European Parliament resolution of 20 May 2021 on the situation in Haiti (2021/2694(RSP))
Date: 2021-05-20
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Haiti, corruption, election, food shortage, human rights, humanitarian aid, independence of the judiciary, political situation, slavery, violence








C_2022015EN.01016101.xml










12.1.2022   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 15/161






P9_TA(2021)0252
The situation in Haiti
European Parliament resolution of 20 May 2021 on the situation in Haiti (2021/2694(RSP))
(2022/C 15/15)

The European Parliament,






—


having regard to its previous resolutions on Haiti, notably those of 19 January 2011 on the situation in Haiti one year after the earthquake: humanitarian aid and reconstruction (1), of 8 February 2018 on child slavery in Haiti (2), and of 28 November 2019 (3),










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having regard to the statement by the President of the UN Security Council of 24 March 2021 on Haiti,










—


having regard to the report of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) of 11 February 2021,










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having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of December 1948,










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having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 16 December 1966,










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having regard to the American Convention on Human Rights,










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having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989,










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having regard to the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary,










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having regard to the Universal Charter of the Judge, and the Statute of the Ibero-American Judge,










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having regard to the Cotonou Agreement,










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having regard to the Constitution of the Republic of Haiti of 1987,










—


having regard to the joint report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and BINUH of 18 January 2021 entitled ‘Unrest in Haiti: Their impact on Human Rights and the State’s obligation to protect all citizens’,










—


having regard to Rule 144(5) and 132(4) of its Rules of Procedure,










A.


whereas a failure to hold elections in October 2020 also triggered rule by decree, with reports of failed coup attempts signifying growing political and social instability in Haiti;










B.


whereas the political opposition and civil society groups claim that President Moïse’s mandate came to an end on 6 February 2021, as ruled by Haiti’s Superior Council of the Judiciary, and insist on the appointment of a provisional president; whereas Jovenel Moïse refuses to step down, as he considers that his mandate began in February 2017, following a second election in 2016, as the previous election results had been contested owing to allegations of fraud;










C.


whereas thousands of Haitian people have been protesting since 14 January 2021 against the one-year extension of President Moïse’s term of office, as well as against the referendum; whereas the protests are being suppressed by force;










D.


whereas as a result of the failure to hold elections in due time in 2019, the mandate of all legislators in the Chamber of Deputies and of two thirds of the Senate ended in January 2020, and the mandate of all mayors ended in July 2020; whereas President Moïse has been ruling ever since by decree, with a large number of decrees strengthening the power of his presidency; whereas President Moïse has scheduled parliamentary, local and presidential elections for 19 September 2021;










E.


whereas on 5 January 2021, President Moïse decreed that a constitutional referendum should be organised on 27 June 2021, and has recently confirmed his decision in spite of the protests both in the country and from the international community; whereas the proposed constitutional reform would further concentrate executive powers; whereas Article 284.3 of the Haitian Constitution stipulates that ‘General elections to amend the Constitution are strictly forbidden’; whereas thousands of Haitians have since taken to the streets in protest against the referendum;










F.


whereas on 6 May 2021, the EU announced that it would neither finance the organisation of the referendum scheduled for 27 June 2021 in Haiti nor send observers to monitor it, deeming the process insufficiently transparent and democratic in a country plagued by insecurity and political instability;










G.


whereas the Core Group on Haiti (composed of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, the Ambassadors of Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, the European Union and the United States of America, and the Special Representative of the Organization of American States) has expressed its concern that the process of changing the Constitution has not been sufficiently inclusive, participatory and transparent;










H.


whereas the results of the senatorial survey and a report from the Superior Court of Auditors of Haiti have implicated President Moïse in a case of embezzlement and fraud, allegedly having received funds from the PetroCaribe programme;










I.


whereas Haitian Supreme Court Judge Yvickel Dieujuste Dabrésil was arrested on 7 February 2021 together with 18 other people and accused of conspiring against the government; whereas Judge Dabrésil was released on 11 February 2021 but the other 17 people remain in detention;










J.


