OEA/Ser.L/V/II.74
REPORT
ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
...continued
41.
In fact, as Chapter IV (infra) discusses in greater detail, the
Government of President Manigat sought to remove Captain Ernst Ravix from his
post as commander of the district of Saint Marc in the Artibonite and after
Manigat's ouster, Lt. Gen. Namphy reinstated him.
The same occurred with warrant officer Gabriel Pinasse, who after
Manigat's ouster was reinstated as Commander of the sub-district of Thomonde.
42. In
summary, in the view of the Commission, in order for the Justice Ministry to
improve the administration of justice in Haiti, the justice system must be
demilitarized. At present, the Minister of Justice gives speeches regarding
his good intentions to clean-up lower level functionaries in the Justice
Ministry while the military commanders of these areas, who are considered
"tyrants" by the local population, are reinstated and continue to
terrorize the people. Similarly, if
these Commissions of Inquiry are to have any meaning, the findings of these
Commissions should be communicated to the relevant Ministers for the appropriate
action.
43. It is
difficult to escape the conclusion however, that these "reform"
measures are taken to appease international opinion and not from any real
interest in improving the situation. The
Killing of Mr. Lafontant Joseph (Case
No. 10.209)
44. On July
11, 1988 the body of Mr. Lafontant Joseph was found dead behind the steering
wheel of his car near the road leading to the international airport.
Mar. Joseph, age 54, was a leading human rights lawyer, who defended
opposition political figures jailed during the two-year government of the CNG.
His slaying is the first such apparent political attack since the
military coup of June 20, 1988, and the first killing of an individual on a
death-squad hit list.
45. The
alleged death-squad hit list was presented to the Commission during its on-site
investigation in August 1988. It is
dated May 25, 1988, and is entitled, in Creole, "OPERASYON BALEWOUZE TOUT
KOMINIS ANACHIS MACHAN'N PEYI" (OPERATION MOP-UP OF ALL THE COMMUNISTS AND
ANARCHISTS WHO ARE SELLING THE COUNTRY). There
are 164 names included on this list although certain individuals are targeted
with their families, such as "XX, his wife and children" (XX, sa
femme et enfants)". In
light of the fact that certain Ministers claimed to have no knowledge of this
list, it is published to alert the relevant authorities to protect any future
potential victims from danger:
Jean Bertrand Aristide
Antoine Adrien
Williams Smarth
Jean-Marie Vincent
Liliane Pierre-Paul
Willy Romulus
Anthony Pascal (Konpè Filo)
Vénel Rémarais
Thony Bélizaire
Marcus Plaisimont
James Rosefort
Ardy Jean-Gardy
Jean Max-Blanc
Marie Laurence Lassèque
Ben Dupuis
Evans Paul (konpè Plim)
Jean Dominique
Jean-Robert Aupont
Dominique Levanti
Konpè Moloskòt
Hailé
Alix Damour
Suzy Castor
Claudette Wourley
Joseph Senat
Georges Honorat
Odette Fonbrum
Gladys Lauture et son mari
Mme. Lina MacNally et son Mari
Yves Déjean-Los
Michel Soucar
Rénald Trouillot
Jean Claude Pierre-Louis
Cajuste Lexius
Joubert François
Carl Henri Guito
Lafontan Joseph
Joseph Manicy Pierre
Jean-Jacques Honorat
Daniel Narcisse
Eddy Volel
Rose-Marie Biamby-Volel
Michel Hector
Guy Pierre
Max Chancy
Gérard Jean-Juste
Manno Charlemagne
Didier Dominique et Rachelle
Alain Rocourt
Emmanuel Ambroise
Jean Robert Sabala
Michel Roy
Louis Roy
André Arcelin
Chavannes Jean-Baptiste
Jean-Paul Duperval
Elie Cantave
Paul Latortue
Edzer Dorsainvil
Konpè Zòbey
