Past Human Rights abuses in Haiti: an alternative to prosecution
By Hyppolite Pierre
Perhaps Haiti should think of different ways to help "mend the fences", and resolve once and for all the problems of past human rights abuses in Haiti. The choice that I am about to suggest however, is a tough pill to swallow. It is especially so for someone like Kevin Pina who has so skillfully displayed on films the atrocities of the coup d'état period. I do think nevertheless that we must think of some other alternatives.
A couple of months ago, Olivier Nadal attacked the Haitian government over what he considers its ineptitude. He even suggested that Aristide is trying to force the hand of the prominent Boulos family in Haiti, to sell them a basically dead (from my sources) enterprise, the Pharval Pharmaceutical company.
Every time the Government of Haiti (GOH) seems to be under mounting pressure, they revive the issues of atrocities of the past and point out to some, allegedly notable criminal former members of the former military or paramilitary régimes. Every once in a while, they bring up the issue of Emmanuel "Toto" Constant. Last year, they've arrested former dictator and general Prosper Avril who is now back in prison after he was shortly released by order of Haiti's Court of Appeals the week of June 8, 2002.
In every one of the above-mentioned cases, the true intent appears to be misplaced, if one listens carefully to the opponents and adversaries of the régime.
Mistrust and the reason behind it
Olivier Nadal they say, is only paying the price of his perhaps outrageous accusations against the régime. Since they do not (or cannot) respond or refute his accusations with solid contradictory evidence, they bring upon his head the specter of the Piatre massacre. Thus, the GOH loses credibility on that front.
The issues of Toto Constant and Prosper Avril, and that of numerous past rights abusers are just a political cloud they say, used by the GOH, to hide its own problems with human rights abuses. All the while, Haiti is suffering problems of misappropriated funds, and lack of transparency and disclosure. Worse, the country is suffering a political stalemate that does not seem to have an end in sight. What then does one do? How does one reconcile the need for justice, with the deep mistrust towards the Haitian government by so many different sides?
Perhaps the right approach is once again Economics. When politicians, past and present, know that there is a price to pay for their misdeeds, they will think twice prior to committing them.
Under the present circumstances, the GOH should recognize that:
- Haiti is suffering from some serious economic not crisis, but crises;
- The poor Haitian tax payer should not be paying to shelter criminals, when the prison population is already so high. Worse, these former human rights abusers do have well-oiled machines that can and do present the GOH in the worse light with their PR machines, every time you have notorious prisoners at your hand like Avril. By the end, Haiti once again loses because these problems deepen the current crises.
Perhaps a different, more balanced approach?
A better approach perhaps could be to, instead of keeping those human rights abusers in prison, have new laws that specifically relate to those issues. Haitian human rights violators, past, present, and potential ones should know that there is a price to pay for their misdeeds.
The State could build a pool of Haitian and perhaps even international lawyers, who would look into specific cases of past abuses from 1990 to 2000, when someone masterminded the killing of Jean Leopold Dominique. They could help the victims build their case by accumulating evidence.
Once this is done, they could give carte blanche to any and every Haitian from that period who wishes to return home to do so. That could be done with the specific caveat that they may and probably will face civil prosecution from their past victims. The State could specify the minimum
amount that such former human rights violators would have to pay to each of their victims, in case they are found guilty by a jury or by a panel of judges.
Using such an approach would perhaps bring closure to Haiti's dirty past and still extremely difficult present. Everything short of that under the present circumstances, will only bring or add to resentment, and more hatred, and more difficult times for Haiti ahead.
After all, if anyone seriously cares about those victims of human rights abuses, s/he should care as well, and even mostly, about their economic prospective. How many, mothers are left without a son, or wives without a husband to bring food and money to them after a hard day's labor? What is the sense of keeping those people in jail when they could pay some real money for their misdeeds? Does anyone honestly believe that Avril in jail, or Toto Constant back in Haiti in a prison cell, will help feed their hungry victims?
