 Office
of the Foreign Press Liaison, National Palace, Haiti
Contact: Michelle Karshan  mkarshan@aol.com
Release Date: September 26, 2001
Telephone: (011509) 228-2058
From
Dictatorship to Democracy Comparative Chart
September
30, 2001
"Building a state is a long
process. Let us begin this task with courage,
together, with unity in diversity. Those who have been
excluded until now
demand full participation. We must never move forward
without them, or
against them. They are present in everything we do.
Our people have courage
and a unique genius for survival. We must now move from
survival to life."
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
ADULT LITERACY
Pre-Democracy
· Literacy movement repressed
· 85% illiteracy rate
Conditions Under Democracy
· Secretary of State for Literacy created
· Literacy materials produced & widely distributed.
National Campaign
trained thousands of literacy workers, literacy classes
nationwide
· 55% illiteracy rate
AGRICULTURE & NATIONAL PRODUCTION
Pre-Democracy
· No government support for small scale agriculture
· Rural exodus to the cities
· State-assisted repression by large landowners
· Rice yield never more than 2.8 metric tons
per hectare
· Eradication of Haiti's Creole pig valued at
$600 million devastated rural
economy. Unsuccessful pig replacement program
· Little public health and education services
in rural areas
· Government sugar mill in Darbonne closed
· Agricultural production and exportation greatly
reduced and strongly
decapitilized during coup regime
Conditions Under Democracy
· National Institute of Agrarian Reform established
· Redistributed 2.47 acres each to over 1,500
families for cultivation
· Repairs permitted irrigation of more than 3,000
hectares of land for
farming by 7,100 farmers in the Artibonite Valley alone
· The Office for the Development of the Artibonite
Valley & INARA provided
tools, credit, technical advisors, fertilizers &
heavy equipment to farmers
(i.e. 100 tractors)
· Increased rice yield from between 3 to 5.5
tons per hectare
· Livestock distributed & animal vaccination
program pursued
· 400 kilometers of major & minor roads opened
up previously inaccessible
agricultural areas
· Sugar mill repaired & reopened
· Gourmet & fair trade coffee developed &
marketed, much sold directly by
peasant cooperatives. Haiti a major exporter of mangoes
to the U.S.
· 30,000 fishermen assisted through technical
training, 4 industrial boats
for deep-sea fishing, construction of 100 motor boats
for small fishermen &
nets
· Construction of 50 artificial lakes begun &
supplied with millions of
fish revitalizing fish farming industry
CHILDREN
Pre-Democracy
· Children exploited. No government protections
Conditions Under Democracy
· Historic law in 2001 prohibits violence against
children & provides for
punishment against offenders
· Universal Schooling campaign to enroll all
children in school.
Additional 160,000 enrolled fall 2001
· Public information campaign against violence,
humiliation and
exploitation of all children, especially restaveks
· Convention on the Rights of the Child ratified
(1994)
· Telephone hotline system receives complaints
& intervenes
· National conference addressing all aspects
of children's lives,
responsive to plight of restaveks
· Juvenile court system and rehabilitation program.
Services for street
children
· Daycare center for children of factory workers
at Industrial Park
· Scholarship fund for exceptionally talented
youth
· Special fund to develop & reinforce artistic
talents
CULTURE
Pre-Democracy
· Political climate halted promotion
Conditions Under Democracy
· MUPANAH, the government museum, renovated
· National Library renovated
· Museum on monetary system & its history
· National & international exhibits &
performances, national fairs, music
festivals, television shows & contests
· Education & events on Haiti's history (i.e.
Route de l'Esclave, Toussaint
L'Ouverture Constitution of 1801)
· ONART opened display store for artists wares
· Historic monuments built & restored
· Special fund to assist artistic youth
· Art & handicrafts strengthened by government
support
DEMOCRACY & PARTICIPATION
Pre-Democracy
· Dictators and presidents for life, no free
& fair elections
· No freedom of speech, expression or association.
Democracy supporters
tortured & killed under coup regime
· Voters massacred at polls in 1987
· Persecution of progressive Catholic churches,
anti-vodou campaign,
parishioners massacred at St. Jean-Bosco
· No election campaigns or public discussions
· Power consolidated in capital, peasants had
little voice in political life
· Most radio stations shut down during coup regime
· Destruction of popular participation &
emerging structures of civil
society
Conditions Under Democracy
· First democratically elected president (President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide)
peacefully transferred power to next democratically
elected president
(President Rene Preval) who became first president to
serve his whole legal
term - no more, no less
· Freedom to organize, debate, associate and
expression guaranteed.
