Port-au-Prince, July 14, 2025.- In a letter addressed to the coordinator of the Presidential Council of Transition (CPT), Fritz Alphonse Jean, the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) strongly criticized an international tour planned by a delegation led by Frinel Joseph, presidential adviser without the right to vote. This mission, which includes steps in Brazil, Canada, Chile and the United States, aims to promote the preliminary draft Constitution submitted to the CPT last May.
The RNDDH recalls that the constitutional process was marred from the outset by irregularities. The National Conference Steering Committee, responsible for revising the Constitution in accordance with the political agreement of 3 April 2024, was set up without consultation with the organised structures of society, in violation of article 28 of the agreement. However, this committee received substantial public funding.
In May 2025, the committee submitted a widely contested preliminary draft Constitution. The RNDDH denounces not only the content of the text, but also the opaque method used. Presented as a result of a national consultation, the document has been rejected by many feminist, human rights, peasant, academic and press organizations, who claim that they have never been consulted.
On 10 June 2025, during a meeting with civil society organisations, several CPT members acknowledged the problematic nature of this draft Constitution and promised to resume the process more inclusively.
However, the RNDDH regrets that, despite these commitments, the government has released 182 million gourdes for the benefit of ANMH and AMI to promote the preliminary project in the media. In addition, the international tour conducted by Frinel Joseph, perceived as costly and unjustified, raises serious questions about the real objectives of the government in this constitutional process.
Based on information gathered by the RNDDH, a delegation composed of 20 people — 11 men and 9 women — must leave Haiti on July 21, 2025, for a ten-day tour abroad, with a return scheduled for August 4. This delegation, led by the presidential adviser - without voting rights- Frinel Joseph, includes notably Régine Abraham and Jean Enex Jean-Charles, member of the steering committee, accompanied by his wife.
The RNDDH denounces the use of public funds from the basketball fund, administered by UNDP, to finance this trip, which it describes as « Resort « While these resources should be strictly reserved for the organization of elections and referendums.
Faced with what it considers an unacceptable waste of State resources, the organisation strongly condemns the promotion of an already widely contested preliminary draft Constitution. In a context of severe humanitarian crisis and continuing insecurity, she believes that such displacement constitutes an insult to the plight of the Haitian people.
The RNDDH demands the immediate cancellation of this mission and urges the CPT to respect the political agreement of 3 April 2024 by organizing inclusive consultations with all sectors of society.
W.E.
