Haiti: Information on the current situation of prominent leaders of the pro-Aristide camp, particularly any danger from the Ton-Ton Macoute or the military
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 September 1995 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | HTI21711.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Haiti: Information on the current situation of prominent leaders of the pro-Aristide camp, particularly any danger from the Ton-Ton Macoute or the military, 1 September 1995, HTI21711.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac4f38.html [accessed 29 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on a specific situation currently faced by prominent leaders of the pro-Aristide camp, or on danger they might face from the Ton-Ton Macoute or the military, could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB. However, please find attached some documents dated June 1995 or later that refer to political violence in Haiti.
The research for this Response covered the period June-August 1995 and consisted of a review of on-line and published sources. Standard yearly reference publications available at Regional Documentation Centres (such as Country Reports, its corresponding Critique, the Human Rights Watch World Report and the Amnesty International Report) were not consulted for the purposes of this Response, as they do not cover the current three-month period. For late-1994 and early-1995 information on the security situation in Haiti and of pro-Aristide supporters there, please refer to those reference sources as well as to Responses to Information Requests HTI19577.F and HTI19591.F, both of 10 February 1995, and their attachments.
One of the documents attached to this Response refers to violence related to the 25 June parliamentary and municipal elections (IPS 18 June 1995). The article, which mentions in passing violence and threats directed at political figures, cites a June 1995 report from Human Rights Watch that is available at your Regional Documentation Centre and is therefore not used in responding to this Information Request.
Another attachment reports the 27 June 1995 murder of a candidate for deputy of the Front National Pour le Changement et la Democratie (FNCD) (Le Monde 29 June 1995). The article states that the party's relationship with president Aristide had deteriorated over the preceding weeks. According to the report, the candidate was killed by unidentified individuals (ibid.).
The Latinamerica Press article attached to this Response refers mostly to the relationship between the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and death squads in Haiti (15 June 1995). The source also refers to the 28 March 1995 killing of a former spokeswoman for the military, the quick release of two "self-styled Marxist supporters of Aristide" and the perception by some that this and other acts of violence may be aimed at discrediting the Aristide administration rather than at hurting pro-military political forces (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below a list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Inter Press Service (IPS). 18 June 1995. Onapito Ekomoloit. "Haiti: Rights Group Worried About Violence in June 25 Poll." (NEXIS)
Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 15 June 1995. "CIA and Haitian Death Squads."
Le Monde [Paris]. 29 June 1995. Jean Michel Caroit. "Un Candidate a la Deputation Assassine en Haiti." (NEXIS)
Attachments
Inter Press Service (IPS). 18 June 1995. Onapito Ekomoloit. "Haiti: Rights Group Worried About Violence in June 25 Poll." (NEXIS)
Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 15 June 1995. "CIA and Haitian Death Squads," p. 4.
Le Monde [Paris]. 29 June 1995. Jean Michel Caroit. "Un Candidate a la Deputation Assassine en Haiti." (NEXIS)
Additional Sources Consulted
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Latin America Daily Report. Daily.
News from Human Rights Watch/Americas [New York]. Monthly.
Latin American Weekly Report [London]. Weekly.
Latin American Regional Reports: Central America & the Caribbean [London]. Monthly.
Problèmes d'Amérique latine. Quarterly.
Material from the Indexed Media Review (IMR) or country files containing articles and reports from diverse sources (primarily dailies and periodicals) from the Weekly Media Review.
Newspapers and periodicals pertaining to the appropriate region.
On-line searches of news articles.
IRB, USINS and UNHCR databases.
Note on oral sources:
Oral sources are usually contacted when documentary sources have been exhausted. However, oral sources must agree to be quoted in a publicly available Response to Information Request. If they refuse, the Response will read "no information currently available." Contacting oral sources is also subject to time constraints; for example, there are periods of the year when academics are unavailable.
Note:
This list is not exhaustive. Country-specific books available in the Resource Centre are not included.
