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Showing posts with label Human rights Haiti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Human rights Haiti. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

The UN Approves a New Multinational Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti to Replace the Kenyan-led Security Support Mission

The UN Security Council on Tuesday 30 September, 2025 - authorized a new multinational Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti to replace the Kenyan-led security support mission, amid escalating gang violence, widespread rights abuses and a humanitarian emergency affecting all aspects of life in the island nation.



Gang Suppression Haiti


The resolution – co-penned by Panama and the United States, and backed by dozens of countries in the region and beyond – was adopted by a vote of 12 in favour, with three abstentions from China, Pakistan, and Russia.  Under an initial 12-month mandate, the GSF will work in close coordination with the Haitian National Police (HNP) and the Haitian armed forces to conduct intelligence-led operations to neutralise gangs, provide security for critical infrastructure, and support humanitarian access.

The 5,550-strong force will also protect vulnerable groups, support reintegration of former fighters and help strengthen Haitian institutions.

The Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, authorised by the Security Council in October 2023, faced chronic underfunding, insufficient personnel, and limited operational capacity, making it difficult to contain gangs that now control large parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

While the MSS enabled the HNP to regain access to some areas and infrastructure, it struggled to match the scale of the crisis.

Kenya, which led the MSS, also backed the new mechanism.

Haiti is facing nearly 1.3 million internally displaced people, rising kidnappings, widespread sexual violence, and gangs that control large areas of the capital.

Haiti is not alone

Introducing the text in the Council, Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba of Panama emphasised the urgency of international support.

“Since last year, this Council has requested the Secretary-General to put forward recommendations to address the multidimensional crisis in Haiti.

Haiti is facing an unprecedented, multi-dimensional crisis that requires our decisive attention,” he said.

He urged all Security Council members to support the initiative, stating that doing so would “send a clear message to Haiti – you are not on your own.”

UN Support Office in Haiti

The resolution also tasks the Secretary-General to establish a UN Support Office in Haiti (UNSOH) to provide logistical and operational support to the GSF, HNP and Haitian armed forces, including rations, medical care, transportation, strategic communications and troop rotation.  UNSOH will also support the Organization of American States’ SECURE-Haiti project and ensure compliance with international human rights standards.

A force against gangs

The United States, a sponsor of the resolution, highlighted the scale of the new mission.  Ambassador Mike Waltz said that the MSS mission lacked the scale, scope and resources needed to take the fight to the gangs and restore a baseline of security in Haiti.

“Today’s vote sets that right.  With this vote to transform the MSS mission to the new Gang Suppression Force, a mission five times the size of its predecessor and with a strengthened mandate to go after the gangs,” he noted.

“The international community is sharing the burden and living up to its promise to help Haiti turn the tide.  It offers Haiti the chance to assume responsibility for its own security.”

Haitian government ultimately responsible

The Council stressed that Haiti’s government retains “primary responsibility” for national security and governance reform, including tackling corruption, illegal arms flows and the recruitment of children by gangs.

The GSF is intended to support Haitian authorities while creating conditions for the country to gradually assume full security responsibility.

A decisive turning point

The decision to transform the MSS mission to the GSF marked “a decisive turning point” in one of the most serious challenges in Haiti’s already turbulent history, the country’s ambassador said after the vote.

While the Multinational Security Support mission has been “a valuable support and a strong signal of international solidarity”, Ambassador Pierre Ericq Pierre stressed: “But the reality on the ground has reminded us that the scale and sophistication of the threat far exceeds the mandate initially granted to this mission.”

As the Security Council granted a stronger, more offensive and more operational mandate, “it is giving the international community the means to respond to the gravity of the situation in Haiti,” he added.

Saturday, September 27, 2025

U.S. Treasury Sanctions Former Haitian Politician and Gang Leader for Their Connections to Serious Human Rights Abuse


WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning a former member of Haiti’s parliament, Prophane Victor, for his role in forming, supporting, and arming gangs and their members that have committed serious human rights abuse in Haiti.  OFAC is also designating Luckson Elan, the current leader of the Gran Grif gang, for his involvement in serious human rights abuse related to gang activity in Haiti’s Artibonite department.


Prophane Victor, and Luckson Elan - Haiti


“Victor and Elan, through their influence over or leadership of the gangs in Haiti, have sought to perpetuate the horrific violence and instability,” said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith.  “Treasury remains committed to holding accountable those who seek to leverage human rights abuses, violence, and corruption to achieve their political aims.”


