Haiti: A year later, a cry for justice for LGBTI activist Charlot Jeudy

Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran living in Southern…

Caribbean human rights activists are demanding justice for Haitian LGBTI rights activist Charlot Jeudy more than a year after he was found dead, apparently murdered.

Charlot Jeudy (David Nieto photo courtesy of UN / MINUJUSTH)

Dozens of activists signed a statement seeking a thorough investigation of his death along with increased security for other LGBTI Haitians.

On Nov. 25, 2019, Jeudy was killed at his home in Delmas in the Port-au-Prince region. A year later, a declaration about his apparent murder was signed by some 20 Caribbean organizations and issued by ILGA-LAC, the Latin American and Caribbean branch of ILGA, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.

This is ILGA-LAC press release (translated here from French into English):

Justice and truth for Charlot Jeudy

Logo of International Gay, Lesbian, Bi and Trans Association in Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC).

On November 25, 2019, Charlot Jeudy, aged 34, was found dead at his home in Haiti. A fervent defender of human rights and gender equality, he was a key figure in the region’s LGBTI activism. He was a leader of the Kouraj organization in Port-au-Prince [which works for LGBTI rights in Haiti], an ILGALAC representative in Haiti and a member of the board of directors of Egides [the Montreal-based organization that advocates for LGBTI rights in French-speaking countries].

For his commitment and his fight, he aroused hatred, faced countless threats, but he always stood upright and proud. A year later, the circumstances of his death have still not been clarified.

This is a great loss for Haitian civil society and democracy as well as for the Madivine (lesbians), Massissi (gays) and trans communities living there: Charlot Jeudy was a man of heart and convictions that will be missed in Haiti. His death will not erase his memory or stop the struggle for LGBTI rights that he was part of. His memory will survive beyond the borders of Haiti and the Caribbean basin.

Jovenel Moïse, president of Haiti (Photo courtesy of VOA via Wikimedia Commons)

For a year now, we have been calling for justice. It is necessary that the results of the autopsy of his remains be made public and communicated to those in charge of the investigation, in order to shed full light on this sudden and brutal death. We have published a press release and wrote twice to the President of the Republic, Mr. Jovenel Moïse, but none of our demands for transparency was heard. We do not accept this silence and we refuse to accept the end of legal proceedings without knowing the real causes of death and the conviction of its perpetrators.

In addition, we would like to draw the attention of the office of the Haitian president to the upsurge in assassinations, attacks and disappearances of people from LGBTI communities within the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area We are thinking in particular of the memory of Jean-Edouard Rosier, known as Maïkadou, as well as that of Mickerlange François.

On the occasion of the commemoration of the memory of Charlot Jeudy, we demand from the government the protection of all Haitians, including LGBTI people, and the right to live in dignity and security, without being afraid tomorrow of losing a friend because of a hate crime or to be in our turn the target of a tragic kidnapping, like Evelyne Sincere recently. We also have a thought for Anise Boirond, beheaded and dismembered during a ritual on Nov. 1, and Juventha Cantave, killed a few days later for refusing the advances of her employer.

These are crimes committed against the most vulnerable in society that raise questions about respect for the inalienable right of the Haitian people to be able to live in peace. In this regard, it is necessary for Haitian justice to have more resources, which will allow investigations to be successful so that Haitians are no longer so frequently in mourning.

Finally, we have a thought for the entourage and family of Charlot Jeudy for whom this sudden death represents a terrible void and real suffering. He tried to protect those close to him by remaining silent about the many forms of intimidation to which he was subjected. His courage and stance make him an emblematic figure of the fighters for the rights to liberty and equality in Haiti.

1.Ari Vera MORALES, Co-secretary, ILGALAC

Dario ARIAS, Co-secretary, ILGALAC
Pedro PARADISO SOTTILE, Executive Director, ILGALAC
Jhonny CLERGE, Secretary General, Arc-en-ciel Haiti (Haiti)
Reginald DUPONT, Executive Director, SEROvie (Haiti)
Hetera ESTIMPHIL, President, KOURAJ (Haiti)
Céline FAURE, President, KAP Caraibe (Martinique)
Henry FRITZNER, Coordinator, Gran Lakou (Haiti)
Steeve GRANDJEAN, Journalist, Autonomous Association for Inclusion and Social Emancipation (AIES) of LGBTIQ people in Haiti (Haiti)
Merlin JEAN, Heritage Association for the Protection of Human Rights (Haiti)
Samuel JEAN BATARD, Program Manager, ICODEH (Haiti)
Prophet JENNIE, General Coordinator, Asosyasyon Fanm Révoltés Okap (AFARKAP – Haiti)
See Also

Lives have been blocked by a wall separating Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Edmide JOSEPH, Coordinator of “Women in Action against Stigma and Sexual Discrimination” (FACSDIS – Haiti)
Jean Mardy KETLER, Executive Director, ASPVID (Haiti)
Steven KUZAN, President, Kaz’Avenir (Guyana)
Emmanuel MERILIEN, Founding President, Association Pour Lutter Contre l’Homophobie (ALPCH – Haiti)
Viviane MEYLON DE FRANCE, President of Voix Arc-en-ciel (Guadeloupe)
Moïse MANOEL, PhD student in sociology on the field of homophobia, CRILLASH Laboratory, University of the Antilles (Guyana)
Muzzle MULER, UPLCDS (Haiti)
Lydie SIWSANKER, President of MA DIFFERENCE_LGBT (Guadeloupe)
Colin STEWART, Editor/Publisher, Erasing 76 Crimes blog (USA)
Elie TOUZE, Safe SXM (Saint-Martin)
Moïra VICTORINE, General Delegate, Le Refuge (Guyana)
Nathalie ZOPIE, President, Gay Attitude Guyane (Guyana)