Detention of Rosemila Sainvil Petit-Frère: Should We Wait for the Irreparable?
By La Rédaction · 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
Handed over to the DCPJ last August by Dominican authorities, former mayor Rosemila Sainvil Petit-Frère remains deprived of liberty, despite an increasingly worrying health condition.
According to several corroborating sources, Ms. Petit-Frère's situation is worsening day by day. Contrary to the statements of the government commissioner of Port-au-Prince, she is still detained in the hospital, under constant surveillance. According to her relatives, she is permanently handcuffed, despite a critical health condition. Our editorial team can confirm that her case has significantly deteriorated after her hearing at the public prosecutor's office.
Contacted by our editorial team, her medical team expressed deep concern. « For a month, we have made recommendations to the patient. Today, the country no longer has a neurosurgery hospital service or an MRI machine. Therefore, Ms. Petit-Frère's medical treatment can no longer be provided in Haiti. She must imperatively go abroad to consult a specialist and undergo additional examinations, » explained a member of the medical staff.
Should we therefore wait for the worst in Rosemila Sainvil Petit-Frère's case? Let us recall that she has already undergone four head surgeries, some of which were abroad.
After her hearing, Me Fritz Patterson Dorval had nevertheless announced that provisional release for medical reasons would be granted to the former mayor. But a dramatic turn of events: a week later, Ms. Petit-Frère is still handcuffed in a hospital room in Pétion-Ville.
Her lawyer, Me Jean Riboul Casimir, addressed a request to the public prosecutor's office in these terms:
« The applicant requests, Mr. Commissioner, your urgent collaboration to allow her transfer to a specialized hospital center in Havana (Cuba) or elsewhere, to receive appropriate care. She also requests the return of her passport and any other necessary travel document. This, for purely humanitarian reasons. » The lawyer assured that his client would remain at the disposal of justice as soon as her condition allowed. However, her passport remains blocked at the government commissioner's office.
One more suffering for a woman already at the end of her strength. Killy Johao
« The applicant requests, Mr. Commissioner, your urgent collaboration to allow her transfer to a specialized hospital center in Havana (Cuba) or elsewhere, to receive appropriate care. She also requests the return of her passport and any other necessary travel document. This, for purely humanitarian reasons. » The lawyer assured that his client would remain at the disposal of justice as soon as her condition allowed. However, her passport remains blocked at the government commissioner's office.
One more suffering for a woman already at the end of her strength. Killy Johao
