On July 7th of this year, Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, who took office in 2017, was shot dead in his residence, with his wife sustaining major injury as well. The Haitian police later arrested twenty-six Columbians along with two Haitian American mercenaries. A few days after the assassination, the U.S. looked into potential connections between America and the attack, and later denying Haitian requests for aid in securing key infrastructures.
Jovenel Moïse and his wife
New evidence suggests that the current prime minister of Haiti may have had a role in the assassination of the president. More than 40 people have been implicated in the killing, but Ariel Henry is by far the most prominent. Months after Moïses death, the fallout has been a descent into a political power struggle. Competing factions each attack each other for the murder, and the Haitian people's hope of finding true justice grows ever dimmer.
Not only that but since the assassination, Haiti has been hit by two natural disasters, killing nearly 2,000 people and causing landslides and flooding. All in all, Haiti finds itself mired in an unstable political and social landscape. There is no guarantee that Bed-Ford Claude, the prosecutor on the case, will be able to demand Mr. Henry’s questioning or charge him in the assassination, as Haitian law forbids judicial officials from prosecuting senior civil servants without the authorization of the country’s leader, that leader currently being Henry.
Haitian police in front of a mural of Henry
As the New York Times says “The investigation, which has been mired in irregularities and tampering since it began, has provided Haitians with few answers and has undermined what little trust many had in the country’s corrupt and dysfunctional legal system.” Those involved in the investigation have been on the receiving end of threats, and some have even died under suspicious circumstances.
The whole situation lends itself far more to use as a political tool than it does finding definitive answers. Haitian politics have been ripped asunder, with former allies of Moïse on one side and Martelly, Moïses predecessor and expected front runner in the next presidential election, on the other.
Amid the violence and uncertainty, it is expected that elections are to be delayed for a year. Many Haitians, already struggling financially, see this as evidence that their country cannot properly function.. Until political legitimacy returns to Haitian politics, the people of Haiti will suffer under a system so corrupt as to reward the murder of a president, with a legal system seemingly ensuring the powerful remain that way, in spite of their crimes.
Links
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/14/world/americas/haiti-henry-moise-assassination.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57762246
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