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6968: Human Rights Watch Backgrounder (fwd)
From: nozier <nozier@tradewind.net>
Aristide's Return to Power in Haiti
Human Rights Watch Backgrounder February 2001
HRW REPORT.-
When Jean-Bertrand Aristide is sworn in for a second term as Haitian
president on Wednesday, February 7, he will face a number of pressing
challenges in the areas of human rights and democracy. The country's
democratic institutions, fragile to begin with, were seriously weakened
over the course of 2000. Human rights conditions worsened considerably,
with Haitians enduring a continuing series of killings, assaults,
threats and other forms of intimidation. Perhaps the year's most
shocking event was the assassination of acclaimed journalist Jean
Dominique, a murder that has yet to be solved. But the year 2000 also
saw the April burning of the headquarters of the opposition coalition,
the deeply flawed May elections, the June flight into exile of the
president of the electoral council, and the November pipe bomb
explosions that killed two children and wounded numerous others, as
well as a succession of violent street demonstrations that went largely
unchallenged by the Haitian National Police. The spectre of violence
persisted in 2001, particularly after a January 9th press conference
at which popular organizations supporting President-elect Aristide
issued verbal threats against numerous journalists and members of
opposition parties.
President-elect Aristide recently indicated his awareness of the need
for reform in Haiti. During December meetings with U.S. Special Envoy
Tony Lake, Aristide committed to undertake a series of steps to remedy
the country's problems. The issues he outlined ? which include
remedying the results of the May 2000 elections, professionalizing
the police and judiciary, and strengthening democratic institutions
? are crucial ones. His effectiveness in addressing these issues will
be a key measure of his government.
Aristide enters the presidency with the support of a nearly one-party
parliament. Fanmi Lavalas (Lavalas Family), Aristide's party, holds
twenty-six of twenty-seven Senate seats and nearly all of the
seats in the lower house. At the local level, the opposition has
somewhat more of a foothold, although the overwhelming majority of
local elected officials are members of Fanmi Lavalas. In short,
President-elect Aristide enjoys ample political power to make good on
the reforms he has promised.
Below, Human Rights Watch outlines the critical issues facing Ariside
as he begins his term as president, and makes recommendations as to how
these issues should be addressed.
Democracy in Tatters
The year 2000 in Haiti was dominated by elections: local and
parliamentary polls on May 21, second-round and rescheduled voting
through August, and presidential and partial senatorial contests
in November. Haiti had been without a functioning parliament since
President René Préval dissolved it in January 1999, following eighteen
months without a prime minister. By 2000, this political impasse had
led to the suspension of some U.S. $500 million in multilateral
assistance, creating enormous international pressure for the Préval
government to hold legislative elections. The elections were, however,
deeply flawed, with their most glaring problem being the fraudulent
method used to calculate the results of the first-round Senate races.
The government's refusal to reconsider the skewed results led the
Electoral Monitoring Mission of the Organization of American States
(OAS) to quit Haiti before the second-round balloting, labeling the
elections "fundamentally flawed." The country's many small opposition
parties also refused to continue to participate in what they perceived
as an electoral charade. Fanmi Lavalas then cemented control of local
and national government, ending up with seventy-two of eighty-three
seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and two-thirds of some 7,500 local
posts.
The obvious failings of the mid-year elections radicalized the
opposition, which condemned the new parliament as illegitimate. Despite
a series of talks brokered by the Organization of American States, the
two sides were unable to reach any compromise prior to the November 26
presidential elections. In the end, Aristide faced no serious
challengers in the voting, which the OAS and other international
observers refused to monitor. In the wake of the election,
President-elect Aristide has made encouraging statements indicating
his willingness to engage in a dialogue with the opposition. The day
after the presidential vote, holding his first news conference
since1994, Aristide said: "To have a peaceful Haiti, the opposition is
indispensable."
Last Saturday, at a meeting held at the Vatican's embassy in Haiti,
Aristide spoke with several leaders of the opposition alliance known as
the Democratic Convergence (Convergence Democratique). More such talks
between Fanmi Lavalas and opposition representatives are expected.
Human Rights Watch's recommendations are the following:
Aristide should empower an independent commission to review the results
of the May elections. An independent commission made up of credible,
objective and qualified persons should review the results of the May
elections, including all of the complaints filed regarding procedural
and other irregularities. The commission should be empowered to order
that new first- or second-round votes be held in all cases in
which such a remedy is warranted.
Aristide should create a credible permanent electoral council. A
permanent electoral council should be established, made up of credible,
independent,objective and qualified persons. The members of this
council should be selected in consultation with members of the
political opposition.
Politicized Police: Inadequate Response to Political Violence
The OAS reported at least seventy acts of violence between January
and the May 21st vote, including a number of killings. The November
presidential elections were preceded by acts of violence that included
drive-by shootings in Port-au-Prince ? a new and alarming phenomenon ?
and a series of pipe bomb explosions that killed two children and
wounded many others. Much of this violence, including the killing of
Jean Dominique (discussed below), has not been effectively
investigated or punished.