Patrix Dacius
Suzette Fan'm Vanyan
Mme. Cathérine Roley
Joseph Maxi
Paola Tet Ansan'm Jean Rabael
Augustin Feneh
Marcel Mondesir
Sylvain Jolibois
Abner François
Cliford Larose
Mésidor Gérard
Jean-Marie Salvant
Jean-Laurent Nelson
Mirabeau Louis
Ogesse St. Jean
Sylvio C. Claude
Louis Déjoie II
Gerard Gourgue
Marc L. Bazin
Hubert de Ronceray et femme
Luc B. Innocent
Paul Arcelin
Benard Sançariq, femme et enfants
René Théodore
Max Bourjolly
Alexandre Azard
Pasteur Desarmes
Joachin Pierre
Jean Marie Benoit
Serge Gilles
Victor Benoit
Jean Claude Bajeux
Félix Paul
Arnold Antonin
Turneb Delpé
Gilles Hendrick
François Pierre-Louis
Frantz L. Jean
Jean Robert Lalane
Paul Déjean
Robert Duval
Yves Antoine Richard
Gerard Pierre Charles
Gerard Toussaint
Claude René
Yves Champagne
Auguste Mesyeux
Marie-Paul Jeune
Mme. Lafontant Joseph
Rockfeller Guerre
Idly Cameau
Blain Kennedy
Jean-Baptiste Hilaire
Gabriel Miracle
Eddy Jeune
Jonas Pierre-Louis
Yves Sanon
Lesley Ambroise
Michelle Montas
Raymond Joseph
Frantz Jean-Marie
Jude L. Jean-Jacques
Jacques Pascal-Zel
Ronald St. Jean
Roselaine Gilbert
Rénald Clérismé
Frantz Grandois
Ernst Verdiu
Roméo - Radio Lumière
Monique Jean Baptiste
Maria Terentia Dehoux
Karline Champagne
Joel Lorquet
Harry Louis
René Exumé
Absalon-Radio Centre Ville
Robert Angalde
Clitandre Pierre
Cajuste Linhardt
Roger Gaillard
Nègre Lakay
Duly Brutus
Sincius Deli (Milo)
Dutel Lamour
Carlo Désinor
Alex Etienne
Eilson Désir
Mécène Richemond
Guy Gilbert
Marc Garcia
Nicole Magloire
Kyle Richemond
Jacquelin (Prensa Latina)
Point du jour yves (kamokin
nan péyi blanc)
Pasteur Porris Jean-Baptiste
Gérard Dormévil (Gonaives)
Serge Jovein
Moises Senatus
Franck Tomas
Larneck Hurbon
46. From
information presented to the Commission during its on-site investigation, the
IACHR learned that Mr. Joseph received numerous death threats, by telephone,
saying that he would be killed on July 11, 1988.
Mr. Lafontant had two sons, Lafontant Joseph, aged 14, and Hérold
Joseph, aged 6. The younger son
received a menacing phone call informing him that his father would be killed.
47. On
Sunday, July 10, 1988 Mr. Lafontant Joseph returned home at approximately 6:30
p.m. and then went out again to see some neighbors.
At 8 p.m. he left and no one knows where he went.
The owners of the Restaurant Market One Stop, at Delmas 29 Street,
said that they saw him at approximately 11:45 p.m.
That night he was killed, apparently some 4 meters from his car where a
large pool of blood was found at the scene.
Witnesses who heard his screams said that it took about 35 minutes to
kill him. He had been dragged in
the mud from the scene of the crime and then dumped over the steering wheel of
his car. He had multiple knife
wounds all over his body, his left arm and teeth had been broken, part of his
left ear was cut off, and he had gash marks across his chest. His tongue and his heart reportedly had also been cut out.
There were no bullet holes in the body.
48. The
Criminal Investigations Department of the Police, headed by Lt. Col. Joseph
Baguidy is in charge of the criminal investigation.
The Commission was informed that no one has yet been arrested.
The Minister of Justice informed the commission that the Examining Judge
(Juge d'Instruction) had opened an "Information against X" in
the Lafontant Joseph case. The
Public Prosecutor (Commissaire du Gouvernement) stated that the family
was not cooperating with the Investigation, but during the investigative phase
of the case the individuals could be arrested if they do not want to talk.
