The COEH is one of 82 organisations (trade unions, NGOs, movements of farmers, feminists, citizens) from Haiti, France, Belgium, Canada, Spain, Germany and Benin call for an end of silence and international complicity with the Haitian government.
« No, it is not possible. Can we desert the earth, can we turn our back on it, can we divorce it, without also losing its reason for existence and the use of its hands and taste for living ? »
Jacques Roumain
THE CURRENT SITUATION
Since July 2018 and on many occasions, in a context of deteriorating rights and living conditions, Haitians have mobilized with force and courage against a type of governance that widely practices corruption and abuse of power. Authoritarianism and repression were among the main responses of Jovenel Moise’s government.
In two years, the situation has worsened in terms of access to basic social services (education, 
health, electricity, etc.) as well as economic and income-generating activities and the rule of law. The current situation is characterized by corruption, terror and impunity.
- Corruption: The Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Litigation (CSCCA) documented the mismanagement and embezzlement of the 1.459 billion euros from the Petrocaribe agreement, intended for development projects. Haitian businessmen as well as the political class, including Jovenel Moïse himself, are involved.
- Terror: proliferation, the reinforcement and convergence of armed gangs, some of which are linked to the government. They are lethal and they perpetrated at least four massacres (the last one, at the end of August-early September 2020). The deadliest massacre is that of La Saline, where at least 71 people, including women and children, were killed on the night of November 13 to 14, 2018. National and international investigations have pointed out the responsibility of a former police officer, Jimmy Chérisier, alias “Barbecue”, as well as the relations between armed gangs and the government.
- Impunity: The Petrocaribe scandal demonstrates not only the severity, but also the systematic nature of corruption, which feeds and reinforces impunity. No progress in the investigations on corruption and human rights violations, no trials on the horizon. Investigations have stalled, the massacres go unpunished, and the victims are without recourse.
Yet, the predictions are very worrying, given the president’s desire to seize power by organizing elections and reforming the Constitution. In recent weeks, Haiti hits rock bottom with the assassination of the President of the Bar of Port-au-Prince, Me Monferrier Dorval, the Bel-Air massacre, and the unconstitutional establishment of a Provisional Electoral Council ( CEP) to hasten the holding of elections, which, under the current conditions, cannot be done freely nor legitimately.
WHAT SUPPORT HAVE HAITIANS BEEN ABLE TO COUNT ON SO FAR ?
The international community ? The United States supports the current government, while the other countries and international bodies of the Core Group, including the European Union (EU), do not differ from American politics. And all are calling for a consensual solution whereas there is already a very broad consensus in Haiti against the current president.
International civil society ? The Haitian struggle has received very little response and relay in the international press and in the work of NGOs, associations and other actors ; in any case, far below the severity of the situation and the solidarity that could have been expected.
WHAT DO WE WANT ?
We want to break the silence, the indifference and the conspiracy that stifle the voices of Haitians, by calling for international mobilization in solidarity with Haiti. We intend to make heard the voice of the civil society in Haiti, to show our solidarity with its actors, to reaffirm the sovereignty of Haitians, to trigger a surge in Western countries, and to change the international policy that provides unconditional support to the government of Jovenel Moïse. .
It is a challenge to all those who clearly want to express their disagreement with the violation of the rights of Haitians, perpetrated by the government, with the support of the international community.
We want to carry out different forms of intervention, call for multiple initiatives. The most urgent thing is to bring together international associative actors around a position to demand the end of impunity in Haiti and denounce the masquerade of elections, for which no conditions (technical, legal, democratic) are met.
