 Credit: UN OCHA. Situation as per February 27, 2004 |
In February 2004, opposition forces staged an armed rebellion against the elected president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The US, France and Canada supported this coup. Since early 2001, Washington had blocked important economic and humanitarian aid to the country. Earlier, it had reneged on police training and on funding for UN human rights and election monitors. The February 2004 rebellion, launched from training camps in the Dominican Republic, joined together the right-wing Convergence for Democracy, the pro-business Group of 184 and thuggish militia commanders close to former dictators. The rebel military force was small, but the Aristide government had no army and only weak police units. When the rebels captured provincial capitals, regional organizations sought a political solution to the crisis. The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) urged the UN Security Council to send a multinational force to restore order, but a contingent of 50 US Marines as well as Canadian commandoes had by then arrived in the capital, and efforts were already under way, led by Washington, to press the president to step down.
On February 29 2004, the day Aristide left the country and went into exile, the US and France finally agreed to UN action. The Security Council unanimously voted a resolution establishing a peacekeeping force in Haiti (MINUSTAH.) On March 9, the US hastily formed a handpicked “Conseil des Sages” that appointed Gérard Latortue, a wealthy Haitian-American businessman, as Prime Minister of the Interim Government of Haiti (IGH). The newly formed police, incorporating members of the rebel militia, attacked ousted President Aristide’s supporters - mainly Haiti’s urban and rural poor. MINUSTAH also played a role in this repression, failing to prevent police and right-wing violence. As the 2006 presidential election was approaching, the conservative Haitian elite pressed the police and peacekeepers to “get tough” in the slum of Cité Soleil. Shortly after, the head of MINUSTAH, Brazilian General Urano Bacellar, took his own life under unexplained circumstances. Human rights investigations by Amnesty International, the National Lawyers Guild, and the University of Miami Law School have documented illegal arrests and detentions of Aristide’s Fanmi Lavalas (FL) political party leaders and activists, including Gérard Jean-Juste, one of the most charismatic and well-known figures in Haiti.
On February 7 2006, Haiti held its first elections since former President Aristide was overthrown. After four postponements of polling days and more than a week of counting votes, Aristide protégé René Préval was declared the winner of the presidential vote. He attracted more than four times as many votes as his closest rival. However, it remains to be seen if the international community - the US, the UN, the EU and those countries with most influence within Haiti – will accept Préval as the popular choice and will not attempt to undermine him from without or within, as happened with his predecessor and ally Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Key Documents
Irresponsible arms exports still fuel atrocities in Haiti. Armed groups in poor areas – some loyal to former President Aristide, some loyal to rival political factions, and some criminal gangs – battle against the Haitian National Police and UN peacekeepers, and against each other. This Control Arms Campaign report records the voices of some of the Haitian people who bear the cost of the world’s continuing failure to control the arms trade and asks responsible arms exporters and arms-affected states to begin negotiations on an Arms Trade Treaty.
Despite a clear mandate to monitor human rights, disarm gangs and militia and assist in democracy building, MINUSTAH, or the UN mission in Haiti has failed to improve conditions necessary for a democratic process. This Harvard Law School report compares MINUSTAH’s mandate to that of previous UN missions in Liberia and Sierra Leone and finds that the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration campaigns in those countries worked, although their mandates were weaker. The report concludes that MINUSTAH’s passive stance results from a lack of political will, rather than from the vague language in its mandate. (Harvard Law Student Advocates for Human Rights and Centro de Justica Global)
Peter Hallward’s article follows the political and economic situation in Haiti before, during and after Lavalas. Aristide’s removal was secured by a combination of the US’ crippling embargos on financial aid to Haiti, military repression and propaganda portraying the democratically elected government as corrupt. The legacy left by the coup is violence perpetrated by US trained paramilitary forces on a greater scale than during Aristide’s power, continuing massive inequality and repression of the poor. (New Left Review)
The Security Council in Resolution 1840, extended the mandate of MINUSTAH, the UN stabilization mission in Haiti, until October 15, 2009. MINUSTAH consists of 7,060 soldiers and 2,091 police officers, but its composition will change after the training of the Haitian National Police forces. The resolution calls upon the peacekeeping troops to support Haiti’s political process and to assist in the reconstruction of its institutions.
The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to establish a peacekeeping force for Haiti (MINUSTAH) for an initial period of six months.
On the same day as Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide went into exile, the Security Council adopted a resolution authorizing the immediate deployment of a Multinational Interim Force in the country for an initial period of three months.