Constitution in Creole widely distributed
· Since 1994 oversaw several rounds of democratic
elections that included
parliamentary and local representatives & two presidential
elections. The
2000 elections ran 29,500 candidates for 7,500 seats
and registered 4 million
people to vote
· Freedom of religion guaranteed
· Public debates, election debates, televised
major trials, civic education
· Initiated decentralization process which produced
local input in
infrastructure projects
· Number of radio & television stations expanded:
44 FM stations in
Port-au-Prince, approx.100 radio stations outside of
capital, 16 registered
television stations in Port-au-Prince, and 35 registered
television stations
outside capital
· Popular organizations & civil society flourished
DRUG TRAFFICKING
Pre-Democracy
· Use of Haiti as drug transshipment point started
under Duvalier, exploded
under coup regime
Conditions Under Democracy
· Decrease in drug transshipping from 13% to
8% in 2000 according to U.S.
State Department
· Legislation passed: Inter-American Convention
Against Corruption,
Anti-Money Laundering & Maritime Counter Narcotics
Agreement with the U.S.
· Set up Financial Intelligence Unit to combat
money laundering. Banks
already complying with new requirements to notify authorities
of major cash
deposits
· 2001: 412.9 kilos of cocaine and 392.57 pounds
of marijuana seized so
far. Since 1997: 4 tons of cocaine & 5 tons of marijuana
seized, 2000
drug-related arrests. Participation on region-wide interdiction
efforts.
Collaboration with DEA on special missions such as recent
"Operation
Conquistador" and "Operation Hurricane."
· Civilian maritime police, anti-drug unit &
border patrol
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Pre-Democracy
· Three years of coup regime left country depleted:
Assembly industries
were decimated causing loss of 60,000 jobs, global deficit
of central
administration worsened as state revenues dropped from
8% of the GDP in 1991
to 3% in 1994. Real GDP fell 30% and per capita GDP
dropped from $320 to $260
· Mass transfer of capital. The coup regime's
top officials regularly
embezzled state funds and transferred these to their
personal foreign bank
accounts, control of monopolies, import privileges and
special access to
foreign exchange
· Fiscal impunity guaranteed by army. Less than
4% of personal income tax
collected during coup regime
· Public enterprises neglected & during coup
regime taxes not properly
collected. Monies collected through customs, general
sales tax, income tax,
and taxes on goods and services fell from $86.6 million
in 1991 to $52.9
million in 1994. The Haitian gourde declined against
the U.S. dollar. The
coup regime closed the cement company and flour mill
and depended upon the
water supply company to provide extra income. The electricity
company
steadily lost money and the Port Administration was
inconsistent. Due to
overall looting and embezzlement, the cement and flour
mills were closed
· Poor people generally had no access to banks
or credit. Handful of
private banks outside Port-au-Prince & Cap Haitian
Conditions Under Democracy
· Net private transfers from Haitians abroad
grew rapidly by 12% in fiscal
year 2000 overtaking export earnings for first time.
Higher private transfers
contributed to narrowing in current account deficit
of balance of payments
(excluding public grants) from US $316 million for fiscal
year 1991 to US
$294 million in 2000
· Foreign & national investment advanced
i.e. foreign partnerships &
franchises (MCI, Dominos) & construction boom (shopping
malls, apartment
buildings, gas stations, convenience stores, department
stores, expansion of
major tourist/business hotels & the Hilton hotel
plan to construct 165-bed
hotel at airport
· Public Administration: In 1991 Aristide/Preval
government roots out
state corruption. In first three months the state-owned
cement factory went
from a 4.5 million gourde loss to a 100,000 gourde net
profit. The flour
mill went from a 2.76 million gourde loss to a 2.1 million
gourde profit
· After severe negative growth during coup regime,
economy slowly rebounded
to a positive 4.5% real growth rate immediately after
the return to
democracy. Since then, record collection of taxes and
port fees have been
made. Income & profit taxes rose by 14 % while customs
collections rose by
26%
· National & international competition challenges
traditional monopoly
system
· Customs code revised in 1995
· Tax collection increased immediately from 77
million gourdes for the 3
months proceeding December 1990 election of President
Aristide to 100 million
gourdes for the month of May 1991 alone. Customs receipts
jumped from 16.4
million gourdes in February 1991 to 25.8 million the
following May 1991. In
1991 Aristide's government's success in collecting tax
and custom revenues
gained the commitments of $511 million dollars in international
aid
· Modernization/Privatization: Public debate
and education campaign.
Feasibility studies prepared for sale of public enterprises.
Legislation
enacted to modernize & privatize public enterprises.
The cement and flour
mills sold in a public/private partnership. Other public/private
efforts
include two major U.S. telecommunications companies
(Western Wireless/MCI)
involved in ownership of cellular & fixed telephone
services & the port &
airport project of St. Louis de Sud
· Creation of community restaurants and community
stores providing low cost
food
· Private banks outside of Port-au-Prince grew
to 29 in last 5 years
opening up the poor's access to banking & micro-credit
EDUCATION
Pre-Democracy
· Discriminated against children from the countryside.
