On November 6, 2023, Èzili Dantò’s Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network and Evel Fanfan’s Actions of Organizations Motivated for a Haiti Ruled by Law (AUMOHD), filed a lawsuit against the unelected Ariel Henry’s defacto Haiti Government for requesting foreign troops to deploy to Haiti in violation of the Haiti Constitution and Haiti sovereignty. See PDF of Press Release, and the original complaint in French, registered in the High Court of Port au Prince, No. I 3970329 (PDF of original filing) and, english translation below. (See also, Kenya Court Delays Troop Deployment To Haiti After U.N. Security Council Resolution.)
Attyns-Fanfan-Danto-Haiti-Lawsuit-No_3970329
English translation: Complaint filed and served against members of the unelected, de facto government of Haiti, Nov 6, 2023:
The year Two Thousand and Twenty-Three (2023), Monday the 6th of November.
At the joint and solidarity request of the organization for the defense and protection of human
rights named Action Des Unités Motivées Pour Une Haïti De Droit, (AUMOHD) – Actions of Organizations Motivated for a Haiti Ruled by Law, which is duly registered and authorized by the Haitian State under number STC -02372 and of the International organization, Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, duly authorized, respectively represented by the sir and lady Evel FANFAN and Èzili DANTÒ owners, residing and domiciled in Port-au-Prince, identified respectively at Nos. 1350982245, 2022408 and registered 005-451-735-0; having as Lawyers, attorneys Evel FANFAN, Èzili DANTÒ, Lemaire HONORAT, Jean Evèque TOUSSAINT, and Denel FINIS respectively of the Port-au-Prince, Aquin, and New York Bars, all identified, licensed, and imposed under Nos. 003-065-065-2, 8507008855, 8504004881-6; 005-451-553-0,320700967, 3207009680; 003-148-761-7, 21111982667, 1034007294, 001-861-487-6, 4607364227, 4601371052; with election of domicile at the Firm of the said Lawyers located at No.16 Delmas 49, in this city.
(The complaint was served, by a bailiff of the Haiti Court in Port-au-Prince in accordance with Haiti laws on the following 12 members making up the un-elected Ariel Henry government.)
I, Nerelt Danon, the Bailiff of the Court of First Instance for Port-au-Prince, a duly authorized official at the registry of this Court identified at number 007-447-996-4 for this current financial year. I, the undersigned served, gave, and left a copy of the COMPLAINT with the following and so declare:
1. To the Haitian State, Represented by the General Directorate of Taxes, DGI, the latter represented by its Director General, Mr. Jean Emmanuel CASSEUS, owner, residing and domiciled in Port-au-Prince, at his home at the central headquarters of the General Directorate of Taxes, located at No. 62 Avenue Christophe, Port-au-Prince DGI where being and speaking…(name of official), received my copy and stamped my original and declared to me to be the employee responsible for receiving the judicial documents. This is so declared.
2. Me Renan HEDOUVILLE, Citizen Protector, owner, residing and domiciled at his home, located at No. 21, Rue Rivière, where being and speaking…(name of official), received my copy and stamped my original and declared to me to be the employee responsible for receiving the judicial documents, as declared, FOR NOTIFICATION:
3. To Mr. Ariel HENRY, Haitian Prime Minister, owner, residing and domiciled at the Prime Minister’s Office, located in Museau, or being and speaking of…(name of official), who declared to be …(name of official), who received my copy and stamped my original, and declared to me to be the employee responsible for receiving the judicial documents, as well declared, FOR NOTIFICATION PURPOSES;
4. To Me Emmelie Prophète MILCE, Minister of Justice and Public Security, owner, residing and domiciled at the Ministry of Justice, located at Avenue John Brown, Commune of Port-au-Prince, or being and speaking of…(name of official), who declared to me to be……………., who received my copy and stamped my original, and m declared to be the employee responsible for receiving judicial documents, as declared, FOR NOTIFICATION PURPOSES;
5. To Mr. Jean Victor GENEUS, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Religious Affairs, owner, resident, and domiciled in said ministry, or being and speaking of…(name of official), who declared to me to be……….., who received my copy and certified my original, and declared to me to be the employee responsible for receiving the judicial documents, as declared, FOR NOTIFICATION PURPOSES;
6. To Brigadier General Jodel LESSAGE, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Haiti (FAD’H), owner, residing and domiciled at the General Headquarters of the FAD’H, or being and speaking of…(name of official), who declared to me to be……….., who received my copy and stamped my original, and declared to me to be the employee responsible for receive the judicial documents, thus declared, FOR NOTIFICATION PURPOSES;
