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TITLE: HAITI HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
HAITI
The Haitian military has effectively ruled the country since
its unconstitutional, violent overthrow and expulsion of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in September 1991. From
January to August, Haiti was ruled by an unconstitutional de
facto regime, the second since the coup. On July 3 the
military high command signed an agreement with President
Aristide on Governors Island, New York to restore
constitutional order. Pursuant to the accord, on August 30,
Prime Minister Robert Malval, appointed by President Aristide,
was sworn in to office. The military high command failed to
respect the provisions of the Governors Island accord which
delayed full implementation by the end of the year. Malval
held de jure power throughout this period but was unable to
effect full control of the Government, and actual power
remained in the hands of the military and its supporters.
Ministers in the Malval Government were often prevented from
carrying out their duties by threats, violence, and other forms
of intimidation. On October 14, Justice Minister Guy Malary
was killed in downtown Port-au-Prince. Although the killers
had not been identified by year's end, there is strong reason
to believe they were supporters of the military. Prime
Minister Malval resigned on December 15, in keeping with his
announced intentions, but stayed on as acting Prime Minister
pending appointment of a replacement.
The Haitian armed forces, which have considerable legal and
institutional autonomy, are responsible for law enforcement and
public security. The police, all of whom are stationed in
Port-au-Prince, are an integral part of the armed forces. In
both urban and rural areas, armed forces units serve as police,
despite a constitutional requirement to separate these two
bodies. Paramilitary personnel in civilian clothes (known as
"attaches" in the city or "section chiefs" and "adjoints" in
rural areas) conduct most of the intimidation and violent
repression for both the police and the army. Military, police,
and paramilitary personnel committed numerous serious human
rights violations with impunity in 1993.
The Haitian economy is characterized by severe overpopulation
vis-a-vis ever dwindling arable land due to environmental
devastation, high infant mortality, a heavy dependence on
imports and foreign assistance, a predominantly rural
population living on rapidly eroding land, wide disparities of
income, and a small manufacturing base. While never strong,
the economy declined in recent years, owing to political
instability and government mismanagement. That decline
continued in 1993 and was intensified by the Organization of
American States' (OAS) trade embargo and the United Nations'
fuel embargo, as well as the suspension of all but
international humanitarian assistance following the 1991 coup.
Haitians suffered frequent human rights abuses throughout 1993,
including political and extrajudicial killings by the security
forces and their allies, disappearances, beatings and other
mistreatment of detainees and prisoners, arbitrary arrest and
detention, executive interference with the judicial process,
and continued infringement of the rights of citizens to change
their government. More than 200 civilian human rights
observers from the United Nations and the OAS were deployed
throughout the country from February through October when they
were withdrawn due to perceived threats and intimidation.
Their presence temporarily helped curb political violence and
human rights violations, but indiscriminate violence remained
substantial, especially in rural areas, where two-thirds of
Haitians live. There was a substantial increase in crimes of
violence, including politically motivated killings, beginning
in July and August, as tensions rose over the Governors Island
accords and military efforts to derail their implementation.
Most of the violence is directed at stopping the transition to
democracy.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
Levels of violence were high throughout 1993 and were
exacerbated by the manifest unwillingness of the military and
de facto government to respect human rights, curb extrajudicial
killings, and pursue criminal justice. Until its withdrawal in
October, the wide-scale presence throughout Haiti of the
U.N./OAS International Civilian Mission (ICM) human rights
observers helped prevent even greater violence.
The ICM began formally collecting and publishing data on human
rights abuses in June, and the mission registered over 100
homicide cases from June to September. It is difficult to
assess the actual number of political and extrajudicial
killings, because judicial authorities rarely conducted
criminal investigations into any unexplained deaths, including
violent ones such as murder, whether political or not. For
example, the ICM registered a disturbing increase in killings
in Port-au-Prince and environs in July and August. According
to the ICM, the number of murders in the city climbed from 5 in
May and 9 in June to 67 for the combined months of July and
August. Of these 67 killings, ICM officials believe at least
7 may have been politically motivated. The ICM registered
three deaths in official custody from suspected unnatural
causes from May to August, but informed observers believed the
number of such deaths was significantly higher. Some local
groups published much higher estimates, but their methodology
was not as careful as the ICM's and their figures could not be
verified.
