Acknowledgements

The National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR) and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) have monitored police reforms in Haiti since the HNP's deployment in July 1995. Both organizations have published prior reports which describe human rights concerns with the Haitian police. NCHR had discussed the police in two prior reports published with Human Rights Watch/Americas, Haiti: Human Rights After President Aristide's Return in October 1995 and Security Compromised: Recycled Haitian Soldiers on the Police Front Line in March 1995. WOLA also published reports on the training and deployment of the HNP -- Policing Haiti in September 1995 and The Haitian National Police in March 1996.

This report was written by Rachel M. Neild, Senior Associate with the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). It was edited by Jocelyn McCalla, Executive Director, Patrick Gavigan, Consultant, William G. O'Neill, Consultant, and Pierre Esperance, Director, Port-au-Prince office, of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR). Ismene Zarifis, intern with the NCHR in Haiti, assisted with research. Laurie Freeman, WOLA Program Assistant, assisted with production.

WOLA wishes to thank the Arca Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, and the Scherman Foundation for their support.

1. Police cadets received only four months' training. A generally accepted estimate of the time needed to adequately train a new class of cadets is one year to eighteen months.

2. In October 1996, the HNP was operating with only seven of nine departmental directors, and had filled only 50 of 133 commissaire posts and 85 of 600 inspecteur positions.

3. Interview with Colonel Laparra, Commissioner of the United Nations Civilian Police, Port-au-Prince, October 16, 1997.

4. HNP agents in Cité Soleil expressed some irritation that CivPol visits daily but for ten minutes only and appears afraid of the neighborhood where local people had once set on a CivPol unit and stole a weapon from them. Visit to Cite Soleil police station, October 19, 1997.

5. Interview with Robert Manuel, Secretary of State for Justice, Port-au-Prince, October 21, 1997.

6. Interview with Inspector General Luc Eucher Joseph, Port-au-Prince, December 18, 1997.

7. Information provided to WOLA by MICIVIH, December 11, 1997.

8. These figures are derived from the 46 killings established in "The Human Rights Record of the Haitian National Police," jointly published in January 1997 by WOLA, NCHR and Human Rights Watch/Americas, and the HNP's further 29 killings during 1997. A recent press article stated that between July 1995 and July 1997, HNP personnel were responsible for 114 killings in total. The HNP has killed at least nine people since July 1997, bringing the total to 123 in mid-November 1997. See Serge Kovaleski, "Haitians Find New Police Too Similar to Old," The Washington Post, July 14, 1997.

9. Information provided to WOLA by MICIVIH, December 11, 1997.

10. Ibid.

11. "The Situation of Democracy and Human Rights in Haiti," Report of the Secretary-General, New York, June 26, 1997, UN Document A/51/935, paragraph 9. Hereafter Report of the Secretary-General, June 26, 1997.

12. Interview with members of Comme il Faut, Grand Goave, October 17, 1997.

13. Report of the Secretary-General, June 26, 1997, paragraph 9.

14. HNP stations have heavy weapons, but they do not always have bullets. In Cité Soleil, HNP had at least eight heavy weapons, but only three clips with bullets. Visit to Cité Soleil police station, October 19, 1997.

15. See NCHR May 13, 1997 letter to Haitian parliamentarians, on file at the NCHR and WOLA. Interview with Senators Laguerre and Madistin, Port-au-Prince, October 28, 1997.

16. Article 26, 1987 Constitution of Haiti.

17. Telephone interviews with MICIVIH staff and a U.S. journalist working in Haiti, December 11, 1997. A press report alleged that the police commissaire Aramic Louis repeatedly beat Jeune. See "U.S.-trained Haitian police accused of harassment," The Dallas Morning News, November 24, 1997. Interviews with Eucher Joseph, December 15, 1997 and Pierre Denizé, December 18, 1997.

18. When asked if and how often they patrolled, police in Cité Soleil replied that they patrolled several times a day, every time they had to respond to people coming and asking for help. Interview, October 19, 1997.

19. Laparra interview, October 16, 1997.

20. Nicole Volpe, "As UN forces head home, Haiti faces high hurdles," Reuters, November 28, 1997.

21. Eucher Joseph interview, October 15, 1997.

22. Interview with Pierre Denizé, HNP Director General, Port-au-Prince, October 20, 1997.

23. At the time of this report's publication, Haiti has approximately 6,000 police officers. New York City, with a population similar to Haiti's, and with a much smaller geographic area, has 30,000 police. The Guatemalan government has a target of a 20,000-strong police for its population of 11 million.

24. Report of the Secretary-General, June 16, 1997, paragraph 9.

25. In late 1996, only some 50 percent of the roughly 140 commissaires were in place. See "The Human Rights Record of the Haitian National Police," NCHR, WOLA, and Human Rights Watch/Americas, January 1997, p. 26.

26. Denizé interview, October 20, 1997.

27. Denizé interview, October 20, 1997.

28. Laparra interview, October 17, 1997.

29. There is "wide variation among the nine départments, which can be attributed for the most part to differences in leadership provided." Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti, New York, October 31, 1997, paragraph 19.

30. Denizé interview, October 20, 1997. A September 25, 1995 decree of the CSPN corrects this problem and sets punishments for police commanders who fail to exercise discipline in their units, ranging from loss of rank to dismissal from the force. Document on file at WOLA.

