Democratic Order Must Be Restored Swiftly in Haiti

Decisive Steps Needed to Help Break Political Impasse

On March 1, 1999, for reasons and under circumstances that remain unclear, Senator Yvon Toussaint, member of the Organisation du Peuple en Lutte (OPL), was gunned down in a residential neighborhood in Port-au-Prince. His assassination has occurred on the heels of a nearly 2-month old Presidential decision to govern alone, without the benefits of the checks and balances offered by parliamentary democracy. And it follows an armed attempt on the life of the President’s sister, Ms. Marie-Claude Préval, the breakdown of talks to resolve the impasse, violent student demonstrations in the Capital, and creeping popular despair over the future of a country that appears more and more rudderless and lawless.

Under these conditions, the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR) calls for an immediate return to constitutional order in Haiti and for international donors to take drastic steps to reduce assistance to the Haitian government until such order is restored.

On January 11, 1999 President René Préval refused to recognize the mandates of the elected Parliament, mayors and other local officials, effectively closing the legislature, firing elected local officials and appointing his own representatives in their place. These actions have led the President to establish a de facto regime in which most political power is in the hands of the executive, a government lacking constitutional legitimacy and operating outside the rule of law. Repeated promises by the President and his designated Prime Minister to form a broadly representative government and electoral commission to guide the country to fair elections over the last month have not materialized. As an independent, non-partisan human rights organization dedicated to the establishment of democratic politics and respect for human rights in Haiti, NCHR believes it is time for serious measures to halt the move away from democratic principles.

President Préval’s decision to declare that the Parliament’s legal term of office had ended was the culmination of a two-year political crisis during which the legislators and the President could not agree on a prime minister, leaving the country without a functioning government during a period of increasing economic and social disintegration. NCHR has taken no position on the power struggle between former allies -- which once monopolized power under a single political umbrella – other than to (1) note that neither group has acquitted itself well throughout the two-year crisis and (2) call for all political groups to reach a compromise that would permit the government to address the horrendous economic and social problems facing the country within the constitutional framework. NCHR has also decried the irresponsible failure of the government to address key institutional reforms, particularly the rebuilding of the judicial system, during the last two years. Millions of dollars in international assistance for reform efforts crucial for the establishment of the rule of law and protection of human rights have been lost, and related improvements to other key government agencies–most importantly, the Haitian National Police–are seriously threatened.

However difficult the effort to reach an agreement among Haiti’s contending political forces, democratic procedures must be respected. President Préval’s actions on January 11 constituted a blow to Haiti’s fragile efforts to build a new democratic culture. While the question of the constitutional ability of the existing parliament to extend its mandate for an additional year may be unclear, a democratic solution requires an agreement between President Préval and the Parliament to change the electoral law to extend the Parliament’s term for an additional year. Although the Constitution calls for a four-year term for members of Parliament, the mandate of the existing institution was reduced to three years by an electoral law to restore the election timetable to that contemplated by the Constitution (the timetable had been interrupted by the 1991-1994 coup). Amending that law to extend the parliament for an additional year would not do violence to the Constitution and would maintain the legislative opposition that serves as a critical check on the abuse of power by the executive in democratic systems. Whatever the status of the Parliament, President Préval had no constitutional authority to end the terms of independently elected mayors and local councils and then replace those officials with unelected civil servants under the control of the executive. Eliminating the opposition–as President Préval has effectively done in Parliament and with local officials–is no way to deal with deep political disagreements. Particularly when the problem of the length of the terms of these elected officials was caused by the failure of political leaders–including President Préval–to organize fair elections in 1997 and 1998.

NCHR, therefore, calls upon President Préval, Haitian legislators, political parties and leaders, to take the following steps:

Immediately restore the Parliament. The members of Parliament should immediately be called back into session and the electoral law amended to extend the parliament’s mandate for an additional year while new elections are organized.

Form a new government. The Prime Minister-designate did not complete his constitutional duty to submit his cabinet and his government program to the legislature for approval before it was disbanded by the President. No new government can be considered legitimate unless and until these constitutional requirements are met. Since the organization of truly credible and fair elections will take at least several months, the restoration of the parliament as a check on executive power during the runup to elections and to ensure that any elections that do take place are fair. Let us also note that the semi-nebulous state in which the Prime Minister-designate finds himself undermines his capacity to be the chief leader of government policy while it strengthens the President’s control of the State and the government.