No serious investigation of these killings was undertaken by
judicial or military authorities. The Haitian army general
staff, under strong pressure from the ICM, transferred a few
army officers for repeated abuses and dismissed one officer on
human rights grounds in 1993. As a general pattern, however,
the military avoided disciplining even flagrant abusers. An
army corporal accused of the August murder of a peasant in the
Central Plateau was transferred to a nearby department.
Although initially described by military authorities as "under
arrest and investigation," the soldier was, in fact, loosely
confined to barracks, and there was little indication of any
"ongoing" investigation.
Elements of the military and their unpaid deputies, or
"attaches," continued their vigilante actions, particularly in
Port-au-Prince. There was strong evidence of systematic
complicity between city police and criminal and vigilante
gangs. Attache violence resulted in at least one death and
numerous injuries at a September 8 city hall ceremony to mark
the return of Port-au-Prince's pro-Aristide mayor, ousted
following the coup. Several days later, armed civilians
attacked Aristide supporters during a church service, killing
prominent pro-Aristide activist Antoine Izmery and one other
person. Justice Minister Guy Malary was similarly murdered in
public on October 14. No investigation or arrests have been
made in either case.
One homicide case with political implications was investigated
by judicial authorities during the year: the July 1991 torture
and murder of five youths while in police custody. Following
the arrest of the policeman accused of the murder, President
Aristide publicly praised him in a September 11, 1991, speech.
A Port-au-Prince magistrate determined in July, despite
compelling evidence to the contrary, that "reasonable doubt"
existed concerning the guilt of the accused policeman and
dropped all charges.
b. Disappearance
Haitian human rights advocates point out that, because many
Aristide activists remained in hiding, it was difficult to
verify reports of disappearances. The ICM recorded 1 reported
disappearance between February and May, then 10 in June. There
were eight abduction and subsequent release cases and five
disappearances in July and August. Historically, the
"disappeared" in Haiti are either never found or found
murdered. Increased political tension in the latter half of
the year may have altered and exacerbated patterns of violent
intimidation.
The bullet-riddled body of a relative of a local journalist was
discovered July 13 on the coastal road north of Port-au-Prince.
The journalist had photographed soldiers pistol-whipping their
way to the front of a gas line during the U.N./OAS fuel
embargo. After an independent local daily published the photo,
the reporter was arrested and beaten and family members were
harassed, leading to the disappearance and murder of the
journalist's cousin. Criminal elements associated with
Port-au-Prince's 22nd police company were suspected of
involvement in the crime; the Government took no action to
investigate or prosecute.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution guarantees each citizen the right to life,
health, respect of the human person, and individual liberty.
In addition the Constitution prohibits unnecessary force or
restraint, psychological pressure, or physical brutality.
These constitutional protections were largely ignored, and
ill-treatment remained widespread, particularly the threat of
physical violence used by police and soldiers to extort money
from detainees and their families. Brutal beatings with fists
and clubs, torture, and other cruel treatment of detainees were
common. In June a pregnant woman arrested for theft in the
southern town of Jeremie was beaten so badly that she lost her
child.
Three labor leaders arrested and beaten in April were held at
the Port-au-Prince military hospital for several days following
their legal release. They were probably detained and treated
at the military hospital because the extent of their injuries
would have aroused local and international outrage had they
been released immediately.
