human rights, housing and health in post-earthquake haiti

Human Rights, Housing and Health in Post-Earthquake HaitiObstacles to Obtaining the ‘Right to the City’

PLAN 7619 International DevelopmentTerm Project

Jordan Yves Exantus

2 | Human Rights, Housing and Health in Post-Earthquake Haiti

L’Union Fait La Force - “Unity is Strength”

Human Rights, Housing and Health in Post-Earthquake Haiti

Introduction 4

Haiti 4

LeFebvre&TheRighttotheCity 6

TheUnitedNations-History&HumanRightsFramework 8

Thesis/ Synthesis 12

Background 14

InternationalHumanRightsLaw 14

RighttoAdequateHousing 16

History 18 Background 18

TheRevolution 20

ModernPoliticalChronology 24

The Earthquake 30

Commentary 34

Works Cited 36

Selected Development Indicators 38

Table of Contents


Introduction

The National Motto of Haiti is “Liberty, Equality,

Fraternity” mirroring the language typically

associated with the French Revolution. These three ideas are integrally

tied to the fundamental principles behind

modern International Human Rights Law and

the ongoing struggle for human rights across the

globe

Background

“The native Taino - who inhabited the island of Hispaniolawhen itwas“discovered”byChristopherColumbus in1492-were virtually annihilated by Spanish settlerswithin 25 years.In theearly17thcentury, theFrenchestablishedapresenceonHispaniola.In1697,SpaincededtotheFrenchthewesternthirdoftheisland,whichlaterbecameHaiti.TheFrenchcolony,basedonforestryandsugar-relatedindustries,becameoneofthewealthiest in theCaribbeanbutonly through theheavyimportationofAfricanslavesandconsiderableenvironmentaldegradation.Inthelate18thcentury,Haiti’snearlyhalfmillionslavesrevoltedunderToussaintL’Ouverture.Afteraprolongedstruggle,Haitibecamethefirstpost-colonialblack-lednationintheworld,declaringitsindependencein1804.

CurrentlythepoorestcountryintheWesternHemisphere,Haitihasexperiencedpoliticalinstabilityformostofitshistory.AfteranarmedrebellionledtotheforcedresignationandexileofPresident Jean-BertrandAristide in February 2004, an interimgovernmenttookofficetoorganizenewelectionsundertheauspices of the United Nations. Continued instability andtechnical delays prompted repeated postponements, butHaiti inaugurated a democratically elected president andparliament in May of 2006. This was followed by contestedelectionsin2010thatresultedintheelectionofHaiti’scurrentPresident,MichelMartelly.Amassivemagnitude7.0earthquakestruckHaitiinJanuary2010withanepicenterabout25km(15mi)westofthecapital,Port-au-Prince.Estimatesarethatover300,000peoplewerekilledandsome1.5millionlefthomeless.Theearthquakewasassessedastheworst inthis regionoverthelast200years”(CIAFactbook).

Haiti

Life in Haiti is not organized by the state or, or along the lines many people might expect or want it to be. But it does draw on a set of complex and resilient social institutions that have emerged from a historic commitment to self-sufficiency and self-reliance. And it is only through collaboration with those institutions that reconstruction can truly succeed (Dubois 12).

Obtaining the Right to the City | 5

Haiti achieved Independence from France on January 1st 1804. As such, New Years Day doubles as the country’s national holiday. Haiti represents the legacy of the only successful slave rebellion and the first independent black nation in the modern world. At the time, information about Haiti’s Independence was suppressed for fear that it would inspire further slave revolts; it is cited as the inspiration behind subsequent revolutionary movements.

At a Glance

Location: Caribbean,westernone-thirdoftheislandof Hispaniola,betweentheCaribbeanSea andtheNorthAtlanticOcean,westofthe DominicanRepublic.

