By Clément Doleac
Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs
Dictatorship and human rights violations in Haiti
In the past five decades, Haitian people have suffered systematic human
rights violations that were rarely condemned, thus preventing any state
from having real democratic institutions and impeding any democratic
political regime to exist.
From 1957 to 1986, the Duvalier family exerted a harsh dictatorship in
Haiti without respect for fundamental human rights, such as rights of
association, social rights, of economic rights and cultural rights.
These dictatorships received millions in US government aid under various
security and humanitarian reasons because of their role as a bulwark
against communism (such as the Trujillo dictatorship in Dominican
Republic).[1]
After being elected in 1957 and having served in office for seven years,
Francois Duvalier proclaimed himself president for life in 1964. When
he died in 1971, his son Jean-Claude dynastically took office, who was
strongly supported by the US as part of an anti-communist shield in the
country.[2] Jean-Claude fled the country due to mass protests and
political opposition against the authoritarian rule.[3] He departed on
February 7, 1986, flying to France in a US Air Force aircraft,
illustrating how he consistently benefited from the intrusive behavior
of neo-colonial powers.[4]
During the Duvalier dictatorship, thousands of recalcitrant opponents of
Duvalier were murdered, directly or indirectly by the military and the
Tonton Macoute, while abductions, extra-judiciary execution, rape, and
torture were also common practices as well. The state and its agents
were responsible for humiliating treatment, thefts, extortions, and
expropriations.[5] Around 100,000 Haitians sought asylum in foreign
countries, such as the Dominican Republic, the US base of Guantanamo,
and Florida, as well as Europe and other Latin American countries.
Nearly 300,000 persons sought refuge from Port-au-Prince to more remote
parts of Haiti.
After a transition period, the democratically elected popular priest
Jean-Bertrand Aristide came to office. In a constitutionalist action,
his ascension happened against a background of right-wing death squads
and the threat of military coups. As Haiti expert Paul Farmer once
stated, “Aristide was seen as a threat in the US.” The New York Times
wrote, in one of is more pathetic moments, pictured Aristide as “a cross
between the Ayatollah and Fidel”.[6] The Haitian economic elite shared
this dislike. As one Haitian businessman put it: “If it comes to a
choice between the ultra-left and the ultra-right, I’m ready to form an
alliance with the ultra-right”.[7] Nonetheless, Aristide was elected on
December 16, 1990, by an overwhelming 67 percent of the vote in a field
of 12 candidates.[8] No run-off was required.
In fact, the Haitian elite allied with high-ranking members of the
Haitian army and Haitian National Intelligence Service (SIN) to conspire
against the elected president. They were able to successfully overthrow
Aristide in a military coup the following year.[9]
Return to Democracy and Interference in the Hopeful Elected Presidency of Haiti
After three years of terror, Mr Jean Bertrand Aristide came back into
office in 1994 for a short amount of time in order to finish his term as
elected president. During his two years in office, Aristide abolished
the Haitian army, and in 1996 became the first elected civilian to see
another elected civilian, René Préval, succeed him as president. Préval
himself had the distinction of becoming Haiti’s first president ever to
serve out his term, neither a day more nor less than was his due.[10] In
November 2000, Aristide was reelected again for a four-year term.
