Haiti’s Office of Citizen Protection (OPC) has bemoaned the “unacceptable slowness” of the
investigation into the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, charging that the delay has
contributed to a culture of impunity that puts citizens in danger.
The Haitian government monitor in a letter, titled “The Cup of Blood”, argued that any failure to
bring Moise’s killers to justice “will open the way for the assassination of other heads of state in
the same conditions, with the same degree of cruelty, of barbarity”.
Local reports have it that the scathing letter was released to coincide with the two-year
anniversary of Moise’s killing on July 7, 2021.
It is germane to clarify that the OPC functions as an independent government body, investigating
complaints against public institutions. Its head, Renan Hedouville, signed the letter, which
warned that all levels of society are threatened by the continuing lawlessness in Haiti.
In the letter, Hedouville wrote “The cup of barbarity, of impunity, of terrorism, is filled with
blood, above all that of the victims assassinated every day (lawyers, police officers, shopkeepers,
health professionals, students, ordinary citizens) under the umbrella of impunity and the
benediction of corruption”.
The concerned Hedouville also called for greater protection for Walter Wesser Voltaire, the
judge tasked with overseeing the Moise investigation.
Hedouville said Voltaire, the fifth judge to take on the case, “works in extremely weak security
conditions”.
As for the time of filing this report, records have it that more than 40 suspects are languishing in
a Haitian prison, including at least 18 former soldiers from Colombia accused of taking part in
the siege on Moise’s private home in Port-au-Prince.
“Numerous individuals denounced in this assassination are still on the run,” Hedouville added in
the OPC letter.
The OPC head compared the inertia in Haiti to the relative progress in the United States, where
that country’s Department of Justice has also been investigating the Moise assassination.
To date, the US Department of Justice has charged 11 suspects in the killing. The US’s Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have also sent
agents to Haiti in the wake of the assassination to aid in the probe.
Recall that in March, Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jaar pleaded guilty in a US federal
court for his part in the Moise assassination.
Charged with conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping and conspiracy to provide material
support in the assassination, Jaar was sentenced to life in prison in June.
OPC letter offered the agency’s backing for international assistance in Haiti as the country
contends with widespread gang violence, prompting reprisals and spiralling humanitarian
concerns.
Hedouville wrote “The OPC remains committed to the idea of an international force to support
the Haitian justice system in order to arrive at the truth of this case”.
Reports have it that Moise’s assassination has cast Haiti into further political turmoil,
compounding the continuing social, economic and health crises afflicting the Caribbean nation.
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