 Source: AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa |
Articles
2009
UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon has appointed former US President Bill Clinton as the UN special envoy to Haiti, to help resolve the country's political and economic crisis. Clinton is very familiar with Haiti as his administration helped destabilize the country. Clinton favored neoliberal economic policies that profited Haiti's elite, the IMF and big western corporations. Unfortunately, Clinton's resume displays the US role in the removal of President Aristide, the postponement of his return and the use of Guantanamo to hold Haitian prisoners without trial. This makes him a poor candidate for the post. (Common Dreams)
Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (March 6, 2009)
Throughout 2008 and 2009, Haiti suffered a hurricane, riots and a financial and food crisis, worsening the already dire economic situation. This report by the Special Representative to the Secretary-General for MINUSTAH, Hédi Annabi, recommends that the international community assist Haiti by supporting MINUSTAH's border patrol with the help of other neighboring countries and by strengthening administrative capacities of governing institutions at all levels. More importantly, other countries should contribute to Haiti's economic recovery because increased poverty in Haiti fuels more violence. (UN Secretary-General)
2008
Haitians criticize the UN stabilization force MINUSTAH for harming civilians, but also give credit to the force for ending the gang violence. MINUSTAH started its work in Haiti in 2004, after the US forced president Aristide into exile and with the support of France and Canada, brought unelected Gerard Latortue to power. Haiti's president Rene Preval supports MINUSTAH's work, but stresses that the abuse by peacekeepers must stop. (Counterpunch)
MINUSTAH, the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti, has a mandate to provide stability and security in Haiti and to assist the Haitian government in strengthening state institutions. This openDemocracy article argues that MINUSTAH is too understaffed to fulfill its tasks and therefore has mainly a symbolic function. The article also argues that MINUSTAH weakens Haiti's own state building capacity because the UN mandate is too broad.
Food riots in Haiti expose Canada's "Responsibility to Protect" (R2P) doctrine as a self-serving political reason for military intervention in the Caribbean nation. Canada, together with the US and France, used R2P to forcibly remove democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the name of human rights. However, economic development and food availability have actually decreased since the occupation. Jooneed Khan argues against the use of R2P as a justification for military intervention and, instead, recommends the cancellation of Haiti's foreign debt in order to bolster national economic development. (Rabble News)
Rioters attack UN peacekeepers (MINUSTAH) in Haiti, as a majority of the population believes the force represents US national interests, according to the Centre for International Policy. MINUSTAH entered Haiti in 2004, following a US supported coup against the elected leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Rather than renewing the mandate for MINUSTAH, the author suggests that UN member states cancel Haiti's outstanding national debt and increase financial aid to the government.
The increase in world food prices undermines the progress of the UN stabilization force in Haiti (MINUSTAH), states openDemocracy. Food prices have increased by 40 percent in Haiti since 2007, causing riots and the removal of Prime Minister Jacques-í‰douard Alexis. The author argues that neo-liberal policies are to blame for the food price rise, and suggests that Haiti invests in domestic agriculture as a long-term solution to the food crisis, rather than importing food from the US.
In October 2007 the UN Security Council extended the mandate of MINUSTAH in Haiti. This Centre for International Policy paper critically analyzes the UN mission, stating that it acts as a multilateral cover for US interests in the region and has committed wide-spread human rights violations. Illustrating the suppression of peaceful protests and the killing of innocent women and children, the report notes that the "violent" and "repressive" mission "cannot be characterized as a humanitarian action."
2007
The UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), have been training the national police to respond to violent groups in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The recruits will form a motorized brigade to combat troubled areas of the Haitian capital. UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon said that the Police Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) demonstrates the UN's new approach to peacekeeping post-conflict countries should reform their own security sectors. (UN News)
UN forces crackdown on armed groups loyal to former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide as violence rates fall in Haiti. But many Haitians denounce the heavy-handed approach and want the UN to create jobs and development in the country. Support for the UN peacekeeping force diminishes as residents claim they suffer, but Haitian President Rene Preval relies on international support. (Voice of America)
Cité Soleil residents increasingly oppose the presence of United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) due to its "military style tactics" in heavily populated areas. Haitians blame MINUSTAH for "collateral damage" to property and infrastructure, and causing or allowing 8,000 civilian deaths. In a July 2005 undertaking, MINUSTAH fired 22,000 bullets in hours. And an eyewitness described the December 22, 2006 MINUSTAH operation as "a true massacre." (Inter Press Service) An Interview with Jean-Bertrand Aristide (February 22, 2007)
Peter Hallward interviews the former Haitian Head of State, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who gives his interpretation of events leading to his fall from power. Aristide describes the birth of Fanmi Lavalas and the campaign set up to undermine it, involving economic destabilization as well as propaganda portraying the party as corrupt and responsible for the violence in the country. The former leader says that he had been willing to listen to anti-Lavalas opinion and tolerated demonstrations against him because true democracy necessitated this. (London Review Bookshop)
Ahead of the UN Security Council's renewal of the mandate of United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Ohmynews discusses the controversial role the peacekeeping operation has played in the country. The article recalls that, while cracking down on gangs in Cite-Soleil, MINUSTAH has been tolerating right-wing paramilitary groups that participated in the US -backed 2004 coup, and have since been terrorizing the region
The head of the UN Mission to Haiti (MINUSTAH) has acknowledged that international peacekeepers must improve the way they carry out their missions , in order to reduce the number of civilian casualties. Ambassador Edmond Mulet, head of MINUSTAH, admitted to the Independent that collateral damage definitely occurred during the December 22, 2006 UN operation in Cite Soleil. The ambassador's comments follow eyewitness claims that UN troops fired indiscriminately from helicopters on civilian housing.