7. To Mr. Frantz ELBE, Commander-in-Chief of the National Police of Haiti, (PNH), owner, residing and domiciled at the General Directorate of the PNH, or being and speaking of…(name of official), who declared to me to be ……….., who received my copy and stamped my original, and declared to me to be the employee responsible for receiving the judicial documents, thus declared, FOR NOTIFICATION PURPOSES;
8. To Mr. Enold JOSEPH, Minister of Defense, owner, resident and domiciled in the said Ministry, or being and speaking of…(name of official), who declared to me to be……….., who received my copy and certified my original, and declared to me to be the employee responsible for receiving the judicial documents, as declared, FOR NOTIFICATION PURPOSES;
9. To Me Edler GUILLAUME, Government Commissioner at the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Port-au-Prince, owner, residing and domiciled at the Registry of the said, or being and speaking of…(name of official), who declared to me to be……….., who received my copy and stamped my original, and declared to me to be the employee responsible for receiving the judicial documents, thus declared, FOR NOTIFICATION PURPOSES;
10. To Mr. Jeantel JOSEPH, Director General of the National Agency for Protected Areas, ANAP/BSAP, owner, residing and domiciled there, or being and speaking of…(name of official), who declared to me that he was ……….., who received my copy and certified my original, and declared to me to be the employee responsible for receiving the judicial documents, thus declared, FOR NOTIFICATION PURPOSES;
11. To Mrs. Mirlande Hyppolite MANIGAT, Head of the High Transitional Council, owner, residing and domiciled there, w or being and speaking of…(name of official), who declared to me to be……….., who received my copy and certified my original, and declared to me to be the employee responsible for receiving the judicial documents, as declared, FOR NOTIFICATION PURPOSES;
12. To Me Jean Joseph LEBRUN, President of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSPJ), owner, resident and domiciled in said Council, or being and speaking of…(name of official), who told me declared to be…….., who received my copy and stamped my original, and declared to me to be the employee responsible for receiving the judicial documents, thus declared, FOR NOTIFICATION PURPOSES;
And, at the same request for the constitution of Lawyers and other organizations, residence, domicile, election of domicile above, I have as the bailiff mentioned above and as the undersigned, being and speaking as said above, gave and left summons to the Haitian State, remaining and domiciled as herein stated;
To have to appear, within eight days, at the Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince, sitting at the Palace of Justice of this city, in Lalue, before the Dean, or any other Judge he will designate for this purpose. end, judging in its special and urgent powers, from ten o’clock in the morning (10:00 a.m.), and, to follow, if necessary, any other subsequent hearings of the said Court, always at the same time and in its same attributions until the final judgment of the cause for:
WHEREAS on Thursday, October 6, 2022, following a council of ministers convened by Prime Minister Ariel Henry, the latter issued a ministerial decree to request from the International Community the intervention of a military force on the territory of the Republic of Haiti;
WHEREAS the Haitian Constitution, the mother law of the Republic, currently in force, has expressly, clearly, and irrefutably prohibited in its article 263.1 the existence of other Armed Corps on the national territory;
WHEREAS Prime Minister Ariel HENRY and his Government have neither sufficient legitimacy nor legal competence to engage the first free and independent Black Republic in the world on this perilous and uncertain path;
WHEREAS the Prime Minister has no powers other than those conferred on him by the Constitution through articles 158,159, 159.1, 160, 161, 162 and following the fundamental charter of Haiti;
WHEREAS such a request which targets the systematic and flagrant violation of the Constitution by the one who is called and responsible for ensuring its respect constitutes a crime of high treason, which is punishable by the penalty of forced labor for life, (article 21 );
WHEREAS the negative, painful and catastrophic precedent experienced by the Haitian people with the passage from April 30, 2004, to October 15, 2017, of the United Nations Mission known as the Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) authorized by Resolution 1542 of the Security Council UN Security cannot be repeated as if nothing had happened;
WHEREAS the insecurity which is raging in Haiti under the passive eyes of the authorities in place, is and remains in full view of everyone, a State insecurity, planned with an objective, strategically maintained by men and women of the State;
WHEREAS the United Nations expert report not only identified the sponsors, the origin of the weapons of war and ammunition but also and above all the direct and/or indirect beneficiaries of the insecurity in question;
