Père Lebrun in Context
D'Adesky, Anne-Christine
The September military coup d'etat that overthrew Haitian president JeanBertrand Aristide shone a new spotlight on the issue of justice and human rights in Haiti. Aristide's great...
...And in an indirect reference to Ptre Lebrun, he said: "Your tool in hand, your instrument in hand, your constitution in hand...
...Aristide's great popularity stemmed from his outspoken commitment to human rights and to ending Haiti's legacy of dictatorship...
...But that does not excuse what I consider an error of judgement...
...Aristide planned to initiate vast reforms in the army, police, judiciary, and state-run industries, among them to separate the army from the police, a goal set forth in the 1987 constitution...
...But, he added, "mistakes were made by Aristide and his entourage...
...They are trying to blame Aristide but they are the ones coming to kill us...
...If the Haitian people hadn't fought back, Aristide wouldn't be in office, and we would still have a dictatorship...
...Under pressure since the coup, Aristide recently clarified his position on PNre Lebrun, condemning the violence and again stressing his support for the constitution...
...You have to understand that the climate was hostile, there were constant threats...
...Many, including the country's economic elite and opposition political parties, complained the president was inciting the poor to attack the rich...
...There was no trial...
...You have to see Pbre Lebrun in the actual context of the country," explained former soldier Patrick Bochard before the coup...
...Aristide's detractors charge that he supported mob lynchings, or "popular justice," whose grisly symbol is "Pbre Lebrun," a gasoline-soaked tire that is "necklaced" around a victim and set on fire...
...In an impromptu September 27 speech to supporters gathered in front of the national palace that has been widely disseminated in the international press since the coup, Aristide appeared to condone, and perhaps even encourage, the practice of Pare Lebrun...
...But his tacit acceptance of lynching as a political tool and his failure to speak out earlier have lost him the unqualified faith of some and planted a damaging seed of doubt in many...
...Honorat, a strong Aristide critic who later became prime ministerof the post-coup government, complained about the unwillingness of local lawyers to defend Lafontant...
...I 7critics felt Aristide was strengthening his already cult-like status to the point where dissent and free speech were threatened...
...In a more symbolic effort on February 8, Aristide presided over a moving ceremony for Duvalier's victims at the notorious Ft...
...many have been tortured...
...But in a subtle shift, he added to the list of fair targets the vague term "false Lavalassien," which may have been interpreted as "a non-Aristide supporter...
...He declared "a new marriage" between the army and the Haitian people, and courted the army rank and file by allotting $6 million to improve working conditions for soldiers...
...We need to put these people to work rebuilding the country, like a civil police...
...Soldiers have also looted businesses, extorted money from civilians, and pillaged private homes...
...That same day, he forbade over 150 members of the previous Trouillot regime to leave the country, pending an audit of the state's accounts...
...Many poor youths from the Cite Soleil and Carrefour districts of Port-au-Prince are still reported missing...
...During a failed coup attempt led by Duvalier's former interior minister and Tontons Macoutes chief Roger Lafontant on January 7, a month before Aristide's inauguration, crowds again used tires and gasoline to stop the coup from succeeding...
...Who are the real criminals...
...IF This mixed record ought to be re- viewed in the context of Aristide's efforts at reform...
...Using strong language, Aristide told the upper class they must invest in Haiti and give food and jobs to the poor...
...Ironically, opponents have pounced on Aristide' s mixed human rights record to justify a coup that has led to an escalation of human rights abuse...
...In an effort to educate public officials about the constitution and human rights issues, the president planned to open a magistrate's school for judges and a police academy in 1992...
...A Macoute Trial The most important of these was the July27 trial ofex-Macoute leaderRoger Lafontant, jailed after his failed coup attempt in January...
...Finally, VOLUME XXV...
...Aristide also sought to purge the army of former Duvalieristes...
...NUMBER 3 (DECEMBER 1991) Anne-Christine D'Adesky is a freelance writer who specializes in Haiti and human rights...
...In a July interview, Aristide claimed that "without a system of justice that is not corrupt, the people must remain vigilant...
...These reforms would lead nowhere unless the justice system was able to enforce them...
...asked constitution author Dr...
...asked Antoine B. from Cit6 Soleil...
...Later he appointed a cabinet-level commission, followed by an independent one, to review human rights abuses committed during the 1957-1990 period, with an eye toward prosecution...
...The idea is to re-train the army and the police...
...It is the army and the bourgeoisie...
...He exhorted the poor and unemployed to "turn your eyes in the direction of those with the means...
...Aristide started to become president for seventy percent of the people and wanted to forget the other thirty percent," said a top aide looking back over events...
...In his electoral campaign a year ago, Aristide made it clear that justice would be a priority for his administration...
...Once elected, he declared "a new marriage" between the army and the Haitian people...
