The Port-au-Prince Court of Appeal ordered the personal appearance of the former president of Haitian Football Federation (FHF) Yves Jean-Bart, accused of sexually abusing minors. Jean-Bart has been the subject of an investigation along with other FHF officials allegedly implicated as perpetrators, accomplices or instigators of acts of systematic sexual abuse against players between 2014 and 2020.
This Thursday civil society organizations for the defense and promotion of human rights praised the decision of the Court of Appeal of the capital, which ordered the personal appearance of Jean-Bart.
“This decision is the result of the testimony given by several organizations before the judges of the Court of Appeal of Port-au-Prince. Heard for the first time, these organizations requested a new objective and impartial judicial investigation ,” said a statement published Thursday by several organizations.
The note was signed by the Collective of Lawyers Specialized in Strategic Human Rights Litigation (Calsdh), feminist organizations such as Kay Fanm, Haitian Women Solidarity (SOFA) and Toya Foundation, as well as the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights ( RNDDH) .
These organizations consider that the investigation carried out by magistrate Emilio Accimé, of the court of Croix-des-Bouquets, did not seek to “clarify the serious accusations of rape, sexual commercialization, forced abortion and obscenity” that burden to the former president of the Haitian Football Federation under his authority at the ‘Camp Nou’ Academy”.
“It is the duty of Haitian justice to cooperate with all the necessary national and international institutions capable of assisting in the search for information and the identity of the victims, especially victims A and B who testified before the Court of Arbitration for Sport ( CAS) in this case,” the note said.
Also, the entities appeal to witnesses and any other person who can provide important information to contribute to the progress of the investigation, so that Haitian justice can fully clarify the serious accusations of rape, sexual commercialization, forced abortion and obscenity attributed to Jean -Bart.
The signatory organizations reaffirm their determination to support the Haitian criminal justice system in this emblematic case to bring justice to victims of sexual and gender-based abuse and violence in the world of Haitian sports.
In 2020, the resolution chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee issued a lifetime ban on Jean-Bart to exercise any activity related to football (administrative, sports or any other kind) nationally and internationally.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
