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Haiti "Illegal People" Haitians And Dominico-Haitians In The Dominican Republic Over the past decade, the Dominican government has deported hundreds of thousands of Haitians to Haiti, as well as an unknown number of Dominicans of Haitian descent. On several occasions, most recently in November 1999, the Dominican authorities have conducted mass expulsions of Haitians and Dominico-Haitians, rounding up thousands of people in a period of weeks or months and forcibly expelling them from the country. HRW Index No.: B1401 April 4, 2002 Also available in 
Download PDF Purchase online Haiti: Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 From the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers The only government security forces in Haiti are the Haitian National Police (Police nationale d'Haïti, PNH). Recruitment into the Haitian National Police Force is voluntary. However, the institution of the armed forces still exists in national legislation and conscription is still enshrined in Article 268 of the Constitution of 1987, which states that "military service is compulsory for all Haitians who have attained eighteen years of age. Only a constitutional amendment can eliminate these provisions. Candidates must be 18 or older in order to join the police. June 12, 2001 Haiti: Landmine Monitor Report 2000 Haiti signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 but has not yet ratified. In a 31 January 2000 letter to the ICBL Coordinator, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Haiti planned to ratify the treaty when a new parliament was in place following the legislative elections, which were held on 22 May 2000.25 Haiti voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1999. Haiti has stated that it has never produced, imported, stockpiled, or used AP mines.26 According to the United Nations, Haiti is not mine affected. August 1, 2000 The Human Rights Record of the Haitian National Police The Haitian National Police (Police Nationale d'Haïti, HNP) constitutes the first civilian, professional police force in Haiti’s 193-year history. In past decades, Haiti’s military controlled a subservient police, and both institutions engaged in widespread, systematic human rights abuses. Following former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s dismantling of the military in 1995, Haiti’s transition to a civilian-controlled police has been marred by serious human rights violations. In the year and a half since its deployment, members of this U.S.-trained force have committed serious abuses, including torture and summary executions. Political authorities condemned many of the abuses and senior police authorities sanctioned or fired some of the responsible personnel, but the HNP only recently began to refer cases of police abuses to the courts. While a number of HNP agents now face criminal prosecution, Haiti’s dysfunctional judicial system has made meager progress on prosecuting police abuse cases. Not one policeman or woman has been convicted of any killing. January 1, 1997 Purchase online Thirst for Justice: A Decade of Impunity in Haiti Haiti’s turmoil over the last decade demonstrates the insidious effect of impunity for violent human rights abuse. Despite repeated official promises of justice and untold opportunities to fulfill those vows, prosecutions for human rights crimes have been rare. As each new military leader took up residence in Port-au-Prince’s sparkling Presidential Palace, the unmistakable lesson of the past was that there would be no serious price to pay for political violence. Getting away with murder was the rule. Haiti’s two democratically elected governments have struggled under the weight of entrenched impunity, making tentative steps toward ending the legacy of failed justice. Today, conditions are better than ever for breaking Haiti’s pattern of impunity. Unfortunately however, Haiti’s government, by failing to make ending impunity a top priority, is letting the opportunity to establish accountability slip away. And the U.S. government, to its great shame, has erected its own roadblocks to truth and justice in Haiti. September 1, 1996 Human Rights after President Aristide’s Return In the year after Pres. Aristide returned to Haiti, there was marked, concrete improvement in respect for human rights and the government launched institutional reforms that should bring lasting change. In this report, however, we note several cases of improper use of force and other problems with the interim and new national police forces. We also address concerns regarding the human rights situation at the time, institutional reform efforts, and international and U.S. policy regarding Haiti, and make several specific recommendations for each. October 1, 1995 Human Rights Conditions Prior to the June 1995 Elections Haiti faced its first opportunity for genuine, democratic elections since the 1990 contest that brought Pres. Aristide to office with the parliamentary and local elections held on June 25, 1995. We examined pre-election conditions and found that, while levels of violence did not compare with previous electoral periods and the procedural aspects of the election were proceeding in relative openness, the underlying tensions in the society required heightened international and governmental attention. This report notes both progress and difficulties with the electoral process. June 1, 1995 Security Compromised: Recycled Haitian Soldiers on the Police Front Line As the multinational force prepared to turn over operations to the U.N. Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) on March 31, 1995, political tensions increased and far from having brought stability, the U.S.-led force pointed only to a fragile security that impending parliamentary and presidential elections may rupture. Since the UNMIH mandate was designed solely to maintain a secure environment and prohibits law enforcement, increasing responsibilities fall onto Haiti’s only functioning security force, an interim police force comprising former members of the same military whose brutal human rights record galvanized the international effort to restore democracy. (With National Coalition for Haitian Refugees.) March 1, 1995 Haiti: Security Compromised Recycled Haitian Soldiers On the Police Front Line The United States-dominated multinational force entered Haiti on September 19, 1994, with a mandate to "use all necessary means...to establish and maintain a secure and stable environment...." The force's presence permitted the reinstatement of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and a reduction in the severe human rights abuses that plagued Haiti during the three year military regime. Yet as the multinational force prepares to turn over operations to the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) on March 31, 1995, political tensions are increasing and far from having brought stability, the U.S.-led force can point only to a fragile security that impending parliamentary and presidential elections may rupture. Since the UNMIH mandate is designed solely to maintain a secure environment and will prohibit law enforcement, increasing responsibilities will soon fall onto Haiti's only functioning security force, an interim police force composed entirely of former members of the same military whose brutal human rights record initially galvanized the international effort to restore democracy to Haiti. March 1, 1995 Download PDF, 293 KB, 30 pgs Printer friendly version Fugitives from Injustice: The Crisis of Internal Displacement in Haiti Haitian nongovernmental organizations assisting the displaced estimate that 300,000 people out of a population of 7.5 million have been forced into hiding and as many as 3,000 people have been the victims of political killings since the September 1991 coup-d’etat. In this report, HRW/Americas, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA and National Coalition for Haitian Refugees focus on internal displacement or marronage. August 1, 1994 Fugitives From Injustice The Crisis of Internal Displacement in Haiti Like their enslaved ancestors more than two centuries ago, tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Haitians are on the run, fleeing the murderous military regime that sent their elected president into exile after the September 30, 1991 coup d'etat. Haitians call this modern phenomenon of internal displacement marronnage, an historical reference to the Haitian marrons, fugitive slaves who fled the cruelty of colonial plantations to hide and organize in the hills. August 1, 1994 Download PDF, 295 KB, 36 pgs Printer friendly version Rape in Haiti: A Weapon of Terror As documented cases of politically motivated rape, massacres, forced disappearance, and violent assaults on entire neighborhoods have increased greatly since the end of 1993, reports from women’s rights groups in Haiti reveal that women are targeted for abuse in ways and for reasons that men are not. Uniformed military personnel and their civilian allies have threatened and attacked women’s organizations for their work in defense of women’s rights and have subjected women to sex-specific abuse ranging from bludgeoning women’s breasts to rape. July 1, 1994 Rape in Haiti A Weapon of Terror The military coup d'état against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on September 30, 1991, plunged Haiti into a maelstrom of state-inflicted and state-sanctioned human rights abuses. These abuses have included numerous political assassinations, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and the torture of prisoners. Following the coup d'état, the military authorities suspended virtually all constitutionally guaranteed rights and procedures. Since the end of 1993, documented cases of politically motivated rape, massacres, forced disappearance, and violent assaults on entire neighborhoods have increased greatly. July 1, 1994 Download PDF, 278 KB, 29 pgs Printer friendly version Terror Prevails in Haiti: Human Rights Violations and Failed Diplomacy The Clinton Administration’s policy of disregarding fundamental human rights issues to resolve Haiti’s political crisis, combined with its inhumane and illegal practice of summarily returning Haitian refugees, has contributed to a human rights disaster that has tarnished the presidency and discredited its stated commitment to democracy and human rights. April 1, 1994 Terror Prevails in Haiti Human Rights Violations and Failed Diplomacy President Clinton's policy of disregarding fundamental human rights issues to resolve Haiti's political crisis, combined with his inhumane and illegal practice of summarily returning Haitian refugees, has contributed to a human rights disaster that has tarnished