31. Laparra interview, October 16, 1997.

32. Denizé interview, December 18, 1997.

33. Denizé interview, October 20, 1997.

34. See "The Human Rights Record of the Haitian National Police."

35. Laparra interview, October 16, 1997.

36. A police agent in Cité Soleil, one of the most conflictive zones in Haiti, said that he received 18 bullets two years ago and nothing since. He reported that bullets for police-issue .38s are very hard to find now.

37. Laparra interview, October 16, 1997.

38. Interviews with HNP agents at Grand Goave, October 17, 1997, and Cité Soleil, October 19, 1997.

39. Eucher Joseph was previously inspector general from May 1995 until November 1995 when the Minister of Justice fired him for investigating illegal police searches and disarmament efforts. See "The Human Rights Record of the Haitian National Police," p. 19.

40. Eucher Joseph informed us that is currently conducting a major investigations of police involved with gangs. Interview, October 15, 1997.

41. The other wounded were Marjorie [surname unknown], Stevenson Confidant, Louis Leveye and Maxeau Glodain. Interviews with MICIVIH observers in Port-au-Prince, October 15, 1997, and interviews in Grand Goave with Alain Zehir of Comme il Faut, the justice of the peace, Stevenson Confidant, Marjorie, and two HNP agents, October 17, 1997.

42. Ibid. The IG conducted an investigation the following day. Jude Merzi is currently in jail.

43. WOLA/NCHR interviewed a number of HNP agents who stated that the IG was biased in his decisions. CivPol Lt. Lavagne stated that he had seen no evidence to this effect. Interview with Lt. Pierre Lavagne, head of the CivPol team assigned to the inspector general's office, Port-au-Prince, October 20, 1997. Eucher Joseph says he has never received direct political threats but he notes that "in the absence of a system of justice in which all Haitian institutions hold abusive police accountable, I am seen as the 'ogre'."

44. Eucher Joseph stated that: "The state should put up a firewall to ensure that good practice continues though political changes. If you don't tell people that a cop has been fired, he can pretend that he is still on the payroll and try to extort people. You must give a cop's name to do that." Interview, October 15, 1997.

45. Article 10, CSPN directive of September 25, 1997. Document on file at WOLA.

46. Eucher Joseph interview, December 15, 1997.

47. Ibid.

48. Denizé interview, October 20, 1997.

49. Eucher Joseph interview, December 15, 1997.

50. Lavagne interview, October 20, 1997.

51. In 1997, MICIVIH brought about 50 of 628 inquiries opened by the inspector general. Lavagne interview, October 20, 1997.

52. The OPC could benefit from further technical and financial assistance, particularly technical assistance from other developing nations which confront similar challenges. MICIVIH conducted a seminar for Mr. Roy and his staff at which the HNP inspector general gave a presentation, as well as the Doyen de Tribunal, the Deputy Director of APENA (the prison administration) and MICIVIH's regional offices. The office is also twinned with and received training from the Quebec ombudsman's office. The OPC's funding is modest and depends on the national budget, which parliament has never approved without extended delays.

53. In Grand Goave, the HNP had enjoyed good relations with the community prior to the shootings described in Section I of this report. Immediately after the shootings, townspeople ransacked houses shared by local HNP agents and burned their possessions. When we interviewed them two weeks later, the police were clearly demoralized and rarely left the station except in their car to respond to calls. Before they had carried out foot and bicycle patrols.

54. Report of the Secretary-General, UN Document A/52/687, November 18, 1997, paragraph 41.

55. Interview with MICIVIH staff, October 19, 1997.

56. Denizé interview, October 20, 1997.

57. Ibid. According to Denizé, lynching continue, increasing or decreasing with general levels of frustration when political and economic questions or failures of the justice system are incomprehensible to people.

58. Laparra interview, October 16, 1997.

59. Lavagne interview, October 20, 1997.

60. One case of a police killing went to trial. This was a shooting on a bus following an altercation between an off-duty HNP agent and a passenger. The family of the victim claimed that the attack was premeditated and the judge allowed a charge of murder one. The jury did not find adequate evidence of premeditation and acquitted the police agent. The accused agent spent ten months in jail waiting trial and was fired from the police force. Eucher Joseph interview, October 15, 1997, and MICIVIH staff interview, October 15, 1997.

61. Report of the Secretary-General, June 26, 1997. Judge Gilles, who released HNP agents awaiting trial in a human rights case, was later removed from office. Haitian authorities are now trying to recover the case files and re-initiate the prosecution. Granderson interview, October 29, 1997.

62. Information provided to WOLA by MICIVIH, December 11, 1997.

63. MICIVH staff interview, October 15, 1997.

64. Report of the Secretary-General, June 26, 1997, paragraph 11.

65. Granderson interview, October 29, 1997.

66. Ibid.

67. See p 11.

68. "The Transition Mission in Haiti," Report of the Secretary-General, New York, October 31, 1997, UN Document S/1997/832.

69. The shooting death of Deputy Louis Emilio Passe is a recent example. MICIVIH has found no evidence of political motivation, but it has been widely portrayed as such in the Haitian media and by prominent figures. Granderson interview, October 29, 1997.

70. Denizé interview, October 20, 1997.

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