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Motion for a resolution - B9-0222/2019Motion for a resolution
B9-0222/2019

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Haiti

26.11.2019 - (2019/2928(RSP))

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure

Miguel Urbán Crespo, Marisa Matias, José Gusmão, Idoia Villanueva Ruiz, Eugenia Rodríguez Palop, Konstantinos Arvanitis, Stelios Kouloglou, Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Alexis Georgoulis, Pernando Barrena Arza, Giorgos Georgiou, Niyazi Kizilyürek
on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0214/2019

Procedure : 2019/2928(RSP)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
B9-0222/2019
Texts tabled :
B9-0222/2019
Texts adopted :

B9‑0222/2019

European Parliament resolution on Haiti

(2019/2928(RSP))

The European Parliament,

-  having regard to its previous resolutions on Haiti,

 

-  having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,

 

-  having regard to the Statement by the Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Press briefing note on Haiti unrest”, on 1 November 2019,

 

-  having regard to the Resolution 2466 (2019), adopted by the Security Council at its 8510th meeting, on 12 April 2019,

 

-  having regard to the Statement by EU VP High Representative, Federica Mogherini, “Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the situation in Haiti.”, on 7 November 2019,

 

-  having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

 

A.  Whereas Haiti is currently facing one of its biggest socio-political and economic crises since 2004; whereas in July 2018, the government's announcement that it would eliminate energy subsidies caused the rising of fuel prices by up to 50 percent, increase in the cost of living and caused widespread protests that have continued since then; whereas this measure responded to the cuts agreed, in February 2018, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for financial loans for 96 million dollars to help the country to pay its illegitimate debt; whereas these measures plunge millions more people into misery in a country where almost half of the population lives in poverty;

 

B.  whereas since then, the country has been facing constant mobilizations principally sparked by allegations that senior officials, including President Jovenel Moïse, could be implicated in the diversion of up to US$2 billion in proceeds from oil that Venezuela provided to Haiti on favourable terms; whereas the demonstrators ask for the resignation of President Moïse, the end of austerity measures and an investigation into the theft of Petrocaribe funds;

 

C.  whereas the public force repressed the protests using real ammunition and tear gas; whereas in February, 41 people died and 100 were injured in the context of protests, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; whereas according to latest figures from OHCHR, between 15 September and 1 November 2019, at least 42 people died in similar protests, 19 of these were killed by law enforcement, and 86 people were injured;

 

D.  whereas, since the resignation of the former Prime Minister, Haiti does not have any government; whereas the positions of the senators expire in the month of January, and that no elections have been held so far for their replacement;

 

E.  whereas the energy crisis, the shortage of fuels and the mobilizations are affecting the operation of hospitals and the supply of water, and causing the paralysis of transport at the national level and the closure of markets and schools; whereas it is also a crisis for the rural population because they cannot commercialise its production, which is their only means of subsistence, while food prices reach exorbitant prices in large cities;

 

F.  whereas Haiti remains the poorest country in the Americas and one of the poorest in the world and suffers significant deficiencies in essential services; whereas according to the World Bank, more than 6 million Haitians live below the poverty line and more than 2.5 million fall below the extreme poverty line out of a population of approximately 11 million; whereas the country is ranked 168 of 189 in the Human Development Index (HDI) and has one of the highest levels of food insecurity in the world, with more than half of the population - and 22% of the country's children - with chronic malnutrition;

 

G.  whereas the grave humanitarian situation is exacerbated by Haiti's vulnerability to natural disasters, which are increasingly frequent; whereas the 2019 Global Climate Risk Index places Haiti in fourth place among the countries most affected by annual climate disasters; whereas the country’s most vulnerable communities continue to face environmental risks, such as widespread deforestation, pollution from industry, and limited access to safe water and sanitation; whereas the low rainfall exacerbates food insecurity in the country;

 

H.  whereas according to the former director of the Fund for Economic and Social Assistance (FAES) of Haiti between 2012 and 2015, only 0.6% of international donations ended up in the hands of Haitian organizations, 9.6% in the hands of the Haitian Government and the remaining 89.8% was channelled to non-Haitian organizations;

 

I.  whereas the earthquake that hit the country in 2010, along with following hurricanes, plunged the country into a state of latent crisis from which it has not yet recovered because of the corruption, between other reasons;

 

