Haitian President Steps Down Leaving Chaos, No Successor

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, North America and Oceania

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian President Michel Martelly has stepped down from office, leaving the island nation with no immediate successor after elections marred by allegations of fraud were postponed twice. Martelly, who leaves the post after five years in office, delivered a farewell address to Haiti’s National Assembly on Sunday.

Former Haitian President Michel Martelly Departs the Parliament Building Sunday. (Photo Courtesy of CNN)

No successor has been chosen as of yet as opposition supporters challenge a deal to select an interim leader.

In a nearly 20-minute speech addressing the joint session of Parliament, Mr. Martelly said his biggest regret was that the presidential election had been postponed. Addressing the Haitian people, he stated he worked as hard as he could to improve the country.

In his address, Mr. Martelly was quoted as saying: “Haiti is recovering; yes, Haiti is standing. I was faced with all the challenges; facing the impossible, facing the most utter despair. … I can say today that I am ready to answer before the tribunal of history.”

Mr. Martelly departed at the end of his five-year term, thanks to a last-minute agreement that laid out steps to implement a provisional government to take his place. Although the agreement left major doubts about who will govern the nation in the months to come, those with direct knowledge of the situation hailed it as an important move toward at least momentarily resolving a political impasse that had put hundreds of protesters on the streets.

Under the agreement reached this weekend, the Prime Minister will stay in power until an interim president is chosen by both chambers of Parliament. Once the interim president is in place, a consensus Prime Minister will be chosen.

Haiti’s latest political crisis has resulted from a presidential election held in October with 54 candidates which critics have said was riddled with fraud. For example, political officials were able to vote multiple times, and the president’s handpicked successor came in first despite being a virtual unknown, leaving the 52 candidates who did not make the runoff vote to question the results.

Mr. Martelly insisted that there had been no fraud and that the runoff should take place, urging voters to choose his candidate, Jovenel Moïse, a banana exporter. However, a former government official who officially came in second, Jude Célestin, refused to participate in the runoff until a new electoral council was chosen and a thorough review of the first round was conducted.

Unfortunately, an hour after Mr. Martelly’s speech and departure from the parliament, violent street protests erupted.

Haiti last created a transitional government in 2004. That interim administration, which lasted for two years, took power in the chaotic days after President Jean Bertrand-Aristide was ousted by a rebellion and a U.N. peacekeeping force came to stabilize the country.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Haiti president steps down without successor in place – 8 February 2016

Latin Post – Haiti President Departs; Chaos Ensues – 8 February 2016

ABC News – Haiti’s President Departs to Make Way for Interim Government – 7 February 2016

CNN – Haiti’s President steps down, leaving no successor – 7 February 2016

Miami Herald – Haitian President Michel Martelly bids farewell – 7 February 2016

NY Times – Michel Martelly, Haiti’s President, Departs Without a Successor – 7 February 2016

Reuters (Video) – Haiti’s president leaves office without a successor – 7 February 2016

Syria Deeply Weekly Update: Aleppo Onslaught Leaves Syrians Stranded on the Border

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply newsletter. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments about Syria and the Syrians in order to bring you valuable news and analysis.

Aleppo Onslaught Leaves Syrians Stranded on the Border

The Russian-supported onslaught on the city of Aleppo and surrounding countryside has forced more than 50,000 people to flee their homes and head north to the Turkish border. But as the border remains closed and the weather gets colder, Syria’s displaced are stranded.

The Consequences of Russian Free Reign in Syria

Russian president Vladimir Putin has duped the west, writes Fredric Hof, using a military solution to fix the only aspect of the Syrian crisis he deems worth solving: the preservation of Bashar al-Assad’s rule in at least part of the country. But Russian free reign in Syria has global consequences.

The Staggering Price of Syria’s Reconstruction

Five years of war in Syria have left large swathes of the country in ruin. And with the peace process on the brink of collapse, an end to the war is nowhere in sight. But with a reconstruction bill that is likely to run well over $100 billion, planning for Syria’s eventual rebuilding must start now.

More Recent Stories to Look Out for at Syria Deeply

• International Intervention Is Prolonging Syrian War

• Government Push in North Forces 50,000 to Borders

• My Life Outside Syria: Diary Entry 57

Find our new reporting and analysis every weekday at www.syriadeeply.org.

You can reach our team with any comments or suggestions at info@newsdeeply.org.