Promoting accountability for gender-based violence is a top priority for the U.S. government.  President Biden issued a Memorandum on Promoting Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in November 2022 that directs the U.S. government to strengthen our exercise of financial, diplomatic, and legal tools against this scourge.  The UN Panel of Experts report on Haiti states that the “levels of violence and the depths of cruelty that gangs will go to in violating human rights are unprecedented, with regular indiscriminate attacks against the population and the obstruction of humanitarian assistance.  Sexual and gender-based violence and rape in particular have become one of the most horrific expressions of violence over the past two years.  Such violence and insecurity not only undermine the political transition, but also decimate the national economy and threaten the future of the country.”  Today’s action targets one actor directly responsible for gender-based violence and one that has provided material support to gangs, including those that have engaged in gender-based violence as a regular practice of intimidation, control, and extortion.


serious human rights abuse IN ARTIBONITE, Haiti


Prophane Victor is a former Haitian legislator who started arming young men in Petite Rivière, Artibonite to secure his control over the area and his election in 2016.  Those men went on to form the Gran Grif gang, which is currently the largest gang in the Artibonite department and the main perpetrator of abuses, including sexual violence.


Prophane Victor materially supported Gran Grif until at least 2020.  Prophane Victor has also trafficked weapons to Haiti and is known to have relationships with and provided funds to other gangs throughout Haiti, including rivals of Gran Grif.  Prophane Victor’s gang affiliations and material support to them contribute to the climate of terror as the gangs engage in an array of cruelty and violence, fight for control, and leave residents to pay the consequences.


Luckson Elan is the current head of Gran Grif gang.  Luckson Elan and other members of the Gran Grif gang are responsible for serious human rights abuse including kidnapping, murder, beating, and raping of women and children, as well as looting, destruction, extortion, hijacking, and stealing crops and livestock.  The situation is especially devastating for his child victims who have been subjected to forced recruitment and sexual violence.


OFAC is designating Prophane Victor pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818 for being a person who has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of an entity, including any government entity, that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, serious human rights abuse, where the activity is conducted by a foreign person.


OFAC is designating Luckson Elan pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being a foreign person who is responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse.  OFAC also is designating Luckson Elan pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being or having been a leader or official of an entity, including any government entity, that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, serious human rights abuse relating to the leader’s or official’s tenure.


SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS


As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.  In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.


Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.  U.S. persons may face civil or criminal penalties for violations of E.O. 13818. Non-U.S. persons are also prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions, as well as engaging in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. sanctions, including the factors that OFAC generally considers when determining an appropriate response to an apparent violation.


Financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action.  The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.


The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law.  The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior.


For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.


GLOBAL MAGNITSKY


Building upon the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, E.O. 13818 was issued on December 20, 2017, in recognition that the prevalence of human rights abuse and corruption that have their source, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States, had reached such scope and gravity as to threaten the stability of international political and economic systems.  Human rights abuse and corruption undermine the values that form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies; have devastating impacts on individuals; weaken democratic institutions; degrade the rule of law; perpetuate violent conflicts; facilitate the activities of dangerous persons; and undermine economic markets.  The United States seeks to impose tangible and significant consequences on those who commit serious human rights abuse or engage in corruption, as well as to protect the financial system of the United States from abuse by these same persons.


September 25, 2025


Source

Friday, May 10, 2024

Women and Girls Continue to Disproportionately Suffer from The Crisis Ravaging Haiti

UN experts expressed grave concern that criminal gangs continue to use sexual violence against women and girls as a primary tactic to instil fear, extort money, gain control of power, and punish local communities 


Women and girls bear the brunt of crisis ravaging Haiti, say UN experts



GENEVA (6 May 2024) – Widespread violations of women and girls’ rights in Haiti are continuing with impunity, UN experts warned today, as the country grapples with an unprecedented outbreak of violence endangering the right to physical and mental integrity, and even life.

“Women and girls continue to disproportionately suffer from the crisis ravaging the country,” the experts said.  “Pre-existing inequalities and gender-based discrimination have exacerbated the current situation.”

Crisis in Haiti
“The outbreak of violence in Haiti has resulted in loss of livelihoods and food insecurity, widespread and multiple displacement, the collapse of education, breakdown of healthcare and other essential services,” the experts noted.  They also pointed to severely limited access to justice due to fear of reprisals and the lack of economic opportunities.

The experts expressed grave concern that criminal gangs continue to use sexual violence against women and girls as a primary tactic to instil fear, extort money, gain control of power, and punish local communities.

“Internally displaced women and girls, who live in inadequate and precarious displacement sites, are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence,” they said.  The experts also warned that risks and prevalence of trafficking of women and girls for purposes of sexual exploitation and sexual slavery had increased.

