Haitian Gangs Abduct Worshippers from Church

Gunmen in Haiti on Sunday seized three worshippers as they left a church whose pastor, Deacon Sylner Lafaille, was shot and killed in September 2021, during a kidnapping attempt

The authorities said the three parishioners were preparing to return home after the 6:30 a m service at the First Baptist Church of Port-au-Prince located near the National Palace, the official residence of the head of state, when they were kidnapped by heavily armed individuals

The latest kidnapping caused panic among the churchgoers, some of whom recalled that on September 26, 2001, Deacon Sylner Lafaille, who was accompanied by his wife, Marie Marthe Laurent Lafaille, was shot and killed as they were preparing to enter the church

The wife was later released after a ransom had been paid

Criminal gangs have been engaged in kidnappings for ransom with the clergy and places of worship are increasingly being targeted

T h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s H i g h Commissioner for Human Rights has described the situation as “ a living nightmare”

The latest kidnappings follow the abduction of Father Antoine Macaire Christian Noah, five days ago as he made his way to his missionary community, north of the capital. He had been working as a parish priest in the mountainous village of Casale, for a year before he was snatched

The Claretian Missionaries, the religious congregation to which he belongs, said it had been contacted by the gang with a ransom demand

Last year, Haiti reported more than 1,200 kidnappings and last weekend, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Volker Türk, who was on a two-day official visit to Haiti lamented the fact that the situation in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country is not receiving the urgent spotlight it deserves

The OHCHR official described Portau-Prince as “ a capital city where, in

UN human rights commissioner holds talks with Haitian Prime Minister

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Volker Türk, 'left Haiti on Friday following an official visit during which he held talks with Prime Minister Dr Ariel Henry as well as senior government ministers

Turk's visit was at the invitation of the Haitian government that is under severe pressure from opposition parties to demit office and hold fresh elections following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021

In addition, criminal gangs have been carrying out kidnappings and other violent acts in defiance of the police and the army many areas, predatory armed gangs control access to water, food, healthcare and fuel, where kidnappings are rampant, children are prevented from going to school, recruited to perpetrate violence, and subjected to it

The Haitian situation is expected to be a major item when CARICOM leaders gather in The Bahamas on Wednesday for their three-day summit

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who will be a special guest at the summit said he will “drive progress on shared priorities, including continued support for the Haitian people ”

“We informed the high commissioner of the Government's initiatives in the area of human rights, including national dialogue, the creation of an enabling environment for the organization of elections, the strengthening of the judicial system, the reduction of preventive detention,” Prime Minister Henry said Henry, who was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Jean Victor Généus and the acting Justice Minister, Emmelie Prophète Milcé, during the meeting with Türk, said Haiti has taken good note of the recommendations within the framework of the Universal Policy Evaluation

“We will begin, as soon as possible, to implement them In about two years, we will be able to submit a progress report to the high commissioner ”

Henry, in a statement posted on social media, said it was also an opportunity to highlight the “ many implications of the country's multidimensional crisis, in particular the right to life, to health, to respect for private life, to the free movement of persons and property, and property rights”

But the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) urged Türk to support the rule of law in Haiti recognizing the unconstitutional nature of the initiative to amend the Constitution of Haiti by referendum

They said the referendum provided for in the December 21 agreement of the “de facto Government of Haiti”, which has been condemned by a large part of Haitian civil society