Rural education was
under Ministry of Agriculture
· No assistance with uniforms, textbooks, transportation
or tuition
Conditions Under Democracy
· Government Universal Schooling program seeks
to enroll every child in
school & build a school in each of Haiti's 565 rural
sections. Provided for
160,000 more children to enter school fall 2001
· 20.8% of national budget (2001-2006) devoted
to education
· Hot lunches served to 700,000 children per
day
· Textbooks subsidized by 55%, 150,000 free school
uniforms for fall 2001,
first school bus system in capital and rural areas,
90,000 school
scholarships in 1995, school crossing guards
· 200 primary & secondary schools constructed
& renovated
· Doubled number of secondary schools in 1994
through construction &
renovation
· Teachers' salaries increased
· Primary education standardized
ENVIRONMENT
Pre-Democracy
· Incinerator ash dumped in Haiti during military
regime for individual
profit
· Unregulated destruction of mountains for commercial
use
· Ecological devastation, rapid deforestation
& soil erosion
· Sanitation system progressively deteriorated
with political climate
Conditions Under Democracy
· Ministry for the Environment created
· Succeeded in getting incinerator ash removed
from Haiti after 14 year
campaign
· Convention on Desertification ratified (1996)
· Reforestation programs & alternatives to
charcoal pilot projects
· Convention on Biological Diversity ratified
(1996)
· National Parks protected & park rangers
trained
· Garbage system & collection upgraded. Training
program for environmental
monitors
· Increased regulations on emissions and overloaded
trucks
GENDER EQUALITY
Pre-Democracy
· No government programs for women's rights or
gender equity
· Absence of women in government posts
· Historic neglect of girls' education
· Discriminatory legislation against women
Conditions Under Democracy
· Ministry of Women's Affairs & Rights created
· Inter-American Convention for Prevention, Punishment
and Eradication of
Violence Against Women ratified (1996)
· Record number of women elected to public office
including 1/3 of the
Senate
· Women appointed to high posts: Prime Minister,
Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Minister of Finance, director of a national
bank and Departmental
Police Director
· Proposed legislation to strengthen rape laws,
decriminalize abortion,
include women domestic workers in Labor Code & equalize
laws on adultery
· Central Office of Equipment trained women to
operate heavy equipment for
public works projects. Half of their 525 employees are
women
· Midwife school to open at State University
Hospital
· Hospital personnel & police started receiving
training in handling of
rape cases
HEALTH SERVICES
Pre-Democracy
· Healthcare not government priority
· Vaccination rates dropped from 40% to 24% during
coup regime leading to
pediatric measles epidemic in 1993
· 1 doctor to 10,000 people with most doctors
concentrated in capital.
Almost all medical care limited to large cities
Conditions Under Democracy
· 13.7% of budget (2001-2006) devoted to healthcare
· 2000 - 2001: Vaccination campaigns against
polio (2 million doses) and
Measles (600,000 doses)
· Increased number of doctors through partnership
with foreign healthcare
professionals
· 400 Haitian students studying in medical school
abroad & medical school
to open at new university in Haiti. Tuition free in
exchange for public
service
· Renovated and constructed more than 40 health
clinics, hospitals, &
dispensaries countrywide
· State University Hospital: Renovated labor
& delivery/maternity section,
built modern morgue, autopsy room, new emergency room
& pharmacy,
rehabilitated radiology department, put in a blood bank
· Midwifery school to open at State University
Hospital
· Free diagnosis & treatment of tuberculosis
· Purchasing pharmaceuticals at lower cost to
provide Haiti's poor with
access to medicine
HIV/AIDS
Pre-Democracy
· No comprehensive government policy on combating
AIDS. Sex tourism
· 24-hour commercial blood banks
· AIDS exacerbated by political rapes & population
displacement
Conditions Under Democracy
· Strategic plan addressing the 260,000 people
living with the disease in
Haiti (4.5% - 6% depending on region)
· Objectives include reduction of STDs by 50%,
reduction of mother to child
transmission by 50% & increasing testing sites countrywide
through aggressive
education & prevention campaign, current trial vaccine
program, limited
anti-retroviral therapy
· Rise in male condom sales from 2 million in
1990 to 11.6 million in 2000,
female condom sales doubled in last four years
· Traveling caravan of artists and speakers promoting
prevention
HUMAN RIGHTS
Pre-Democracy
· Impunity for human rights violators
· 5,000 killed during coup regime, 300,000 forced
into internal exile,
100,000 took to the high seas, thousands beaten, raped
or otherwise tortured
· Long tradition of discrimination against peasants
· State sponsored persecution of journalists
Conditions Under Democracy
· Office of Citizen Protection created
· National Truth & Justice Commission created
· Use of peasant label on birth certificates
eliminated
· Chapultepec Declaration supporting press freedoms
· 1996 UNESCO prize on human rights education
awarded to Aristide
· Convention on the Rights of the Child ratified
(1994)
· Inter-American Convention for Prevention, Punishment,
& Eradication of
Violence Against Women ratified (1996)
· Law prohibiting violence against children (2001)
