HAITI MONTHLY: MARCH, 2009

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 000379 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR S/CRS INL FOR KEVIN BROWN, DIANNE GRAHAM AND MEAGAN MCBRIDE SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV HA PREL KCRM SUBJECT: HAITI MONTHLY: MARCH, 2009 ¶1. (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified -- please protect accordingly. ¶2. (U) Summary: This is a monthly report on various political topics of interest which do not merit a full reporting cable. End summary. ¶3. (SBU) PENSION SYSTEM CHIEF ARRESTED. The Chief Prosecutor of Port-au-Prince, Joseph Manes Louis, ordered the arrest March 19 of the head of Haiti's private sector pension system (National Old Age Insurance Office (ONA)) Sandro Joseph on suspicion of misuse of funds. The arrest came based on a report of the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) in the Ministry of Finance. That report stated that Joseph had countermanded an order of the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs and disbursed 56 million Haitian gourdes from ONA funds to purchase property for the construction of residential housing. The report also accused Joseph of distributing over 46 million gourds to some 50 parliamentarians, other individuals and organizations, and musical bands to subsidize 2007 Carnival festivities. The Chamber of Deputies has voted to repudiate the ULCC report for failing to distinguish between corruption and subsidies. Many parliamentarians also criticize the report for singling out ONA while other government agencies allegedly are guilty of greater corruption. ¶4. (U) HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP STRIKES OUT AT JUDGES' STRIKE. Noting the irony of judicial authorities' proposed use of illegal means to protest an illegal arrest, human rights activist and Director of the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH),Pierre Esperance issued a strong condemnation of a scheduled two-day strike by the National Association of Haitian Magistrates (ANAMAH). ANAMAH is protesting the allegedly arbitrary arrest of Acting Commissaire and Magistrate Vladimir Edward Yayo on corruption charges as well as for the back payment of their salaries, but later called off the strike. RNDDH also condemned the attempted arrest of Mr.Yayo, but noted that the ANAMAH often ignores the corrupt practices of its own membership and cited several instances where judges engaged in encouraging Haiti's culture of impunity by accepting bribes. Esperance condemned ANAMAH's ''morally reprehensible'' refusal to preside over courtrooms through an illegal strike which also contributes to Haiti's ongoing problem with prolonged pretrial detention. ¶5. (U) SLAP ON THE WRIST FOR DEPUTY WHO INTERRUPTED QUESTIONING OF PRIME MINISTER. The Chamber of Deputies leadership announced the week of March 23 that Deputy Emmanuel Fritz Gerald Bourjolly (Fusion, South) is prohibited from speaking in Parliament for one month. Bourjolly had violently grabbed the microphone from Chamber President Levaillant Louis Jeune and threw it to the ground after Louis Jeune declined to let him question the Prime Minister during a Chamber session March 17. He then punched one of many Deputies who attempted to restrain him. Bourjolly initially denied he had done anything wrong, asserting that it was Louis Jeune's fault for not allowing him to speak, and he would act the same way again in similar circumstances. Fusion President Victor Benoit addressed a letter to Bourjolly ''strongly condemning'' the Fusion Deputy's conduct as ''against the rules of civility.'' On March 31, Bourjolly announced he was leaving the Fusion party because it had not supported him. SANDERSON