Haiti's Return to Terror

I had the privilege of visiting Haiti in July 1991. I was inspired by and amazed at the fresh sense of empowerment and pride in the budding democracy of the "new Haiti." A 60-year-old woman, a street vendor for more than 40 years, told us: "I am still poor, but, with Aristide, the police don't beat us up."

The illegal military coup in Haiti threatens a fragile democracy and the freedoms won after three decades of struggle against dictators who terrorized with violence and promoted the systemic violence of poverty. The coup leaders represent a return to the reign of terror.

European and U.S. citizens in Haiti have reported massacres in the worst slum of Port-au-Prince. One saw the army load up trucks of corpses and cart them away to be burned. Others report random shooting by the military of anyone on the streets. The only vehicles seen on the streets during the first days of the coup brandished flags of the Tontons Macoute, the brutal Haitian death squads.

If there were any doubts of the illegitimacy of the coup, they were dispelled as the military stormed the legislative building and forced the Haitian congress at gunpoint to appoint an interim president. The world watched as the diplomatic mission from the Organization of American States was evicted from Haiti by armed soldiers.

The U.S. government, originally very supportive of restoring President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, now appears to be distancing itself from him. Images of President Bush sitting on the same couch as Aristide have been replaced by vague references from Marlin Fitzwater that favoring a restoration of democracy does not mean restoring a particular individual.

Media reports have focused on "volumes" of human rights abuses under Aristide's government -- even though the day before the coup The New York Times described Aristide as "a fierce advocate of human rights." Our delegation to Haiti this summer met with Jean-Jacques Honorat, then director of CHADEL, the human rights group that compiled the list of Aristide's alleged human rights violations. CHADEL -- which has received funding from the U.S. government -- has played a key role in the political opposition to Aristide, and Honorat, who has become one of Aristide's most vocal critics, has been appointed prime minister in the military-sponsored government.

Honorat gave no evidence of Aristide's involvement in kidnappings, torture, or killings. In fact, as recently as July, CHADEL gave Aristide's government high marks on attitudes toward human rights and praised its restraint that diffused several potentially violent situations. We heard frequent testimony from others about the way Aristide's government had put an end to the torture, killings, beatings, and kidnapping by the military and the Tontons Macoutes.

THE U.S. MEDIA reported that Aristide has been accused by the illegal military junta of ordering the execution of Roger Lafontant, jailed leader of a January 1991 coup attempt and head of the Tontons Macoutes. French media reported it differently, saying that the coup was "apparently triggered by a raid on the Port-au-Prince prison holding Roger Lafontant ... The attack was apparently unsuccessful and Lafontant was killed during the fighting." One has to wonder why the U.S. media would print only the junta's version of the story.

There have been allegations that Aristide was training an elite presidential guard reminiscent of the Tontons Macoutes structure. It is important to note that the military has tried at least four times to kill Aristide. He survived assassination attempts before his election and survived the coup attempt in January 1991. Given the situation, Aristide has been understandably careful about who his bodyguards are. At his inauguration, Aristide urged reconciliation with the military. "If you see a solider in your neighborhood and he looks tired, give him a chair. If he looks thirsty, give him a drink.^"

Aristide has been charged with mobilizing the poor into an "instrument of real terror." Many poor people have urged Aristide to move even faster in his reforms. There was no indication that they would follow his every direction. The 1,000 dead since the coup began have been killed by the military, not by mob violence. It has been threats against democracy -- not speeches by Aristide -- that have started mob violence in Haiti.

Aristide's comments that seemed to encourage the brutal practice of "necklacing" are to be strongly condemned. But the comments need to be seen in the context of Aristide's consistent and frequent condemnation of all forms of violence, including necklacing, and his efforts for restraint and reconciliation. And even such offensive comments do not take away his right to govern.

The debate about Aristide in the United States is glaringly inappropriate. The fact is that a democratically elected government has been ousted by an illegal act. No matter what the evaluation of Aristide, there is no question that he is the clear choice of the people of Haiti. In a field of 12 candidates, he received 67 percent of the vote.

Haiti's tradition of democracy is less than one year old. It is maddening to see such a critical evaluation and judgment of Haiti's fragile efforts. Aristide's government was making significant gains in ending the violence and oppression that have been Haiti's lot for decades and longer.

The coup in Haiti is a real test for the international community. Will we listen to the wishes of the Haitian people and respect their choice of Jean-Bertrand Aristide as their president? Or will the Haitians be told again that they are too poor and too illiterate -- and, as some Haitians would charge, too black -- to really know what is best for them?

Anne McCarthy, OSB, was national coordinator of Pax Christi USA when this article appeared.