Affaire Belizaire

Impunity has Friends in the Haitian Senate

Speak your mind

Senate seeking a bailout on it resolution

Here we go again: “l’enquete se poursuit.” Senators went around in circles during last night’s session like gutless individuals, openly admitting they did no longer had a majority to boot Justice Minister Pierre Louis. They acted as if the assault on the 1987 Constitution was no longer a big deal because the Justice Minister was a bigger friend than the deputy. Rather than sending a signal of strength and unity, senators back tracked like they saw a ghost. Once they started hesitating, I had a feeling of déjà vu. As much outrage they poured over the humiliation they suffered when a fellow sitting legislator got arrested and jailed, they got to the moment of truth and could not pull it off. When will this structural paralysis finally meet its fate?

What took place on thursday October 27 was not just a slap to every citizen in the country. It was indicative of the level of incompetence of the gangsters we call leaders. It was a forfeiture of our sovereignty and a direct threat to any and every citizen in the country. The government will not follow established laws and procedures when it has to ge his man. We must set a precedence and if the Haitian Senate cannot be trusted to take up the cause of the people it swore to represent, the people must do it themselves. Since the senate lacks the courage to uncover the truth and make necessary decisions to redress the people’s grievance, perhaps they need to step back and let the House of Deputies handle the process itself.

After all, it was one of their own who was humiliated. I seriously doubt the lower house would judge their friends that are in the government more important than defending the democratic principles. The General Assembly is the protector of the Constitution and must provide checks and balances in government. When a president or a group of gangs think they are limitless and all-powerful to the point the can just grab a citizen at any time or under any circumstances and don’t have to answer for it, the future of the country is under direct threat. The government must know its boundaries. Anyone reckless enough to pull off such a poorly planned and boyish mess does not respect him or herself nor do they care about the country or its well-being.

Rapadoo O,

Your comment is most welcome on Rapadoo O, thetruth. I agree with many of your points articulated so well here. I want you to understand that you and I are fighting the same war and that just because we disagree doesn’t makes us enemies. I realized most opinions fall along three lines.
1. Those who want to overlook the constitutional dictates to eradicate corruption.
2. Those who place the Constitution above all men as a way to end corruption
3. Those who don’t care about either and want the government to focus on the country and its people.
If you follow many arguments made about the incident, I don’t think you will find anyone who says Deputy Belizaire is innocent or hasn’t violated the law, far from it. As you said, if we probe the countries leadership, everyone would end up in jail, including the president. However, that’s hardly the point here.
If your argument is that we should violate the law to enforce it, I disagree with you. I would make the same argument if it were you at the airport being arrested without a warrant and against everything the Constitution dictates. We cannot enforce the law if we don’t care to follow the law. I wanted to see legal proceedings against Belizaire, which would be a better strategy and send a stronger message of rupture. Treating everyone as human beings is important even when we disagree with them. Things like this happen on a regular basis against regular citizens and no one ever hear about them again or they end up in prison without any representation. If we get carried away by our anger and hatred of Haitian leaders to let this incident go unpunished, we will be doing a disservice to future generations who will use it as precedence. The government cannot grab citizens at will because the law prescribe procedures to handle that kind of situation.If anything, the government need to protect the citizens and if it has a case against anyone, it must present its evidence for everyone to see. There is a lot more to this story. The same people who are pursuing Belizaire now recruited him in jail to kill Yvon Neptune after the fall of Aristide, according to this 2005 article, http://peoplesworld.org/ex-soldier-says-he-was-asked-to-kill-haitian-leader/. We may never know the truth about this matter.
Once the government swore Belizaire in as legislator, he is protected by the Constitution. Some people took it upon themselves to impose their version of justice and that’s why we’re wasting all of our resources of this mess. Eventually we will need to focus on the deputy’s record and allow the law to deal with him. For now, it looks like the president of a nation decided to take on a citizen because he felt disrespected. What will you say when the government throw the rope around your neck because it thinks it can? This practice must stop here. I understand that you may disagree and you’re well within your rights to do so. I welcome differing opinions. It’s how we discover the truth and grow. Please keep visiting and commenting. Consider this your public sphere, a place where you can debate respectfully.
Thank you!

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2 replies »

thetruth says:

November 9, 2011 at 11:52

Député Bélizaire is a criminal who lied about his past and forged documents in order to get elected. It’s a shame that you and most commentators seem to forget this important fact. He has no right to immunity.
What’s even worse is that so much time, resources and efforts are wasted on this criminal instead of being used on rebuilding our Haiti and on governing this country.
The only reason the parliament is making a big deal about this story is not to protect the Constitution but rather to protect the several others like député Bélizaire who lied about their criminal past in order to get elected. It’s time to clean-up our institutions!

Wake UP!

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- Rapadoo Observateur says:
  
  November 9, 2011 at 12:54
  
  Your comment is most welcome on Rapadoo O, thetruth. I agree with many of your points articulated so well here. I want you to understand that you and I are fighting the same war and that just because we disagree doesn’t makes us enemies. I realized most opinions fall along three lines.
  1. Those who want to overlook the constitutional dictates to eradicate corruption.
  2. Those who place the Constitution above all men as a way to end corruption
  3. Those who don’t care about either and want the government to focus on the country and its people.
  If you follow many arguments made about the incident, I don’t think you will find anyone who says Deputy Belizaire is innocent or hasn’t violated the law, far from it. As you said, if we probe the countries leadership, everyone would end up in jail, including the president. However, that’s hardly the point here.
  If your argument is that we should violate the law to enforce it, I disagree with you. I would make the same argument if it were you at the airport being arrested without a warrant and against everything the Constitution dictates. We cannot enforce the law if we don’t care to follow the law. I wanted to see legal proceedings against Belizaire, which would be a better strategy and send a stronger message of rupture. Treating everyone as human beings is important even when we disagree with them. Things like this happen on a regular basis against regular citizens and no one ever hear about them again or they end up in prison without any representation. If we get carried away by our anger and hatred of Haitian leaders to let this incident go unpunished, we will be doing a disservice to future generations who will use it as precedence. The government cannot grab citizens at will because the law prescribe procedures to handle that kind of situation.If anything, the government need to protect the citizens and if it has a case against anyone, it must present its evidence for everyone to see. There is a lot more to this story. The same people who are pursuing Belizaire now recruited him in jail to kill Yvon Neptune after the fall of Aristide, according to this 2005 article, http://peoplesworld.org/ex-soldier-says-he-was-asked-to-kill-haitian-leader/. We may never know the truth about this matter.
  Once the government swore Belizaire in as legislator, he is protected by the Constitution. Some people took it upon themselves to impose their version of justice and that’s why we’re wasting all of our resources of this mess. Eventually we will need to focus on the deputy’s record and allow the law to deal with him. For now, it looks like the president of a nation decided to take on a citizen because he felt disrespected. What will you say when the government throw the rope around your neck because it thinks it can? This practice must stop here. I understand that you may disagree and you’re well within your rights to do so. I welcome differing opinions. It’s how we discover the truth and grow. Please keep visiting and commenting. Consider this your public sphere, a place where you can debate respectfully.
  Thank you!
  
  LikeLike