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Martine Moïse: "Light will be shed on the assassination of my husband"

Audio 07:57

Former First Lady of Haiti, Martine Moise, speaks during the funeral of her slain husband, former President Jovenel Moise, accompanied by her children in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Friday, July 23, 2021. Copyright 2021 The Associated Press.

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By: Stefanie Schüler Follow |

Mikael Ponge

14 mins

In the early hours of July 7, 2021, Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his private residence by a commando.

His wife Martine Moïse, who was next to him, was seriously injured.

Today she grants an exclusive interview to RFI.

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RFI: Madam First Lady, you were seriously injured on the night of July 7, 2021. You were treated in the United States.

A year later, how are you?

Martine Moïse:

A year already.

It is really difficult to answer this question.

The assassination of my husband, who was the 58th president, and the assassination attempt on me, the scars are and I believe will be permanent.

But despite the shock and the physical wounds, for my husband, for our children, for the country, we are doing our best to heal our wounds, to heal our wounds.

And I take this opportunity to thank those who, that night, came to save me.

Because without them I won't be here today to do this interview.

And I want them to know that I will be forever grateful to them.

Do you still fear for your life today?

Yes.

The threat is permanent.

The assassins who killed the president on July 7, 2021 are still there.

I thank God for giving me life.

Shortly after my release from the hospital, I had to go around the country to thank those who had remained faithful, who had supported me and who nevertheless after the earthquake (of August 14, 2021 which devastated the three departments of the southern peninsula of Haiti, Ed) needed a presence.

The president was not there.

We had to go there.

So fear for his life?

We must continue to work, despite everything.

Because as I always say: we can't all be killed.

Martine Moïse, you have decided not to take part in the official commemoration ceremonies, in particular the inauguration of a mausoleum in memory of your husband.

For what reasons ?

I decided not to take part.

Can I say it's for a matter of elegance?

Because I found the way of inviting myself very inelegant.

The monument (dedicated to Jovenel Moïse, Ed) had to be built long before the president was buried.

Yet he was not ready.

A year later, it's still not ready.

So we decided to fund ourselves and build from what we had.

And besides, it's not over.

To my amazement, I see on social networks that 'someone' is going to give us what we have built.

I thought it lacked elegance.

This is why I took out a note to say that I was not going to take part and that the Moïse family preferably went to their land to pay tribute to their president,

but that we were not going to take part in what was happening in Port-au-Prince.

Especially since Port-au-Prince is really complicated with violence, kidnappings and all that.

So we prefer to stay on the provinces.

In the press release that you shared on social networks, we can read that " 

the Moïse family does not intend to attend the commemorative activities supported by the Haitian State whose head of government is the subject of serious presumption of 'assassination on the President of the Republic'

.

You are referring to Ariel Henry, the Prime Minister appointed by your husband two days before his assassination.

He is suspected of having received phone calls from one of the main suspects a few hours after the tragedy.

These suspicions, it's not me but it's the investigation that says so.

It was after the government commissioner carried out his investigation with the telephone company Digicel, that he realized that the Prime Minister had contacts with the alleged assassins.

So for me, I have to take precautions.

This is why, when I returned to Haiti, I had to file a complaint for all those whose names are mentioned.

And since his name (Prime Minister Ariel Henry, editor's note) was mentioned, he is one of those against whom I filed a complaint.

I have also lodged a complaint against those who are accomplices, but whose names have not yet been released.

At your husband's funeral, you said, “ 

the birds of prey are still there.

They look at us and laugh at us 

”.

Is this still your feeling today, Martine Moïse?

Yes !

As long as we don't have severe legal and police measures against the assassins, well they will always continue to laugh at us, to make fun of us as well, savoring what they think is a victory.

Despite these institutional blocks and because of the determination of the people, most foreign assassins are known.

But there are others that are not yet known.

“The simple fact that the judges are obliged each time to resign from the case reflects a malaise and a refusal of the authorities in place to give justice to the president”

Do you have any names in mind?

Have you formed your opinion on the sponsors of the assassination and on their motivations?

You know that the investigation is still ongoing whether in Haiti or abroad.

So I can't name names so as not to hamper the investigation.

That's why I have to keep all my suspicions and doubts to myself while waiting for light to be shed and justice to be pronounced.

Precisely, five investigating judges were successively appointed in Haiti to investigate the assassination of Jovenel Moïse.

Now, a year later, the investigation has stalled.

Do you trust the justice of your country, Madame Moïse, to carry out this investigation and to find those responsible?

The simple fact that these judges are obliged, each time, to resign from the case, reflects a malaise and a refusal of the authorities in place to give justice to the president.

The first judge is gone, one of his clerks is dead.

Every time a magistrate could give justice to the president, something happens.

But these manipulations will not affect our determination, as a family, as a people, to continue to demand justice for our president.

Ms. Moïse, are you saying that the investigation is somehow impeded in Haiti?

And if so, by whom?

The investigation drags on.

By who ?

I do not know.

But if we conducted a little investigation, we would see that the Minister of Justice is the former lawyer of the oligarchs against whom the president was fighting *.

That alone puts anyone on track to see it's going to drag.

But I will not be discouraged.

I will continue to seek justice until the people and us, the family, obtain it.

For its part, the American justice is conducting its own investigation because of the involvement of American nationals in this affair.

The evidence is classified and therefore secret.

You, Martine Moïse, as a victim of this tragic night, do you have access to some of this information from American justice?

This evidence is blocked.

If we do a little analysis: does the Haitian justice cooperate?

In twelve months, how many extraditions have taken place to Haiti?

None.

How many obstructions to justice in Haiti have been made?

Several.

