A representative of former Colombian soldiers jailed in the assassination of Haiti’s president says the group wants Haitian authorities to preserve the bodies of three former soldiers killed shortly after the slaying of Jovenel Moïse.
According to a Haitian police investigative report obtained by the Miami Herald, Colombians Duberney Capador Giraldo, Miguel Guillermo Garzon and Mauricio Javier Romero Medina were killed shortly after the July 7 assassination, and their corpses were examined by a Haitian judge.
Now, after nine months, Haitian authorities want to cremate the bodies, Jose Espinosa told the Miami Herald. Espinosa belongs to a Colombian military nonprofit association that has been advocating for the families and the soldiers after their arrest in Haiti. He said despite a request from the advocacy group, Haitian authorities seem determined to move ahead with the cremation.
“Those who are in detention are in total opposition,” Espinosa said.
The reason for the opposition: claims by some of the jailed soldiers that the men who were killed were executed by Haitian police after they launched a nationwide manhunt for Moïse’s assassins.
“Those bodies have evidence not only of torture but also of their execution,” Espinosa said. “The skulls of the men killed have the evidence of their executions and the families of those that are alive are asking and have asked through the [military association] for them not to be cremated.”
Hours after the middle-of-the-night attack inside the president’s private residence above the hills of the capital, Haitian authorities announced that four suspects had been killed during a gun battle with police. No names for the dead were provided at the time, nor evidence linking them to the killing.
Later, the number killed was revised to three without explanation. They were among the group of suspected 26 Colombian assassins and two Haitian Americans accused in the attack. Capador, one of the men killed, has been cited by several jailed soldiers as a leader of the group, and according to the Haitian police investigative report, he was one of four mercenaries who made up a “delta” team that was inside the president’s bedroom when he and his wife, Martine, were attacked.
Two others were allegedly part of that team: Germán Rivera and Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios. Rivera, known as “Captain Mike,” is in a Port-au-Prince prison where he and 17 other former soldiers have yet to be formally charged in the stalled Haitian government investigation.
Palacios, a former Colombian sergeant known as “Flor,” is in detention in the U.S., where he is believed to be cooperating with authorities after being detained in Panama in January.
More than 40 suspects have been arrested, but the case in Haiti has stalled and is on its fourth investigative judge, who has publicly complained about not receiving security or the case files. Meanwhile, the Colombian soldiers have publicly criticized their treatment, accusing Haitian authorities of keeping them handcuffed for days and in unsanitary conditions.
Family members of the deceased have always raised doubts about Haitian authorities’ account of the killing, including how their loved ones died, and the sister of Capador publicly said after his death that she wanted to bring her brother’s body home.
Espinosa said that the family members of those killed are divided on what should be done with the bodies of their loved ones. Some are in favor of Haitian authorities cremating the bodies and sending them the remains, while others are opposed, given their belief that important evidence would be destroyed.
Haitian authorities, Espinosa said, were planning to cremate the bodies about a week and a half ago but because of difficulties with logistics they canceled the cremation. There is no date set for the cremation.
On Tuesday, the whereabouts of the men’s bodies remained a mystery. Haiti’s chief prosecutor, Jacques Lafontant, who would need to authorize the release of the bodies, could not say where they were.
“Give me some time, let me look into this and see what exactly happened,” he said in a phone call.
Espinosa said Colombian officials are aware of the situation and know that the bodies may offer evidence, but have not acted.
The military association, he said, has written letters asking for a stay in the Haitian government’s cremation plans, but so far has not received any assurances from Haitian authorities.
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