Aristide’s second term, however, was undermined by the governments of
the US and France. US government hostility had been no secret since
1991, and the historical support that Washington had for the Haitian
military was clearly evident. Rebel leader Guy Philippe, for example,
had received training during the last coup at a US military facility in
Ecuador. Philippe was known to have executed several pro-democracy
activists, including Louis-Jodel Chamblain. Philippe had fled Haiti in
October 2000, when the authorities discovered him plotting a coup with a
group of security forces officials.[11]
For its part, the French government was insulted by Aristide due to his
ongoing claims about a debt France owed to Haiti. Aristide stated that
France “extorted this money from Haiti by force and should give it back
to us so that we can build primary schools, primary healthcare, water
systems and roads”.[12] He had done calculations, adding in interest and
adjusting for inflation, “to calculate that France owes Haiti
US$21,685,135,571.48 and counting”.[13]
In 2002 and 2003, several incidents occurred in the countryside during
by the US-backed right-wing militia. These included the killing of a
number of Aristide’s supporters and members of the far left-wing militia
(the so-called chimeres, “chimeras”). A raging civil war was soon
underway. In 2003, the Canadian government hosted the Ottawa Initiative
for Haiti in Montreal in order to determine the future of Haiti’s
government. Officials from Canada, France, the US and various Latin
American countries were present, yet no Haitian officials attended. The
conference resulted in an expressed preference for regime change in
Haiti in less than a year.[14]
The right-wing militia took over control of several cities in 2003 and
Cap-Haitien, the second most important city in the country, in February
2004.[15] The militia received support from sectors of Haiti’s elite as
well as from sectors of the Dominican military and government cohorts at
the time. It is also believed that they had contact with U.S. and
French intelligence.[16]
Despite massive protests supporting Aristide in Port-au-Prince and the
acceptance of an international peace plan by President Aristide on
February 21, the US and French governments, “invited” Aristide to leave
the country in order to bring peace and security again to the country.
In fact, the US military “accompanied for his own security” the
constitutionally elected president on a US Air Force flight.
The Dissident Voice reports that since then “a quasi UN trusteeship had
begun. Since that time the Haitian National Police has been heavily
militarized and steps have been taken towards recreating the
military”.[17] With the end of Aristide’s second presidential term,
human rights violations have begun to rise again. [18]
Impunity in Haiti under United Nations’ MINUSTAH presence
In 2005, the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of
the United Nations stated that the human rights violations that were
being found in Haiti still exist but did not derive from the state or
government but the system. More specifically they emanated from two
antagonistic and elderly armed sectors of the population. The first
consisted mostly of paramilitaries and ex-militaries (the Army had been
disbanded in 2005) with the objective of destabilizing the leftist
government. The second was composed of Aristides’s supporters rebelling
against him through the creation of the Front de Resistance Nationale
(FRN, “National Liberation Front”). The resulting insurrection had led
to the interposition of a United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti,
also known as MINUSTAH, over the last nine years.
Twenty-two lawsuits dealing with crimes against humanity were filed
against Jean-Claude Duvalier regarding the crimes perpetrated during his
dictatorship when he returned to Haiti in 2011. Nonetheless, Judge Jean
Carves waived every lawsuit against him within a short time. In 2014,
an appellate court declared that the lawsuits for crimes against
humanity were valid, but Duvalier died in October 2014, which was before
the statement was made. As for the violations committed by private
groups and Aristide’s supporters and opponents, most cases still go
unpunished but his estate of many millions remains an irresistible lure.
From “Yes, We Can” to “No, You Can’t”: U.S. Military Occupation after the 2010 Earthquake
The election of President Obama led to high hopes for a dramatic change
in US foreign policy in Haiti, but these were crushed by the harsh
reality of the continuity of American foreign policy, which has proven
not to roam from their grim past.
In January 2010, just after a major earthquake shook the country,
President Obama sent the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) to Haiti in
order to “secure” Port-au-Prince’s airport. After three days, SOUTHCOM’s
deployed around 22,000 members of the US military throughout the
country and a US Navy and Coast Guard flotilla surrounded the island as
if perhaps Haiti had decided to declare war on the United States, an
unsheathed memory of a troubled past.[19] The United States took full
command of Haiti’s airport and airspace without any regards to questions
of national sovereignty, and the US government restricted all entry and
exit from the country. The actions did little to improve the country’s
recovery efforts.[20]
The heavy US military presence in Haiti after the earthquake turned out
to be but a part of Obama’s larger strategy of containment of Hugo
Chavez’s Venezuela. Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
were chosen to lead the US civilian response, and the US government
established an Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission with Clinton as
co-chair in order to effectively control every aspect of Haiti’s
economics and politics.[21]
The Violation of Democracy in the Name of Stability: The 2011 Elections in Haiti
Additionally, one of the priorities of the Obama administration was to
effectively hijack the Haitian electoral process in 2011. The Center for
Economic and Policy research (CEPR) released a report after the 2011
elections displaying many of the problems that had occurred with the
election.[22] The Organization of American States (OAS) concluded that
the elections represented a political decision rather than an electoral
one. Many citizens displaced by the earthquake were not allowed to vote,
and fewer than 23 percent of registered voters had their vote
counted.[23] In addition, numerous electoral violations were reported
including ballot stuffing, destroyed ballots, and intimidation.
