Haiti protest demands justice for 3 slain deaf women
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) –Hundreds of protesters marched in Haiti’s capital on Friday to demand justice following the brutal killings of three deaf women who were tortured, stoned and left in a gully by attackers.
Mickelson Jean, leader of a Haitian association for the deaf, was one of roughly 300 people who marched in Port-au-Prince to call attention to the recent slayings. The women lived in the coastal village of Leveque where scores of homes are reserved for deaf people and their families.
“These murders are an act of absolute barbarism and we must have justice,” Jean said.
The three women were killed as they were trying to return home by foot late at night because a bridge had collapsed, preventing public transport from Haiti’s capital. They all worked as street vendors and went into Port-au-Prince that day to stock up on supplies.
Jentullon Joel, the police commissioner in Cabaret near where the killings took place two weeks ago, said arrest warrants have since been issued for two men, and three women are being held for questioning.
The international community welcomes the installation of CEP
Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Sandra Honoré issued the following statement in response to the installation of the new Provisional Electoral Council:
“We welcome the swearing-in and the installation on 30 March of the members of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). The Core Group welcomes the election of the Bureau of the CEP and its stated intention to organize credible, transparent and inclusive elections.
“It encourages the relevant authorities and actors concerned to work together in order to conclude without further delay the electoral process begun in 2015 aimed at filling presidential as well as legislative, municipal and local elected posts, to ensure the institutional continuity foreseen in the Feb. 5 agreement.
“The Core Group reiterates its full support to the Haitian Government and people as well as the efforts of all stakeholders aimed at reinforcing stability, consolidating democracy and restoring constitutional order.”