whereas on 8 February 2021 President Moïse issued a decree ordering the ‘retirement’ of three Supreme Court judges (judges Yvickel Dieujuste Dabrésil, Joseph Mécène Jean-Louis and Wendelle Coq Thelot) and issued another decree a few days later appointing three new judges to the Supreme Court without following the procedures set out in the law; whereas in response, staff in the justice system began an indefinite strike on Monday 15 February 2021;










K.


whereas in March 2021, the Haitian regime arrested a senior police officer, thereby exponentially magnifying the constitutional crisis in the country;










L.


whereas Haiti has in recent month faced an sharp increase of violence, such as kidnappings, rapes, homicides and massacres, mostly perpetrated by armed gangs; who are operating with almost total impunity; whereas in the first three months of 2021, 117 people were murdered and 142 kidnapped; whereas there were 91 cases of abduction in April 2021 alone;










M.


whereas the kidnapping in Port-au-Prince on 11 April 2021 of several members of the Catholic clergy (who were subsequently released), who work for the benefit of the local population, deeply shocked Haitian and international public opinion and led to an intensification of the demonstrations against the current government;










N.


whereas since 2015 more than 300 000 people have left the country; whereas the increasing violence and deteriorating security in the country has led to a sharp increase in the number of asylum seekers from Haiti, particularly in French Guyana, and to many international and humanitarian NGOs leaving Haiti;










O.


whereas over recent years, Haiti has been plagued by several waves of large-scale mobilisations against high living costs, authoritarianism and corruption; whereas the ongoing political crisis is linked to and commensurate with the deterioration of all social, economic, security and human rights indicators; whereas poverty has increased, access to basic social services, already reduced, has further decreased, and in the space of two years, food insecurity has almost doubled, now affecting millions of Haitians; whereas Haiti is the only least developed country in the Americas; whereas Haiti, ranked number 170 of the world’s countries in the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Index 2019, is in continuous need of humanitarian and development aid and remains the poorest country in the Americas, and one of the most impoverished states in the world, with 59 % of the population living below the national poverty line; whereas government corruption is rampant, and Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2018 ranks Haiti 161st out of the 180 states surveyed;










P.


whereas between August 2020 and February 2021, around four million people (4) in Haiti were facing acute food insecurity; whereas economic decline, poor harvests, hurricane Laura (on 23 August 2020) and the COVID-19 pandemic are among the main drivers exacerbating the food security situation;










Q.


whereas unrest and bureaucratic chaos have taken centre stage, disrupting Haiti’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, thereby leading to a risk of more deaths and a failure to be on schedule in the global fight to combat the virus; whereas the inadequate handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has only contributed to the underlying societal problems that already exist;










R.


whereas Haiti received unprecedented aid from the international community to finance reconstruction after the 2010 earthquake; whereas these efforts are in no way discernible to the Haitian population today, giving rise to fears of bad governance and the substantial mismanagement of funds;










S.


whereas as a result of the mismanagement of the international funds received, the high fees charged for education, coupled with widespread low incomes for families, and the low quality of education available, approximately half of Haitians aged 15 and above are illiterate; whereas owing to the further escalation of unrest and the pandemic, and their impact on Haitians’ daily lives, 70 %of Haitian children have been kept out of school; whereas at least 350 000 children and young people throughout the country remain out of primary and secondary school;










T.


whereas the system of Restavèk, a modern form of slavery, is still a common practice in Haiti; whereas this practice involves Haitian children from impoverished homes being sent by their parents to live with other families to work for them as domestic servants; whereas these children often suffer abuse and mistreatment, with no access to schooling;












1.


Urges the Haitian authorities to organise free, fair, transparent and credible legislative, local and presidential elections, and to guarantee sustainable security during these electoral processes; recalls that as long as the conditions of transparency, fairness and democracy have not been met, the EU should not provide any financial and technical support for the electoral processes; recalls that only a credible, transparent, participatory and peaceful election process can overcome the protracted political crisis in Haiti;












2.


Stresses the importance of an independent and more accessible judiciary, and calls on the Haitian Government to respect the Haitian Constitution of 1987, in particular Article 284.3 thereof, to respect the fundamental principles of democracy and to strengthen the rule of law; reiterates the crucial role of the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and the inclusion of all Haitians, including young people, persons with disabilities and civil society in Haiti’s political processes;












3.