Prison conditions are abysmal. Detainees regularly have no
access to legal counsel and continue to suffer from a lack of
the most basic hygienic facilities as well as inadequate food
and health care. Children are regularly detained together with
adults in violation of the rule that children should be
detained separately. The 1987 Constitution calls for prisons
to be administered by the Ministry of Justice. The army
continues to control them, although the military authorities
have asked to be relieved of responsibility for prison
administration. The ICM attempted to monitor prison conditions
throughout the country and to prepare registers of all
prisoners but periodically was denied access to prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Arbitrary arrest and detention remain among the most persistent
human rights abuses in Haiti. The ICM recorded more than 300
cases of arbitrary arrest from June to August. According to
the Constitution, a person may be arrested only if apprehended
during the commission of a crime or if a judicial warrant has
been issued and must be brought before a judge within 48 hours
of arrest. In practice, however, arbitrary arrest and
detention as well as interrogation without legal counsel
present are common and are frequently used by soldiers and
provincial officials to intimidate and extort money from the
populace. The frequency of this practice makes it difficult to
determine the number of arrests on purely political grounds.
The Constitution calls for the separation of the police from
the military, with the civilian police under Justice Ministry
authority. One goal of the Governors Island accord was passage
of enabling legislation aimed at finally separating the police
from the army. On the basis of this legislation and with
U.N.-sponsored training and assistance for the new police
force, a new rural police force was to be deployed to the
provinces to replace the infamous "section chiefs," a form of
local constabulary in rural areas who are responsible for
numerous arbitrary arrests. Section chiefs commonly obtained
their positions by bribing the military commanders who appoint
them, recouping their "investment" in turn by accepting money
from individuals called attaches or adjoints who also extort
money from the peasant population under threat of arbitrary
arrests and beatings.
Politically active clergy were frequently victims of arbitrary
arrest and harassment by the military and the paramilitary
attaches, as part of a more general intimidation campaign
against Aristide sympathizers, particularly in the
countryside. In February pro-Aristide bishop Willy Romelus was
attacked by civilians after giving a funeral mass at the
Port-au-Prince cathedral. The bishop was escorted from the
cathedral site by U.N./OAS civilian observers. Arrests and
harassment of journalists are frequent and form part of an
overall pattern of government and military intimidation of the
media.
Two American citizens were illegally detained in 1993, at the
behest of relatives, in cases involving family land disputes.
One American citizen was illegally detained for "lack of
respect to a uniformed police officer on duty."
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
This right is widely and severely abridged. The Constitution
provides for an independent judiciary and the right to a fair
public trial. It expressly denies police and judicial
authorities the right to interrogate persons charged with a
crime unless the suspect has legal counsel present or waives
this right. Nevertheless, interrogation without legal counsel
present is the norm, and the use of beatings and torture to
extract confessions is widespread. Moreover, contempt for the
judiciary dating back to the Duvalier regime rendered it a
vestigial branch of government, understaffed, poorly trained,
and inadequately compensated. Seven years after the Duvaliers'
fall, the judicial branch's lamentable state has not improved.
All governments since 1986 have continued the practice of
appointing and removing judges at will and of exerting
political influence at every stage of the judicial process.
The Code of Criminal Procedure does not clearly assign
responsibility to investigate crimes, and there are no
penalties for delay or inaction. Authority to prosecute is
divided among police, prosecutors, and investigating
magistrates. Overlapping authority invites the abdication of
responsibility and encourages tacit complicity in widespread
corruption.