Former First Lady Mirlande Manigat won the first round of the election
and had to run off against a second opponent. OAS election observers
chose to “examine the results”, which led to the removal of the
governing party’s candidate Jude Celestin of the Inite (“Unity”) party
in favor of a pop musician candidate Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly who,
in the end, was elected president.[24]
Ricardo Seitenfus, a special representative for the OAS in Haiti, states
that a secret ‘core group’ of foreign dignitaries sought to force the
president of Haiti out of office in a clean-cut coup. He stressed that
this core group also “engineered an intervention in Haiti’s presidential
elections that year that ensured that the governing party’s candidate
would not proceed to a runoff.”[25] It appears then that this disruption
was backed by illegal foreign intervention against the Haitian
government as well as by a series of human rights violation in which the
US government, the United Nations Secretary, and the OAS all shared
responsibility.
When Aristide tried to return to his country in 2013 after nearly ten
years in exile in South Africa, President Obama personally called South
African President Jacob Zuma twice in order to block Aristide’s
return.[26]. President Obama also effectively persuaded the French
government and UN Secretary Ban Ki Moon to join efforts in order to
prevent further “threats.” Even after the return of former Haitian
President Aristide (thanks to South Africa’s resistance to American
imperialism), the US government all but installed the neo-Duvalierist
Michel Martelly as president as a mere puppet to defend US interests.
Bill Clinton’s former aide, Mr Garry Conille, was later named Haiti’s
prime minister.[27]
After Ten Years of Military Occupation, Human Rights in Haiti are in a Much More Deteriorated State
These political intrigues and this spoliation of democracy by the US
government has not served the best interests of the Haitian people. One
of the most emblematic cases is the cholera epidemic in the country.
Even despite the fact that the United Nations constantly negated its
responsibilities, many families of victims have launched lawsuits
against the UN, stating that the epidemic were prompted mainly by some
UN soldiers from Nepal. The result of cholera epidemic was the killing
of around 10,000 Haitians in the past four years.[28]
Furthermore, several natural disasters such as the earthquake in January
2010, Storm Isaac in August 2012, and Hurricane Sandy in October 2012,
have led to the displacement of two million people who have since been
installed in refugee camps.[29] More than one year later, in December
2013, there were still nearly 150,000 persons housed in these camps.
Only 72 of these camps were built on public spaces while 229 were built
on private property.
Around 18 percent of these camps were eventually closed because of
governmental orders and 10 percent were closed due to evictions. The
evictions, carried out by police or military force without secured
alternative housing options, were a human rights violation. Most of
those evicted still have yet to find new accommodations and are still
living in the street or in miserable camps.
The institutional fragility of the Haitian state has clearly led to
unstable an undermining of economic, social, and cultural rights of the
Haitian people. The authorities are not able to provide the deserved
rights in respect the availability of fields such as alimentation,
housing, education, health or and access to jobs which are all but
ignored.
An extreme example is that child exploitation continues to remain a
reality in Haiti. Since the earthquake, some poor families have “given”
their children to rich families. The children receive education, food,
and housing in exchange for domestic tasks. In full daylight, these
children, called the “restaveks,” are exploited, deprived of their
rights, exposed to physical and verbal abuses, and are obligated to
engage in forceful and painful work under conditions slightly better
than slavery. UNICEF reported in January of 2012 that there are around
225,000 “restaveks” in Haiti.[30] Sexual violence is also a big issue in
Haiti, with around fifty cases each year, many likely to go
unreported[31].
