The Romel Bell, Anna Dorvil Bell and Duken Augustin case: Haitian justice remains the biggest obstacle to fighting corruption

On 19 November 2025 the third section of the Port-au-Prince court of appeal, composed of three named magistrates, issued a ruling in the case brought by the public prosecutor against Romel Bell, the former director general of the Administration Générale des Douanes, Anna Dorvil Bell, his wife in community of property, and a priest, Duckens Augustin. The network works through what the ruling does and what it means for a corruption case of this kind, and its title carries its conclusion: that the Haitian justice system remains the biggest obstacle to fighting corruption. It asks the Conseil Supérieur du Pouvoir Judiciaire to open an inquiry into the real motivations of the appeal court magistrates who took part in what it calls a travesty.