The Code also stipulates two criminal court sessions per year
to try all major crimes requiring a jury trial. These sessions
usually last only 2 weeks, and in some years only one session
is held. Failure to reform the Code has resulted in a huge
backlog, with detainees sometimes waiting years in pretrial
detention for a court date. A U.S. citizen charged with murder
(he was 15 years old at the time he was alleged to have
committed the crime) has been detained for more than 2 years
awaiting trial. Taking the month of April as an example, the
Port-au-Prince metropolitan military announced total arrests
for the month to have been 1,018. Some 212 prisoners were
released in April, with 90 referred to the public prosecutors'
office for possible charges. During the same month, the
Chamber of Deputies' Justice Committee counted 700 prisoners at
the National Penitentiary, including about 250 military
prisoners. Fewer than 100 of the total penitentiary population
were actually serving sentences. The rest were accused persons
held without bail. If the accused is ultimately tried and
found innocent, he has no recourse against the Government for
time already served.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
Throughout 1993 there were many credible reports of soldiers
and other armed persons entering private homes for illegal
purposes. Similar arbitrary searches were equally common in
the provinces, with clergy suspected of pro-Aristide sympathies
a particular target. In addition, armed urban bandits called
"zenglendos" violently raided entire neighborhoods of
Port-au-Prince, confident that the police, with whom they are
alleged to have strong ties, would not intervene.
Police roadblocks were also used frequently to conduct illegal
searches, especially during periods of real or perceived
political tension. In January police beat and held at gunpoint
a foreign missionary at a police roadblock for having in his
possession weekly newspapers, sold openly in Port-au-Prince,
which mentioned President Aristide. Police shot and wounded
another foreigner in February for accidentally running a
roadblock. The discovery of pro-Aristide posters or literature
during a police search of a house or vehicle frequently
resulted in illegal arrest. There were credible reports that
police and military also seized private correspondence during
such searches.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Freedom of speech and the press is provided for by the
Constitution but is often abridged because of intimidation and
self-censorship. With an illiteracy rate of approximately
80 percent, broadcast media, especially Creole-language radio,
have unusual importance, and independent broadcast media were
particular targets. In February Conatel, the Haitian board
governing communications, invoked a Duvalier-era decree to
order all radio station directors to suppress all information
that might "alarm the populace."
Nineteen radio stations operate in Port-au-Prince, 11 of which
offer news programming. Four radio stations operating before
the coup closed permanently. News broadcasts exercise sporadic
self-censorship, conditioned by events and political tensions.
Print media enjoyed greater freedom, possibly as a result of
their relatively small readership. Two independent daily
newspapers operate in Port-au-Prince; pro-Aristide weeklies
published in Haiti and in the United States were freely sold in
the streets, although vendors of some of these publications
were harassed sporadically. The army and the police also
frequently harassed, beat, or detained persons they found in
possession of pro-Aristide literature. There were numerous
incidents of illegal detention and petty harassment of radio
and print journalists during 1993.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly and
association, but these rights were severely restricted
following the 1991 coup d'etat. There were credible reports
from all parts of Haiti that the military engaged in a
systematic effort to inhibit any type of association during
1993. Soldiers fired into the air to disperse gatherings.
Some community organizers, even of nonpolitical organizations,
were arrested and sometimes beaten, harassed, or intimidated
into fleeing their own communities. Grassroots liberation
theology organizations in the countryside remain a strong base
of support for President Aristide. These groups and their
leaders were particular targets of military and paramilitary
harassment, such as short-term arrests clearly intended to
intimidate. These arrests often followed the discovery of
pro-Aristide materials during illegal military searches of
homes, vehicles, and church rectories. Most civic education,
community health, and literacy organizations were prevented
from operating normally.
c. Freedom of Religion
Religion is an integral part of Haitian life and culture and is
practiced widely. Roman Catholicism and voodoo (a mixture of
African beliefs and Christianity) are the two major religions.
Members of various Protestant denominations and foreign
missionary groups openly seek converts. There are no
government restrictions on missionary activities, affiliations
with overseas coreligionists, or religious instruction or
publishing.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
There were credible reports that many Haitians moved from one
area of the country to another to evade abusive local
authorities. Estimates of those numbers vary widely, and a
lack of statistics make it difficult to establish the actual
number. However, it is likely that several thousand Haitians
are internally displaced.