WHEREAS this report alone constitutes in its essence and its nature a blatant international denunciation against the authors, co-authors, and accomplices of insecurity and growing and revolting crime in Haiti, and consequently the State Haitian has the imperative obligation and responsibility to put public action in motion against all those indexed by this report;
WHEREAS it is appropriate for current state authorities to take into account the recommendations included in the conclusions of the UN panel of experts, namely: criminal prosecution and freezing of the immediate assets of all those and all those who ipso facto participated as authors, co-authors and accomplices in the arming and maintenance of armed groups in Haiti, without distinction of color, social rank or political affiliation;
WHEREAS there is also reason for the Haitian authorities to ask, or even require, their counterparts in the United States of America, Canada, and the Dominican Republic to implement the recommendations of Council resolution 2653 of United Nations Security and to comply with the request of the UN to close the floodgates of the excessive sale of firearms to Haiti;
WHEREAS there is finally a reason for the current authorities to take adequate and drastic measures against the owners and administrators of ports serving as places of embarkation and/or disembarkation of arms cargo until their nationalization is complete and definitive;
WHEREAS it is imperative that the Haitian authorities, instead of violating the Constitution, suggest to friendly countries of Haiti, who truly want to assist the sovereign Haitian people, to instead consider providing adequate aid adapted to our reality in military and police equipment and technology to equip and strengthen sustainably and irreversibly the FAD’H, the PNH and the 25,000 men available from the Protected Areas Surveillance Brigade (BSAP);
WHEREAS Three (3) eminent lawyers of the Republic of Kenya, Mess. Ekuru AUKOT, Miruru WAWERU and from Thirdway ALLIANCE KENYA successfully brought an action to protect their Constitution and following this action, the High Court of the Republic of Kenya in Nairobi provisionally ordered and restrained (See the decision of the High Court of Kenya, No 24-10-2023, dated 25 October 2023, Petition No E389 ) any form of deployment of its police officers to Haiti or any other foreign country. Such deployment must be properly requested by a duly authorized Haiti government official and must first be submitted to the Parliament of the Republic of Kenya for the purposes indicated and that it is the same procedure for the Haitian authorities requesting the deployment;
WHEREAS article 754 of the Code of Civil Procedure stipulates that in all cases of EMERGENCY, the request will be brought to a hearing held for this purpose by the Dean for legal purposes;
WHEREAS action to prevent the violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Haiti by a manifestly unconstitutional administrative act of the Prime Minister is not only urgent but also essential to protect our Constitution against any attack and any violation on the part of those who are called to enforce it;
WHEREAS any party who loses in court bears the costs and expenses.
NOW THEREFORE, for these causes and reasons and all others to be added by law, office, and equity, the judge of the summary proceedings welcomes the preventive action, sees to the action against violation of the Constitution of the Republic is just, founded and urgent and declares itself competent to hear this matter;
SAY that the Constitution of the Republic of Haiti, in force, in its article 265.1, PROHIBITS the existence of any other armed body on the national territory;
DECLARE that the Prime Minister has neither competence nor quality to engage Haiti in this potentially perilous and infringing path to the mother law of the Republic;
SAY that any violation of the Constitution by those who are called upon to uphold it is a CRIME of high treason;
THEREFORE, orders state authorities to apply and enforce United Nations Security Council resolution 2653 and the recommendations of the panel of Experts of September 15, 2023;
ORDER, the above-mentioned authorities to request from friendly countries of Haiti, adequate aid adapted to our reality in military and police equipment and technology to equip and strengthen in a lasting and irreversible manner the FAD’H, the PNH and the 25,000 agents of the Protected Areas Surveillance Brigade (BSAP);
GRANT provisional execution without recourse and on the spot of the order to be issued, notwithstanding all avenues of remedies, appeal, opposition, defense of execution, power of annulling and others;
ORDER any offender to pay the costs and expenses of the proceedings, subject to all reservations and to comply with the law.
Dated, 6 November 2023
Bailiff of the Court of First Instance for Port-au-Prince
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