INFRASTRUCTURE & ENERGY
Pre-Democracy
· Failed to keep pace with growing demand for
services
· Infrastructure completely neglected during
military regime and more so
during coup regime
· Paramilitary terrorist group burned down more
than 100 houses in Cite
Soleil during coup regime
Conditions Under Democracy
· Bridges renovated, 319 kilometers of inter-urban
roads & 78 kilometers of
urban roads constructed or rehabilitated Infrastructure
generated
construction boom & rise in property values
· Port-au-Prince international airport &
access roadways renovated
· Croix des Bossales, Port-au-Prince's main market
area, renovated through
a $5 million sanitation program. Public toilets constructed
· 8 parks built or renovated including Place
des Nations Unies, La
Fountaine des Nymphes d'Ebene & Champ-de-Mars, which
include first public
playgrounds. First major public beach opened
· Thousands of miles of canals constructed, repaired,
dredged
· Thousands of miles of drains repaired or constructed,
dozens of hydraulic
units repaired, rehabilitated 12 irrigation systems,
riverbeds reinforced
· Jacmel: Electrical plant provides 24-hour electricity,
port & wharf
renovated, paved road to beach area
· National Archives, National Library, &
Sylvio Cator National Stadium
renovated
· Extensive local public participation determined
priority projects
· Central Office of Equipment created to manage
heavy equipment for public
works' projects. Currently has $40-45 million worth
of equipment
· Built new housing for Cite Soleil arson victims
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Pre-Democracy
· CARICOM entry repeatedly rejected because of
dictatorship status
· International isolation of coup regime
Conditions Under Democracy
· Accepted into CARICOM, integration process
near completion
· Bilateral working group of Haitians and Dominicans
on trade, migration,
drug trafficking, agriculture, health, tourism
· Doubled number of countries with which Haiti
has diplomatic relations
· Signed treaty creating International Criminal
Court
JUSTICE
Pre-Democracy
· Corrupt judicial system
· No prosecution of coup regime's brutal repressors
· Courtroom proceedings conducted almost exclusively
in French, which was
understood by only 20% of citizens
Conditions Under Democracy
· Professionalized judicial system, passed law
on Judicial Reform, built
and renovated 38 courthouses, 17 police stations, prisons,
& a juvenile court
· National Truth & Justice Commission investigated
coup regime atrocities
through 10,000 interviews resulting in 5,450 reports
filed, which represented
8,650 victims & a total of 19,308 violations. Submitted
comprehensive report
· Carrefour Feuilles trial in August 2000 successfully
prosecuted police
officers, including senior leadership, for executing
civilians in a 1999
attack
· Raboteau trial successfully prosecuted 53 defendants,
including coup
regime's top military & paramilitary leadership,
for a 1994 massacre
· School for Magistrates
· Graduated more than 100 new judges & prosecutors
· Juvenile court system and rehabilitation program
· Raised judges' salaries
· Specialized police units, records control,
scientific investigations,
forensic medicine & new autopsy department at State
University Hospital
· Legal proceedings in Creole
LABOR RIGHTS & EMPLOYMENT
Pre-Democracy
· Government contracted to profit from each Haitian
sugarcane cutter
working in the Dominican Republic
· Union organizers & labor activists persecuted
· No enforcement of labor rights
Conditions Under Democracy
· Secretary of State on Labor created
· Raised daily minimum salary to 36 gourdes (1995)
· Law on reform of public administration (1991)
· Challenged exploitation of Haitian sugarcane
cutters in the Dominican
Republic
· Legislation on labor code to enforce rights
proposed
· Workers' rights public information campaign
· Labor unions & collective bargaining respected
· Vocational training reinforced
· Labor court reinforced: Trained & equipped
investigators
· Hospital for workers (OFATMA) renovated &
services expanded
LEGISLATION
Pre-Democracy
· President & army dictated to legislators
· Legislators not conforming jailed or killed
· Historically weak. Rubber stamped Duvalier
for life and the naming of
his successor
Conditions Under Democracy
· Law on the reform of the Public Administration
(1991)
· Convention on the Rights of the Child (1994)
· Creation of Police Academy (1995)
· Law raising daily minimum salary to 36 gourdes
(1995)
· Law establishing Institute for Agricultural
Reform (1995)
· Law on Judicial Reform (1995)
· Law re-organizing Judiciary (1995)
· Inter-American Convention for Prevention, Punishment
and Eradication of
Violence Against Women (1996)
· Law on decentralization (1996)
· Convention on Biological Diversity (1996)
· Convention on Desertification (1996)
· Annexation of National Penitentiary Administration
to the National Police
(1997)
· Law on Judicial Reform (1998)
· Ratification of 1997 Maritime Counter Narcotics
Agreement with U.S. (2001)
· Anti-Money Laundering Law (2001)
· Law prohibiting violence against children (2001)
MIGRATION & POPULATION
Pre-Democracy
· Hundreds of thousands from both urban and rural
areas fled Haiti as
repression intensified under Duvalier
· During coup regime the Haitian military fingerprinted,
criminalized,
tortured and killed returning refugees who had fled
from political
persecution. Upwards of 100,000 took to the high seas.