No attempts have been made to trace the menacing phone calls.
Radio Soleil informed that Mr. Joseph had come to the newsroom on June 6,
1988 at 6:15 p.m. to say that "people were calling him non-stop on the
phone to tell him that they were going to kill him that very night, June 6,
1988. They said, furthermore, that
nothing, nor anyone, could prevent them from assassinating him".21
This was reported that same day on Radio Soleil on the 8:30 p.m.
newscast.
49. Mr.
Joseph was a co-founder of the Haitian League for Human Rights, of which he was
also, for a time, the Secretary General. At
the time of his death he was the Executive Director of the Center for the
Promotion of Human Rights, an independent non-governmental human rights
organization in Haiti, as well as Director of the Elliot Pierre school.
In the November 29, 1987 elections he had been a candidate for the
Senate. On June 29, 1988, Mr.
Lafontant, as Executive Secretary of the Center for the Promotion of Human
Rights, co-signed, with five other human rights organizations, a communiqué
published in the press, attacking the coup as a violation of the 1987
Constitution, and calling for a return to "institutional norms" and
respect for the "provisions of the Constitution".22
50. On July 16, 1988, Mr. Lafontant Joseph was
buried in the Port-au-Prince cemetery in the presence of a certain number of
friends and relatives. There was no
religious service because five minutes before the funeral was scheduled to begin
the priest of the Sacre Coeur Church received a threatening phone call warning
him that if a religious funeral were to be carried out the Church would be blown
up with everyone inside and the presbytery would be set on fire.
51. Despite
the secret burial, on Tuesday, July 19, 1988 a religious ceremony was held at
Saint Jean Bosco Church in Port-au-Prince, to pay final tribute to Mr. Lafontant
Joseph. Father Jean-Bertrand
Aristide said mass to the approximately 1,000 persons present and highlighted
the role Mr. Joseph had played in the struggle for liberation being waged in
Haiti.
52. During
the Commission's August 1988 on-site investigation in Haiti the fear was
expressed that a similar fate could at any time befall any one who was in active
opposition to the government. The
Justice Ministry, in a press release, condemned the murder of Mr. Lafontant
Joseph which stated that "the perpetrators of the crime were being sought
and would be prosecuted in conformity with the law".23
The Commission met with Col. Joseph D. Baguidy, who is responsible for
Recherches Criminelles, the police investigations unit.
In Haiti the Armed Forces carry out police functions and Col. Baguidy is
in charge of the investigation of serious crimes.
The delegation of the Commission asked Col. Baguidy about the
investigation he was carrying out on the Lafontant Joseph killing.
He stated that the investigation began immediately and that the police
had contacted his family but that the family would not cooperate.
In the view of Col. Baguidy, Mr. Joseph had "a woman on every
street" and a pair of woman's sandals were found in the car.
The sister of Mr. Lafontant Joseph "knows the name of the
woman" who allegedly was with him and the woman was not killed, but the
sister will not talk. Col. Baguidy
attributed the crime to "a jealous husband".
The delegation of the Commission inquired as to whether the Colonel was
of the opinion that jealous husbands had drawn up the death-squad list. Col. Baguidy denied knowing of the existence of the list or
of the numerous threats made against Mr. Lafontant Joseph's life.
53. On July
14, 1988 a decapitated body was found in Port-au-Prince.
The judicial authorities could not identify the male cadaver, but that it
involved a man of approximately 35 years of age.
The morticians at the hospital admitted that this was the first time that
they had received a body without a head.24
Also, two other unidentified bodies were found in different parts
of the city. One was burned beyond
recognition and the other had been shot several times. The
Killings at the St. jean Bosco Church
54. The St.
Jean Bosco Church, site of the final tribute paid to Mr. Lafontant Joseph on
July 19, 1988, became the target of a death-squad attack on Sunday, September
11, 1988 reminiscent of the methods employed on November 29, 1987.