his presidency and discredited its stated commitment to democracy and human rights around the world. Constant concessions to the Haitian military by the President's Special Envoy, Ambassador Lawrence Pezzullo, and the refusal to support President Aristide's position that members of the army must be held accountable for human rights abuses, have resulted in the current political stalemate; more importantly, they have strengthened the army's hold on Haiti and prolonged its reign of terror. April 1, 1994 Download PDF, 447 KB, 51 pgs Printer friendly version No Port in a Storm: The Misguided Use of In-Country Refugee Processing in Haiti A longstanding U.S. policy of discrimination against Haitian refugees is the platform upon which the management of this extraordinary human crisis is based. The findings in this report indicate that precisely when military repression reached a new high, tolerated and even promoted by the de facto government, the quality of U.S. treatment of Haitian refugees reached a new low. Indeed, this report shows how both the Bush and Clinton administrations have gone to great lengths to turn the meaning and intent of international and U.S. refugee law upside down in order to restrict to the fullest extent possible the entrance of Haitian refugees. September 1, 1993 Purchase online No Port In A Storm The Misguided Use of In-Country Refugee Processing in Haiti The Clinton Administration's efforts toward achieving a political solution in Haiti can be favorably contrasted to his predecessor's inaction. Nevertheless, this progress is diminished by the continuation and promotion of a refugee policy that is inhumane and illegal and ultimately calls into question the U.S. government's commitment to human rights and a democratic regime in Haiti. It would be a mistake to assume that progress in the restoration of constitutional government signals an end to repression, and hence to the needs of asylum seekers. It is imperative that this policy be replaced with an approach to Haitian refugees which incorporates basic refugee protections. September 1, 1993 Download PDF, 289 KB, 36 pgs Printer friendly version Silencing a People: The Destruction of Civil Society in Haiti The military forces that overthrew Haiti’s first freely elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, have consolidated their rule by ruthlessly suppressing Haiti’s once diverse and vibrant civil society — the range of civic, popular and professional organizations that had blossomed since the downfall of the Duvalier dictatorship seven years ago. In a country where only nine months before the September 30, 1991 coup 67 percent of the voters cast their lot with Father Aristide, the army has presumed that the majority of the population is hostile to military rule. Seeking to avoid the kind of popular unrest that brought down past military regimes, the army has attempted to deny the Haitian population an organized platform for its discontent by systematically repressing virtually all forms of independent association. The aim is to return Haiti to the atomized and fearful society of the Duvalier-era so that even if international pressure secures the return of Aristide, his civilian government will lack the support of a dynamic and organized society needed to exert civilian authority over a violent and recalcitrant army. HRW Index No.: ISBN 1-56432-094-4 March 1, 1993 Half The Story The Skewed U.S. Monitoring of Repatriated Haitian Refugees The May 24 Executive Order authorizing the summary repatriation of Haitian boat people is premised on the view, expressed by President Bush and other U.S. officials, that none of the Haitians risk political persecution upon return to Haiti. That view is principally based on surveys of repatriates conducted by State Department and Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officials. This report analyzes these surveys and finds them deeply flawed. Whether by design or negligence, the surveys exclude repatriates who are at greatest risk of persecution. Even those repatriates who are included are interviewed under circumstances that strongly discourage them from describing the persecution they face. June 30, 1992 Download PDF, 121 KB, 16 pgs Printer friendly version Haiti: The Aristide Government's Human Rights Record The government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide compiled a record on human rights which showed much promise but which was also marked by certain troubling practices. His administration began to pay close attention to much-needed structural reforms in some of the institutions that had long been used to repress the Haitian people, particularly the army, the rural section chiefs, and the prison administration. The result was most visible in a dramatic decrease in violence by military and allied repressive forces. However, efforts to reform other institutions -- notably the criminal justice system -- were more sluggish. Popular frustration with dysfunctional legal remedies led many Haitians to take the law into their own hands. In a disturbing deviation from his stated commitment to human rights, President Aristide voiced a certain tolerance for this popular violence as a substitute for the profound reforms of the legal system that were needed. November 1, 1991 Download PDF, 243 KB, 38 pgs Printer friendly version
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