300,000 forced into
internal exile
Conditions Under Democracy
· National Office on Migration established
· Ministry of Haitians Living Abroad created
· Rural areas reinforced with social services
& infrastructure
· Haitians abroad support democratic process
· Resettled over 100,000 returned refugees
· Trained 1,000 refugees from Guantanamo as police
officers and integrated
them into new police
· Haitians abroad send upwards of $500 million
in remittances annually
· Haitians abroad participate in Haiti's politics
& economy with large
investments & development of businesses
PRISONS
Pre-Democracy
· Military run prisons, no professional training,
easy escapes
· Brutality & torture routine
· Private prisons and torture chambers
· No separation of prisoners
· Prison records or files were shoddy or non-existent
making it impossible
for lawyers and human rights advocates to establish
claims of illegal
detention
Conditions Under Democracy
· Civilian correctional system
· Systematic brutality & torture eliminated
· Prisons constructed & renovated including
large structure inside National
Penitentiary
· Children and women separated from adult male
prisoners. Literacy
training & classes in the women's prison
· Record keeping, meals, & infirmary upgraded
SECURITY
Pre-Democracy
· State sponsored terrorism by military &
paramilitary groups (Tonton
Macoute, section chiefs & FRAPH) & politically
motivated killings
· Army of 7,000 consumed 45% of national budget
· Military fulfilled police functions despite
constitutional requirement of
civilian police
· Overwhelmingly brutal and corrupt with no accountability
· Political insecurity & 5 coups & attempts
against the state from 1986 to
1991
Conditions Under Democracy
· Army demobilized & replaced with civilian
police force
· Set up interim police force while new police
being trained. Former
soldiers who served in interim police, and not implicated
in human rights
violations funneled into new police. Successfully moved
all security forces
under the Police
· National Police Academy created & trained
first civilian police force
· Inspector General Office created. Investigates
police misconduct
· Police posts in every municipality
· Civilian maritime police, anti-drug unit &
border patrol
· Neighborhood watch groups
SPORTS
Pre-Democracy
· Lost FIFA recognition during coup regime
Conditions Under Democracy
· Secretary of State of Sports & Youth created
· FIFA recognition regained
· Neighborhood sports programs created &
equipped
· Duvalier ranch transformed into sports training
center
· National stadium renovated, soccer fields constructed
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Pre-Democracy
· State monopoly on telecommunications provided
very limited service
· Few lines in rural areas
· Only 36,000 telephone lines in capital in 1990
· No cellular services
Conditions Under Democracy
· State monopoly on communications eliminated
through competition
· Teleco lines outside capital: 6,970 in 1990,
8,257 in 1994, and 23,580 in
2001. Teleco recently installed 2,000 lines in Port-de-Paix
· Teleco lines in capital: 46,029 lines in 1994,
72,052 in 2001
· 150 Teleco telephone centers in rural areas
· Three cell phone companies provide service
to 95,000 subscribers in
capital as well as other urban areas
TOURISM
Pre-Democracy
· Tourism progressively deteriorated under coup
regime
Conditions Under Democracy
· Ministry of Tourism created
· Jacmel: Installed electrical plant which provides
24-hour electricity,
renovated port & wharf, paved road to beaches outside
· Labadie area developed. Receives two cruise
ships per week generating
funds which are shared between tourism efforts &
local municipalities
· Renovated historic sites & monuments
· Renovation/creation of ports, airports, parks
and playgrounds
· Secured commitment from Hilton hotel to build
a 165-bed hotel at
international airport in Port-au-Prince
· Secured commitment of two cruise ship lines
to dock in Jacmel when town
renovation is completed
· International promotion of tourism. Reintegrated
Haiti in U.S. & European
catalogs
· Art & handicrafts supported by government
· Tourism house opened on Champ-de-Mars &
decorated airport
· Hotel and restaurant training school
WATER AND SANITATION
Pre-Democracy
· No cohesive sanitation or water plan or procedures
· Water delivery system originally built to serve
120,000 inadequate for
growing capital
Conditions Under Democracy
· Oversight committee to coordinate work &
water management policy created
· Peligre Lake renovated and new generator installed
to facilitate
electricity services, agriculture & flood control
· Large water tower & 70 water sources built
in Cite Soleil
· Port-au-Prince water system expanded with 6
new wells & construction &
rehabilitation of reservoirs
· 49 cisterns and public water sources built
in popular areas & maintained
by local neighborhood water committees
continued
The Restoration of Democracy and Justice
The Haitian government created the Commission Nationale
de Verite et Justice
("CNVJ" or "National Truth and Justice
Commission") to establish the truth
about the coup regime's crimes, lay the foundation for
future prosecutions
and to help begin the process of reconciliation within
Haitian society. The
CNVJ report, submitted in February 1996, included a
global analysis of the
repression, special investigations into the most serious
violations,
including massacres, media repression and systematic
politically motivated
rape, and a series of recommendations.
