Mercenaries Arresting in February 2019
Foreign mercenaries, with fake license plates, cell phones, tactical gear, heavy arms and ammunition were arrested in February 2019 and were assisted by Erik Dean Prince and the U.S. Embassy in Haiti in their release, alleges Senator Latortue.
The ties between the embattled Jovenel Moïse administration and the United States' Trump administration, which explains the steadfast support for Moïse in the face of overwhelming calls for his resignation, runs deep.
Erik Dean Prince, the founder of
Blackwater USA, now known as Academi, is the brother of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos. The lawmaker revealed that Mr. Prince intervened in February of this year for the unconditional release of 7 foreign mercenaries that were arrested in Haiti as part of a plan to move $80 million of State funds to an account controlled by Jovenel Moïse.
Nonetheless, Senator Latortue said the $1.5 million contract signed with Academi is illegal in that it did not pass through the Supreme Court of Auditors and Administrative Disputes (CSCCA) as required by law.
The CSCCA is a court of the judiciary branch. It oversees the issuing of contracts. The court was also circumvented in the issuing of a contract to the German company Dermalog. In this case, after the court rejected the contract proposal twice, for inefficiencies, lack of open bidding, and other irregularities, First Lady Martine Moïse
illegally coordinated to execute the contract and in the process, possibly, embezzled over $2 million [USD] of $8 million disbursed in that contract that cannot be traced.
Haiti as an extremely poor country. Although under an arms embargo for decades, heavy weaponry has been in the hands of terrorist gangs that are widely known to be State-sponsored. The typical Haitian, without support from politicians, cannot purchase arms and munitions, let alone, pass them through customs. So there is no real threat posed by Haiti's poorest, the protesters seeking to overturn an oppressive system, that would require such a measure of security.
Mr. Latortue also said that the term "mercenaries" is appropriately used in reference to the armed foreigners brought in to Haiti to serve the Haitian Head of State. He showed that in 2015, the United Nations used the term and continues to work on oversight and enforcing accountability through its Working Group.
The
United Nations said then, "The outsourcing of national security to private firms creates risks for human rights and accountability." This was the statement by the Working Group on the use of mercenaries.
The statement came after the sentencing of four former Blackwater Worldwide personnel for the
2007 massacre in Nisour Square in Iraq. 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians were killed, 20 were injured, by Blackwater employees. Latortue remined the public of this incident while linking the rise in massacres by state-sponsored terrorist gangs on Haiti's underprivileged neighborhoods.
It deserves noting that Amnesty International has cited the Jovenel Moïse administration and the Haitian National Police for use of excessive force, violence and repression.
Wikipedia
Nisour Square, Baghdad, Iraq
Election posters at the scene of the Blackwater Baghdad shootings in Nisour Square, Baghdad (2010)
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