Every time we ask (the Haitian authorities, editor's note) for files to extradite someone, they send dowdy files or they don't send them at all.

In the meantime, extraditions are being done elsewhere.

So if in Haiti the investigation is blocked I can only rest on the place where the place where things move a little.

I can't talk about evidence that is classified since there are a lot of things that are public.

Do you have additional information that has not been revealed by the press?

No, information is received through the press, those that are public.

There is no information that is given specifically to the family.

Everyone has access to what is public. 

Despite all the difficulties you mention, do you have any hope that one day the light will be shed on the assassination of your husband?

Yes, I remain hopeful that light will be shed on the assassination.

Because if we look at today, we can talk about Lumumba (Patrice Lumumba, former Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, assassinated in January 1961, Ed) or Sankara (Thomas Sankara, former President of Burkina Faso, assassinated in October 1987, editor's note) and that justice will be done for them, I think that one day – I hope not to have to wait 35 or 40 years – Jovenel Moïse will obtain justice.

 You see a gang member with an M14 assault rifle when he can't even afford a pair of shoes.

Where does he find the weapon?

And the ammunition?

The violence in Haiti is commanded and used to keep the people silent.”

A year after the assassination of your husband, the political situation in Haiti is completely blocked.

A plethora of transition proposals have been put on the table, but so far without any real effect.

The international community is still advocating for the holding of elections.

How do you view that?

The proposals that are put on the table by politicians and their bosses implicated in the corruption and crimes that President Jovenel Moïse faced to change the system will not restore security and constitutional order.

The president died because he wanted the referendum (constitutional, editor's note) and the others still wanted the 1987 Constitution behind which they could hide to continue doing what they are doing in the country.

So I think it is very important for the country to have a new Constitution, of course by consensus, so that among Haitians we can finally sit down and decide on the Constitution.

And have elections.

Because ultimately a transitional government cannot really make a decision.

Only a government with elected officials can make decisions and change things.

This is why I think it is important to organize elections as soon as they say that the elections are difficult because of the violence.

Despite the violence, there must be elections, is that what you are telling us?

I think the violence is ordered.

Because sometimes you see a gang leader who spends months and months saying nothing.

And one day, lots of people die.

I think that the violence in Haiti is ordered.

By who ?

Investigations will reveal it one day.

In one year, gangs have proliferated in Haiti, and insecurity now affects almost the entire population.

This violence was accentuated during the mandate of your husband.

In your opinion, is it still manageable today?

And how ?

I think violence is manageable as long as you can sit down.

Gangs for example: you see someone with an M14 (assault rifle, editor's note) when he can't even afford a pair of shoes.

Where does he find the weapon?

It doesn't cost 15 or 20 gourdes (13 or 17 euro cents, editor's note).

And the ammunition?

Where does he find them?

This is why I say that the violence in Haiti is something ordered.

It is something that is used to keep the people silent and the country to continue to decline.

And if you say that we have to sit around a table, do you think that we first need a political agreement before we can put an end to the violence?

No, I'm not talking okay.

It is an empty word.

It's not a word that people are going to respect.

What I mean is that what the president had tried to do, namely to bring all the players together.

Let us say: “

 ok, it's Haiti before us.

What are we going to do for our country? 

Wherever Haitians go, they are poorly received.

Because they can no longer live at home.

Sometimes they are nomads even at home.

It is not a condition that is acceptable for a people to live.

A stranger cannot come and change that for you.

So if we have disagreements between us, let's discuss our disagreements, and agree on our disagreements!

I don't want to talk okay.

It is a vain word;

a word that people use to have

“Let's solve our problems so that, among Haitians, we can live at home, in Haiti, and stop being nomads.

My future is at home, in Haiti”.

You mentioned it: your husband intended to defend the constitutional referendum.

You said, Martine Moïse: “ 

it was a battle he was waging for us, which we must continue 

”.

Do you intend to continue his fight in one way or another?

The current Constitution dates from 35 years ago.

It is now outdated.

This is why the president was fighting to have a new Constitution.

So we already have the text that is written.

We shared it at the level of all the communal sections (the smallest administrative division in Haiti, editor's note) so that all Haitians could put their mark inside the Constitution, so that they could find their way around.

Without a new Constitution, we will always have this same pattern: someone goes to the elections, makes promises and does not even know that he will not be able to keep them.

Because the people who are in place and who know the Constitution well, they are the ones in charge.

Those who name.

Those who revoke.

Even if you (the Haitian president, Editor's note) have the right to choose your Prime Minister, 

ok, I agree with this prime minister

 ”.

But sometimes it costs a lot!

So it breeds corruption.

But you want to lead this fight?

You personally?

It's not me, personally, who wants to lead this fight, it's the whole people.

Because it was the wish of the president.

And the president before his death had asked the ICC (Independent Advisory Committee, set up by Jovenel Moïse to develop the draft of the new Constitution, Ed) to take care of it.

Because the president didn't know anything about these Constitution things.

The ICC took care of it and shared the text with everyone.

So it's not Martine Moïse who will take charge of the fight.

But I believe that it is the Haitian people who will take their destiny into their own hands.

Martine Moïse, is your future in Haiti?

Yes.

I am Haitian and my future is in Haiti.

When I was in the hospital in the United States, after recovering from my injuries, I understood while I was being treated what the diaspora was going through: you leave your country for a better life, but then you want to come back to it.

Because at the end of the day, your life is home.

At home, if there is a problem, it is up to you to solve it!

So, let's solve our problems so that, among Haitians, we can live in the country and stop being nomads.

So that we can live at home!

My future is at home, in Haiti.

* Contacted by RFI, the Haitian Minister of Justice has not yet responded to our interview requests.

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