As the government recognized that there could be no
reconciliation without
justice, it implemented a series of initiatives to promote
prosecution of the
coup era's worst human rights violators. Under international
pressure,
President Aristide issued a limited amnesty decree.
The decree covers only
the act of the coup d'etat of September 30, 1991 itself,
not any of the
murders, rapes and other tortures committed over the
next three years.
Justice Under Democracy
In November 2000, the U.N. Support Mission to Haiti
affirmed that two recent
landmark trials "prove that the Haitian justice
system is capable of
effectively prosecuting" human rights cases, "while
respecting the guarantees
of the 1987 Constitution and international treaties
to which Haiti is a
party." This about-face from the situation ten
years before was the fruit of
long-term investments in developing the judiciary, as
well as intensive
efforts on particular, symbolic cases.
Long Term Improvements
One of the most important long-term investments was
professionalizing the
judiciary. The Ecole de la Magistrature, or Judicial
Academy, was organized,
and two classes have completed the training cycle, with
a third class
underway. Although the Academy's full impact will not
be felt until
graduates work their way into all levels of the judiciary,
some graduates
have already made their mark in high profile cases.
Judicial salaries have
been raised, along with performance expectations. Under-performing
judges
have been replaced throughout the country.
There are new or rebuilt facilities for all of Haiti's
trial courts.
Judicial officials for the first time have a minimum
of materials,
including legal texts, file cabinets and office supplies.
A long-term
judicial reform project is underway. The project's preparatory
commission
has filed two reports, and there have been conferences
for soliciting the
views of judges, prosecutors and others.
For the first time in Haiti's history, the rights of
the accused are
generally respected. The vast majority of those arrested
are done so
pursuant to a warrant in French and Creole, and are
brought before a judge
within 48 hours. As with any criminal justice system,
the rules are not
perfectly respected, but those arrested or detained
illegally can and do file
a habeas corpus petition. Judges routinely grant the
petitions, and order
those detained improperly released.
The oppressive military prison system was replaced
with a professional
civilian penal administration, the Direction de l'Administration
Penitentiare
(DAP). Prison escapes and brutality are almost non-existent.
Prisoners are
documented from entry to final departure, and the records
are available to
lawyers and human rights workers. A Code of Prison Regulations
has been
prepared and published to inform prisoners of their
rights.
Court proceedings are increasingly conducted in Creole.
Trials are often
well attended, and generate significant public discussion
of the issues
raised. Programs on justice are some of the most popular
and frequent TV and
radio offerings.
Non-governmental organizations devoted to justice have
flourished since 1994.
They include grassroots, women, lawyers and human rights
groups from across
the political spectrum, some supportive of the government,
some critical.
They operate freely, monitoring human rights, advocating
for justice and
continuing the democratic struggle.
Prominent Prosecutions
The most tangible evidence of the system's progress
has been the trials in
the Carrefour Feuilles and Raboteau massacre cases in
late 2000. Each in
its turn was the best judicial proceeding in Haitian
history. Each was
conducted mostly in Creole, and broadcast nationally
on television and radio.
The trial of the Carrefour Feuilles Massacre -- the
May 1999 execution of
eleven people by the current police force -- showed
the justice system's
willingness and ability to punish even top police officials.
The case
proceeded with unprecedented speed, from crime to sentencing
in fifteen
months. It also reached higher than the arm of justice
had ever previously
gone: among the four convicted of murder were the then
current police chief
of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The trial was monitored
closely by civil
society and international observers, who declared it
fundamentally fair to
victims and defendants.
The trial of the Raboteau massacre -- an April 1994
military/paramilitary
attack on a pro-democracy neighborhood under the dictatorship
-- showed the
justice system's ability to investigate past atrocities
and successfully
prosecute a complex case. After six weeks of trial,
the court convicted
fifty-three soldiers and paramilitaries for the attack,
including the
dictatorship's top military and paramilitary leaders,
and acquitted six
defendants. Certain military officers and paramilitary
leaders who refused
to attend the trial after notice were convicted in absentia,
but extradition
requests are prepared. One member of the military high
command, Carl
Dorelien, was arrested for deportation by the U.S. Immigration
and
Naturalization Service in June 2001. Also convicted
for the massacre was
Emmanuel Constant, the leader of the FRAPH paramilitary
group. Constant was
ordered deported by a U.S. immigration judge in 1995
for his death squad
activities, but continues to live freely in New York.
