CIVICUS speaks with Sinomme Saint Claire (Dieubon) about attacks on his organisation, Green Alternative Action (Alternatif Action Vert, AVV), a grassroots peasant organisation that supports farming communities in Haiti’s southern peninsula region.
AVV was recently targeted by a gangster group seeking to take over the land of local farmers. Tensions came to a head in April, when armed men laid claim to land, killed the lawyer defending the community’s rights and damaged property. Recently, the police arrested three activists and issued warrants for several others, forcing their families into hiding. Civil society has succeeded in getting two of the detained activists released. It demands the cancellation of arrest warrants and the implementation of measures to guarantee the safety of human rights defenders.