Firmly insists that the Haitian authorities must step up their efforts to end the clashes between gangs, as well as the armed attacks on civilians and on law enforcement and to bring those responsible to justice in fair trials;












4.


Reiterates its deep concern about the deteriorating humanitarian, political and security situation in Haiti; strongly condemns all human rights violations and acts of violence, especially the increase in kidnappings, child trafficking to the Dominican Republic, homicides and rape, and stresses the need to combat violence against women, girls and elderly people; strongly condemns the kidnapping of several members of the Catholic clergy last month in Port-au-Prince; recalls that the violence in Haiti is strongly linked to armed gangs, some of which are supported and funded by the local oligarchy; calls for an immediate and coordinated response by the Haitian authorities to prevent violence, to address its root causes and to end impunity for those responsible; recalls that reform of the justice system and the fight against corruption must remain a priority;












5.


Calls for an independent investigation into the massacre case of La Saline and similar outrages; demands that all authors of these crimes be brought to justice and given a fair trial;












6.


Condemns the alleged use of deadly force against protesters and arbitrary arrests and detentions; condemns the violence against journalists; urges the Haitian Government to end the practice of prolonged pre-trial detention; calls on the Haitian authorities to respect fundamental rights, freedom of expression and freedom of association;












7.


Recalls its strong support for all human rights and environmental defenders in Haiti and their work;












8.


Calls on the Haitian authorities to ensure better governance at all levels of the state and society, including the fight against corruption and clientelism; strongly requires the Commission to systematically ensure that all aid, including humanitarian aid, is effectively monitored in order to ensure that it is used for the specific projects for which it is intended;












9.


Calls on the Haitian authorities to clear up the suspicions of fraud and mismanagement of the international funds received following the earthquake of 2010 and to punish the perpetrators;












10.


Calls for an audit and a report from the European Court of Auditors on the way EU funds are spent in Haiti, especially in the light of the recent corruption allegations and the report of the Haitian Superior Court of Auditors;












11.


Calls for the European Union to continue to provide funding to Haiti in order to address the severe food insecurity and malnutrition that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic; also calls on the relevant European Union services to ensure the monitoring and appropriate management of European aid so that it directly benefits the population in need;












12.


Regrets that Haiti has not completed the necessary steps to receive COVID-19 vaccines; urges the Haitian authorities to make the arrangements that are needed to receive the vaccines;












13.


Welcomes the allocation of EUR 17 million by the EU in order to support the most vulnerable in Haiti and other countries in the Caribbean; calls on the Commission to continue prioritising humanitarian aid to Haiti; calls on the Commission to ensure that the provision of humanitarian aid to Haiti is efficiently linked to its development strategy;












14.


Calls for an end to the practice of Restavèk; calls for the Haitian Government to implement measures that ensure the registration and protection of children, both physically and psychologically, and to enforce compulsory schooling; calls for the EU to cooperate with the Haitian Government in order to implement a legislative framework to protect children’s rights;












15.


Calls on the Haitian Government to ensure the well-being of its citizens in all essential ways; stresses that failing to do so could result in an irreversible brain-drain and render Haiti incapable of functioning;












16.


Expresses it concerns about the massive arrival in French Guiana of Haitian nationals seeking asylum or in an irregular situation, and calls on the EU to support the European territories in the region in strengthening measures to combat human trafficking;












17.


Reiterates the importance of harmonised, coordinated and strengthened international efforts to support the people of Haiti; highlights the importance of continued EU and international support to Haiti in order to help create the conditions for peaceful and democratic elections, as well as to bring about the long-term stability, development and economic self-sufficiency of the country;












18.


Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the European Commission/ High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States-EU Council of Ministers and Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the institutions of the Cariforum, and the Haitian authorities.






(1)  OJ C 136 E, 11.5.2012, p. 46.

(2)  OJ C 463, 21.12.2018, p. 40.

(3)  Texts adopted, P9_TA(2019)0074.

(4)  According to data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).