Photographic evidence and survivor reports confirm accusations from human rights organizations that MINUSTAH carried out long and intense military operations in Cite Soleil, with heavy artillery and weapons that caused the death of innocent civilians on July 6, 2005. Documents obtained by Haiti Information Project acknowledge the UN excessive use of force during operations, and reveal that the US and UN were well aware that the military operation killed many more than the official toll. This report comes amid claims of a second massacre by UN troops on December 22 that has not yet been verified.
2006
Haiti Action Committee describes MINUSTAH's operations in Cite Soleil on December 22, 2006. According to eyewitness testimony, UN troops indiscriminately fired into houses from helicopters and armored vehicles, killed and injured civilians, and blocked the Haitian Red Cross access during the assault.
While UN peacekeepers struggle to maintain security in parts of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince some slums have benefited from their presence to reopen schools and stores. Yet this Inter Press Service piece warns that the efforts of gang disarmament will not succeed without offering gang members to trade guns for employment opportunity. The article also echoes warning from UN peacekeeping officials that Haiti's insecurity stems largely from economic problems and "must be addressed as such."
While Ottawa has invoked the principle of "responsibility to protect" individuals from gross human rights violations to justify Canada's intervention in Haiti, this Znet piece argues that removing Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power has "exacerbated, rather than improved Haiti's human rights situation." This article critically comments on the conclusions of a Lancet study in light of Canadian involvement in Haiti, and questions the very arguments of the "Responsibility to Protect" doctrine.
A Lancet survey reveals that 8,000 individuals have been murdered and 35,000 women sexually abused in Haiti between February 2004 and December 2005. The survey identifies the perpetrators as mostly criminals, but also members of the Haitian police, UN peacekeepers and anti-Lavalas gangs. Such conclusions raise questions about the effectiveness of UN Mission in Haiti and the responsibility of UN forces. The report urges the UN to investigate the allegations and calls for stronger actions to punish human rights abusers.
The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial has taken the US Treasury Department to court in a bid to discover what role the Treasury played in the decision of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to suspend crucial development loans to Haiti. While in July 1998 the IDB earmarked US$145.9 million in infrastructure loans to Haiti, an intervention in 2001 by the US Executive Director to the IDB, Lawrence Harrington, resulted in the IDB taking the unprecedented step of suspending the loans. Many Haitians have since died of disease and lack of water – two problems the loans were designed to tackle.
What the World Bank and IDB Owe Haiti (July 24, 2006)
Although it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been left out of the World Bank's debt relief initiative. But soon the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank may cancel some of Haiti's debt. Author Dan Beeton examines critically the history of these bank's activities in the country. He argues that debt relief should not be subject to restrictive bank conditions and instead the needs of Haiti's people should come first.
Haiti Needs Justice, Not Charity (July 24, 2006)
While international financiers meet with Haitian President Rene Preval to discuss international development aid to Port-au-Prince, Brian Concannon points to the huge sum that France extorted from its former colony in 1825 as the root cause of poverty in Haiti today. France forced its former slaves to pay "compensation" for the loss of French "property" - the former slaves themselves. In today's terms, the compensation France extorted illegally represents US$ 21 billion, and "dwarfs the aid packages being debated in Port-au-Prince." Concannon argues that France's repayment of the independence debt would diminish Haiti's reliance on foreign aid and would allow Haitians to rebuild their country as they see fit. (Sun-Sentinel)
A Homecoming for Aristide? The Return to Haiti (June 30, 2006)
Brian Concannon compares the question of the return to Haiti of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the wider issue of the return of full democracy and sovereignty to Port-au-Prince. Despite Haiti's constitution guaranteeing the freedom of all Haitian citizens to leave and return to the country, the same foreign powers that drove Aristide from power and threw Haiti into chaos are determined to prevent his return. Washington's opposition to President Aristide's homecoming bars the way for a "broader return of Haiti to a complete democracy, and to a sovereignty respected by the rest of the world." (Counterpunch)
Haiti Targets Democratic Governance (June 14, 2006)
This Caribseek Caribbean News article sees great wisdom in President Rene Preval's leadership of Haiti since returning to power, especially in including in his new cabinet members of various parties that competed in the last election. Preval sees integration and reconciliation among Haiti's communities as necessary for stability and peace, and the author believes that the eclectic nature of the cabinet can help achieve these minimal goals.