The assailants, wearing red armbands, were armed with guns and machetes
and threw rocks at he church creating panic among the parishioners.
The attackers assaulted the nearly 1,000 parishioners and according to
press reports shouted "Communists" as they started shooting and
stabbing men, women and children. They
reportedly stabbed a woman who was pregnant and another man who ran outside and
died. Soldiers across the street, according to eyewitnesses watched
the attack but did not intervene. Some
witnesses stated that the bodies could not be removed before the attackers set
the Church on fire and torched nearby parked cars.
55. The
target of the attack was Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide, an outspoken opponent of
the military government who escaped unharmed.
Also targeted were people dressed in white clothing.
The Committee for the Constitution urged Haitians to dress in white
Sunday to protest Namphy's voiding of the 1987 Constitution. Following the attack on the church, Radio Soleil and Radio
Cacique were also attacked. Unidentified
men injured three employees of Radio Cacique and made off with the broadcasting
equipment. The police did not
respond to a telephone call for help from Radio Cacique.
The headquarters of the politicians Louis Dejoie II, and Rev. Sylvio
Claude were also attacked.
56. The
Commission met with Father Aristide during its August 1988 visit and the priest
stated that he had been the target of three attempts on his life and that he
frequently received death threats. Father
Aristide also figures as the first name on the death-squad hit list (supra
para. 45). The designated mayor of
Pot-au-Prince and former Army Colonel, Mr. Franck Romain, former chief of police
under Duvalier, stated on the Radio that he believed Father Aristide had been
"justly punished". "Father
Aristide has always preached violence… he who sows the wind, reaps the
whirlwind" he stated. City
hall employees were identified as the perpetrators of the violence, to which the
mayor simply replied "If (City Hall) employees are involved ... I don't see
how I am concerned".
57. The
official death toll from the attack on the St. Jean Bosco Church is 13 dead and
77 injured. On Tuesday the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception in Cite
Soleil, was also set on fire. Six
people had claimed responsibility for the attack on St. Jean Bosco on the
government controlled television station without apparent fear of arrest.
They also spoke on the radio. They
claimed the violence at St. Jean Bosco was related to an internal conflict
within the church and threatened "a heap of corpses" at any mass
celebrated by Aristide.
58. The modus
operandi of these attacks on the parishioners in the St. Jean Bosco
Church is a repetition of the modus operandi employed in the death
squad attacks perpetrated against the voters on November 29, 1987.
These individuals function openly, without disguise, are recognized and
identified by the victims and function with complete impunity.
The fact that six of the perpetrators of these attacks appeared on
television and acknowledged their responsibility in these actions and were not
arrested leads the Commission to the inescapable conclusion that the death
squads function with the acquiescence, if not at the instigation of the armed
forces. As a consequence of the
coup within the coup on September 17, 1988 three of these death-squad figures
were captured and burned alive.
59. In spite
of the number of election observers and journalists who traveled to Haiti for
the November 29 elections, in recent years Haiti has not been the focus of many
in-depth human rights investigations and the organizations which have
investigated the human rights situation in general, have not been granted access
to detention centers. In addition,
human rights defenders in Haiti have only been allowed to function with some
measure of freedom since the fall of Duvalier and they have not been able to
compile complete lists of names of persons currently in detention.
60. The
International Committee of the Red Cross, while providing some relief
assistance, has not been permitted to visit detainees in Haiti since March 1985.
61. Consequently,
the situation of detainees in Haiti has not been examined on-the-spot except for
isolated ad hoc visits to one or two detention centers.
The information used in this chapter is obtained primarily from the
Commission's August 1988 visit to Fort Dimanche, the National Penitentiary,
Recherches Criminelles and Casernes Dessalines, testimony from human rights
organizations, former prisoners, or their legal representatives, regarding
persons who were in detention primarily in 1987; and information received by the
Commission during its on-site visit in January 1987. B.
