I am sorry to say that despite hopes for a different turnout, all of these things, without exception, have come to pass. Earlier this year, after lengthy delays, Haitian voters went to the polls to elect a new legislature, municipal and local council leaders. Peacefully, they lined up in great numbers to exercise their right to elect their own representatives. However, determined to control the outcome on behalf of the Fanmi Lavalas political party, the Haitian government manipulated the results, rendering invalid an estimated one million ballots, about one third of the votes cast on election-day.

Immediately after the vote, the Haitian government attempted to suppress dissident voices and otherwise intimidate political opponents by rounding up several leaders on trumped up charges of illegal weapons possession or plans to subvert the political process. When Mr. Léon Manus, President of the Provisional Electoral Commission, balked at declaring that Fanmi Lavalas candidates seeking Senate seats had won outright when the evidence suggested otherwise, he faced veiled threats from President René Préval that prompted him to flee the country in the dark of the night, like other Haitians before him had done when François Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude – who ruled from 1957 to 1986 --tolerated no dissent.

The Haitian National Police is generally believed to be deeply involved in corruption, thefts, armed robberies and the drug trade. While the Government of Haiti continues to claim that the HNP is about 6,000 officers strong, most informed observers believe that police personnel numbers no more than 3,500. Several officers have left because of disillusionment with the police leadership and the visible bias in favor of Fanmi Lavalas party. Secretary of State for Public Security Robert Manuel was forced out in October 1999, and is now living in exile in Guatemala. Eucher Joseph, chief of the Police’s Internal Affairs Bureau – the Office of the Inspector General -- has also left the country for a Geneva posting. By all accounts, including our own assessment, during Mr. Joseph’s tenure as Inspector General his office was quick to respond to appeals from Haitian and international human rights groups and actively investigated several such cases. Neither one of these high police officials have been replaced. Instead, investigations of police wrongdoing, in particular human rights abuses, have come to a virtual halt.

Alleged investigations into human rights violations lead nowhere. In the early morning hours of April 4, 2000, Jean Léopold Dominique, Haiti’s most prominent journalist, was gunned down in a hail of gunfire. Visibly moved by the senseless killing, the government of Haiti declared three days of mourning and held a national funeral to honor Dominique’s work. Yet, when a crowd of demonstrators set forth from the government–held funeral for the offices of an opposition political coalition, vowing to destroy it, authorities did little to prevent their criminal activity. The band of demonstrators trashed and set fire to the offices while the Haitian police neither attempted to prevent the attack, nor rounded up the assailants afterwards.

More recently, the offices of Fondasyon Kole Zepòl (FONKOZE), an organization that bills itself as the alternative bank for the organized poor, were raided by a group of 10 armed men dressed in standard-issue police uniforms. The raid, which took place in broad daylight not far from the headquarters of the Port-au-Prince Police Force, ended with the men abducting a loyal FONKOZE employee, Amos Jeannot, after they emptied the small bank’s safe. About ten days later, Jeannot’s body turned up in the morgue with visible marks of torture.

According to FONKOZE officials, there would have been little police cooperation and virtually no investigation into this matter if external pressure had not been put on the Haitian government.

We believe that the government of Haiti cannot now assure protection of several of the fundamental rights set forth in the American Convention on Human Rights—the right to a fair trial by a competent tribunal; the right to judicial protection against acts that violate fundamental rights; the right to humane treatment, including the right not to be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment.

About a month ago, Claudette Etienne, a 44-year old Haitian woman, deported from the US under laws governing the fate of immigrants convicted of an aggravated felony, died from the inhumane conditions that she was subjected to in Haitian jails. She had not been charged nor convicted of any crime in Haiti itself. But as far as the Haitian authorities were concerned she was seen a threat to society. The Government of Haiti routinely detains such deportees, regardless of the severity of the crime for which they had been punished. According to the generally pro-government NY-based weekly Haiti-Progrès:

"A reporter visiting the holding cell at the Anti-Gang headquarters last week in downtown Port-au-Prince saw a scene reminiscent of a slave ship. In a twelve by fifteen foot cement cell, about forty men sat one behind the other in tight rows, knees to chins. There is no toilet, no sink, and no room to lie down. In the Pétionville jail …the cells are sometimes pitch black, the air thick with the stench of human sweat and waste, and temperatures inside can reach 105 degrees Fahrenheit."

Her death could have been prevented, but the Haitian government does not provide a daily meal to the people it holds in detention. They must rely on friends and family to fulfill this basic need. Claudette had none, having immigrated to the US at a young age.

Six years ago, our hearts filled with joy at the prospect that democracy would flourish under the rule of leaders committed to its development and the Haitian people’s welfare. We are saddened to conclude that Haiti today is saddled with a government that refuses to honor fundamental civil and political rights. Fear of persecution for expressing disagreements with government policy or calling officials to account for their action is once again gripping human rights advocates and community activists. Political conditions in Haiti will likely get worse in the near term as Haitian government leaders continue to ignore the appeals of the Haitian people and the international community. The government and the ruling party have isolated themselves from virtually every party, coalition and individual who stood on principles and sacrificed much in favor of President Aristide’s reinstatement. As it finds itself unable and unwilling to keep the commitments made in 1994, the government of Haiti will have no other option but to suppress violently civil and political rights.