There were no cases of government restriction on foreign travel
in 1993. Although the clandestine departure of migrants is
technically a violation of Haitian immigration law and
punishable by fines or jail sentences, the authorities made
only token efforts to interfere with such migration,
occasionally in the form of soliciting small bribes to permit
departure. Authorities intermittently detained and prosecuted
suspected organizers of the voyages.
Throughout 1993 U.S. authorities engaged in interdiction and
repatriation of illegal Haitian migrants bound for the United
States. Although Haitian boat people face the same difficult
conditions affecting Haitians in general, in interviews the
U.S. Embassy refugee program has conducted with returnees, no
credible claims of retribution have been made by those
repatriated Haitians who are not involved in organizing the
voyages. Persons suspected of organizing the illegal departures
are generally taken into police custody and detained briefly.
Since February 1992, the U.S. Embassy and the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS) have provided in-country processing
of refugee applications by Haitians claiming well-founded fear
of persecution, and INS has granted refugee status to
approximately 2,000 Haitians who are then transported to the
United States.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
The right of citizens to change their government was forcibly
abridged by the September 1991 military coup, and again in
October 1993 when the army and its allies refused to implement
the Governors Island accords. President Aristide was forced to
flee the country after the coup, and most senior members of his
administration either went into hiding, fled the country, or
took refuge in foreign embassies.
The Parliament and such local officials as mayors were elected
along with President Aristide at the end of 1990. Some local
elected officials were persecuted and ousted from office after
the coup. Members of Parliament remained in place and have
played a continuing role in political events since the coup.
In January the de facto government mandated, pursuant to an
"executive order," by-elections for nine senate and four
chamber seats. Pro-Aristide political parties refused to run
for the vacant seats. The by-elections were conducted
irregularly and the results were not recognized by the
international community. Members of Parliament and leaders of
political parties agreed at the United Nations in July that
those elected to parliamentary seats in January would refrain
from participating in legislative business until a solution to
the problem could be found by the incoming constitutional
government.
There are no de jure impediments to women's participation in
politics or government. De facto impediments include economic
factors such as poorer families "rationing" education money to
pay school fees for male children only, and the general lower
status of women which limits their role in these fields.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
About a dozen local human rights groups exist in Haiti, but
only a few were active. All of the local human rights groups
depended upon five attorneys in Port-au-Prince who offered pro
bono legal defense assistance. These attorneys were also
training paralegals to defend cases in the provinces. Human
rights organization officials reported repeated threats but
still managed to operate relatively freely. Haitian human
rights figures and groups have publicly criticized the
Government, although more so under the previous de facto regime
than in the late-1993 political climate of intimidation and
increased violence. Most such groups do not have the means or
training to investigate government activities. One human
rights group conducted a prison visit/reform program during
1993. The program halted when the group's director was
threatened by armed civilians who invaded his home in late
October; the director ultimately was forced to leave the
country.
The ICM, a team of international human rights observers which
eventually numbered more than 200, were deployed throughout
Haiti under U.N. and OAS auspices until October. The ICM's
activities were largely tolerated by military and de facto
civilian authorities, although access to prisons was blocked
intermittently by local officials. On two occasions ICM
vehicles were deliberately damaged: one was stoned by a
pro-Aristide mob and another was battered by soldiers and armed
civilians. ICM personnel were followed and intimidated by army
enlisted men in the Artibonite Valley and in the Central
Plateau, two areas known for strong pro-Aristide sympathies and
repressive local military commands, but no ICM personnel were
harmed. ICM personnel were temporarily evacuated to the
Dominican Republic in October because of concern for their
personal safety during heightened political tension over
implementation of the Governors Island accords. At the end of
the year, ICM personnel had not yet returned but were expected
to begin returning by the end of January 1994.
Representatives of international human rights organizations
visited Haiti regularly. These groups also faced threats and
harassment, but their high profile permitted them to operate
relatively freely. In August the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights visited to gather information on the human rights
situation. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Haiti was part of
that delegation.
