Antoine Izmery Assassination

Antoine Izméry was well-known businessman and a strong supporter of Aristide as a pro-democracy activist. He belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Haiti and was a large financier of the former president's campaign in 1990. When Aristide was ousted and exiled by a successful coup d'état in 1991, Izméry remained loyal and formed the Komite Mete men pou Verite Blayi (KOMEVEB), an organization that was aimed at exposing and publicizing the events that transpired during the coup and at bringing back Haiti's democratic form of government under Aristide. Along with this cause came the assassination of his brother, Georges, by the new military regime in power.

On the 11th of September, 1993, while attending a mass for the victims of the 1988 Saint Jean Bosco massacre organized by KOMEVEB, Izméry was shot dead by a group of men from the paramilitary. Other attendees, including several journalists, were beaten and jailed. The church where the mass was occurring was surrounded by armed men who then forced Izméry to go out and kneel, before ending his life with a single bullet to his head. Prior to the mass, the activist was warned by his colleagues that members of the paramilitary would possibly commit havoc in such an event where many human rights and anti-paramilitary figures and groups would gather.

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Read more: Coup D'Etat, assassination, massacre, St. Jean Bosco, Antoine Izmery, Saint Jean Bosco Massacre, Security Crime Law and Order

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