Haiti Human Rights after the Return of President Aristide and Ongoing Observations.

Carrie and Doug Melvin of Boise, Idaho have devoted themselves to working to improve Haiti human rights issues. Promising changes have occurred, but the attempts to rectify human rights abuses happening in Haiti face many challenges:

• MICIVIH (the International Civilian Mission in Haiti) activities in Haiti resumed on 26 October 1994, some two weeks after the return of President Aristide, with the reopening of its headquarters and an office in Port-au-Prince.
• Eleven further offices were subsequently opened in the nine departments of Haiti and, by September 1995, some 193 observers were monitoring human rights throughout the country.
• Since the restoration of the democratically elected government, and the return of President Aristide on 12 October 1994, the human rights situation has improved substantially.
• MICIVIH has observed that the freedoms of expression, association and assembly are being exercised by different sectors of the society, including by those who are strongly critical of President Aristide and the government.

The systematic violation of human rights in Haiti by agents of the state - as had occurred under the de facto government - has come to an end.

Monitoring Activities in Haiti- the Work of MICIVIH Human Rights Observers.

MICIVIH has continued to give priority to the monitoring and promotion of respect for human rights in Haiti:

• Haiti human rights observers receive information from numerous sources, direct and indirect;
• Human rights observers include the national press, non-governmental and church organizations and individual members of the public;
• Information is also regularly received from the military and police components of the UN mission in Haiti.
  

All reports of possible human rights abuse in Haiti are thoroughly investigated, a task which frequently involves two to three-day trips into remote regions of the countryside. Such investigations are fully documented and provide the basis for detailed monthly reports which are submitted to the UN's Special Representative in Haiti and to the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States. The Mission also issues regular public statements, which provide MICIVIH's assessment of human rights questions in Haiti, such as the progress of penal and judicial reforms, human rights during the electoral process and other matters affecting human rights protection in Haiti.

Nevertheless, the extreme weakness of institutions serving to guarantee the civil and political rights of the civilian population - most notably a well-trained police force and an effective judicial system - are serious impediments to the actual and future protection of human rights.

From the MICIVIH website

Introduction: Three Years of Defending Human Rights in Haiti by Doug and Carrie Melvin, Boise Idaho

Carrie and Doug Melvin of Boise, Idaho have dedicated their lives to bringing information about the Haiti crisis to the rest of the world. This blog serves as alarm clock to alert everyone about the international community concerns about the human rights abuses happening in Haiti.

Some background on the International Civilian Mission in Haiti:

• The OAS/UN International Civilian Mission in Haiti, known as MICIVIH (its French acronym), was established in February 1993 at the request of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first democratically-elected president.
• The acceptance of the mission by the de facto military authorities in Haiti was a step forward in the international community's efforts to resolve the crisis in Haiti, which erupted with the overthrow of President Aristide during a bloody coup d'état on 30 September 1991.
• The mission is unique insofar as it is the first joint mission of the UN and a regional organization (the OAS); and in its being created before a political settlement of the crisis had been achieved.

MICIVIH human rights observers were rapidly deployed throughout Haiti from February 1993 in all its nine administrative departments.

• The initial impact of this deployment did serve to curb human rights abuses in some regions, as well as providing support to victims and the population at large.
  
• However, following the signing of the Governor's Island Agreement in July 1993 - which provided for the return of President Aristide - the human rights situation deteriorated.
  

Progress in implementing a political solution, and measures to protect human rights, were grossly undermined by the Haitian military. Leaders and members of pro-Aristide popular organizations were targeted by the Haitian Armed Forces (FADH) and by the newly created paramilitary group the Front révolutionnaire pour l'avancement et le progrès d'Haiti (FRAPH).

This disquieting trend culminated in the September 1993 assassination of a prominent Aristide supporter, Antoine Izmery, and the October execution of Justice Minister Guy Malary. It became increasingly clear that the military would not respect their commitment to allow President Aristide to return.

Political tensions increased and the Governor's Island Agreement began to unravel. De facto military control of the country, and repression of Aristide supporters, resulted in the widespread violation of basic human rights. In this context of military violence, and a climate of political tension, the security of MICIVIH observers became a matter of concern and the mission was evacuated to the Dominican Republic in mid-October.

In January 1994 the UN and OAS returned a first group of about 30 observers to Haiti. The observers found the Haiti crisis to be worse than at any time during the Mission's presence in 1993:

• Extrajudicial execution, enforced disappearance, torture and arbitrary arrest had increased, and a new phenomenon - that of rape as an instrument of political repression - had emerged in Haiti.
• Many cases of such violations were documented in Haiti by MICIVIH between January and July 1994.
• The perpetrators included members of the Haitian Armed Forces (FADH), the police, their civilian auxiliaries and members of FRAPH.

The limited number of observers, and the restrictions placed upon their activities, impeded the Mission's capacity to monitor human rights abuses. Nevertheless, the systematic documentation of violations, and the publication of reports of abuse, did serve to alert the international community to the severity of the human rights crisis in Haiti, thus creating pressure for the curtailment of military, police and paramilitary activity.

The military response was unambiguous. The FADH withdrew recognition of the Mission's presence in Haiti; and in July MICIVIH observers were given 48 hours to leave the country, after the de facto authorities claimed the Mission's mandate had expired and its presence was "a threat to national security".


From the MICIVIH website