The Raboteau trial benefited from special initiatives,
but it also reflected
underlying improvements in the justice system. Both
the trial judge and the
chief prosecutor had profited from post-transition training
programs to move
far up the judicial ranks. The judge had graduated at
the top of the first
class of the Ecole de la Magistrature. Two assistant
prosecutors made their
mark in the Carrefour Feuilles trial, and brought this
experience to the
Raboteau trial. One had recently returned from a year
at France's Ecole de
la Magistrature, and was named academic director of
Haiti's Ecole. After his
performance in the Raboteau case he was named chief
prosecutor in
Port-au-Prince.
Challenges Ahead For Justice
The troubled system that took centuries to install
cannot be overhauled in a
few years. Some changes will be generational, as police,
judicial officials
and lawyers educated in democratic principles gradually
replace those
vested in the old ways. Others will require massive
investments in training
and material support, and improvements in management
structures. All will
require experience, sincere efforts to provide justice,
and learning from
mistakes.
The Haitian justice system's largest challenge is dealing
with the rising
caseload. The caseload has outpaced the system's improving
capacities since
1995, due to an exploding urban population, increased
police efficiency, and
an increase in citizens resorting to formal justice.
The result is an
unacceptably high rate of pre-trial detention (about
80% of prisoners), and a
clogged civil docket. The justice system needs to increase
the pace of
improvements, especially in human resources.
The justice system needs to make greater strides in
the fight against the
corruption that has historically plagued it. Corruption
has declined in the
last five years, due to the substitution of more professional
judges and
prosecutors and some enforcement efforts, but these
initiatives must be
increased.
The most visible challenges to the justice system are
high profile
assassinations, especially the cases of businessman
Antoine Izmery, Minister
of Justice Guy Malary, activist Claudy Musseau and Father
Jean-Marie Vincent
during the coup, and more recently the killing of popular
journalist and
pro-democracy activist Jean Leopold Dominique on April
3, 2000. Notably, in
the Dominique case, dozens of witnesses and suspects
have been interviewed,
and six suspects are in prison.
The prison system's principle challenge is overcrowding.
The police force's
ability to arrest and the DAP's ability to hold accused
criminals has
outpaced the judicial system's ability to process them.
As a result, the
prison population has tripled since 1995, while the
budget for food and
healthcare has remained stable. As foreign aid for the
prison system
subsides, these shortages are exacerbated.
Security Under The Dictatorship: Organized Insecurity
Throughout Haiti's history, the military has reduced
security more than it
has guaranteed it. Soldiers traditionally preyed on
the population,
controlled or overthrew civilian governments, and diverted
resources from
important social programs.
Although the 1987 Constitution requires a civilian
police force, security in
Haiti before 1994 was provided by the army. The army
had some units that
tended to concentrate on police matters, but there was
not a professional
police career track or highly specialized units. The
army's methods were
brutal, often without any relation to the formal justice
system, and police
work was closely connected to the military leadership's
political activities.
The de facto dictatorship magnified these tendencies.
Over 5,000 people were
murdered for political reasons in three years (by comparison,
about 3,000
Chileans were killed by the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship
in Chile in over
a decade). Hundreds of thousands were beaten, raped
or otherwise tortured.
The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted over thirty thousand
refugees fleeing by
boat in the first year alone, and countless others drowned
trying to escape.
The violence led to over 300,000 internally displaced
citizens.
The targets of the repression included anyone involved
in activities that
could be considered popular organizing or democratic.
Journalists were
intimidated, arrested and killed; radio stations were
destroyed. Everyone
involved in peasant organizations, whether it was for
economic, religious,
social or political activities, was similarly targeted.
Where the Duvalierists and their allies had waded in
the drug trade the coup
d'etat leaders jumped in headlong, making Haiti a major
transshipment point
for Colombian cocaine. In a single case in a Florida
federal court, Marc
Valme, the commander of the military's airport company,
was convicted, coup
leader Michel Francois was indicted (Honduran authorities
refused an
extradition request), and army chief Raoul Cedras was
implicated for cocaine
smuggling.
Security and the Restoration of Democracy
Haitian governmental transitions were historically
accompanied by extra
judicial killings, by either the government or the populace.
Haiti avoided
both types of violence in 1994 by insisting on formal
justice, and making
concrete efforts to provide it. A government campaign
encouraged the
citizens to seek justice in the courts, and to cooperate
with the
Multinational Forces. Although many were frustrated
by the slow pace of the
judicial process, seeing many of the worst offenders
in jail facing serious
charges helped convince the population that formal justice
was possible.
