A year ago, Prime Minister Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in Haiti. The murder has not yet been solved and Haiti descends into chaos. The country is destabilized, says freelance journalist Sandra Weiss. People are happy that investigations are also being carried out in the USA.
SRF News: How does the destabilization of Haiti manifest itself in concrete terms?
Sandra Weiss: Entire districts of the capital Port-au-Prince are under the control of criminal gangs. There they collect protection money and set up street barricades with burning car tires, which they use to control passers-by.
If you resist, you will be shot quickly.
Anyone who comes to such a roadblock will at best only be robbed. If you are unlucky, you will be kidnapped and then ransom will be extorted. If you resist, you will be shot quickly. Unfortunately, this happened to a doctor I know who didn’t hand over his car immediately. Security experts estimate that around 60 percent of the capital’s territory, Port-au-Prince, is controlled by gangs.
In such a situation, is it even possible to solve the murder of President Moïse?
It is very difficult. Recently, the court that was supposed to solve this case was broken into again. Gangs occupied the courthouse for days. The fifth investigating judge is now on the case. Some of the others resigned or were dismissed. But fortunately there are parallel investigations in the USA because the assassination attempt was planned in whole or at least in part in Miami. In the meantime, three people have been arrested there who have been demonstrably involved in the plot and some of whom have also confessed to their participation.
The original order was to fly the President out of the country.
There’s a Haitian-American drug dealer who got the guns, a Haitian former senator from an opposition party who funded all the logistics. He paid the mercenaries and their equipment. Then there is the head of the Colombian mercenary squad that was involved in the night of the crime. He testified that the original order was to fly the President out of the country, but that he had just received an assassination order from the then intelligence chief.
What good does Haitian society do if the murder is investigated abroad?
The murder of Moïse has caused great indignation and horror among Haitians. There is a great wish that this case will be clarified and that those who commissioned such an outrage will not go unpunished. The important thing is that they are taken out of circulation and not rewarded for it and may later come to power. Haitians know full well that their institutions are far too weak to do such a thing. Therefore, most are happy that the case is being rolled out in the United States.
Legend:
Demonstrators are demanding that ex-President Bertrand Aristide be restored to power in Haiti.
key stone
If the US court can find the culprits, will that stabilize Haiti?
It would be an important sign that even in a fragile state like Haiti, there are limits to what is permitted. There is also a new group called the Montana Accords. There are many intellectuals, business people and young Haitian exiles in this one. It’s a whole movement meeting with interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry. They negotiate ways out of the crisis. It’s about a new constitution, about how and when to hold new elections. But the prerequisite is that the murder is solved.
Adam Fehr conducted the interview.