Jamaica security forces could be a part of regional delegation in Haiti

PRIME Minister Andrew Holness signalled on Tuesday that Jamaica’s security forces could be part of a regional delegation to support efforts by the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) bloc to stabilise gang-ravaged Haiti.

Holness told the House of Representatives that the descent into political and economic chaos of Jamaica’s neighbour was a source of worry for his administration and the entire region.

“The Government of Jamaica and indeed the people of Jamaica, even with our own challenges and concerns, are deeply concerned about the humanitarian and security crisis being experienced by our Caribbean neighbour and sister nation Haiti.

“The people of Haiti continue to have their human rights threatened by powerful gangs and militias which perpetrate heinous crimes including killings, kidnappings and acts of violence against women and children ... ,” said Holness in opening comments.

He told the House of Representatives that the situation had escalated to dangerous proportions with the killing of several policemen recently.

The prime minister reiterated the condemnation by CARICOM and extended condolences to the families of the fallen officers. He said the recent round of violence has left Haiti’s five million population facing acute hunger.

Violent deaths and cholerarelated fatalities continue to pose challenges to Haiti’s fragile health sector, which Holness said have triggered several emergency crises in a country that has been crippled by political instability for decades.

Jamaica, he said, restated its preparedness to support a united international effort in response to the crisis, which deteriorated in the wake of the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Holness said that he endorsed efforts being contemplated by the Organisation of American States (OAS) towards a solution.

Outside of that collective, specific bilateral support has been discussed, including electoral reform, capacity building, and logistics. Jamaica is prepared to host Haitian representatives in that regard.

“In addition, Jamaica would be willing to participate in a multinational security assistance deployment to Haiti under the appropriate jurisdictional parameters to support a return to a reasonable level of stability and peace which would be necessary ... for any democratic process to take root,” the prime minister told colleague lawmakers.

“Both the Jamaica Constabulary

Force and Jamaica Defence Force have been alerted to this possible course of support and they would have started to plan for such eventuality as part of their routine situational awareness and response readiness,” he stated.

According to the prime minister, thousands of Haitian children, especially those living in gangdominated areas, have yet to return to school, and there are increasing reports of minors being recruited by criminal organisations.

Against that backdrop, Holness said Jamaica reaffirmed its commitment to working with CARICOM and bilateral partners such as Canada and the USA, as well as Latin American and African nations, towards achieving sustainable solutions in Haiti.

In a press statement issued last Saturday, CARICOM said the bloc was deeply concerned about the severity of the challenges being faced by police in Haiti.

“CARICOM strongly condemns the killing of police officers and expresses its condolences to the families of the officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. The anger and dismay of the police at the gruesome killings of their colleagues, 78 killed since July 2021 and 14 to date this January, are shared by all,” the secretariat said.

The regional grouping, however, urged the security forces not to abandon their role of maintaining public order, cautioning that that action would further destabilise the country.

(Jamaica Gleaner)

Jovenel Moise: Four suspects in Haiti leader’s killing sent to US

FOUR men accused of having played a key role in the assassination in of Haitian President Jovenel Moise have been transferred to the United States, where they will face charges.

President Moise was shot dead at his home in the Haitian capital on 7 July 2021 by what police described as a hit squad of mainly foreign mercenaries.

Three of the suspects are dual US-Haitian citizens and one is Colombian.

They are due to appear in a federal court in Miami later on Wednesday.

The investigation being conducted into President Moise’s assassination in Haiti has stalled, with investigators and judges receiving death threats. But as the plan to kill Mr Moise was allegedly hatched by Haitian-Americans in Florida, investigations are proceeding in the US.

The transfer of the four men from Haiti to Florida has brought the total number of suspects in US custody to seven.

Three of those moved to the US have been charged with conspiracy to murder President Moise. The fourth, Christian Sanon, was charged with smuggling bulletproof vests to Haiti for use in the plot.

THOSE CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER ARE:

James Solages, dual Haitian and US citizen, 37 Joseph Vincent, dual Haitian and US citizen, 57 Germán Alejandro Rivera, Colombian citizen, 44 Prosecutors allege that James

Solages and Christian Sanon met in Florida in April 2021 to discuss “regime change” in Haiti.

According to police in Haiti, Mr Sanon, a Haitian-American doctor and pastor, had “political objectives” to replace Mr Moise as president.

Haiti’s police chief at the time of President Moise’s killing also said that Mr Sanon was the first person one of the assailants called as police surrounded them after the murder.

In a statement, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said that while Mr Sanon had not been charged with conspiracy to murder, he “participated in crimes that culminated in the assassination of the Haitian president”.

According to the DoJ, James Solages, Joseph Vincent and Germán Rivera had originally planned to kidnap President Moise and take him to an unknown location while a new president was installed in his stead.

But when they failed to get a plane to take the Mr Moise away, they allegedly changed their plan.

“It is alleged that on July 6, 2021, Solages, Vincent, Rivera and others met at a house near President Moise’s residence, where firearms and equipment was distributed and Solages announced that the mission was to kill President Moise,” the DoJ statement said.