LEGAL RULES IN FORCE IN HAITI RELATING TO
PERSONAL LIBERTY
62. The
Haitian Constitution of 1987 sets forth in Articles 24 to 27-1 the legal
guarantees of the individual in Haiti as regards the right to individual
liberty. These articles stipulate
the following: Article
24:
Individual liberty is guaranteed and protected by
the State. Article
24-1:
No one may be prosecuted, arrested or detained except in the cases
determined by law and in the manner it prescribes. Article
24-2:
Except where the perpetrator of a crime is caught in the act, no one may
be arrested or detained other than by written order of a legally competent
official. Article
24-3:
For such an order to be carried out, the following requirements must be
met: a.
It must formally state the reason in Creole and in French for the arrest
or detention and the provision of the law that provides for punishment of the
act charged. b.
Legal notice must be given and a copy of the order must be left with the
accused at the time of its execution; c.
The accused must be notified of his right to be assisted by counsel at
all phases of the investigation of the case up to the final judgment; d.
Except where the perpetrator of a crime is caught in the act, no arrest
by warrant and no search may take place between six (6) p.m. and six (6) a.m. e.
Responsibility for an offense is personal, and no one may be arrested in
the place of another. Article
25:
Any unnecessary force or restraint in the apprehension of a person or in
keeping him under arrest, or any psychological pressure or physical brutality,
especially during interrogation, is forbidden. Article
25-1:
No one may be interrogated without his attorney or a witness of his
choice being present. Article
26:
No one may be kept under arrest more than forty-eight (48) hours
unless he has appeared before a judge asked to rule on the legality of the
arrest and the judge has confirmed the arrest by a well-founded decision. Article
26-1:
In the case of a petty violation,
the accused shall be referred to a justice of the peace, who shall then
hand down a final decision.
In the case of more serious offenses or crimes, an appeal may be filed,
without prior permission, simply by addressing a petition to the presiding judge
of the competent civil court, who, on the basis of the oral statement of the
prosecutor, shall rule on the legality of the arrest and detention, in a special
session of the court, without postponement or rotation of judges, all other
cases being suspended. Article
26-2:
If the arrest is judged to be illegal, the judge shall order the
immediate release of the arrested person and that order shall be enforceable
immediately, regardless of any appeal to a higher court or the Supreme Court for
an order forbidding enforcement of the judgment Article
27:
Any violation of the provisions on individual liberty are arbitrary acts.
Injured parties may, without prior authorization, appeal to the competent
courts, to bring suit against the authors and perpetrators of these arbitrary
acts, regardless of their rank or the body to which they belong.
Article
27-1:
Government officials and employees are directly liable under civil and
administrative criminal law for acts carried out in violation of rights.
In such cases, civil liability extends to the State as well. 63. The Haitian legal system provides for two
public officials whose functions are to serve the State as regards the
prosecution of offenders but also to safeguard the rights of the individual. These two officials are the Commissaire du Gouvernement
(a prosecutor for a specific court district) and the Juge d'Instruction
(the Examining Judge). a.
The Commissaire du Gouvernement
64. Pursuant
to Article 13 of the Haitian Code of Criminal Procedure the Commissaire du
Gouvernement is charged with the investigation and prosecution of all
offenses over which the civilian courts have jurisdiction.
65. During
the Commission's August 1988 visit to Haiti it met with Mme. Mireille Z.
Pluviose, the Commissaire du Gouvernement for Port-au-Prince.
She explained her functions as investigative, the Commissaire's
job is to apprehend perpetrators of offenses, to refer them to the courts and to
follow their trials to the end. There
are 15 civil jurisdictions in Haiti, and consequently there are 15 commissaires.
Mme. Pluviose is chief of the Parquet in Port-au-Prince but she has 6
"substitutes" who also have the title of "Commissaire" and
who assist her in her duties. They
are assisted by the police since their investigative functions involve police
work.