Calling on criminal gangs to put an immediate end to all forms of gender-based violence, the experts expressed alarm towards the authorities’ serious and continued failure to protect and fulfil the rights of women and girls in this crisis.  "No one should be forced to choose between their safety and their ability to provide for themselves and their families, attend school, access healthcare and basic services, including sexual and reproductive care,” they said.  They sounded alarm that survivors of violence continue to be unable to receive the assistance and protection they need.

The experts were also concerned at reports that the Government undermined and under-resourced State institutions that provide social services and protect human rights, failed to address corruption in the justice sector and beyond, and was actively complicit in gang activities.

"Haiti must return to democratic and constitutional governance based on the principles of respect for human rights, transparency and accountability," the experts urged.  “The transitional government must exert good-faith efforts to execute its mandate and create conditions for free, fair and inclusive elections.”

They emphasised that women’s voices and perspectives must be front and centre in the political transition process, to ensure accountability and non-recurrence of widespread violations of women and girls’ rights.

“We call on authorities to take all measures to ensure the full and equal participation of women in the peacebuilding process, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1325," the experts said.


Source

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Haiti: Some 5.5 million people — that’s nearly half of the country’s population — need humanitarian assistance

The Rapidly Deteriorating Security Situation in Haiti and its Impact on Haitian Civilians


From UN Briefing on Haiti
5 March, 2024


Haiti Crisis
Turning to Haiti, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the escalation of violence in several neighbourhoods in the capital, Port-au-Prince, has led to some [15,000; corrected below] people being forced to flee their homes.  Most of these people had already been displaced previously.

Despite the security constraints, our humanitarian partners on the ground have begun to respond to these new displacements by providing food; hygiene and health kits; mattresses, blankets and sheets; as well as lamps.

The World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners have delivered some 5,500 hot meals to some 3,000 people living in the three new displacement sites, while the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has started distributing emergency shelter material to more than 300 families.

The humanitarian community in Haiti calls on all sides to put an immediate stop to the violence; to allow safe access to the people in need; and respect human rights and humanitarian norms and standards.

As a reminder, some 5.5 million people — that’s nearly half of the country’s population — need humanitarian assistance.

This year’s $674 million Humanitarian appeal for Haiti is just 2.5 per cent funded; that means it had received only $17 million.

Tomorrow afternoon, the Security Council is scheduled to hold a private meeting on the situation in Haiti.  The head of our mission there — Maria Isabel Salvador — is expected to brief on the United Nations’ behalf; that will be done virtually.

I also want to reiterate that the Secretary-General is of course deeply concerned about the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Haiti and its impact on Haitian civilians.

He calls for urgent action, particularly in providing financial support for the Multinational Security Support mission, which is — as a reminder — is not a UN peacekeeping force.  This force will need to address the pressing security requirements of the Haitian people and prevent the country from plunging into further chaos.

He also calls on the Government of Haiti and other political actors to swiftly agree to the necessary steps to advance the political process towards the restoration of democratic institutions through the holding of elections.

Source

Sunday, February 18, 2024

The Deepening Human Rights Catastrophe in Haiti

Gang violence is affecting all communes in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, as gang members continue to clash for control of territory and have escalated their activities in areas outside the capital

- Haitian lives depend on the deployment, with no further delay, of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MSS), to support the National Police and bring security to the Haitian population, under conditions that comply with international human rights norms and standards -


