American Relief Worker Held in Jail in Haiti

by Stephen Kosloff

The U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince and U.N. representatives are trying to extract an American citizen, Paul Waggoner, from prison in Haiti. Waggoner was arrested on December 13; he and Paul Sebring are the co-founders of the Materials Management Relief Corps, an NGO organized in the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake.

According to MMRC’s press contact, Nanci Murdock, the charge is abduction, and stems from an incident in the aftermath of the earthquake. Waggoner accepted an injured baby from a family and admitted it to a hospital in Port-au-Prince. The baby died; in the chaos, the family never received the body or a death certificate. In addition to this, according to the MMRC, upon their return home, the family came to believe that whoever had taken their baby had “taken it,” meaning in the spiritual sense.

The family filed charges that were thrown out earlier this year. Later, they went to a different judge, who issued an arrest warrant. The charges this time around have also apparently been tossed — at least, the prosecutor has indicated that the charges may be dropped — but, according to Murdock, Waggoner has now essentially “been kidnapped.” The NGO has expended $2,000 in legal fees so far.

Waggoner has been updating his Facebook status from his cell. According to his updates, he was in a very small cell with a group of other men, but now he’s got one all to himself. A hearing will take place today.

Stephen Kosloff is a photographer in New York who recently traveled to Haiti.