Members of popular organizations supporting Fanmi Lavalas were
responsible for violent street demonstrations and other mob actions
that went largely unchallenged by the Haitian National Police (Police
Nationale d'Haïti, PNH). At the October 24, 1999 launching of the CEP's
civic education campaign in Port-au-Prince, a score of Aristide
supporters shouted slogans, threw trash and plastic soft drink bottles
filled with urine, and tried to attack opposition leader Evans
Paul. In late March, during a dispute between Préval and the CEP over
the date of elections, mobs set up barricades of burning tires and
lobbed rocks at passing cars, calling for the CEP's dismissal. Charging
through the big Croix des Bossales market, they burned hundreds of
storage depots, stores, and nearby homes. Five people were reported
killed in the days of violence, with fighting among criminal gangs
nearly indistinguishable from political violence.
The most dramatic pre-election incident of mob violence occurred on
April 8, when some one hundred protesters burned down the headquarters
of the opposition coalition, Espace de Concertation. Earlier in the
day, at funeral services for Jean Dominique, members of the mob had
publicly announced their plans to burn the building and kill opposition
leader Evans Paul (whom they were unable to find). Police, who were
on the scene, did not interfere, nor did they make any arrests.
A similar lack of police response was apparent on May 22, when a mob
of Fanmi Lavalas supporters attacked the downtown Port-au-Prince
headquarters of a small party, the Rally of Patriotic Citizens
(Rassemblement des Citoyens Patriotes, RCP). The mob attacked and
nearly killed one man, and badly injured another. Although the
attack took place a few blocks from a police station during a period of
supposed "zero tolerance" for violence, police did not intervene or
make arrests.
Nor did police respond effectively to the dramatic mid-June shut-down of
Port-au-Prince. On June 19, in a show of force intended to intimidate
the CEP into confirming erroneous first-round election results, several
hundred members of pro-Fanmi Lavalas popular organizations erected
barricades of burning tires, logs, and other debris on the city's
roads. The roadblocks halted nearly all traffic, effectively
confining most inhabitants to their homes for the day, but the
police took no action against those responsible. Similar but smaller
protests occurred in other cities.
In the wake of the May elections, police arrested some thirty-five
opposition candidates and activists, many of whom had been involved in
protests against electoral fraud. Those held included former senator
and candidate for re-election Paul Denis of the Organization of People
in Struggle (Organisation du Peuple en Lutte, OPL) and four others
arrested in Les Cayes on May 23. The apparent political motivations
for these arrests raised serious concerns.
Human Rights Watch's recommendations are the following:
Investigate and prosecute all acts of violence. Thorough
investigations should be made into recent violent incidents, and those
responsible should face criminal prosecution.
Strengthen the independence and professionalism of the Haitian police.
Only qualified and capable persons should be named to the Haitian
National Police, particular to senior positions. Political affiliation
should not be a factor when candidates are considered, nor should
political pressure be used to affect police actions. Appointments
should be made in a transparent fashion, and all incoming officers
should receive proper training.
The Killing of Jean Dominique
Jean Léopold Dominique, Haiti's most renowned journalist and the
director of Radio Haïti-Inter, was killed on the morning of April 3,
2000. Gunmen ambushed and shot both him and Jean-Claude Louissant, a
station security guard, in front of the radio station as the two
arrived at work. Dominique was a controversial and outspoken figure,
and a firm defender of the rule of law. He had been forced into
exile under previous governments because of his critical views, and
his radio station bore the marks of numerous bullet holes from earlier
attacks.
Police arrested several men said to have taken part in the
assassination, one of whom, Jean Wilner Lalane, died in custody under
suspicious circumstances. After months in which little progress was
shown, the investigation into the killings appeared to gather momentum
with the assignment of Judge Claudy Gassant, who began questioning
and inquiring into the activities of persons potentially implicated in
the murder. Yet obstacles to the investigation have recently arisen.
Senator Dany Toussaint, a popular Fanmi Lavalas leader whom Dominique
had criticized in a radio broadcast prior to his death, has reportedly
refused to cooperate with the judicial investigation. Claiming
parliamentary immunity, Toussaint has failed to respond to summons
seeking his appearance before Judge Gassant. According to the National
Coalition for Haitian Rights, several members of the Haitian Senate are
assisting Toussaint in obstructing the investigation. Radio Haiti-Inter,
now run by Dominique's widow Michèle Montas, suspended its operations
from February 3-5 to protest these actions.
Human Rights Watch strongly supports judicial efforts to prosecute
those responsible for Dominique's murder. We note, in this regard, that
the year 2000 witnessed encouraging steps toward justice. The
successful completion of two important trials ? of the 1999 Carrefour
Feuilles killings of eleven people, and of the 1994 Raboteau massacre
? raises hopes that justice will achieved in the brutal killing of
Jean Dominique.
Human Rights Watch recommends the following:
Aristide's government must facilitate the full and complete
investigation of Jean Dominique's killing. Judge Claudy Gassant should
be given complete cooperation in his investigation, as well as adequate
material support to carry it out. The Senate should not obstruct the
investigation in any way.