Haiti Returns to Caricom, But With Old Problems (June 14, 2006)
Welcoming the restoration of democratic processes in Haiti, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has opted for Port-au-Prince's return to the regional grouping. CARICOM had refused to recognize the US-backed interim government put in place after the ousting of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. As he struggles to achieve reconciliation and stability at home, Haitian President Rene Preval will be under additional pressure from his regional colleagues to join the process of regional integration toward a CARICOM Single Market. (Inter Press Service)
Huge Task Awaits Incoming Haitian President (May 12, 2006)
New Haitian President Rene Preval faces a huge challenge as he assumes leadership of his troubled country for the second time. With "every possible characteristic of an undeveloped, failed state" present in Haiti, Preval has sought to forge links with opposition groups in the bitterly divided parliament, to harness the slum-based mass support his predecessor enjoyed, and he has sought help from neighbors in the region. (Seattle Post Intelligencer)
Amnesty International Report 2006 - Haiti (May 2006)
Amnesty International's 2006 report outlines the abuses of power perpetrated by the interim government that was installed in March 2005 following the forced exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It highlights the imprisonment without trial of scores of political prisoners, the attack on the independence of the judiciary and the excessive, unlawful use of force by the Haitian police. It also refers to the responsibility of the UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for the killing of civilians.
Declassifying Canada in Haiti (April 7, 2006)
This two-part article discusses the extent of Canada's participation in the US-led 2004 coup that ousted Haiti's democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Publicly, Ottawa denies any involvement in the coup and maintains that Canada was seeking a peaceful settlement to the crisis. However, according to classified memos obtained by the Dominion, Canada was planning the removal of the Aristide government under the "responsibility to protect" doctrine months before the coup. This principle justified the military intervention under the guise of "humanitarian intervention for human protection." But rather than avert a crisis, the "duty to protect" intervention in Haiti became the backdrop for a major escalation of atrocities, with thousands killed and hundreds jailed for their political views, all to serve Canadian, US and European political and economic interests in Haiti.
UN Accuses Haiti of Massive Illegal Detentions (April 6, 2006)
Following two years of silence on illegal detentions in Haiti, the UN has voiced concern on the Interim Government's illicit holding of people ‘preventively' behind bars, for months or years, without charge. Calling the practice "unacceptable," UN Human Rights chief in Haiti Thierry Fagart urged the interim authorities - who are due to hand power to President-elect Rene Preval at the end of April 2006 – to comply with the legal procedures of detention. Most detainees were arrested after the February 2004 overthrow of Haiti's constitutional government for supporting ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. (Reuters)
Peace Magazine offers a bleak assessment of the role the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) has played in the Caribbean country. Under pressure from the US, France and Canada to give "uncritical assistance" to the interim government and the Haitian police, MINUSTAH has failed to uphold "either the letter or the spirit" of its mandate. This article maintains that the UN must increase MINUSTAH's authority in key areas such as human rights as well as disarmament, demobilization and reintegration to provide a stable and secure environment for the Haitian population.
This report by the University of Miami Centre for the Study of Human Rights argues that the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) failed to enforce its mandate to "promote and protect human rights" following the ousting of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The authors highlight this failure as "one of the major causes of the prolonged suffering of the Haitian people during the interim government's reign between 2004 and 2006."
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti outlines the "array of forces and obstacles" assembled to delay, frustrate and block President Rene Preval from carrying out the progressive social and economic policies he was elected to implement. The International Financial Institutions and the US represent Preval's biggest obstacle, as they will likely make development aid contingent on the implementation of their neoliberal policies. Controlling the highly politicized, corrupt and violent police force will also prove difficult for Preval since under a February 2006 agreement the UN Mission in Haiti holds authority over the police.
According to CounterCurrents, the US and its allies France and Canada extracted various pledges of "good conduct" from the new President René Préval before giving their final approval to the election council declaring him elected. As part of the deal under which Preval was allowed to assume the mantle of president-elect, the Bush administration demanded that Preval drop the issue of who orchestrated the massive electoral fraud, as well as the investigation into the Washington-backed coup that ousted former Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004.
