Assassination of Jovenel Moïse: The Impotence of Haitian Justice Exposed by Florida Trial
the trial of several suspects in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse opened this Monday, March 9, 2026, in Miami, a human rights defense collective raises the alarm about the disastrous state of the judicial system in Haiti.
By Jean Wesley Pierre · Port-au-Prince · · 2 min read · Updated 24 April 2026
Translated from French — AI-assisted and reviewed by the editorial team. The French version is authoritative. Read the original · About our translation policy
As the trial of several suspects in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse opened this Monday, March 9, 2026, in Miami, a human rights defense collective raises the alarm about the disastrous state of the judicial system in Haiti.
A trial that highlights Haitian shortcomings
The Collectif Défenseurs Plus hails the American initiative as “a necessary step towards the manifestation of truth,” but bitterly laments that Haitian justice has produced “no tangible results” more than four years after the crime of July 7, 2021. This damning observation reveals, according to the organization, “the decay of national judicial institutions” and “the absence of security guarantees” for investigating magistrates, who are forced to abandon part of the case to foreign jurisdiction.
The Search for the Masterminds
For the collective, this assassination constitutes a “transnational crime” that cannot be limited to prosecuting only the material perpetrators. It therefore calls on American and Haitian judicial authorities to “expand investigations to include intellectual authors as well as financial masterminds, whether they are in Haiti or elsewhere.” The organization also demands that “all accomplices, whether they belong to the political, economic sector, or civil society,” be prosecuted, both nationally and internationally.
Impunity, Breeding Ground for Violence
In its note signed by Ulrick Tintin, head of legal affairs, the Collectif Défenseurs Plus recalls that “impunity constitutes the breeding ground for systemic violence in Haiti.” It insists on the need for strengthened international criminal cooperation to dispel “the grey areas regarding the real motivations behind this magnicide.”
“If the masterminds of this heinous crime are neither identified nor punished, regardless of their rank or influence, the Haitian nation will not truly be able to begin a process of democratic reconstruction and healing,” warns the organization, which reiterates its commitment to demand that full light be shed on this case.
Jean Wesley Pierre / Le Relief
