A Joint Human Rights Mission in Haiti: The United Nations and the OAS Form the International Civilian Mission.

Carrie and Doug Melvin of Boise, Idaho are dedicated to the fight for human rights in Haiti. The United Nations and the OAS formed a joint human rights mission in Haiti in the early 90’s, establishing tenets for protecting citizens of Haiti.

A President’s Request: The History of the International Civilian Mission.

The United Nations and Organization of American States (OAS) launched a joint human rights mission in Haiti in 1993, after ousting democratically elected President Aristide. The joint human rights mission, called MICIVIH for the French acronym Mission Civile Internationale en Haiti, employed over 200 human rights observers to help safeguard the civil rights of Haitian citizens in all areas of the island nation. The observers were stationed at base offices in each of Haiti’s seven administrative departments, with a large headquarters in the capital of Port au Prince.

The MICIVIH website states:

“The International Civilian Mission in Haiti was created in February 1993, during the coup d'état, at the request of President Aristide, to observe the human rights situation in Haiti. It is the first joint mission between the United Nations (UN) and a regional organization, the Organization of American States (OAS).

The Mission is dedicated to verifying the respect of human rights. After the return to constitutional order in October 1994, the Mission expanded its work to include the promotion of human rights and institution building.”

United Nations and OAS Volunteers: Different Backgrounds and Experiences, One Common Goal.

The observers hired by the mission to help the fight against human rights abuses in Haiti represented all member nations of the Organization of American States as well as many member nations of the United Nations outside of the Americas. The observers are of diverse backgrounds, though all are required to speak French fluently and have professional experience related to the job and its requirements.

Some members of the joint human rights mission are human rights lawyers or constitutional lawyers, many have experience with non-governmental organizations with experience working in the region, and many have field experience in remote or hardship conditions can work effectively in Haiti’s difficult and often dangerous political, social and economic climate.

From the MICIVIH website