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February 10, 1997 -- The Clinton administration released its annual report on
human rights around the globe on January 30, 1996. The chapter on Haiti's human rights
performance in 1996 is hard-hitting. The State Department's report accurately notes that
while the human rights situation has vastly improved compared to the military coup period,
"a significant number of serious abuses occurred."
The State Department's assessment of the performance of the Haitian National Police
(HNP) is largely consistent with the findings of NCHR's January 1997 report on the HNP;
killings, torture and mistreatment of detainees by the HNP are documented. While
highlighting these abuses and the lack of experienced middle managers in the police, the
report fails to discuss the impact a brief four-month basic training had on this brand new
police force. Nor does the report explain that such a brief training program was largely
dictated by US domestic political concerns: the HNP had to have 5,200 officers trained and
deployed by the March 31, 1996 deadline for U.S. troop withdrawal. The only way to train
5,200 in the time allotted was to compress what should be 12 months of basic training into
four.
The report also criticizes the corrupt and ineffective Haitian judicial system and
observes that judicial reforms have lagged. The report correctly blames the Haitian
authorities for failing to enact reform measures. Yet, once again, the State Department
omits important information on US responsibility for the slow pace of judicial reform. The
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through a sub-contractor,
Checchi International Inc., launched a multi-million dollar, multi-year legal reform
project in September 1995. This project had numerous self-inflicted problems, from
incompetent personnel to inadequate consultation with Haitian authorities, NGOs and the
UN/OAS International Civilian Mission, to poorly planned and executed projects involving
legal defense and court administration.
The State Department is correct in saying that parliament failed to pass a law on legal
reform but did not state that many lawyers, judges, prosecutors and human rights advocates
opposed the law since it could give the executive branch increased control over the
judiciary.
The report highlights the bungled prosecution in the case of the execution of former
Justice Minister Guy Malary. While a disaster for the prosecution, the acquittals actually
had a positive effect since a conviction would have been a travesty given the
contradictory evidence and the total failure of the prosecution to make its case. It also
showed the government that it would have to prepare its cases very carefully before going
to trial which helps explain the methodical but careful preparation of the case involving
the Raboteau massacre of April 1994 which could be heard in 1997.
The report's treatment of violence against women is compelling and contains much
detailed information on an area that has traditionally escaped scrutiny from international
and Haitian human rights groups. Another sensitive and overlooked issue that the report
treats head on is children serving as domestic slaves, called restavèks
("stay with" in Creole). They number as high as 300,000 and lead miserable
lives; once they reach early teen-age years their owners throw them into the streets where
they are forced to survive through begging, crime or prostitution. Then-President Aristide
promised to address this outrage through legislation and social programs but nothing has
been done; the Haitian state has failed its children in many ways but the continuing
tolerance of this modern form of slavery is one of its greatest failures.
The treatment and pay received by Haitian factory workers in the assembly sector made
international news in 1996. US labor rights activists focused attention on the Walt Disney
Company's sub-contractors in Haiti. The State Department's report does not engage this
issue directly, but notes that the legal minimum daily wage in Haiti is $2.46, which if a
person works a full year (an assumption made in the report) would yield an annual income
of $800, about three times the annual per capita income in Haiti. Even at this rate the
report admits that the Haitian worker and family would live in "very poor
conditions." The report thus raises but does not enter into the debate over whether
companies paying the minimum wage have a further obligation to insure that their workers
receive a wage that would allow them to provide a bare minimum of basic necessities.
The State Department's reports on human rights conditions around the globe is required
by law and has become one of the most comprehensive and reliable assessments of human
rights conditions in every country in the world. The reports harshly criticize human
rights violations in numerous countries, including China, Nigeria, Turkey, Iran, Cuba and
Saudi Arabia. During the Cold War some human rights experts detected a tendency to
downplay rights violations among allies in the war against communism while overstating the
extent of violations among those aligned with the Soviet bloc. This bifurcation has
disappeared with the end of the Cold War and even staunch US allies like Nigeria and Saudi
Arabia cannot escape criticism for their rights records. Now analysts complain that even
though the reports are more objective, those counties with important commercial ties to
the US enjoy trade and other benefits that belie their terrible human rights record as
reported by the very US government that bestows these commercial favors.
You can get a copy of the State Department's Report on Human Rights in Haiti by
clicking on this link: State
Department 1997 Haiti Report.
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