The other man, German Alejandro Rivera, is suspected of having recruited the Colombian mercenaries who made up the hit squad hired for the purpose.

All four men were arrested in Haiti shortly after President Moise’s assassination and been held in the Caribbean nation until their transfer on Tuesday.

If found guilty, Mr Sanon could face up to 20 years in jail while the three other suspect could be sentenced to life in prison.

The political void left by the killing has led to a surge in violence and lawlessness across Haiti. (BBC)

Barbados retains position as least corrupt Caribbean state

The 2022 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) Report has concluded that Barbados is the least corrupt country in the Caribbean.

Barbados retained its top ranking in the Caribbean with score of a 65 out of 100 points.

The island had an overall rank of 29th out the list of 180 countries.

Transparency International found that 37 per cent of people surveyed on Barbados thought corruption increased in the previous 12 months while nine per cent of public service users paid a bribe.

The second least corrupt Caribbean country was The Bahamas with a score of 64 and an overall place of 30.

Haiti was the lowest ranked

Bahamas: British Colonial Hilton may be fully opened by end of year

Caribbean state with a score of 17 and an overall rank of 171, which it shared with four countries including North Korea.

Overall ranking of Caribbean states on the CPI: Barbados, The Bahamas, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, St Lucia, Grenada, Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, The Dominican Republic and Haiti.

St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda and Belize were not on the list.

The least corrupt state on the 2022 CPI was Denmark, who received a score of 90.

Finland and New Zealand, who shared the top spot last year with the Danes, dropped to second with 87 points. (Loopnews)

TOURISM, Aviation and Investments Minister Chester Cooper said officials anticipate that parts of the Hilton hotel will be open during the summer months based on the most recent information from the owners of the property.

However, he said on Tuesday that they had to get an update from the developers.

“Work is actively going on at the British Colonial Hilton,” he said. “We need to get an update from the developers but we are anticipating that parts of the hotel will be open during the summer months based on the most recent information received from the owners of the resort and they are pushing to have the hotel fully opened by the end of the year by the winter season.”

The minister addressed complaints about the Nassau Cruise Port.

“This problem is decades old as you would well know - it’s not a new complaint,” Mr Cooper explained. “Firstly, I would say that I (toured) the Nassau Cruise Port itself yesterday, with a view to assessing readiness for an opening at the end of May. This is going to happen. It’s going to be phenomenal.

“For those who may not have seen it, you may perhaps imagine a larger version of Marina Village. So this is going to have a significant draw in and of itself. This will be also a driver I hope for the rest of Bay Street to redevelop. We’ve spent a lot of time already speaking with the stakeholders. We have issued demolition orders for nine of the buildings east of East Street.

“We are talking with the art community to see how we might be able to do some beautification works. We’re spending significant sums for remedial work like cleaning and beautification, but we need everybody to play their part. We call on the building owners to make efforts to improve the exteriors of their buildings.”

He also said: “We are going further. We’re currently looking at draft legislation for (the) management of the city centre of Bay Street. The Attorney General has been working on that diligently. We have drafted that legislation out for consultation at the moment and we hope to be able to present that to the public soon.

Bahamas: Police to make reporting sexual assault crimes ‘easier’ for women

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe said officials intend to continue to make it much easier for people to report sexual offences.

The minister said that in some countries, a woman may be slow to go into a police station to report a crime due to fear.

However, officials want everyone in The Bahamas to feel comfortable in reporting to the police that a crime has been committed against them, regardless of the nature of the crime.

His comments came after Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander revealed on Friday that there were 55 rape cases reported last year, adding it was a 15 percent increase over 2021.

Activists said the increase of sex crimes is “not surprising”, arguing that the government has continuously failed to prioritise laws that protect women.

Addressing the increase in sex crimes and activists’ outcry,

Mr Munroe said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the initiative that the commissioner of police is doing now, which should make people more comfortable in reporting sex crimes, causes people to report more.

“In some countries, a woman may be slow to go into a police station to report a crime because of the reception she thinks she’s gonna get. In this country, we want everyone to feel comfortable in reporting to the police that a crime has been committed against them, regardless of the nature of the crime.

“So the commissioner has indicated that they’re opening a special unit that will focus on this and that this unit will have in the same place, organisations, NGOs, to provide support and care for the victims. So we intend to continue to make it much easier for people to report sexual offences and we intend to provide them the support. We don’t intend to do anything to discourage that as happens in other countries.”

The minister said the people that commit such offences need to understand that it will not be tolerated.

“There was some uproar last year when I notified the public about a release of a dangerous sexual offender. People were all over me about why did I splash the man’s face out to the public because in my judgement he was dangerous and the public needed to know about him.

“If you don’t want to run the risk of being notified to the public as a dangerous sexual offender, then don’t commit sex crimes, simple. We will do what is necessary to protect our daughters, our sisters, our mothers, we will not tolerate any interference.”