death - Haiti Observer Blog

Described by his life-long friend Georges Michel as '...the greatest living Haitian historian', The passing of Georges Corvington, with whom Michel not only shared a name, but a profession, is truly a sad point in history.

Georges Corvington, Jr died at home in the capital while asleep in bed, in his much beloved Port-au-Prince. His death was due to heart failure, an ailment which plagued the 88 year old and had caused a recent hospital stay for weeks prior to his death on the 3rd of April, 2013.

Corvington leaves behind a great literary, historical opus on the city he was born in, spent his life in and later died in, in the eight-volume history called Port-au-Prince au Cours des Ans (Port-au-Prince through the Ages). Published for over twenty years past its original publication date in 1970, the work detailed the Haitian capital's social and political history, beginning in 1749 when the French colonial rule began and culminating in 1956 with the former President Paul Magloire's exit.

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It is reported that Civil Merius, one of the residents of Camp Acra et Adoquin Delmas 33 has been beaten to death by police after he participated in a protest against arson attack on the temporary camp that houses over 30,000 Haitians. The camp is a temporary residence for these people after their homes were devastated by the earthquake of 2010. Darlin Lexima, another camp resident was also reported to have been beaten up by the police and taken in custody but Darlin did not participate in the protest. However, Darlin was later released by the police without any charges.

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Jean Dominique spent his early career first educating farmers on how to be self-sufficient under the thumb of wealthy land-owners. He then went on to making two notable firsts in the broadcasting world, opening the first film club in Haiti as well as Radio Haiti, the first station to broadcast in Creole. He went on to have multiple run-ins with the Duvalier regiments and was exiled in New York until his return in the mid 80's when he became a member of the Lavalas party which won the 1990 election.

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Legendary actor, popularly known as the character, Mantoute, died at her home in Port-au-Prince on Friday, January 18, 2013. Marie-Andrée Raymond Jeudy's death was from unknown causes, and her passing has caused grief in the government of Haiti (GOH).

First to learn of Marie-Andree Raymond Jeudy's death was Laurent Lamothe, Haiti's Prime Minister. He reacted with sadness, immediately sending his heartfelt sympathies to her immediate and extended family and the artistic community of Haiti.

Next to hear was Haiti President, Michel Martelly, and First Lady, Sophia. Grief-stricken, the president and his wife sent official condolences to the bereaved, expressing the GOH's appreciation of Jeudy's art and service to her community.

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Haiti under former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, despite being under a democratic form of government for the first time, was shrouded in chaos and violence. Aristide's term in office before being successfully ousted via a coup d'état in 2004 was met by most Haitian citizens with criticism and protest because of his supposed poor leadership and corruption, as well as his inclination to violence. The former president and Catholic priest's government has also been associated with several extrajudicial killings which elevated further the anger and disappointment of thousands and thousands of Haitians. The most popular of these is the brutal murder of well-known Haitian journalist Brignol Lindor.

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Vilbrun Guillaume Sam was born on 4th March 1859. He was a cousin of Tiresias Simon Sam. Being the commander of Haiti's North Division gave him a lot of power that he led a rebellion against Francois C. Antoine Simon and Cincinnatus Leconte took over the presidency. He also headed the rebellion that overthrew Oreste Zamor. Sam became the president after president Joseph Davilmar Theodore resigned in February 1915.

Since Haiti had been faced with five unruly years, Sam was forced by Dr Rosalvo Bobo to campaign with rebels against his own government. Dr Rosalvo Bobo was against the financial assistance from U.S government.
Sam refused to act upon the command and instead treated his political opponent badly. He even ordered that 167 political prisoners be killed including the former president Zamor. This annoyed Haitians forcing them to rebel against him. When Sam realized the reactions of Haitians, he decided to hide from them.

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The situation in the City of Jeremie has not improved. In fact, it has gotten worst.

We just learned today (November 30, 2012) that new clashes between security forces and protesters in Jeremie have left one confirmed dead and several people wounded.

A 33 year old man, Wilder Beloved, was killed by an agent of the Motorized Intervention Brigade (BIM). The body of the victim was brought to the home of the government commissioner of Jeremie by the protesting crowd and left there after protesters ransacked the home.

The new force came in town to establish order in the city after several days of protests by the population. For the past three days, the population of Jeremie has been protesting, demanding the resumption of road construction work joining Cayes - Jeremie by OAS Company.

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In Haiti, religion is professed by almost all Haitians.

Religious demographics in Haiti are distributed as follows in the Haitian population: Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3%.

Haitian Catholics, Baptists, Protestants and other Christians accept as true the existence of heaven, hell and purgatory; that the fate of the departed depends on how he lived his life on Earth. They believe in the teaching of the Catholic Church's teachings which holds that people who led a good life tend to go to Heaven, where they will be with God, angels, departed relatives, and fellow believers.

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On Monday, November 13, 2012 Haitian students continued their demonstration over the death of one of their owns. This was the third day of non stop protest, where students are demanding justice for the death of Damael d'Haiti, a student shot and killed by a police officer over the weekend at the School of Law and Social Sciences in Port-au-Prince.

"En Ayiti, Jistis Se moun Ki Ba Tet ou Sa..."

Haitian police and CIMO surrendering the protesters, blocked their exit from the law school, and fired tear gas. It has been reported that many people were affected by the gas. Children returning from school as well as other people going about their activities were affected.

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A case involving the death of a State University of Haiti student has moved forward with the indictment of National Penitentiary Administration agent Pierre Paul Maceus. Government Commissioner Me Lucmane Delile headed the indictment, saying that there is enough evidence showing Maceus' involvement with the death of 4th year student Damael D'Haiti during an event conducted by the Faculty of Law and Economics. Maceus is a young officer who was also a student at the university. According to previous reports, Pierre Paul Maceus was at the event too and had an encounter with the victim. Delile, however, said that the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police has yet to recover the weapon used to kill D'Haiti.

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