Signatory organisations :
ActionAid France, France
Alternatives, Canada
Asbl Theux/Saint-Michel en Haïti, Belgique
Association L’Appel, France
Association Monique Calixte, France
Comité pour l’abolition des dettes illégitimes (CADTM), Belgique
Carrefour Jeunesse Bénin, Bénin
Comité Catholique Contre la Faim et pour le Développement – Terre Solidaire (CCFD-Terre Solidaire), France
Centre de recherches et d’initiatives de solidarité internationale (CEDETIM), France
Centre francophone de recherche partenariale sur l’assainissement, les déchets et l’environnement (CEFREPADE), France
Centre d’Éducation Populaire André Genot (CEPAG), Belgique
Centre tricontinental-CETRI, Belgique
Centre International de Documentation et d’Information Haïtienne, Caribéenne et Afro-canadienne en France (CIDIHCA), France
Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO), Canada
Clowns Sans Frontières, Canada
Centre national de coopération au développement (CNCD-11.11.11), Belgique
Codeart, Belgique
Collectif Haïti de France, France
Commission Episcopale Nationale Justice et Paix (CE-JILAP), Haïti
Confédération Syndicale Internationale (CSI), International
Confédérations des Travailleurs Haïtiens (CTH), Haïti
Confédération Travailleurs des Secteurs Publics et Privés (CTSP), Haïti
Coopération Éducation Culture (CEC), Belgique
Coordination Europe-Haïti (COEH), Europe
Centre de recherche et d’information pour le développement (CRID), France
Confédération des syndicats chrétiens (CSC), Belgique
Easy Asbl, Belgique
Enfant Haïtien France Action (E.H.F.A), France
Échanges et Synergie ASBL, Belgique
Enfant du monde, France
Enfants soleil, France
Entraide et Fraternité, Belgique
Fédération Nationale des Syndicats en Éducation (FENASE), Haïti
Fédération Nationale des Travailleurs en Éducation et en Culture (FENATEC), Haïti
Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique (FGTB) wallonne, Belgique
Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique (FGTB), Belgique
FIAN, Belgique
Flore des femmes de Cayes Jacmel, Haïti
Fondation Frantz Fanon, France
Fondation Max Cadet relais « France-Europe », France
France Amérique Latine (FAL), France
Frères des Hommes, Belgique
Gafe Haïti, Haïti
Geomoun, Belgique
Groupe d’Appui à la Solidarité Haïtienne (GRASH-ESPAÑA), Espagne
Groupe de Réflexion et d’action pratique pour le Développement d’Haïti (GRAPD), France
Groupement des Educateurs sans Frontières (GREF), France
Hercule Haïti, France
Immigration Développement Démocratie (IDD réseau), France
Informationsstelle Lateinamerika – Le magazine d’Amérique latine (ILa), Allemagne
Initiative Artisans, Haïti
Institut Culturel Karl Levêque (ICKL), Haïti
Institut de Technologie et d’Animation (ITECA), Haïti
Intersendikal Premye Me-Batay Ouvriye, Haïti
Jardins Wanga Nègès, Haïti
Liège Aide Haïti, Belgique
Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (LDH), France
Lyon-Haïti Partenariats (LHP), France
Medico international, Allemagne
Mouvement de la Paix, France
Mouvement des Travailleurs et des Citoyens (MTC), Haïti
Mouvement Paysan de Papaye (MPP), Haïti
Neges Mawon, Haïti
Nou pap dòmi, Haïti
Plateforme Altermondialiste, Canada
Plateforme haïtienne de Plaidoyer pour un Développement Alternatif (PAPDA), Haïti
Plateforme Haïti.be, Belgique
Pazapas ASBL, Belgique
Pour une transition éducative, France
Rasanble pou chanje, Haïti
Relais France Max Cadet, France
Réseau Foi & Justice Afrique Europe, France
Réseau d’information et de documentation pour la solidarité et le développement durable (RITIMO), France
Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains (RNDDH), Haïti
Réseau Sud-est de Défense des Droits Humains (RESEDH), Haïti
Syndicat des Employés de l’Office National d’Assurance-vieillesse (SE-ONA), Haïti
Solidarité Laïque, France
Tet Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen, Haïti
Union syndicale Solidaires, France
Via Don Bosco, Belgique
Wereldsolidariteit-Solidarité Mondiale (WSM), Belgique
Yes Akademia ONG (YAKA), France