66. Mme.
Pluviose described her position to the Commission as that of being "the
eyes of the Executive within the Judiciary", whereas the Juge
d'Instruction is independent and does not receive instructions from the
Executive. The Commissaire
is charged with overseeing the conditions in the detention centers ' their
location, their cleanliness, the hygiene of prisoners, and the like.25
This provision of the Code is designed to prevent the establishment
of irregular or clandestine detention centers.
67. Haitian
law also provides that the Commissaire du Gouvernement visit "at
least once a month" all the detention centers in which the accused, or the
persons who have been sentenced, are held within the Court's jurisdiction.26
Consequently, it is to be expected that the Commissaire would have
information regarding the number and the whereabouts of all persons currently in
detention in Haiti. The Commission
asked Mme. Pluviose which detention centers she regularly visited and she
replied that she only visited the National Penitentiary, since any other center
in Port-au-Prince is illegal. She
stated that prisoners are no longer detained in Fort Dimanche.
As regards Recherches Criminelles, after 30 years of bad habits things
are beginning to change, "bad habits are like weeds", she added, but
she and her staff are "pushing people" to transfer detainees to the
National Penitentiary within 48 hours of their arrest.
Mme. Pluviose gave the Commission's delegation a copy of a "Circular
to the Justice of the Peace in the Jurisdiction of Port-au-Prince" dated
July 21, 1988 which calls upon them to assure that detainees are brought before
the Parquet within 48 hours of arrest to avoid their remaining in places
such as Fort Dimanche and Recherches Criminelles. b.
The Juge d'Instruction
68. It is
the role of the Juge d'Instruction to decide whether or not to bring
charges. If the Juge decides
that there is no reason to prosecute, and if the suspect has been arrested, the
suspect will be placed at liberty.27
69. Article
119 of the Code provides that if the Juge d'Instruction considers that
there do exist grounds for prosecution, the suspect (l'inculpé) will be brought
before the criminal court and the dossier transmitted to the Commissaire du
Gouvernement, who will then proceed to issue the indictment (l'accusation).
70. Procedurally,
the Juge d'Instruction issues either an "ordonnance de non lieu"
in the case of the detainee who is to be placed at liberty, or an "ordonnance
de renvoi" also called "ordonnance de prise de corps"
in which case the suspect is returned to prison.28
71. The Code of Criminal procedure provides that
persons who have been sentenced are to be detained in places which are distinct
from those where persons who have only been arrested or charged are to be held.29
In addition, Article
443 of the code requires that both the detention centers and the prisons
maintain a registry of names of the detainees and those serving sentence. This registry is to be signed, on each page, by the Juge
d'Instruction for the detention centers, and by the Commissaire du
Gouvernement for the prisons.
72. In the
case of an illegal detention, the person who carries out the illegal arrest is
subject to one to five years in prison, if the arrest is carried out without an
order of the competent authorities.30
Anyone who cooperates in the illegal arrest by furnishing a place
for the detention or kidnapping will be subject to the same penalty.31
In practice, however, as the case of Mr. Laurentis Robuste (infra)
illustrates, it is virtually impossible to bring suit for false imprisonment
because of the difficulty for the victim to prove that the illegal detention
took place. continued... [ Table of Contents | Previous |
Next ]
19. Id. at
p. 25.
20. Id.
21. "Station
Comments", FBIS July
12, 1988. 22.
See, Le Nouvelliste 1-3 July 1988.
23. "Justice
Ministry", FBIS July 14, 1988.
24. Le
Nouvelliste 15-17 July 1988.
25. Code
d'Instruction Criminelle, avec les dernières modifications, annoté par A.
Rigal. Article 442.
26.
Id., Article 447.
27. Id.,
Article 115.
28. Two
notorious officials during the Duvalier era benefited from an ordonnance de
non lieu in a military court: Col.
Franck Romain (until September 17, 1988 the Mayor of Port-au-Prince) and Col.
Jean Valmé. Col. Valmé was for more than 10 years Chief of Duvalier's
political police (the "Service detectif") in Casernes Dessalines and
responsible for Fort Dimanche.
29. Code
d'Instruction Criminelle, Article 442.
30. Code
Penal (1961), Article 289. |