A mysterious death, a decade-old murder and a human rights lawsuit in federal court in Boston are casting a light on the patronage politics of Haiti and its culture of impunity.
The lawsuit stems from a 2008 attack on a radio station run by a local government opposition party in Les Irois, Haiti, in which one man was left blind in one eye and another, Nissage Martyr, lost his leg.
The suit also accused the former Les Irois mayor of orchestrating a murder in the middle of a street and ordering thugs to burn down an entire community.
In an interview late last month, Martyr said that during the raid, former Les Irois mayor Jean Viliena had put a foot on his chest and a 9mm handgun to his ear, beaten him and ordered someone else to shoot.
The gunshot wound led to the loss of his leg.
Viliena was indicted in the attack, but was released from jail and fled Haiti, moving to suburban Boston, where he became a school bus driver and drove for Uber.
“I am still scared, because I don’t know what can happen,” Martyr said in a telephone interview from Les Irois. “Even though he’s not in Haiti, he is still very powerful. He can call his supporters at any time and order them to kill anyone, even me. So as long as I don’t find justice, as long as this guy is not in jail, yes, I will be scared.”
Last month, Martyr and two other men filed the human rights lawsuit. However, the next day, March 24, the case took another twist when Martyr suddenly became violently ill and died while watching a soccer match with his neighbors.
He was 56 and had been in good health, his lawyers said.
His lawyers are demanding an autopsy and a full investigation, but the authorities have not responded, and his body remains at the morgue.
Reached by telephone, Viliena said his lawyer had advised him not to comment.
Haiti has long been roiled by political turmoil. Government leaders ruled with the freedom to kill political opponents and silence dissent.
The US and other countries have poured millions of US dollars into strengthening Haiti’s rule of law, but experts say it remains difficult to file criminal charges against people in power or their associates.
The plaintiffs in the human rights case have already filed eight complaints with local and international agencies, the lawsuit says.
Haitian President Jovenel Moise took office in February. He is the handpicked successor of former Haitian president Michel Martelly, whose term was marred by a weak, corruptible judiciary and ties to human rights abusers, drug traffickers and kidnappers who avoided jail time. One of Martelly’s loyalists is Viliena.
When the country failed to hold elections for more than a year, Martelly ruled the nation by decree with the power to appoint every office-holder in the country.
Among Martelly’s moves was to name Viliena, the former mayor, to be the top executive of Les Irois — even though by then he lived in Malden, Massachusetts, and had an open murder charge against him.
“A common sentiment in Haiti is that justice is something for sale to the highest and most powerful bidder,” said Robert Maguire, a Georgetown University professor who has testified as an expert witness in other civil cases filed in US federal courts against Haitian officials. “The judiciary is weak and insecure, and usually subservient to the country’s president.”
To Martyr’s lawyers, the question is whether this history will repeat itself.
“With Martelly, it’s easy to say that there has been a pattern of impunity, not just with Viliena, but with various officials accused of crimes or human rights abuses who have been treated as untouchable — that was the MO [modus operandi],” said Scott Gilmore, a lawyer at the Center for Justice and Accountability, which filed Martyr’s suit. “This case is going to represent a bit of a test case for them to see if they continue in that pattern Martelly followed or make a clean break.”
Neither the current nor former Haitian president responded to a request for comment.
The federal lawsuit is based on the US’ 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act, which allows victims of human rights abuses overseas to seek compensation for their injuries from people who were acting in an official capacity.
However, the victims also want Viliena, who has said he is innocent, to be tried in Haiti on the charges involving the raid.
Other defendants, including Viliena’s father, have been convicted there on charges, including murder and complicity in murder, but were released from prison early, Gilmore said.
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