A former mayor from Haiti is facing trial starting Monday for allegedly providing false information on his visa application regarding human rights abuses he committed in his native country. Jean Morose Viliena, who has been residing in Malden, Massachusetts, a city near Boston, was indicted earlier this year on three counts of visa fraud. The accusations state that he falsely declared in his application that he had not been involved in “ordering, carrying out, or materially assisting in extrajudicial and political killings and other acts of violence against the Haitian people.”
Federal prosecutors argue that while Viliena held the mayoral position in Les Irois, a town with a population of around 22,000 on the western coast of Haiti, he participated in violently oppressing political adversaries. In 2007, Viliena allegedly led a group to the residence of a political opponent, where they are accused of shooting and killing the opponent’s younger brother, followed by a brutal assault using a rock.
The prosecutors further claim that Viliena, in 2008, and his allies, armed with guns, machetes, picks, and sledgehammers, proceeded to close a community radio station that he was against. During the raid, authorities allege Viliena physically assaulted a man with a pistol and instructed an associate to kill him along with another individual. Although both individuals survived, one lost a leg while the other suffered vision loss in one eye.
In a 2023 civil trial in the United States, Viliena was found responsible for one killing and two attempted killings, resulting in an American jury awarding $15.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. This civil suit was initiated by the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability on behalf of plaintiffs David Boniface, Juders Ysemé, and Nissage Martyr in 2017 in Boston. Following the death of Nissage Martyr, his son Nissandère Martyr replaced him as a plaintiff.
The suit was pursued under the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991, which permits litigation against foreign officials in the U.S. for alleged misconduct in their countries when domestic legal avenues have been exhausted. The Center for Justice and Accountability also urged intervention by the State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to collaborate with Haiti’s government in safeguarding their clients and their families from retaliation and intimidation.
Viliena’s lead counsel, Jason Benzaken, stated that his client is now poised to prove his innocence. “Mr. Viliena is innocent of the charges against him and we are looking forward to the opportunity to prove this,” Benzaken asserted.
The plaintiffs Boniface, Ysemé, and Martyr remain in hiding, expressing relief at Viliena’s arrest but voicing ongoing fears for their families’ safety. Martyr’s mother and sisters continue to live in Les Irois.