Organize elections. The organization of new elections is now widely viewed as the only credible way out of the existing political crisis among both Haitian and international actors. NCHR has two concerns, though, about the electoral process. The first is that negotiations for the constitution of a representative and widely-respected electoral council will drag on for months, dimming the prospects for credible elections and leading to a repetition of the disastrous April 1997 vote in which only 5% of the eligible population turned out and widespread fraud led to the current political stalemate. The second is that the Haitian government does not have the financial or technical resources to organize and carry out an election which will attract a large percentage of eligible voters. International donors will probably be approached for organizational and financial assistance, as well as election monitoring. Any international assistance should be conditioned on the fairness of the electoral council and electoral procedures and timing to avoid participating in and providing an international imprimateur for elections which end up highly flawed and unfair. Organize elections. The organization of new elections is now widely viewed as the only credible way out of the existing political crisis among both Haitian and international actors. NCHR has two concerns, though, about the electoral process. The first is that negotiations for the constitution of a representative and widely-respected electoral council will drag on for months, dimming the prospects for credible elections and leading to a repetition of the disastrous April 1997 vote in which only 5% of the eligible population turned out and widespread fraud led to the current political stalemate. The second is that the Haitian government does not have the financial or technical resources to organize and carry out an election which will attract a large percentage of eligible voters. International donors will probably be approached for organizational and financial assistance, as well as election monitoring. Any international assistance should be conditioned on the fairness of the electoral council and electoral procedures and timing to avoid participating in and providing an international imprimateur for elections which end up highly flawed and unfair.

As a result of the ongoing political crisis, particularly President Préval’s recent steps to close the parliament and dismiss mayors and local officials, NCHR calls upon the United States, the United Nations and other international donors to freeze all non-humanitarian and non-civil society aid to Haiti until this ever-worsening two-year crisis is resolved in a way in which Haiti’s government returns to the slow, sometimes tortured path toward a democratic political culture.

The United States should end all judicial reform assistance to the Haitian government and focus its aid on increasing support for Haiti’s fledging non-governmental sector, particularly the human rights, social service and self-help organizations which can resist efforts by political groups to consolidate power in an undemocratic way.

Judicial reform efforts have, in any case, been marked by serious design, implementation and coordination problems since they were launched in 1995 and even recent improvements in performance could not overcome the complete absence of Haitian governmental interest in reform measures during the last two years. Without a Ministry of Justice engaged in coordinating reform initiatives and an executive and parliament prepared to support legislation necessary to restructure the judiciary, reform efforts are useless. In light of the current crisis, it is not likely under the best of circumstances that any government will be in place to look seriously at reform in this area until after presidential elections in the year 2000. In addition, no international donor should provide support to a judiciary under a government whose constitutional and democratic legitimacy are questionable.

The United States should work with other donor governments, United Nations agencies and foundations to develop mechanisms for helping struggling human rights and other non-governmental organizations to develop the organizational, investigation, reporting and fundraising skills necessary for the growth of a civil society which can effectively monitor government compliance with human rights and democratic political norms and educate the Haitian public on these issues. NCHR recognizes the serious needs of Haiti’s very young civil society groups and thus the tremendous challenges involved in helping them to grow to become effective, but also recognizes that Haiti’s prospects for a democratic future depend in great part on the ability of these organizations to mature. While few Haitian groups may accept direct American assistance for political reasons, the United States can coordinate with other donors in a collective effort to arrange for the support that Haitian NGOs indicate they need.

2. The United Nations and the Organization of American States human rights mission in Haiti, MICIVIH, should also rethink its role in light of political developments over the last two years, and most particularly since January 1999. Given the fact that judicial reform is effectively dead for the foreseeable future, MICIVIH, too, should end its judicial sector work and focus its resources for the remainder of its mandate on the civil society groups it has sporadically attempted to help. Haitian NGOs should assume much of the general human rights monitoring and reporting now carried on by MICIVIH. 2. The United Nations and the Organization of American States human rights mission in Haiti, MICIVIH, should also rethink its role in light of political developments over the last two years, and most particularly since January 1999. Given the fact that judicial reform is effectively dead for the foreseeable future, MICIVIH, too, should end its judicial sector work and focus its resources for the remainder of its mandate on the civil society groups it has sporadically attempted to help. Haitian NGOs should assume much of the general human rights monitoring and reporting now carried on by MICIVIH.

Haiti has arrived at a critical juncture in its efforts to overcome the legacy of two centuries of dictatorship and establish the basis for a democratic future. Much of what has been achieved over the last 13 years—at an enormous cost in bloodshed and suffering—now seems at risk as political factions vie for absolute control of the state instead of seeking to resolve serious differences within democratic procedures. NCHR calls upon all parties to face the stark political alternatives now facing Haiti and to take firm measures to avoid the slide toward authoritarianism. Human rights flourish only in states with strong opposing political parties, a neutral police force, and an independent and strong judiciary.