La Saline: a year already, the judicial investigation in the impasse

On 13 and 14 November 2018, five armed gangs, fighting for control of the poor neighborhood of La Saline, carried out a planned attack on the residents. They killed men, women and children, then burned their bodies and left their remains in filthy swarms. These crimes sparked the dread of society. Human rights organizations and even the ONU have published damning reports about possible complicity between gangs and the state. So far, the authorities have offered no support to the victims.

Desolation can still be seen on the faces of relatives of those killed, raped or missing. They demand justice and reparation. They say they have received nothing from the authorities in terms of support despite their suffering and being chased by the gangs. On Wednesday, November 13, 2019, the Saline Victims’ Committee organized a ceremony in memory of the victims of summary executions, acts of violence and gang rape. This organization wanted to mark this date by paying tribute to the victims and demanding not only justice but also reparation.

Currently, the La Saline case is in the hands of investigating judge Chavannes Étienne. He has already made inquiries but has not yet issued his closing order. So the families of the 71 dead and the raped women and children are waiting to know when their executioners will be behind bars. Justice is expected at the turn. In the meantime, as in the La Saline Declaration issued last December, the victims ‘families are asking state institutions to take security measures to eliminate the gangs’ grip, to allow the return to life in the neighborhood, the reconstruction and rehabilitation of destroyed or damaged homes and economic support for victims.

In July 2019, La Saline counted 20 new dead, 2 missing and 6 wounded by bullet. The National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH), which documented the bloody events of La Saline, was present at this ceremony to accompany, he says, the victims and put pressure on the judicial authorities to close the investigation into the file. The human rights organization, which has always described the November 13-14, 2018 massacre as a « state massacre, » continues to denounce the « protection of armed bandits by officials » and the deterioration of the general situation of human rights. human rights in the country, characterized by growing insecurity.

The executive director of the institution, Pierre Esperance, believes that the state has not protected people at the time of the abuses. For its part, justice today is struggling to condemn the guilty of these crimes. He asserts that the investigating judge ignored all the reports of the human rights bodies and the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ) because the authors and co-perpetrators of this massacre as Fednel Monchéry, Pierre Richard Duplan and Jimmy Chérizier, aka Barbecue, are still at liberty. This former policeman UDMO, according to Pierre Espérance, is since 2017 involved in five massacres, including the armed attacks perpetrated at Bel-Air on November 6, 2019.

In addition to the RNDDH, petrochallengers of the structure Nou p’ap dòmi have brought their solidarity with the families of the victims of the La Saline massacre. Through a cultural activity, young people from this underprivileged neighborhood have expressed their talent through dance among others. The petrochallngers have once again pledged to fight corruption and impunity for better social justice.

In the report on the gang attack on residents of La Saline neighborhood on 13 and 14 November, the United Nations Mission for the Support of Justice in Haiti (UNMIJUSTH) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Human Rights (OHCHR) recommended that the government conduct thorough investigations into gang-related violence and the alleged complicity of state officials and PNH agents and to make the findings of these investigations public. The United Nations had also asked the government to ensure that those alleged to be responsible for such violence, including those exercising or having exercised public positions, are promptly brought to justice in accordance with international fair trial standards.

Source Le Nouvelliste