Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1994 - Haiti, 1 January 1994, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a9f8c.html [accessed 29 May 2023]
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Hundreds of real and suspected supporters of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide were detained unlawfully with many of them being held without charge for longer than the legal limit. Torture and ill-treatment of detainees was widespread, and several detainees reportedly died as a result of torture. Prison conditions were extremely harsh and also resulted in deaths. Hundreds of people "disappeared" or were extrajudicially executed. In February the first group of civilian human rights monitors appointed by the UN and Organization of American States (OAS) arrived in Haiti as part of the Misyon Sivil Entènasyonal an Haïti (MICIVIH), International Civilian Mission to Haiti. The mission was mandated by the UN General Assembly and the oas, at the request of President Aristide, to verify respect for human rights. In June the UN Security Council imposed restrictions on the movement of arms, petroleum and finance to Haiti in an effort to force the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Raoul Cédras, to accept the return to Haiti of President Aristide, who had been deposed in 1991 (see Amnesty International Report 1992). On 3 July President Aristide and General Cédras signed an accord, brokered by the UN and the oas, under which President Aristide would return to office on 30 October. Both parties pledged to cooperate fully to ensure a peaceful transition to a democratic society which would guarantee respect for human rights. Other measures included in the agreement were the suspension of sanctions once a new Prime Minister was installed; an amnesty to be granted by President Aristide; the creation of a new police force under a chief to be appointed by the President; the early retirement of General Cédras; and the nomination of a Prime Minister by the President. Robert Malval was subsequently nominated by President Aristide and installed as Haiti's new Prime Minister on 30 August. A new Cabinet was sworn in on 2 September. On 4 October President Aristide granted an amnesty for political crimes committed between 29 September 1991 and 3 July 1993, although the precise crimes to which it was to apply remained unclear. Violence accelerated as the date of President Aristide's agreed return drew nearer, as his opponents took steps to thwart his return. On 11 October, for example, opponents of President Aristide orchestrated a violent demonstration in order to prevent the docking of a US ship carrying some 200 US soldiers, the first contingent of some 1,300 foreign troops and police whom the UN planned to deploy in Haiti to train the police and army. The 200 troops then returned to the USA. By mid-October, in the face of rising violence, the 250-strong group of UN and OAS civilian human rights monitors was withdrawn from Haiti, and on 18 October worldwide oil and arms sanctions were reimposed by the UN. President Aristide did not return to power on 30 October as stipulated in the 3 July accord, nor did General Cédras or Chief of Police Michel François step down. Hundreds of people were arrested without warrant by the military, the police or attachés (armed civilian auxiliaries to the security forces). Many were held without charge for longer than the 48-hour limit specified in the Constitution and many were asked to pay money to gain release or avoid ill-treatment. Most were released without charge or any form of judicial proceedings. Victims included political activists supporting President Aristide, members of grassroots organizations, peasants, trade unionists, members of the Catholic Church and journalists, as well as people apparently considered potential supporters of President Aristide simply because they lived in working-class areas. In one case in January, Gisèle Saint-Firmin, Raymond Azazan, Maxime Horacius and six others, all supporters of President Aristide, were arrested in Les Cayes, South Department, by the security forces. All were released in early February. However, Gisèle Saint-Firmin, the mother of Marie-Josée Saint-Firmin, previously the local branch secretary of the Organisation Politique Lavalas, Lavalas Political Organization, which supports President Aristide, was only provisionally released. She could be recalled at any time to face charges of possessing subversive materials. She was reportedly beaten in custody. Also in January, Yves Jean-Noel, a member of a local grassroots organization, was detained in Nouvelle Cité, Grande-Anse Department, accused of distributing photographs of President Aristide. He was beaten in detention at the Miragôane military barracks; he was released in April. In February Corlson Dormé, a radio correspondent for Radio Tropic fm, was detained in Port-au-Prince, the capital, while reporting a demonstration protesting against the arrival of UN Special Envoy Dante Caputo. Corlson Dormé was detained for six days, during which he was beaten and warned to stop collaborating with Lavalas. Torture and ill-treatment of detainees were widespread. In January Jean-Emile Estimable, a journalist for Radio Cacique, was severely beaten while held at the home of the chef de section (rural police chief) in the Marchand Dessalines locality of Artibonite Department, before being taken to the local prison. He was later transferred to St Marc prison where he was beaten again and received the kalot marassa - simultaneous blows to both ears - and was forced to pay money in order to stop the beatings. He was provisionally released by the criminal court in St Marc in February. Direct Jean-Baptiste, who was also detained in January near Marchand Dessalines, was ill-treated while held at the local military barracks: he was hit on the stomach with a club, his testicles were squeezed and he was slapped around the face. He was released the same day. Manistin Caprien, president of Lavalas, was arrested on 30 March by the military in Môle St Nicolas, North-Western Department. He was reportedly beaten on the ears and stomach in the local military barracks while being interrogated about his organization. He was also allegedly forced to eat photographs of President Aristide, and subjected to further beatings and humiliations, including being forced to eat his own hair. When brought before a judge he fell unconscious and the judge ordered him to be treated in hospital. There, he was reportedly kept under police surveillance and threatened to the point where he felt