J.  whereas Haiti is ranked 161 out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perception Index; whereas the founder of the Haitian Party Tet Kale (PHTK), Michel Martelly (2011-2016), as well as his successor and current president Moïse, are accused of diverting funds from international aid from the last two climatic catastrophes that hit the island;

 

K.  whereas in February 2019, the corruption scandal popularized as Petrocaribe broke out; whereas Petrocaribe was a program created by the Venezuelan government that allowed Haiti to buy, since 2006, oil at a subsidized price with the commitment to use the funds released to build infrastructure and programs of social health and education; whereas in May the Court of Auditors delivered a report to the Senate that concluded that at least 14 former officials embezzled more than $ 3.8 billion of the Petrocaribe program between 2008 and 2016; whereas the current president is mentioned in the report for his role in the company Agritrans, winner of contracts to build infrastructures that were never carried out, despite receiving the money;

 

L.  whereas complaints that accuse the government of trying to control and repress the demonstrations through the use of armed groups responsible for massacres such as La Saline and Carrefour-Feuilles or selective killings; whereas these armed groups exercise social control in the neighbourhoods that are contrary to the government such as La Saline, Tokyo, Grand Ravine, Carrefour-feuilles and Bel Air; whereas between November 1 and 13, 2018, a massacre was carried out in La Saline, in which at least 71 people were killed and tortured, 2 were disappeared and at least 11 women raped, according to a report published by the National Network for the Defence of Human Rights (RNDDH); whereas reports from the United Nations Mission and the RNDDH confirm the involvement of government authorities in the massacre; whereas RNDDH described the events as a de State massacre ’, and denounced that the perpetrators were trying to create an unsafe climate and thwart the massive anti-government mobilization of November 18, 2018;

 

M.  whereas Haiti is ranked 62 in the press freedom index and that according to Reporters Without Borders threats and aggressions against journalists have increased; whereas a journalist was killed in the context of the protests, and at least 9 were injured and several independent broadcasters have been closed amid complaints of pressure from the government and business sectors linked to the energy sector; whereas photographer Vladjimir Legagneur was disappeared in March 14, 2018 and that the authorities in charge of the case, have not disclosed any significant progress in the investigation;

 

N.  whereas Haiti has a gender inequality index (GMI) of 0.593, which places the country in the 142nd position of 159 in the 2015 index; whereas 3.5% of parliamentary seats are occupied by women and that only 25.7% of adult women have reached at least secondary education, compared to 38.7% of their male counterparts; whereas for every 100,000 births, 359 women die from causes related to pregnancy and the birth rate of adolescents is 39.3 births per 1,000 women between 15 and 19 years old; whereas the participation of women in the labour market is 61.5% compared to 71.4% of men;

 

O.  whereas there are complaints regarding acts of sexual violence committed by security forces; whereas complaints of group violations of at least 12 women detained in Gonaïves during the night of November 7-8, 2019;

 

P.  whereas there were complaints regarding acts of sexual violence committed by the International Comunity; whereas according to figures from the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, at least 102 allegations of sexual abuse or exploitation were made against the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) personnel between 2007 and 2017; whereas in December 2017, 10 Haitian mothers of 11 children fathered and abandoned by UN peacekeepers filed the first legal actions in Haiti for child support; whereas according to the charity commission of the United Kingdom, Oxfam did not adequately investigate complaints of sexual exploitation by its personnel; whereas Oxfam acknowledged that what happened was shameful and a terrible abuse of power;

 

Q.  whereas discrimination, stigmatization, exclusion and violence against LGBTI people are systemic and widespread in Haiti; whereas LGBTI people are subjected to ill-treatment, sexual assault and rape, denial of employment and education opportunities, rejection by their families, and discrimination in access to social services and justice;

 

R.  whereas Haiti's public debt in 2018 was 2,719 million euros, 33.26% of GDP; whereas countries such as France and international institutions (mainly the International Monetary Fund) imposed to Haiti a colossal debt;

 

S.  whereas the solidarity of the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) for years strengthened following the earthquake and hurricanes in Haiti, considering in particular that in 2018 nearly 8,000 employees Cubans were treating patients in Haiti's 10 departments and that 1,059 Haitians were graduating from Havana, Cuba, in latin America's largest medical school (ELAM), as part of cooperation projects between Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti and that a Cuban literacy brigade has been deployed in the country since 1999;

 