Brian Concannon from the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti argues that Rene Preval's victory in Haiti's presidential elections is bittersweet because of the way the Electoral Council handled problems with vote tabulation. Instead of recounting votes in the open, the negotiators decided to change the rules for calculations of blank votes. This, Concannon argues, provides leverage for those seeking to delegitimize Preval's presidency and block the progressive social and economic policies that he was elected to implement.
In this article, the Director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, Brian Concannon, describes how the Interim Government of Haiti (IGH) engaged in a comprehensive program to suppress supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's ally Rene Preval, comprised mainly of Haiti's urban and rural poor. From voter registration through election day, the IGH – with the help of the US, France and Canada – tried to steal the elections: they prevented prominent politicians from participating by jailing them illegally; discouraged poor voters from registering and voting by putting too few registration centers and voting offices in poor neighborhoods; and finally manipulated the votes by discarding Preval votes or declaring them "null."
The UN denied allegations from witnesses that peacekeepers from the UN Mission in Haiti opened fire on a crowd of protesters demanding Rene Preval be declared the winner of the presidential election. Protesters alleged the electoral commission manipulated the vote count to prevent Preval, an ally of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and opposed by the wealthy elite, from winning a first-round victory. Two members of the nine-member commission that oversees the elections called for an investigation, claiming they were denied access to information about the tabulation process. (Associated Press)
The Haiti Information Project (HIP) fears that if Rene Preval, ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's protégé, wins the presidential elections, the political forces that ousted Aristide in February 2004 - namely the US, Canada, and France - will contest the results. Indeed, these so-called "forces of democracy" that overthrew Aristide support Preval's closest rival, Charles Henry Baker, a wealthy sweatshop owner closer to their political views and interests. HIP warns the international community that it must not underestimate the Haitian people's capacity to "get rid of whoever is trying to take advantage of them." (Haiti Action)
Complaint Regarding Violations of the Right to Participate in Representative Government Committed against all Haitian Citizens (February 2, 2006)
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, along with Yale Law School, TransAfrica Forum, and the Haiti-based Bureau des Avocats Internationaux filed a landmark petition on behalf of Haitian citizens, whose democratic rights were violated by the February 2004 overthrow of Haiti's constitutional government and subsequent installation of an illegal, unelected regime. The petition asks the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington DC to investigate the involvement of the US, the Dominican Republic and the Interim Government of Haiti in these human rights violations.
The Bush administration's policy of "spreading democracy" worldwide contradicts its actions in Haiti. Washington supported a coup to overthrow President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first democratically-elected leader on the island after two centuries of military interventions. This New York Times report offers detailed information about the US involvement in the coup including the names of Washington-financed organizations and State Department officials.
In poor neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, peacekeepers from the UN Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) are feared and resented by the very people they were sent to protect. The interim government, headed by unelected Prime Minister Gérard Latortue and supported by Washington, imprisons and kills pro-democracy activists and supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. MINUSTAH has done little to stop this abuse and repression and thereby constitutes an occupational force in Haiti, argues Pambazuka.
Opposition to the peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) mounts in Brazil following the suicide of the head of MINUSTAH, Brazilian General Urano Bacellar. Brasilia newspapers call for the withdrawal of the 1,200 Brazilian troops and accuse President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of keeping the troops in Haiti to win a seat on the UN Security Council. For Brazilian analyst Reginaldo Nasser, "Brazil should solve its own very basic problems" before deploying troops abroad. (Reuters)
The UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for the first time admitted that innocent civilians may have died during a July 6, 2005 raid by peacekeeping forces in the slum of Cité Soleil. Although MINUSTAH claims that the peacekeepers fired only in self-defense, independent witnesses maintain that the troops opened fire on unarmed civilians and suspected supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. (Independent)
Haiti's elite accuse the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) of protecting the so-called "bandits" – supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide – in Haiti's poor neighborhoods. The Haiti Information Project wonders if the head of MINUSTAH, Brazilian General Urano Bacellar, took his own life under pressure from the business community to "get tough" in the slum of Cité Soleil. The last pressure campaign mounted by the business community against the UN resulted in a massacre of civilians on July 6, 2005. (Haiti Action)
Haiti's interim government violates basic democratic rules by extending its presidential mandate and keeping opponents off the ballot of the presidential elections. The UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti contributes to this "electoral terror campaign" by keeping the poor neighborhoods under siege and imprisoning activists. (International Relations Center)