Furthermore, the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN has
reported that human rights defenders have been prosecuted throughout the
country.
Civil and political rights remain fragile due to weakness of governing
state and institutions. The poor access to the judiciary system and high
crime rates in Haiti are evidence of this. The murder rate has risen
from 5.6 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2009 to more than 14.3 per 100,000
inhabitants in 2012. Cases of public lynching have become more prevalent
with more than 100 a year occurring between 2010 and 2012, illustrating
the low confidence in the judicial system.
Moreover, the local and legislative elections initially scheduled for
2012 have yet to occur and there is still no date for these elections to
be staged.
The Haitian president has sought to appear as to be the one fulfilling
his duty by purposing a new draft electoral law, which members of the
Senate refuse to ratify citing the unconstitutionality of the process
leading to this draft.
In addition, the situation of the Haitian people living abroad is also
of concern because they represent a very high level risk of dangerous
statelessness. In fact, many Haitian people abroad are victims of the
denial of their rights to identity, nationality, and personal dignity.
For example, in September 2013, the Dominican Republic Supreme Court
declared that the people born from illegal immigrants in the Dominican
Republic would be subject to nationality “degradation”. This Supreme
Court statement was made retroactive, since 1929, meaning Haitian
descendants born in Dominican Republic since then were being deprived of
their nationality, being neither Haitian nor Dominican.[32],[33]
Conclusion
As stated by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in
Haiti, the situation of human rights in the country is very serious. The
Independent Expert presented five ways for improving the situation: “a
strong political will, civil society active participation, a consensus
on prioritized problems to solve, a congruent coordination and
concentration of efforts, and a strong perseverance of these efforts in
order to achieve these goals.”[34] The statement may be a bit naive
considering the unremitting history of a plague of sadness, which now
haunts Haiti.
The current situation in Haiti is a result of the foreign policies of
the French, Canadian, and American governments and their allies’ (UN,
OAS, etc.) with the ongoing illegal military intervention in the
country. These interventions have brought about human rights violations,
state destabilization and massive suffering. With the current
illegitimate president inducted by the US government with the support
from the OAS, how can the situation be any different?
Military invasion, occupation, and foreign intervention has not helped
to return the country to democracy or to uphold human rights. In fact,
it has been a disaster. Today those responsible don’t want to accept
accountability for this situation and choose instead to criticize
Haitian political actors for the current condition without no regard for
these crimes. True solutions lie in respect for fair elections, popular
will, democratic life, and putting an end to military occupation.
References
[1] “François Duvalier, 1957–1971″, The Library of Congress, Country Studies, December 1989.
[2] ABBOTH, Elizabeth. Haiti: The Duvaliers and Their Legacy, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1988,
[3] Report of the Special Representative of the Commission on Human
Rights, E/CN.4/1987/61, August 5th 1987, par. 1 to 3, 18 and 87.
[4] MOODY John “Haiti Bad Times for Baby Doc, ss violent protests grow, a
besieged dictator imposes martial law” in Time Magazine, Feb. 10, 1986
[5] Report of the Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights, E/CN.4/1996/94, January 24th 1996, par. 8.
[6] FRENCH Howard W. “Front-Running Priest a Shock to Haiti” in The New York Times, December 13, 1990
[7] FARMER Paul “Who removed Aristide” in the London Review of Books, Vol. 26 No. 8 • 15 April 2004 pages 28-31
[8] FARMER Paul “Who removed Aristide” in the London Review of Books, Vol. 26 No. 8 • 15 April 2004 pages 28-31
[9] FRENCH, Howard W.; Time Weiner (14 November 1993). “C.I.A. Formed
Haitian Unit Later Tied to Narcotics Trade”. New York Times. Retrieved 6
May 2010.
