Failed gang negotiations explain the tragedy at General Hospital last December, according to sources familiar with the events
Unable to secure the country, Haitian authorities are increasingly turning to gangs to obtain permission to access areas under their control.
This reliance on bandits comes with a cost: the criminals demand exorbitant amounts of money and do not hesitate to commit massacres when they are not satisfied.
An illustration of this problem dates back to December, during the last attempt by the Ministry of Public Health and Population to reopen the country’s largest hospital, the State University of Haiti Hospital.
At the time, the gangs opened fire on journalists waiting for the authorities. Two of them, along with a police officer passing by on a street next to the hospital, were killed instantly. Seven other media workers were injured.
Read also:General Hospital: An unclear reopening in an alarming health crisis
According to two sources familiar with the proceedings contacted by AyiboPost and Forbidden Stories, the tragedy was caused by unsuccessful negotiations with the Viv Ansanm coalition gang group.
Investigators from the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police are exploring several leads, AyiboPost has learned. One of them suggests the involvement of a former advisor to President Jovenel Moïse, a politician known for her close ties to gangs, Magalie Habitant, and Rosemila Petit-Frère Sainvil, former mayor of Arcahaie.
The former adviser charged in Moïse’s assassination did not respond to requests for comment.
DCPJ agents arrested Habitant in January for criminal conspiracy and financing armed gangs.
Habitant had facilitated a visit by Prime Minister Garry Conille and presidential advisor Louis Gérald Gilles to HUEH on July 9, 2024. Gilles confirmed to AyiboPost the presence of the former director of the National Solid Waste Management Service (SNGRS) on site.
Magalie Habitant at the General Hospital on July 9, 2024
On July 29, bandits opened fire on the HUEH on the sidelines of a second visit by Prime Minister Garry Conille with foreign journalists.
This time, Habitant was not present.
According to Louis Gérald Gilles, Magalie Habitant had expressed before the second visit the wish to take over the management of the SNGRS, which she had led until 2017. This request was not accepted by part of the Presidential Transitional Council.
It is unclear whether the two incidents are related. Habitant’s lawyer did not respond to interview requests.
Presidential advisor Louis Gérald Gilles in his office at Villa d’accueil in Musseau. Photo taken on July 9, 2025 by Fenel Pélissier.
Contacted by AyiboPost, the former mayor of Arcahaie, Rosemila Petit-Frère Sainvil, denied any involvement in possible negotiations with the gangs to reopen the HUEH – which was burned down by the gangs last February.
Sainvil, however, admits her involvement in the reopening of the Chancerelles Hospital in Cité-Soleil. The reopening was carried out after negotiations with the gangs, according to an AyiboPost investigation.
On the day of the reopening last December, the then MSPP president, Duckenson Lorthe Blema, invited a close friend of Sainvil to accompany him.
Read more: The government negotiated with the gangs to reopen the Chancerelles hospital
« As I run a media outlet, I asked this person to send someone to check if the area was safe, » the former mayor of Arcahaie confirmed to AyiboPost.
In a video released hours after the incident at HUEH, Village de Dieu gang leader Johnson André, alias Izo, claimed responsibility for the attack for “Viv Ansanm.”
Former minister Blema was dismissed from the government after the incident.
Blema claims to have sent correspondence to members of the government, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Justice, and the Director of the Haitian National Police before the attempted inauguration. AyiboPost found no correspondence from these institutions.
Blema did not respond to an invitation from the DCPJ to answer questions about the incident. His home in Delmas was searched in connection with the case, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
Presidential advisor Gilles, who is also a doctor, mentioned failures in the security system – which was non-existent according to witnesses – surrounding the incident.
« Other people should have [resigned], the advisor added. Responsibility for the incident at the general hospital should be shared, because [Blema] was not the only one involved. »
A monitoring commission set up at the initiative of the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Patrick Pélissier, enabled three of the injured journalists to seek treatment in Cuba in January 2025.
Journalist Jocelyn Justin was shot in the lower jaw during the attack by members of the Viv Ansanm coalition on December 24, 2024.
Some journalists hospitalized in Cuba report receiving compensation of 500,000 gourdes. Journalist Reginald Balthazar, hospitalized in Haiti, received 300,000 gourdes.
However, the amount for victims with less serious injuries remains under discussion nearly nine months later.
Contacted by AyiboPost, Samuel Madistin, president of the Fondasyon Je Klere, called on the State to take its « responsibility » in the tragedy.
« Not only did the state fail to prevent the murderers from committing their crimes, but it also failed to arrest the perpetrators of the crimes for the purpose of prosecution and exemplary punishment, » the human rights defender said. « The state’s responsibility, he said, is doubly engaged. »
***
It was already 10 o’clock on the day of the tragedy.
About fifteen journalists awaited the arrival of the delegation from the Ministry of Public Health. A room was well prepared for the occasion.
The gangs were also there.
Not only did the state fail to prevent the murderers from committing their crimes, but it also failed to arrest the perpetrators for prosecution and exemplary punishment, the human rights defender said. State responsibility
-May Samuel Madistin
Arnold Pierre, a journalist present on the day of the event, reported to AyiboPost that he noticed the presence of armed bandits within the hospital.
No security measures put in place specifically for the reopening were noticed, according to two witnesses.
Then, two police officers from the Port-au-Prince Police Intervention Brigade suddenly arrived at the hospital in a Toyota Land Cruiser pickup truck with no license plates or doors. They weren’t wearing balaclavas and recognized some of the journalists.
A Toyota Land Cruiser with two police officers arrives on the scene seconds before members of the Viv Ansanm coalition attack the General Hospital. Photo taken in Port-au-Prince on December 24, 2025 by Dieugo André.
Gunfire worthy of a war zone broke out around 11 a.m., shortly after the police arrived, and did not stop until around 1 p.m. The bandits murdered one of the police officers.
According to former Health Minister Dr. Duckenson Lorthe Blema, his project was « boycotted by members of the government. »
« I am a statesman. I cannot reveal state secrets, » Blema continued. « They are simply cowards. I did what I thought was necessary. »
The bandits returned to set fire to the HUEH several weeks later.
This hospital, the largest in the country, regularly welcomes the most deprived citizens and plays a key role in the training of medical students.
The French Development Agency (AFD) has allocated €80,000 to assess the damage, according to a note sent to AyiboPost by the French Embassy on February 22, 2025.
A firm of experts had been mobilized to carry out this audit, the note continues. However, due to insecurity, this mission was unable to travel to Haiti.
By : Fenel Pélissier
The cover photo shows a section of the exterior walls of the General Hospital, with a man walking by with a wheelbarrow near a pile of debris. Photos : Jean Feguens Regala
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