Five years after the international community helped overturn Haiti's election results, observers are tacitly supporting an increasingly anti-democratic process.
The international media’s escalation of the Venezuelan crisis, and their complete silence regarding Haiti, highlights U.S. inconsistency in upholding the values of human rights and democracy.
Earlier this week it was announced that the first contingent of Haitian soldiers had returned from Ecuador after completing their training. This announcement has understandably been met with concern, as Haiti’s relationship with its armed forces has been a tortured history of internal repression, consisting of human rights abuses and coup d’états.
The fallout from the suspicious death of Judge Jean Serge Joseph on July 13 has created a political firestorm for Haitian President Michel Martelly – the likes of which he has not seen during his tumultuous rule. A recently released Senate report calls for Martelly to be charged with high treason for his role in interfering with a high profile corruption case.
On July 13, Judge Jean Serge Joseph passed away under suspicious circumstances, sparking controversy within Haiti that his death was related to his involvement in a high-profile corruption investigation against President Michel Martelly’s wife Sophia and their son Olivier.
Given the waves of anti-government protests which have recently engulfed Haiti, one would have thought that Haitian President Michel Martelly would have found refuge from controversy while visiting the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Yet this was not the case.