Section 5 Discrimination based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
Women
Officially, there is no discrimination against women. While
the 1987 Constitution does not specifically prohibit
discrimination against women, it does establish fundamental
rights for "all citizens." Women have occupied prominent
positions in both the public and private sectors in recent
years. In some social strata, however, women's roles have been
limited by tradition. Peasant women remain largely in the
traditional occupations of farming, marketing, and domestic
tasks. Violence against women is known to occur with some
frequency, but, because of societal traditions, it is generally
not reported to police authorities.
Although women are traditionally often the breadwinners for
rural and urban poor families, they do not enjoy the same
economic and social status as men. Knowledgeable local
authorities report that both domestic violence and rape are
common but are rarely reported or prosecuted. Existing laws
and penalties against these crimes would be adequate were they
enforced.
Children
The practice of forced domestic labor by children, called
"restavek" in Haitian creole, continued unabated during 1993.
An estimated 109,000 restavek children were cited in a 1991
U.N. study as an example of slavery practiced in the 20th
century. Young children from rural families are "adopted" and
"educated" by more affluent city dwellers to serve as unpaid
domestic labor. The children are compelled to work long hours,
receive poor nourishment, little or no education, and are
frequently beaten and sexually abused. Most of Port-au-Prince's
large population of street children are runaway restaveks, and
child prostitution rings are alleged to purchase restavek
children from their "adoptive families." Local human rights
groups do not regard the plight of restavek children as a
priority and do not report on abuses of children or actively
seek to improve their situation.
Only 2 percent of the Health Ministry budget was devoted to
health programs such as immunization and oral rehydration which
serve children. However, humanitarian assistance to Haiti is
specifically targeted at the most vulnerable groups of the
population. It is probable that infant and child mortality has
deteriorated over the last year given the general long-term
decline in social and economic conditions in Haiti--a decline
that began before the September 1991 coup. In the absence of
thorough survey data, it is impossible to determine the
magnitude of such a decline.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Some 95 percent of Haitians are descendants of African slaves
who won their war of independence from France in 1804. Most
others are mulatto or of European, Middle Eastern, North
American, or Latin American origin. Haitian law makes no
distinctions based on race. There are longstanding social and
political animosities among these various groups, however, many
of which date back before Haiti's revolutionary period.
There are two official languages: Creole, which is spoken by
virtually all Haitians, and French, which is spoken by about
20 percent of the population. Those unable to read, write, and
speak French are limited in their political and economic
activities. Many argue that the country's French-speaking
elite have used language requirements as a barrier to the
advancement of the country's Creole-speaking majority.
People with Disabilities
There is no overt ill-treatment of people with disabilities,
but given the desperate poverty in which the vast majority of
Haitians live, those with disabilities face a particularly
harsh existence. There are no laws mandating provision of
access for people with disabilities.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution and the Labor Code guarantee the right of
association. Workers, including those in the public sector,
are specifically granted the right to form and join unions
without prior government authorization. A union, which must
have a minimum of 10 members, is required to register with the
Ministry of Social Affairs within 60 days of its establishment.
Union membership, marginal before the coup and even more so
now, is estimated at 1 percent of the total labor force. The
influence and effectiveness of organized labor has been
severely limited and eroded as a result of political repression
and economic breakdown. There are five principal labor
federations: the Autonomous Central of Haitian Workers, the
National Confederation of Haitian Teachers, the Federation of
Unionized Workers, the Confederation of Haitian Workers, and
the Independent General Organization of Haitian Workers. Each
of these organizations maintains some affiliation with various
international labor organizations.
The military continued to employ widespread repression and
violence against trade union activities. Many union leaders
closed their offices and went into hiding. Three union leaders
were arrested and severely beaten by police in April. Unions,
as well as all other citizen groups or assemblies, may meet
only with the express written permission of the military. The
military forced established unions of telephone, electrical,
and journalism workers either to change or completely replace
their leadership. The military also intimidated leaders of
rural agricultural unions and peasant cooperatives by arrests,
beatings, and banning of meetings.