Upon the return of the constitutional authorities,
the military was quickly
demobilized. Security was provided in part by the international
community,
especially the UN civilian police mission and the international
military
forces, and in part by the Interim Police Force made
up of former vetted
soldiers. Security was also provided in large part by
the Haitian people who
remained resolute in their determination to bring peace
to Haiti.
Security Under Democracy
The demobilization of the hated army has been called
the most significant
step forward for democracy in Haiti in the 20th century.
Opinion polls
called it the most popular act of President Aristide's
first term. It is
impossible to overestimate the army's oppressive weight
on Haiti's civil
society. Its elimination was an enormous windfall in
the struggle for
democracy.
Without the army, there is no organized political violence
in Haiti. All
citizens, especially journalists and politicians can
exercise their right to
speak unhindered, and especially to criticize the government
and its
policies. Now, the government is able to allocate its
scarce resources
according to democratic criteria: for education, healthcare
and economic
development, without giving the military its 45% share.
In place of the army and with the assistance of the
United States and other
members of the international community, Haiti developed
a civilian police
from scratch, the Police Nationale d'Haiti (PNH). Although
the PNH suffers
from scarce resources, inexperienced management and
general growing pains, it
has made remarkable strides. The PNH is deployed throughout
the territory,
with stations in every municipality, and substations
in most other populated
areas. Its investigative units have a scientific, record
keeping, research
and investigative capacity well beyond anything previously
known in Haiti.
The PNH's drug unit, often working closely with the
U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Coast Guard, has intercepted
over 4 tons of
cocaine and 5 tons of marijuana headed to the United
States since 1997. It
has arrested over 2,000 suspects, including 50 Colombian
nationals. So far
this year, two American nationals have been arrested
and turned over to U.S.
officials for prosecution. The drug unit participates
in regional
interdiction operations, including April 2001's "Operation
Conquistador"
coordinated by the DEA.
Challenges For Security
Crime in Haiti is below that of many of its neighbors,
but it is still
unacceptably high to most Haitians. The increase in
common crime that
inevitably accompanies a democratic transition has not
spared the country,
and the developing civilian police force has struggled
to keep up. Although
police manpower is still low proportionate to the population,
crime has
dropped significantly since a new police leadership
team was installed in
March 2001. The police force needs to build on these
gains, and to prevent a
resurgence of crime.
A second important security threat is the transshipment
of drugs. Haiti is
unfortunately situated on a straight line from cocaine's
supply to its
demand. According to the The Economist, U.S. consumers
pay over $55 billion
per year for the transportation and distribution of
illegal drugs. This is
more in a day than the Haitian government can afford
in an entire year for
all of its police, prison and justice activities combined.
Drug money is
highly corrosive to Haitian society: smugglers can easily
outbid the
government for the loyalties of police, judges, prosecutors
and other
officials. Narco-corruption leads to more generalized
corruption, breakdowns
in discipline and a loss of respect for the rule of
law.
Despite the overwhelming economic power of the drug
transporters, the
government of Haiti is fighting trafficking, with the
many courageous police
officers, judges, prosecutors and other officials who
value honesty and
respect for the law over short term material gains.
The fight is being waged
on the ground by the PNH's drug unit and on the seas
by the Haitian Maritime
Police. It is being waged in financial institutions
through Haiti's new
money laundering laws and other regulations on money
transfers. It is also
fought through international cooperation, such as the
Maritime
Counter-Narcotics Agreement allowing the U.S. Coast
Guard to pursue suspected
traffickers in Haitian waters.
Not all of Haiti's security threats are civilian, as
there are those unable
to gain power by the ballot who would still do so by
the bullet. In November
2000, a group of former soldiers, some of them high-level
PNH officials, were
caught planning a coup. On July 28th of this year, a
group claiming to be
former soldiers attacked Haiti's police academy and
four police stations,
killing five policemen before escaping. An investigation
of those incidents
by the justice system is under way.
Although the Haitian government and the vast majority
of the Haitian people
are committed to keeping the army abolished, some political
parties and other
groups have called for its return. The Constitution,
which recognizes a
military force, must be amended to settle the issue
definitively. This can
only done by resolutions passed by consecutive Parliaments.
The government
intends to submit an amendment abolishing the army to
the current Parliament
before the end of its session and to ask the following
Parliament to ratify
the amendment as soon as possible.
CONCLUSION
Haiti's democracy dividend has been generous to date,
but the work is far
from complete. Now that democracy and basic liberties
have been established,
the Haitian people and its government must, and will,
continue the struggle
to protect the hard-won gains and to ensure that all
Haitians receive the
minimum material goods for a dignified human existence.
The next phase of the struggle is not without its
challenges, but Haiti's
past is full of triumph over difficulties, many seeming
insurmountable. From
independence in history's only successful slave revolt,
through liberation
from twenty-nine years of the Duvaliers to the unprecedented
democratic
progress since 1994, the Haitian people have continued
to defy the odds, and
continue to struggle with tenacity and unity of purpose.
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