Police Clash With Protesters During New Year Celebration in Hong Kong

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

Police clashed with protesters in the Mong Kok district in Hong Kong on February 9 during a celebration of the Lunar New Year. The confrontation occurred after police attempted to shut down unlicensed food vendors serving traditional New Year delicacies.

People had gathered in Mong Kok, a shopping and residential district, to celebrate the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Police came in to remove the unlicensed vendors, who have generally been left alone by authorities in years past.

Around 100 protesters threw glass bottles, bricks, and other objects at the police as the confrontation intensified. They also set fires in the streets. Police used batons and pepper spray to break up the crowds of protesters. They then fired two warning shots, an act which is very rare in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong police department later issued a statement saying that protesters had ignored police warnings to disperse from the streets and had begun to shove officers.

Police clash with protesters in Mong Kok on February 9. (Photo courtesy of CNN)

As many as 90 police officers were injured during the clash, although reported numbers vary. Four journalists also sustained injuries. 54 people were arrested for charges of assaulting police and resisting arrest, among other crimes.

Hong Kong’s government has condemned the protest. Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, Leung Chun-ying has stated that police are under strict rules regarding the use of force and that they had taken the necessary precautions during the Mong Kok protest. Mr. Leung has also stated that those arrested during the protest will be prosecuted.

Hong Kong Police Commissioner Lo Wai-Chung told the news media that authorities were considering charging the protesters with “taking part in a riot”. The charge was last used in 1967 against those participating in riots supporting China’s Cultural Revolution.

The Mong Kok protest is the most violent protest to occur in Hong Kong since 2014. It is also only one of several protests that has occurred in Hong Kong in recent years. The protests have occurred as Hong Kong citizens grow increasingly concerned about China’s assertions of control over their city and civil liberties.

The protests have contributed to the development of a “localist” movement, which calls for Hong Kong’s total independence from China. Participants of the localist movement protest acts that they view as encroaching on Hong Kong’s culture.

 

For more information, please see:

The Hong Kong Standard – Mong Kok Clashes Mar Start to New Year – 10 February 2016

CNN – Hong Kong Police Fire Warning Shots During Mong Kok Fishball ‘Riot’ – 9 February 2016

Time – Hong Kong Sees Violent Start to Chinese New Year as Protesters Clash With Police – 9 February 2016

The New York Times – Protesters and Police Clash at Lunar New Year Festivities in Hong Kong – 8 February 2016

Press Release: Sergei Magnitsky’s Mother Slams Russian Foreign Ministry’s Comments About New US Magnitsky List

11 February 2016 – Natalia Magnitskaya, the mother of Sergei Magnitsky, released a statement today responding to the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry’s recent commentary that the expansion of the Magnitsky list was an effort to “discredit” Russia.

Natalia Magnitskaya asked the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry to publish her statement on its website.

“Each of the officials [included in the list of Magnitsky] has been involved in malfeasance, acting with impunity guaranteed by beneficiaries of the 5.4 billion rubles ($230 mln) theft, and is rightly included in the sanctions list,” said Natalia Magnitskaya.

“Our country is discredited not by the existence of this list, but by officials who worked towards corrupt goals instead of performing their duties to safeguard and protect our country and its citizens,” said Natalia Magnitskaya.

“I take as an insult the recent comment [from the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry] that the tragic fate of my son was a ‘bargaining chip’ in the ‘unscrupulous Washington’s campaign to discredit our country.’ For my son, such concepts as ‘honesty’, ‘honor’, ‘patriotism’ and ‘duty’ were not empty words, but his life’s principles”, said Ms Magnitskaya.

“The [Russian] investigators and prosecutors tasked to investigate my son’s death and the embezzlement of budget funds deliberately destroyed evidence, sabotaged the investigation, advanced knowingly false theories and ended up with accusing my son after his death of organizing the theft of 5.4 billion rubles – the crime for the exposure of which he suffered martyrdom and death,” said Ms Magnitskaya.

“With bitter regret I note that the Magnitsky Law and the Magnitsky Sanctions List, which the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Information Department called ‘notorious,’ today are the only means to tell the public about the abuses committed by some officials in the law enforcement and judicial authorities,” said Ms Magnitskaya.

Earlier this month, the US State Department announced the addition of four Russian Interior Ministry officials for their role in the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky to the visa and financial sanctions list under the “Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012.”

For more information, please contact:?

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Campaign

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

Twitter: @KatieFisher__

www.facebook.com/russianuntouchables

New Entries in the Magnitsky List, February 2016

https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20160201.aspx