[10] FARMER Paul “Who removed Aristide” in the London Review of Books, Vol. 26 No. 8 • 15 April 2004 pages 28-31
[11] FARMER Paul “Who removed Aristide” in the London Review of Books, Vol. 26 No. 8 • 15 April 2004 pages 28-31
[12] MACDONALD Isabel “France’s debt of dishonour to Haiti” in The Guardian, Monday 16 August 2010
[13] FARMER Paul “Who removed Aristide” in the London Review of Books, Vol. 26 No. 8 • 15 April 2004 pages 28-31
[14] The details of the meeting were reported by Michel Vastel in “Haiti
put into trusteeship by the United Nations?” L’Actualité, 15 March,
2003 or in ENGLER Yves, “Media Cover-up of Canada’s Role in the Overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide”, Part 1 of a 4 Part Series, Dissident Voice, January 30th, 2014
[15] SDA-ATS News Service, 29 février 2004 “La Maison blanche appelle Jean-Bertrand Aristide à quitter le pouvoir” in Interet General, on February 29, 2004
[16] SPRAGUE Jeb, Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti, Monthly Review Press, 2012.
[17] ENGLER Yves, "Media Cover-up of Canada’s Role in the Overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide", Part 1 of a 4 Part Series, Dissident Voice, January 30th, 2014
[18] [18] For more information regarding the role of US and French government in Aristide destitution, see Paul Farmer, “Who removed Aristide” in the London Review of Books, Vol. 26 No. 8• 15 April 2004 pages 28-31:
[19] As stated by the US Secretary of Defense
[20] BAR editor and columnist JEMIMA Pierre “Don’t Blame Republicans for Obama’s Actions in Haiti” in Black Agenda Report (Information Blog)
[21] BAR editor and columnist Jemima Pierre “Don’t Blame Republicans for Obama’s Actions in Haiti” in Black Agenda Report (Information Blog)
[22] JOHNSTON Jake and WEISBROT Mark “Haiti’s Fatally Flawed Election” in CEPR, January 2011
[23] As stretched by a US Secretary of State report “Although turnout was higher than in 2009, it was only about 22 percent in the first round of the current election process.
[24] JOHNSTON Jake and WEISBROT Mark “Haiti’s Fatally Flawed Election” in CEPR, January 2011
[25] In an interview with Dissent Magazine, with information cited again by CEPR here and here
[26] WEIBSROT Mark, “Haiti must decide Haiti’s future “ in the Guardian, on March 17, 2011
[27] ENGLER Yves, “Media Cover-up of Canada’s Role in the Overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide”, Part 1 of a 4 Part Series, Dissident Voice, January 30th, 2014
[28] PILKINGTON Ed “Haitians launch new lawsuit against UN over thousands of cholera deaths” The Guardian, March 11 2014
[29] GALLON Gustavo, Independent UN expert report on the situation of
Human Rights in Haiti, A/HRC/25/71, February 2014, Human Rights Council.
[30] GRUMIAU Samuel, «UNICEF aids restavek victims of abuse and exploitation in Haiti», Port-au-Prince, Haïti, 31 janvier 2012
[31] GALLON Gustavo, Independent UN expert report on the situation of
Human Rights in Haiti, A/HRC/25/71, February 2014, Human Rights Council.
[32] According to his data, the number of Haitians living abroad would
be about 4.5 million people. In 2007, the International Crisis Group
estimated that a population of more than 3.71 million Haitians and
descendants of Haitians residing abroad. The reference is International
Crisis Group, “Construire la paix en Haïti: inclure les Haïtiens de
l’extérieur”, Rapport Amérique latine/Caraïbes no°24,
Port-au-Prince/Bruxelles, December 14 2007.
[33] GALLON Gustavo, Independent UN expert report on the situation of
Human Rights in Haiti, A/HRC/25/71, February 2014, Human Rights Council.
[34] GALLON Gustavo, Independent UN expert report on the situation of
Human Rights in Haiti, A/HRC/25/71, February 2014, Human Rights Council.
The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent,
non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and information
organization. It has been described on the Senate floor as being "one of
the nation's most respected bodies of scholars and policy makers." For
more information, visit www.coha.org or email coha@coha.org
November 19, 2014
Caribbeannewsnow
