Human Rights

Below is a recent report by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on the state of the Haitian justice system.  Prior to the earthquake, Haiti was making slow but much needed progress on improving access to justice.  The Haitian government is not starting from scratch but now has the added challenge of rebuilding courts, prisons, and police stations while continuing reform efforts.  Promoting a society that understands and values human rights and government that can monitor and enforce them is essential for Haiti's long term development.  

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has been working with the Haitian Government to reform its sorely outdated criminal laws, more suited to the needs of 19th Century France than Haiti at present.  For this reason, Haiti's justice system has not been able to address moden crimes which include trafficking in persons, drug trafficking, and violations of human rights.  President Preval has initiated a comprehensive reform process with the participation of civil society, the United Nations, and think tanks such as USIP.  This process could help bring about a new chapter in Haitian history where criminal laws protect rights instead of violating them, and serve all the people of Haiti, including the poor and vulnerable.

There was an interesting post on Corbett's List today which described how Jimmy Jean-Louis, who plays "The Haitian" on NBC's Heroes, is kicking off a campaign to fight human trafficking in Haiti.  The campaign intends to raise awareness concerning the 200,000 children in Haiti  who are the victims of modern-day slavery, trafficking and exploitation.  You can visit the website here.

The United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery makes grants available for up to $15,000 for programs of humanitarian, legal and financial assistance to individuals whose human rights have been violated as a result of contemporary forms of slavery.  Human trafficking and restaveks are just two areas where these funds could make a difference in Haiti.  No awards were given for Haitiian programs last year, but hopefully a number of organizations will apply this year.  Attached and below is background on this fund and the programs it supports.

In taking a human rights-based approach to development, the final outcome of humanitarian aid should be to build the capacity of the Haitian government so -at some point- they can fulfill the basic rights of the Haitian people. Having said that, the efforts of international aid are reversed when policies (illegally) deny the Haitian government loans they intended to use in fulfilling Haitian's right to clean water. After filing a Freedom of Information Act, the RFK Memorial and Zanmi Lasante have released internal documents outlining US actions to block life-saving funds to Haiti. Hopefully some of their energy and work will improve the accountability of the international aid system. You can access the press release below...

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the development agency of the American government and a major bilateral donor to Haiti.  USG support to Haiti is considerable - In Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, USAID provided 245 million dollars in foreign assistance to Haiti, 279 million in FY 2008 and is scheduled to provide 245 million in FY 2009.  The goal of this support can be summarized in one word - stability. The point of this blog is not to evaluate these programs but to point out what USAID is doing, where, and to highlight some useful resources on the USAID/Haiti website.