Tripartite negotiations (labor, management, and government)
begun in 1986 to revise the Labor Code were concluded in 1992.
The revised Labor Code has not yet been approved by
Parliament. The revised Code recognizes the right to strike
but restricts the duration of certain types of strikes, as did
the previous Code. The Code also stipulates that the Ministry
of Social Affairs must recognize workers' right to strike in
each case before a strike is legal. There were several
attempts at major public or private sector strikes in 1993, but
they were not widely observed, owing to the atmosphere of
severe repression that followed the coup, as well as the
economic impact of the U.N./OAS embargo.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Trade union organizing activities are protected by the Labor
Code, and those who interfere with this right may be fined.
Employers, including export firms, however, still routinely
attempted to prevent workers from organizing labor unions, and
government enforcement remained mostly ineffective. While
union activities were curtailed by the de facto authorities,
job loss as a result of economic conditions had a far more
damaging impact on union activities. Prior to the coup,
organized labor activity was generally concentrated in the
Port-au-Prince area, primarily in a large private sugar
factory, in the assembly sector, and in state enterprises, all
three of which suffered drastic job losses following the coup.
The Haitian-American Sugar Company, which alone employed 7,000
unionized workers, has been closed for more than a year. State
enterprises also suffered large job losses as the state-run
flour mill, daily newspaper, and cement factory shut down.
Collective bargaining, which has never been widespread in
Haiti, was nonexistent in 1993. Wages are generally set
unilaterally by employers.
While Haiti has no export processing zones, prior to the OAS
trade embargo it did have a sizable export-oriented assembly
sector. The Haitian Labor Code does not distinguish between
industries producing for the local market and those producing
for export. Many assembly sector companies were the focus of
developmental efforts; they received greater outside scrutiny
and were consequently somewhat more generous with benefits such
as on-site medical care, vitamin supplements, interest-free
loans, and subsidized meals than domestically oriented
producers. In addition, wages in the assembly sector are
generally above the official minimum wage. Total employment in
the export assembly sector declined by about 75 percent,
corresponding to an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 jobs. As the
assembly sector contracted, unions that were particularly
strong in this sector declined accordingly.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Labor Code prohibits forced or compulsory labor, but
enforcement of these provisions is practically nonexistent.
Children continued to be subjected to forced domestic labor
(see Section 5).
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The minimum employment age for minors in all sectors is 15
years. Fierce adult competition for jobs ensures that child
labor is not a factor in the industrial sector. Children under
15 commonly work at odd jobs in both rural and urban settings
to supplement family income. Enforcement of child labor laws
is the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Affairs but has
been criticized by the International Labor Organization as
inadequate.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The minimum wage is set by law. A few weeks before the
September 1991 coup, Parliament set a new minimum wage of about
$2.15 (26 gourdes) per day for workers in the industrial
sector. Although technically it became law before the coup,
the legislation was never published in the official gazette;
nevertheless, companies in the assembly sector have already
adopted it. Even if it were widely applied in the private
sector, the revised minimum wage would not provide a worker and
family with a decent living. The minimum wage law applies also
to agricultural workers but is not enforced. Thus the majority
of Haitians, who work in the agricultural sector, must survive
on considerably less than the minimum wage.
The Labor Code governs individual employment contracts. The
Code sets the normal workday at 8 hours and the workweek at 48
hours, with 24 hours of rest on Sunday. It also establishes
minimum health and safety regulations. These laws and
regulations are somewhat better observed in the industrial
sector, which is concentrated in the Port-au-Prince area and is
more accessible to outside scrutiny. However, official
enforcement, which is the responsibility of the Ministry of
Social Affairs, has been lax. Labor Code provisions on health
and safety are not enforced. With more than 50 percent of the
population unemployed, workers are not able to exercise the
right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations
without jeopardy to continued employment.
[end of document]
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