obliged to flee despite his poor health. Ricardo Chéry, founder of the Union des jeunes démocrates nationalistes des Gonaïves, Union of Young Nationalist Democrats of Gonaïves, was arrested by soldiers in April and taken to a detention centre in Gonaïves, where he was beaten and questioned about his connection with UN/OAS civilian monitors. He was then taken to a prison where the telephone number of the OAS was found in his pocket. Apparently as a result, he was subjected to the djak (a baton is wedged under the knees and over the arms while the prisoner is beaten repeatedly all over the body). After nine days he was released uncharged. Trade union members Cajuste Lexius, Phabonor StVil and Saveur Aurélus of the Centrale générale des travailleurs (CGT), General Workers' Union, were arrested on 23 April by police belonging to the 30th Company in Port-au-Prince and severely beaten. On 26 April they were transferred to the Service d'investigation et de recherches anti-gang, Anti-gang Investigation Service. Cajuste Lexius, who was unconscious for two days as a result of the beatings, had to be transferred to a military hospital where he received treatment for kidney failure and for multiple open sores on his buttocks. He was finally released from hospital on 21 May. Phabonor St.Vil and Saveur Aurélus also required medical attention when they were released on 29 April. In June Gabriel Tigen and Anaciase Pierre, both members of the Mouvman Peyizan Papay (MPP), a peasant grassroots organization, were arrested by police and taken to the office of the chef de section in Hinche, Central Department, where they were both subjected to the djak. They were accused of distributing pro-Aristide material, but released four days later, after paying a bribe. Fritz Charlot, a member of the Syndicat des travailleurs agricoles de Savanette, Union of Agricultural Workers of Savanette, was abducted in August and driven blindfolded to a house. He was then interrogated about distributing photographs of President Aristide and was beaten and pushed to the floor; his abductors pounded his head against the ground. After two days he was dumped in the street and warned that "next time" he would be killed. Several people were reported to have died as a result of torture, including Oriol Charpentier, who died in April while held at the military barracks in Thiotte, South-Eastern Department. The military authorities, the doctor who signed the death certificate and prisoners gave contradictory accounts of the circumstances and cause of his death. Georges Mathias died in May while in prison in Terrier Rouge, North-Eastern Department. He had been arrested in April when he was reportedly beaten by an attaché. Conditions in prisons and detention centres continued to be extremely harsh, with ill-treatment, overcrowding, malnutrition, poor sanitation and a lack of adequate medical treatment. Several deaths of prisoners reportedly occurred as a direct result of such conditions. Dozens of people were known to have "disappeared"; the true figure may have been much higher. Joseph Winy Brutus, the Treasurer of the Parti national démocratique et progressiste d'Haïti, National Democratic and Progressive Party of Haiti, reportedly "disappeared" in May. He had previously received death threats, apparently because of his political activism and because he had testified abroad about human rights violations in Haiti. Jéhovah Jean Louis, the brother of a parliamentary deputy, was abducted by armed men in September; his fate and whereabouts were still unknown at the end of the year, as were those of Fritz Dérose, who "disappeared" in April 1992 (see Amnesty International Report 1993). At least 200 people were extrajudicially executed by the army or attachés, including at least 60 in September. In May the mutilated body of Mrs Souffran, an active member of Ti Legliz, a grassroots church group which supports President Aristide, was found in the village of St Antoine, North-Eastern Department. In August Germéus Deshommes, an active member of a peasant movement in Ravine Desroches in North Department, was arrested and accused of putting up posters of President Aristide. He was reportedly severely beaten by the local chef de section; his dead body was later found on the street. In a particularly blatant case on 11 September, Antoine Izméry, a businessman and prominent supporter of President Aristide, was forced out of a church in Portau-Prince and shot dead in the street by attachés while military and police personnel in the area made no attempt to intervene. He had been attending a mass to commemorate the fifth anniversary of an attack on Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide while saying mass at St John Bosco Church (see Amnesty International Report 1989). Antoine Izméry's brother, Georges Izméry, was shot dead in May 1992, apparently after being mistaken for his brother (see Amnesty International Report 1993). In all, 12 bodies were found on 11 September. Another of the victims was retired army colonel Fritz Jocelyn, a known supporter of President Aristide, who was shot dead by armed men while at a petrol station in Pétionville. Guy Malary, who had been appointed Minister of Justice by President Aristide in August, was shot dead by armed men on 14 October, together with his bodyguard and driver. Prior to his murder, he had taken a leading part in planning new legislation to separate formally Haiti's army and police, a proposal opposed by the military leadership. He had also previously been involved in inquiries into certain high-profile human rights cases and had received death threats. In another case, Orelia Joseph, a nanny working for a prominent supporter of President Aristide, was dragged from her home in Cité Soleil in Port-au-Prince by attachés and beaten in front of her daughters. She was taken away and next day her severed head and legs were found in different places; the rest of her body was not found. The army, police and attachés also made indiscriminate use of lethal force. For example, in September attachés killed five people and injured at least 30 others outside the City Hall in Port-au-Prince following a ceremony to reinstate Evans Paul as mayor. Amnesty International repeatedly appealed to the authorities to investigate cases of human rights violations and to bring those responsible to justice. In October Amnesty International published a report, Haiti: Human rights gagged - attacks on freedom of expression. Amnesty International urged the international community to use all appropriate means to promote and protect human rights in Haiti.
