crime - Haiti Observer Blog

Malya Villard-Appolon, the leader of KOFAVIV (Commission of Women Victims for Victims), has been included in one of the top ten heroes of CNN. Her inclusion was attributed to her efforts and campaigns to protect rape victims and to stop such a crime in Haiti. Malya Villard-Appolon was a two-time victim of rape herself. She was raped in 1992 and in 2003, while her daughter suffered the same fate. Despite this, however, Appolon did not give up. Instead, she established KOFAVIV and vowed to seek justice not just for herself and for her daughter but for all the women in Haiti, where the incidences of rape have been increasing.

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The Haitian government is currently in hiatus and conflict due to the emergence of a militant group claiming to be associated with the country's most powerful individual, the President. A group of fugitives who referred to themselves as "The Police" recently publicly claimed to have a connection with Haitian President Michel Martelly's political party. They have transformed themselves as the paramilitary force of Les Cayes' police department and are currently well-armed.

Les Cayes' government commissioner, Jean-Marie Salomon, announced that he has information on the identity of the group's members, mostly with criminal backgrounds and some having escaped from prison. With all the fuss on The Police's claim of being part of a strong political party, the Commissioner declined in confirming the group's political affiliation. This has worried the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH), especially in terms of the safety and security of Haiti's southern department. RNDDH's Executive Director Pierre Espérance believes that The Police belonged to Martelly's Tet Kale Party and was supposedly formed by Haiti's Minister of Justice Jean Renel Sanon in order to commit repression in the country.

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The Haiti government has vowed to give justice to the death of Damael d'Haiti, a student at the Faculty of Law and Economics who were reportedly assassinated on Saturday.

The authorities have yet to clarify what really happened but allegations were made that a police officer, who is also a student at the university, killed Damael. According to reports, Damael and police officer Maceus Pierre Paul had a conflict during a party organized by the university for new students. This might have led to the death of the 24-year-old but the National Police Haiti (PNH) are still investigating the incident.

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In a bid to keep Haiti communities safe and secure, the authorities are now going after criminals and suspicious individuals. Commissioner of the Government Me Lucmane Delile launched the "Gason Pa Kanpe" campaign that is meant to catch criminals and stop them from inciting fear among the public. The campaign started strong, with more than 25 arrests in just a couple of days. Every kind of criminals, including kidnappers and drug dealers, are getting targeted by the campaign.

Lucmane Delile said the campaign"Gason Pa Kanpe" is just beginning, as they plan to go after criminals even harder. He shared that officials started rounding out criminals in the capital of Port-au-Prince, where they questioned and investigated a number of suspects. Officials are also setting their sights on various areas such as banks and neighborhoods with high crime rates. They are determined to make people safe in going to banks because there were instances wherein criminals went after their victims while the latter are doing bank transactions.

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Reports on fake kidnapping scams have been made recently. According to reports, scammers call random people and tell them that they have abducted a relative. It can be someone's brother, sister, son, or others. Once the victim has believed the caller, the criminal will then ask for ransom. These fake kidnappers would also frighten the caller by "threatening" the life of his/her relative.

Such incidents have happened in various places already, including Singapore and the American state of Miami. Officials said this crime is not new because it actually started in 1998 in Puerto Rico. According to Miami officials, more than 40 cases of kidnapping scams have already been reported in the past months. The Federal Bureau of Investigation added that the agency receives similar reports at least once a week.

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Another official has been linked to a kidnapping case in Haiti, where two children of the chief of a major bank in the country were abducted. Senator Jean-Charles Mose confirmed that Deputy Gracia Delva was involved in the case. Mose claimed that investigations showed that Delva himself was the one who tried to help suspects Jean Ricot Pierre Val, Altidol Tius, and Carlos Badel Saint-Fort flee the country. Reports said Delva let the suspects use his car to cross the border to get to Santiago a northern town in the Dominican Republic.

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According to Haitian newspaper Haiti Observateur, Haitian businessman Clifford Brandt who is currently jailed for his involvement in the kidnapping of two Moscosso children, made revelations that are disturbing to the current presidential family as well as some other influential members of the Haitian society.

The newspaper cited U.S. officials who participated in the interrogation of Clifford Brandt and also French authorities who have been investigating another gang leader Amaral Duclona.

According to Haiti Observateur Clifford Brandt he is not the leader of the gang. He claims that he is number 5 down in the Kidnapping network. Above him comes directly Olivier Martelly who is number 6. Mr. Olivier Martelly is one of the sons of the current Haitian President Michel Martelly. It was further declared that the wife of the President was a direct beneficiary of Clifford Brandt kidnapping network. This comes in direct contributions of Clifford Brandt to help fund their various projects.

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Children are vulnerable in situations in which they feel uncomfortable, insecure, or frightened. Taught to obey adult authority without question, they are unable to act on their instincts when confronted with strangers who intend them harm. Here are some guidelines to keep your children safe.

• Sit down with your children and talk to them. Tell them if any stranger gets too close for comfort to run away as quickly as possible. Instruct them to yell as loud as possible as they run to safety.

• Don't allow your children to go anywhere by themselves. If they are young, have someone you know well accompany them. If your children are older, ensure they always travel with a friend. Keep tabs on your children.

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Abduction, a form of kidnapping, is often associated with family abduction. Family abduction occurs when a child is taken by force away from their family. Frequently the perpetrator is a parent, who has been involved in a child custody dispute with their former partner.

The legal definition of abduction is a coercive act performed in defiance of a custody order. In some cases, family abductions are carried out surreptitiously. They begin when a parent or anyone acting in their place uses pretext to get possession of the child, for instance, taking the child for an outing and never returning them. The perpetrator hides the child, taking them over state lines to keep the victim-parent away from their child. The objective of abduction is to get illegal custody of the child, violating the primary caretaker's rights.

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François Emmanuel "Toto" Constant, born in 1956, started FRAPH (Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti), a death squad in mid-1993, at the request of U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency officer, Col. Patrick Collins, after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, unable to take office, had been exiled to South Africa. The intent of FRAPH was to gather intelligence to infiltrate and destroy the Aristide pro-democracy movement, terrorizing Aristide loyalists in the process.

In October 1993, Emmanuel assumed a major role in world affairs, when he and his FRAPH goons rioted at the Port-au-Prince port, as the USS Harlan, with a contingent of 200 soldiers and President Aristide aboard, attempted to dock at the pier. The USS Harlan was unable to deliver Aristide back to his country to rule, forestalling U.S. efforts to put Aristide back into power. Or so it seemed.

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