  1. Strongly condemns the killing of demonstrators by law enforcement officials, and all incidents of excess use of force by the police;
  2. Urges the authorities stop using firearms carrying live ammunition in the context of protests;
  3. Urges the Haitian authorities: to ensure the security of all citizens, irrespective of their political views, affiliation or confession; to uphold the rule of law and respect human rights and fundamental freedoms; to protect the freedoms of association, assembly, expression and the press; to guarantee the life and physical integrity of those who choose to demonstrate; and to respect and fulfil the country’s international obligations;
  4. Calls on the Haitian authorities to take measures to guarantee the safety of journalists and human rights defenders covering or monitoring the political and human rights situation in Haiti, and to guarantee that the civil society can operate freely, without interference;
  5. Demands a prompt, impartial, independent and effective investigation into the allegations of killings, excessive use of force and other human rights violations committed by law enforcement officials during the demonstrations;
  6. Strongly condemns the massacre committed in the neighbourhood of La Saline and calls for an official investigation on the case, including into the alleged involvement of members of the Haitian National Police and other officials; calls to protect the  displaced survivors of the massacre;
  7. Considers it necessary to implement urgent measures to protect and support women and children victims of sexual abuse, such as medical and psychological care and specific programmes of social inclusion and rehabilitation;
  8. Condemns the group violations of women detained in Gonaïves; demands a prompt, impartial, independent and effective investigation into the allegations; recalls that when states deprive people of their freedom, they are responsible for guaranteeing their integrity and protecting them from acts of violence;
  9. Condemns all acts of sexual abuse and exploitation of women and children as well as other forms of criminal acts carried out by International NGOs and UN personnel in violation of human rights as well as being in flagrant contradiction with the peacekeeping and humanitarian mission of the organisation itself; Calls on the United Nations and its member countries to effectively investigate cases of sexual exploitation or sexual abuse by MINUSTAH peacekeeping forces in Haiti, to prosecute the perpetrators of such acts and provide support and reparation to the victims;
  10. Recommends the authorities to consider the grievances sparking the protests and meaningfully address the underlying causes of the political and economic crisis;
  11. Recommends to take measures to fight against corruption and to start an investigation into the corruption allegations in Petrocaribe case as well as in funds from international aid diverted;
  12. Regarding the severe food crisis, insists to take special attention to emergency food aid, with a focus on the purchase of local farmers; supports the access of farmers to agricultural equipment, non-genetically modified seeds and species and varieties adapted to climate and food culture of the country, so that the country can restart its agricultural production as soon as possible and guarantee its food sovereignty;
  13. Is deeply concerned about the protracted crisis in Haiti, and its impact on the ability of Haitians to access their basic rights to healthcare, food, education and other needs;
  14. Calls urgently the Haitian Government and the international community to support programmes to eradicate poverty and ensure schooling and access to social services, especially in remote parts of the country;
  15. Welcomes the international solidarity deployed to help Haiti first and foremost regional solidarity with, among others, Cuba and Venezuela, which have dispatched hundreds of doctors, provided basic aid and built hospitals in Haiti and that had allowed Haiti to fight illiteracy;
  16. Stresses the leading role of the United Nations in coordinating international humanitarian aid, and insists that the government and people of Haiti have a key part to play in setting up appropriate structures to promote the country’s reconstruction; stresses that humanitarian actors should not take the place of the Haitian State and that there is an urgent need to finally act in long-term development, in particular for access to health care, drinking water and sanitation;
  17. Calls for an investigation to be initiated on the fact that certain aid, in particular from the European Union, has never reached Haiti, and an investigation on the effectiveness of the aid distribution network; also asks for an evaluation of the really paid help;
  18. Calls for the immediate and definitive cancellation of all of Haiti’s international debts and its mechanisms (e.g. debt service) to international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank, but also to Haiti’s main trading partners such as the United States and the European Union; supports in the same way that France repays the colonial debt amounting to 17 to 21 billion dollars, which the country had to pay in order to obtain its independence; calls for an increased international support from former colonial powers to Haiti;
  19. Roundly condemns any political interference by foreign powers in the life of Haiti and also insists on the need to respect the principle of Haiti’s sovereignty and territorial integrity;
  20. Urges Haitian authorities to accept a visit from the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders;
  21. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Member States, the Vice President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the ACP-EU Council of Ministers, the institutions of the Cariforum, the Governments and Parliaments of Haiti and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

 

Last updated: 26 November 2019
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