THREAD: Today marks one year since police officers and armed gangs stormed the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of La Saline, massacring 71 individuals. Local and international human rights reports alleged the involvement of government officials.
The intellectual authors of this crime have yet to face justice. It took 10 months for the two government officials allegedly involved to even resign from their posts. They both remain free.
The government has countered that the violence in La Saline was simply gang related, and not political. But the massacre took place amid a growing uprising demanding accountability for government corruption.
The first massive -- and overwhelmingly peaceful -- protests occurred throughout the country on October 17, 2018. The next day of protest was planned for November 18, 2018. Ahead of the second march, some opposition politicians held a press conference in La Saline.
At the press conference, they announced they would be participating in the Nov. 18 protest. La Saline, home to the church where former president Aristide once preached, has been a key location for antigovernment protests under the Martelly/Moise administrations.
In the days before the massacre, residents received threatening messages concerning their participation in protests, they later told human rights investigators. On the day of the massacre, officers from the local police station did not respond to the ensuing bloodbath.
Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident. Killings continued in La Saline. Residents displaced from La Saline have faced repression in the months since. Other neighborhoods have been attacked, houses burned. The lasting impunity continues to reverberate.
Last week, at least 14 residents of Bel-Air were killed in another massacre. Local human rights organizations alleged the involvement of a former police officer, Jimmy Cherizier, who goes by the nickname Barbecue.
Cherizier, according to local police investigations and human rights orgs, also participated in the La Saline massacre. Even before that, in November 2017, Cherizier was involved in the Grand Ravine massacre, when he opened fire in the courtyard of a school.
According to law enforcement sources, Cherizier also operates as a bodyguard for some elite families in Haiti and was involved in an assassination attempt against a key witness in the Manzanares drug boat case.
Cherizier, who maintains connections within the police, speaks often on local radio. He was even the subject of a sympathetic AP article: apnews.com/ebc2cee089f149…. He remains free.
In the year since the La Saline massacre, antigovernment protests have continued. Official government reports have implicated the president in the corruption scandal that launched the uprising.
For the last two months, much of the country has been shut down. What started with calls for accountability for corruption have turned into calls for president Moise to resign.
Political violence continues. Local HR groups report that, since La Saline, more than 100 Haitians have died, some three dozen in recent months. Amnesty international has condemned the government’s excessive use of force. The government has prevented the IACHR from investigating.
Throughout it all, the Trump administration has steadfastly stood by President Moise and the Haitian government, even inviting Moise to his Mar-a-Lago compound.
Earlier this year, more than 100 members of the US congress sent a letter to the State Department asking for answers on the question of La Saline. Today, one year since the massacre, impunity continues to reign.
