Canada should justify its sanctions against former Haitian Prime Minister Céant | Guest Opinion

On Nov. 20, Canada sanctioned Jean-Henry Céant along with several others, as a result of accusations levied against him alleging the financing of Haitian gangs. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau noted, “The sanctions target a former president of Haiti and two former prime ministers of Haiti suspected of protecting and enabling the illegal activities of armed criminal gangs.”

However, neither Minister Trudeau nor his office cited any particular reasoning or evidence to support these allegations, particularly against Céant, who served briefly between 2018 and 2019 before he was suddenly ousted by a parliamentary coup. Many suspect Céant was expelled because of his marked interest in investigating the PetroCaribe scandal, which the late President Jovenel Moïse was adamantly against.

In full disclosure, Céant is my uncle. I spoke to him the day he was sanctioned. This characteristically jovial, affable and humble man sounded crushed, clearly devastated by the news. He said he was surprised to learn that he was sanctioned by the Canadian government and declared it an assassination of his character.

Trudeau’s attack came at the behest of a long line of attacks on Céant’s character — and on his life. They began in February 2019 when there was an alleged planned attack by mercenaries. It became evident to Céant then that he was considered an enemy of the state. He even spoke with CNN about the incident, noting that these men were sent to Haiti on a mission to destabilize his government.

Unfortunately, there was never any official investigation into the alleged incident, and the men were never tried in Haiti. They instead were returned to the United States where they, astonishingly, faced no criminal charges. According to The Intercept, Chris Osman, one of the ex-Navy SEALS arrested on this mission went to far as to post on social media that he and his colleagues “were being used as pawns in a public fight between [Moïse] and the current Prime Minister of Haiti [Céant].”

When the assassination attempt by the mercenaries, allegedly hired by the henchmen of the late Moïse, failed, character assassination on Céant’s was next on the docket.

In 2019, while Céant was in Morocco on official government business, he received a summons from Haiti’s Senate to present himself at 9 a.m. March 18. Haiti’s parliament is composed of two chambers — the Senate and Congress. In the meantime, Congress convened at 7 a.m. that same day, to cast a vote of no confidence in the prime minister — a vote later contested as illegal as he was not present, as noted by The Haitian Times. According to constitutional law, no other body should have been able to summon his presence while he was in session with another chamber.

Despite this, the vote succeeded. Céant only retained his post as prime minister from Sept. 17, 2018 to March 18, 2019 — six short months.

Céant is used to these attacks. He stepped into the political limelight in 2010 during his first run for president. In fact, Céant says that Canada’s sanctions are a direct result of the current Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s fear of those who could emerge as his political adversaries launching a smear campaign against his former friend and colleague. Céant says that he has always supported Henry’s administration, and even lobbied on his behalf when Henry was being appointed to the office. When Helen La Lime, the U.N. special representative of the secretary-general for Haiti, questioned the validity of Henry appointment Céant expressed his support for the appointee. Céant noted that he was in contact with Henry as recently as Nov. 9, in an effort to rectify the declining situation in Haiti.

Trudeau’s government has yet to offer any proof of the allegations levied against the former prime minister. Céant’s Canada-based team of attorneys has since demanded evidence to back the alleged allegations. So far, nothing has been produced. Trudeau also declined to take any resolute stance against Henry’s government — under which Haiti has seen the rise of violence, cholera, famine and fuel shortages — answering, instead, that there is no one solution to Haiti’s issues.

Céant was in India at the Chief Justices of the World Summit when the news of Canada’s sanction broke. Now, he and his attorneys await feedback on these atrocious allegations. He vows to prove his innocence. In the meantime, he continues to fight to maintain his integrity in the court of public opinion.

Wen-kuni Ceant is the co-founder and CEO of Politicking, a mobile application providing non-partisan election information to historically disengaged constituencies.