...Others hung onto their weapons and remained in the pay of local landowners, firing on peasant groups during land disputes...
...Summing up public opinion prior to the coup, left opposition leader Bajeux said: "There's a mounting frustration in the Parliament with Aristide and a fear among the elite...
...But in the absence of a functioning legal system, the move backfired in some areas...
...Don't hesitate to give him what he deserves...
...In his inaugural speech, Aristide replaced six of the seven members of the powerful army high command, considered "the old guard...
...In another blow to army power, Aristide put the country's 555 section chiefs, or rural sheriffs, under the jurisdiction of the Justice Ministry, not the military, and ordered them to turn in their weapons...
...He was careful to talk about Pbre Lebrun as a means of assuring respect for the constitution, which he called "our only guide to justice...
...We need the army and police for ports, customs and border control...
...Slum residents who fled the cities in terror remain in the countryside, while those unable to leave fear for their lives...
...Lavalas is Aristide's political organization...
...Aristide is doing nothing to change that...
...Aristide has been criticized for his handling of the Justice Ministry...
...The army massacred and wounded hundreds of civilians during and after the coup...
...An Error in Judgement "There is no excuse or justification for the army coup," said Jean-Claude Bajeux, a human rights advocate and member of the Konakom opposition party, as the coup unfolded...
...Now, in the aftermath of the coup, critics have accused Aristide of failing to uphold these very principles...
...They also felt Aristide, contrary to his call for national unity, was emphasizing the gap between the two classes...
...They are afraid of being lynched and for good reason...
...Residents complained that the unarmed sheriffs were unwilling to intervene to stop violent disputes...
...Duly empowered, he arrested a dozen top officers linked to Duvalier, including the powerful exREPORT ON THE AMERICAS o EL police chief, Isidor Pongnon...
...He also re-hired pro-democratic soldiers who had been fired under previous regimes...
...In this speech as in prior ones, Aristide specifically named the Tontons Macoutes as legitimate targets of popular vigilance...
...At the top of his agenda was the immediate need to curb the threat of a coup and to reduce everyday street violence by armed gangs...
...Others have been arrested without charges or evidence on the grounds of plotting Phre Lebruntype actions...
...Pare Lebrun (the name comes from a local tire dealer) was used by angry crowds against known or suspected Duvalieristes after the fall of the dictatorship in 1986...
...After a while, they rebelled...
...He should have spoken out," admitted a close aide to the deposed president, who requested anonymity...
...They are afraid of reprisals by Aristide's people," he said...
...The army used Aristide's Phre Lebrun threat as a justification for several raids on poor neighborhoods where support for Aristide and resistance to the coup are strongest...
...Aristide supporters kept a 24-hour vigil outside and following the announcement of the verdict, Aristide declared a national holiday, thanking his supporters for assuring "that the Macoute trial went ahead without problems...
...Under the constitution, Aristide was legally entitled to a six-month "grace period" during which he could make major reforms without the approval of the legislature...
...By refusing to condemn PNre Lebrun, he is seen as tolerating this kind of violence...
...On August 13, some 2,000 Aristide supporters threatened legislators inside the National Assembly in an attempt to stop a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Rene Preval...
...This was viewed as part of a longer term effort to demilitarize Haiti and create a new role for the country's uniformed men-and, for the first time, women...
...The right to public assembly is gone, along with free speech and a free press...
...Dimanche military prison...
...Dozens of Aristide officials and supporters are in jail...
...Why does Haiti need such a big army...
...His minister, Baynard Vincent, resigned in May after being indirectly implicated in a scandal...
...Louis Roy in February...
...The order was eventually dropped, but not before alarming the military and political establishment long accustomed to corruption and patronage...
...Who are the real perpetrators of the terror...
...According to a post-coup survey of Ptre Lebrun incidents by the New Yorkbased National Coalition for Haitian Refugees (NCHR), 25 people were killed in mob lynchings during the seven months of Aristide's tenure...
...He is not responsible forthe violence, but neither should he give the impression of having accepted or supported it...
...Though Lafontant was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with hard labor, the marathon 21-hour trial seemed more a political event than ajudicial procedure...
...Later that week, Aristide supporters burned the headquarters of the CATH labor union to protest an anti-Aristide campaign by CATH organizer Jean-Auguste Mesyeux...
...Aristide campaigns in Cap-Haitien in late 1990...
...Aristide replaced four Supreme Court justices considered "compromised," and initiated a similar clean-up of judges in the countryside...
...His replacement, Karl Auguste, was unable to organize effectively the government's case against several Duvalieristes accused of plotting against the state...
...There was a travesty of justice," said Jean-Jacques Honorat, a lawyer and head of the CHADEL human rights organization at the time...
Vol. 25 • December 1991 • No. 3
