a hotel to try to recover from the unexpected drama, while every other passenger with a foreign passport was allowed to do so. It was the same scenario with the Air Caraibes flight, originating from France and heading to the Port-au-Prince airport, that was redirected to the Dominican Republic.

On November 13^th, the United Nations announced that it would also temporarily suspend its humanitarian flights, leaving 5.4 million people in dire situations without food assistance, particularly those displaced and seeking shelter in schools and government buildings. In late October, a UN helicopter carrying 15 people on its way to Les Cayes from Port-au-Prince was fired upon by gang members who mistook the helicopter for a hostile or reconnaissance flight.

As a response to the increasing violence in Haiti, the Bahamian government has given its troops on the ground permission to voluntarily withdraw from the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSSM) without prejudice should they not feel safe. Let us pause here for a minute. Perhaps they thought they were going on a picnic. After all, the troops of the U.N. peacekeeping mission, during their 13-year stay in Haiti (MINUSTAH 2004–2017), were generally seen by the population as tourists enjoying Haiti’s beautiful beaches and countryside. Word gets around, I guess.

On September 30, 2024, the UN Security Council unanimously authorized the renewal of the MSSM in Haiti for another 12 months. Haitians anxiously await the results of this mission as the Kenyans, amidst accusations of human rights violations at home, have yet to be fully deployed since the first 300 troops arrived in Haiti on June 25, 2024.

Looking for safer, more promising horizons.