From UN News

Crisis in Haiti
GENEVA (9 February 2024)
 – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday issued an urgent warning about the deepening human rights catastrophe in Haiti, after figures showed that January was the most violent month in more than two years.
“The already dire human rights situation has deteriorated even further, amid unrelenting and expanding gang violence, with disastrous consequences for Haitians,” said Türk.
At least 806 people, not involved in the violent exchanges taking place, were killed, injured, or kidnapped in January 2024.  In addition, some 300 gang members were killed or injured, bringing the total number of people affected to 1,108 – more than three times the number recorded in January 2023.
Gang violence is affecting all communes in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, as gang members continue to clash for control of territory and have escalated their activities in areas outside the capital. The intensity of clashes which, in some cases, have lasted several hours, may indicate that some gangs have recently received new ammunition.
People in areas controlled by gangs have been targeted directly.  Gangs also continue to use sexual violence against women and girls as a weapon, and spread fear by sharing on local social media gruesome photos and videos of killed individuals and women being raped.
The impact of this torrent of violence on children continues to be of particular concern.  In 2023, 167 children were killed and injured by bullets.  Some were executed by gangs or so-called “self-defence” groups for their suspected support for rivals.  The recruitment of children into gangs remained extremely worrisome.
In this context of widespread violence, in recent weeks there have been anti-government street protests and civil unrest, supported by opposition political parties, in at least 24 towns across the country, including the capital. Schools, public services, and local businesses have been forced to close.
Recently, armed elements have emerged, including some members of the so-called “Protected Areas Security Brigade” (in French, Brigade de Sécurité des Aires Protégées or BSAP), an informal entity established several years ago by a body in charge of environmental issues.
While some protests have turned violent, with public and private buildings ransacked, there are also persistent concerns about the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force by law enforcement.
Between 20 January and 7 February, at least 16 people were killed and 29 injured mainly in the context of confrontations between protesters and police.
Police officers must always abide by the principles of lawfulness, necessity and proportionality when managing protests, in accordance with human rights norms and standards, and protesters must express their grievances peacefully, the UN Human Rights Chief noted.
“Every day that passes, more casualties are being recorded.  Now, more than ever, Haitian lives depend on the deployment, with no further delay, of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MSS), to support the National Police and bring security to the Haitian population, under conditions that comply with international human rights norms and standards,” he said.
In addition to the need to improve the security situation, it is also essential to note the impact of this new wave of violence on Haiti’s economy, and spreading food insecurity.  High inflation due to extortion and road blockades have left millions of Haitians deprived of basic commodities.  More than 313,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.  Many have sought refuge in crammed and unsanitary sites, which affects their ability to access health and education services.
“As I have said time and again, while improvement of the security situation is the prerequisite to breaking the cycle of crises in Haiti, long-term stability will only be achieved through tackling the root causes of poverty, social and economic discrimination and corruption,” Türk stressed.

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

The Rise of Gang Violence in Haiti

The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Office and the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), calls for the urgent deployment of the Multinational Security Support mission authorized by the UN Security Council in October, in accordance with international human rights norms and standards



Violence in Haiti
GENEVA/PORT-AU-PRINCE (28 November 2023) - A new UN report out today details a further, shocking rise in gang violence in Haiti as criminal gangs forge alliances and expand to rural areas previously considered safe – killing, raping, kidnapping, and destroying property, among other abuses.

The report, released by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), calls for the urgent deployment of the Multinational Security Support mission authorized by the UN Security Council in October, in accordance with international human rights norms and standards.  Increased efforts will need to be deployed to strengthen Haiti’s rule of law institutions, in particular the police, the judiciary, and the prison system, the report notes.

The report focuses on the Bas-Artibonite district, located in Central Haiti, about 100 kilometres from the capital Port-au-Prince, which has seen a significant rise in gang violence in the last two years.  Between January 2022 and October 2023, at least 1,694 people were killed, injured, or kidnapped in Bas-Artibonite.

Kidnapping for ransom by criminal groups has become a constant fear for users of public transport across Bas-Artibonite, the report states.  The story of Darleine, a 22-year-old woman is one of many: she was dragged off a bus in March this year by gang members, who held her captive for over two weeks and repeatedly beat and raped her.  A few weeks after she was released, she committed suicide.

The report documents criminal groups rampaging through “rival” villages, executing local people and using sexual violence against women and even very young children.  The groups also loot farmers’ properties, crops and livestock and destroy irrigation canals, contributing to the displacement of more than 22,000 people from their villages and significantly reducing the amount of cultivated land, heightening food insecurity.  In September 2023, more than 45 per cent of the population of Bas-Artibonite was in a situation of acute food insecurity.  Gang violence has also left many farming families unable to repay their debts or to access basic services.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned that across Haiti, at least 3,960 people have been killed, 1,432 injured and 2,951 kidnapped in gang-related violence this year alone.

“The situation in Haiti is cataclysmic.  We are continuing to receive reports of killings, sexual violence, displacement and other violence – including in hospitals,” Türk said.

“With terrible violence against the population expanding – within and outside Port-au-Prince – and the inability of the police to stop them, the much-needed Multinational Security Support mission needs to be deployed to Haiti as soon as possible,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.

The High Commissioner stressed that the support mission must include internal oversight mechanisms and other safeguards to ensure its compliance with international human rights norms and standards.

Given the worsening violence and further to the October 2023 report of the UN Panel of Experts on Haiti, the report also calls on the Security Council to update the list of individuals and entities subject to UN sanctions for supporting, preparing, ordering, or committing acts contrary to international human rights law.

“There needs to be continued emphasis on the implementation of the arms embargo and sanctions targeting those behind this untenable situation,” the High Commissioner said.

“I also call on the Haitian authorities to fulfil their international human rights obligations and to put in place robust measures to strengthen the country’s institutions and improve governance, including by tackling corruption and addressing impunity.”

Source

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Human Rights in Haiti

By Clément Doleac
Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs
 

Dictatorship and human rights violations in Haiti


Dictatorship 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.

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November 19, 2014

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