On Tuesday, June 28, 2022, a conference-debate on the latest book by Dr. Josué PIERRE-LOUIS was held in Paris, in the premises of the Permanent Delegation of Haiti to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In response, nearly twenty feminist and human rights organizations in Haiti and France are requesting the cancellation of this activity.
In a press release made public on June 24, the signatory organizations have denounced with the utmost vigor the organization, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, of this conference-debate, believing that it is their civic duty to bring to the attention of the public and UNESCO elements that are not too complimentary for the current Secretary General of the Presidency, then without a president.
The communiqué states that Josué PIERRE-LOUIS is a man of power. He has successively held other high positions: Minister of Justice, Secretary General of the Prime Minister’s Office, Government Commissioner (Prosecutor), General Coordinator of the Office of Management and Human Resources (OMRH), advisor to President Michel Joseph MARTELLY.
Dr. Josué PIERRE-LOUIS has been implicated for sexist and sexual assaults against women working under his authority. The acts were denounced to human rights organizations, but for fear of reprisals, the victims refrained from filing a complaint, reads the 3-page document.
The latter, the statement continues, was accused of physical violence and rape perpetrated on November 26, 2012 on the person of an employee of the Electoral Council, the body he was chairing at the time. The survivor courageously filed a complaint on November 28 in court, with the support of feminist and human rights organizations, including the Solidarity of Haitian Women (SOFA), Kay Fanm (Women’s House), the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) and the Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organizations (POHDH).
The Office for the Protection of Citizens (OPC) was seized around this case. This body reminded the judge who is investigating the case of the need to act “without restriction and without being subject to influence, incitement, pressure, threats or undue intervention, direct or indirect, from anyone or for any reason whatsoever. The OPC also recommended that the accused make himself available to justice. This has never been the case to date.
Despite the steps, movements and denunciations following this case, which was highly political in scope, pressure of all kinds forced the survivor to leave the country. As a result, a second investigating judge who was in charge of the case, reputedly close to Josué PIERRE-LOUIS, quickly issued an order to dismiss the case in favor of the aggressor, the joint communiqué recalls.
In addition, the feminist organizations continue, in 2013, despite his appointment as ambassador, Josué PIERRE-LOUIS was not accredited by the Belgian and European authorities, thanks to the advocacy of feminist and human rights organizations. However, the impunity prevailing in Haiti allowed him to hold other important positions without being worried.
The organizations did not give up. Denunciations and protests were held some time later, denouncing Josué Pierre Louis.
Furthermore, these feminist and human rights organizations also denounce the fact that State authorities, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) and the Office of Protocol of the National Palace, are mobilized to promote the book of Josué PIERRE-LOUIS and thus allow him to benefit unduly from State resources, for strictly personal purposes.
The Communiqué maintains that UNESCO, as an institution that aims to “ensure universal respect for justice, the law, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all” cannot ignore the facts reported and associate itself with an individual such as Josué PIERRE-LOUIS, who has been indexed in repeated cases of violations of women’s rights and human rights.
The signatories protest against the culture of impunity and demand the cancellation of the activity aimed at giving Josué PIERRE-LOUIS high visibility. If he is to be in the spotlight, he must face justice, face his victims, concluded the communiqué authenticated by some twenty organizations.
For the time being, no information has yet been leaked about whether or not this conference-debate on the latest book by Dr. Josué PIERRE-LOUIS will be held in Paris, on the premises of the Permanent Delegation of Haiti to UNESCO.
