A layman's reflection on the imbroglio in Haiti

By John R. Sproat

SEMARANG (JP): As the father of a son serving as a medic with the United States Marines, I have been quite concerned with the unilateral actions of the present American administration regarding the Republic of Haiti.

While Haiti has been an independent nation for 190 years, it has never exhibited any evidence of political stability nor attempts toward economic independence. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was the 40th Haitian president since 1804. Of his predecessors, only four peacefully ended their terms (by dying in office) and three lived to retire. Of the others, 15 fled Haiti, seven were overthrown and six were executed or murdered while in office.

It is obvious that the internal strife of Haiti predates contemporary times. While under French rule, Haiti was the richest sugar producing colony in the Caribbean; now it is the poorest nation in the Americas, with an average per capita income of some US$370. Some 75 percent of the population is unemployed, and one third of the population is dependent on foreign aid programs for food and health care. (The USAID food program alone has been providing one million meals per day -- now being increased to 1.3 million).

Is Aristide Haiti's savior, or cut of the same cloth as those who passed before him? In order to prevent a recurrence of dictatorial rule experienced under the Duvaliers, the 1987 Haitian constitution drastically curtailed the president's power.

It allowed him to pick the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but the latter alone had the right to make all other military appointments. Aristide violated this constitution by first promoting Cedras over the incumbent, Gen. Herard Abraham.

Again in violation of the constitution, Aristide began posting officers loyal to him to the Presidential Guard and the Security Office of the Presidency. These officers included those who had previously deserted or had been cashiered from the military.

Most threatening to law, democracy, and Haiti's armed forces, however, was Aristide's organization of a paramilitary force called the Special Security Police -- a virtual replica of "Papa Doc" Duvalier's infamous Tonton Macoutes.

Aristide's police chief, Col. Pierre Cherubin, has been accused of being involved in drug trafficking and the murder of five young Haitians. (Cherubin recently went to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to recruit Haitian refugees as future security personnel in Haiti).

In 1991, Cherubin stood idly by while Aristide followers known as the Lavalas (Creole for "avalanche") broke into the parliament building, halted the proceedings, and beat up parliamentarians. Aristide threatened to surround the parliament with his Lavalas if it passed any motions contrary to his will -- a blatant threat to the basic rights of the national legislature which had been elected at the same time as Aristide.

The Lavalas went on a rampage and "necklaced" the Rev. Sylio Claude -- the second most popular Haitian after Aristide, and who had also run for president. ("necklacing' is where a tire is placed around the victim's neck, doused with kerosene or gasoline, then set afire. It was a method used by the ANC to terrorize its opponents in South Africa).

The Lavalas also shot and killed -- in his jail cell -- Roger Lafontant, who was serving 15 years for attempting a coup against Aristide before his inauguration. Haiti's first woman president, Ertha Pascal Trouillot, was accused of being an accomplice of Lafontant and was jailed. She was only freed due to the American ambassador's intervention. Lavalas violence continued through August and September 1991, spreading to military barracks where soldiers and civilians alike were maimed or forced to flee.

On Sept. 27, 1991, Aristide incited a large crowd of Lavalas to use "your tool in hand", meaning the "necklace". He said, "What a beautiful tool! It has a good smell. Wherever you go, you want to inhale it." Over the next two days, incited by the government radio station, mobs roamed the streets. At that time the military mobilized and arrested Aristide.

Cedras has been accused of reneging on the Governors Island accord he and Aristide agreed to in July 1993, under which Cedras was to have resigned as commander-in-chief on Oct. 30, 1993.

According to that agreement, Cedras and the coup leaders were to be granted amnesty not only by the president, but also by a law of amnesty coming out of parliament. (Interestingly, this is essentially the terms agreed to by the Carter Mission.) The UN negotiator for Haiti, Dante Caputo, confirms this condition and requested Aristide's then-Prime Minister, Robert Malval, to call an extraordinary session of parliament to vote on amnesty.

Aristide blocked this effort by simply forbidding his parliamentary faction to attend, thus making a quorum impossible.

The American administration's excuses for invading Haiti wither under examination. While Clinton used the umbrella of the Monroe Doctrine (to deal with affairs within the Americas), he usurped that 170-year-old fiat by asking the UN to "authorize" American action against Haiti. Not only did he show indifference to the U.S. Congress' right to be consulted regarding any invasion but he also gave the UN the right to authorize -- or refuse to authorize -- any future American actions in the Western Hemisphere.

History shows that Haiti has never cared for human rights, yet Clinton used that as another excuse. Palestinians, Bosnians, Myanmarese and others have suffered atrocities, but never the threat of an American invasion. The invasion's code name "Operation Restore Democracy" is pure hypocrisy -- how do you restore something that never existed?

Another excuse was that action had to be taken to stem the flow of Haitian refugees to America. Intercepting Cubans at sea and sending them to Guantanamo Bay, with no chance of entry into the U.S., proved an effective alternative to invasion.

In fact, this was another instance where Clinton had backed himself into a corner. Clinton had handed power in dealings with Haiti over to William Gray III and the Congressional Black Caucus, both of whom expressed extreme pro-Aristide bias. Those parties refused anything less than an invasion. Former President Carter helped calm the waters between North Korea and the U.S. after Clinton made warlike threats, and he did a commendable job in Haiti.

Now the American military is fulfilling Clinton's wishes, but nobody knows exactly why and for how long. When the U.S. occupied Haiti in 1915, it lasted 19 years and some 40,000 persons were killed. As the casualties from this invasion start, I can only pray that my son will not be one of them.

The writer is an American engineer working as a consultant at the Public Works Ministry office in Semarang.