Area: 25,750SqKilometers

Climate: Tropical

Terrain: Mostlyroughandmountainous

Env.Issues: Extensivedeforestation;soilerosion;inadequate supplyofpotablewater

Ethnicity: 95%Black,5%otherraces

Language: French(Official),Creole(Official)

Religion: 80%RomanCatholic,16%Protestant,3%Other, 1%none,roughly50%practicesomevoodoo

Population: 9,801,664(2012Estimate)

Migration: -6.9migrant(s)/1,000population

Capital: Port-Au-Prince(Pop.2,143,000)

%inCities: 52%oftotalpopulation, annualrateofurbanization=+3.9%

LifeExp. 62.5years

Literacy: 53%

GDP: $13.13billion

Poverty: 40%Unemployment;80%livingbelowpovertyline

IntroductionHaiti

Source: CIA Factbook - Haiti


Introduction

Space is nothing but the inscription of time in the world, spaces are the realizations, inscriptions in the simultaneity of the external world of a series of times, the rhythms or the city, the rhythms of the urban population...the city will only be rethought and reconstructed on its current ruins when we have properly understood that the city is the deployment of time.... of those who are its inhabitants, it is for them that we have to finally organize is a human manner (LeFebvre 17).

Biography

HenriLeFebvrewasa“FrenchMarxistphilosopherandsociologist,whose life spanned the century andwhosemajor publicationsbegininthe1930sandendwithhisdeathin1991”(LeFebvre3).Overthisspan,“LeFebvrewroteaboutawiderangeofthemes,from literature, language, history, philosophy, Marxism, to ruralandurbansociology,space,time,theeverydayandthemodernworld”(LeFebvre6).LeBevreiswidelyknowntobeinspiredbytheworkofKarlMarx,yet“possibly themost strikingandneglectedaspecttobecommentedupon...isthedebttoNietzsche,whomLeFebvresoughttoconjoinwithMarx”(LeFebvre5).

Great things must be silenced or talked about with grandeur, that is, with cynicism and innocence...I would claim as property and product of man all the beauty, nobility, which we have given to real or imaginary things...

Frederic Nietzche (From the Preface of LeFebvre’s “Right to the City”)(LeFebvre 63)

Right to the City

LeFebvre’s first major writing on the city introduced rights intothe agenda. “It emerges as the highest form of rights: liberty,individualizationinsocialization,environsandwayofliving...Whatiscalledfor isa renewedurbansociety,a renovatedcentrality,leavingopportunitiesforrythmsanduseoftimethatwouldpermitfullusageofmomentsandplaces,anddemandingthemasteryof the economic... to participate politically in decision-making[particularly significant for the working class]” and to promoteactivitiesthatrestore“thesenseofoeuvreconferredbyartandphilosophy and prioritizes time over space, appropriation overdomination”(LeFebvre19).

Henri LeFebvre

“As Professor Henri LeFebvre, director of the

Institut de Sociologie Urbaine at Nanterre

from 1965, he was concerned about

changing the teaching of urbanism so as to make

it interdisciplinary. Yet at the end of the 1980s he commented on the

continuing neglect of urban questions in university teaching”

(LeFebvre 16)

LeFebvre


David Harvey(PhDCambridge1962)

Distinguished ProfessorCityUniversityofNewYorkPhD Program in Anthropology

Cultural,Urbanization,environment,politicaleconomy,geographyandsocialtheory;Advancedcapitalistcountries

LeFebvre’s Legacy

HenriLeFebvre’sworkhasinspiredseveral“legacies”(scholars)who have analyzed and expanded LeFebvre’s work andconsequentlyhislegacy.DavidHarvey’sworkonSocial Justice and the CityisthemostdirectlyinfluencedbyLeFebvre’sRighttotheCityideals.

The Right to the City

The right to thecity is farmore than the individual liberty toaccess urban resources: it is a right to changeourselves bychangingthecity. It is,moreover,acommonratherthananindividual right since this transformation inevitably dependsupon the exercise of a collective power to reshape theprocessesofurbanization.Thefreedomtomakeandremakeourcitiesandourselves is, Iwant toargue,oneof themostpreciousyetmostneglectedofourhumanrights(Harvey23).

Property and Pacification

Quality of urban life has becomea commodity, as has thecityitself,inaworldwhereconsumerism,tourism,culturalandknowledge-based industrieshavebecomemajoraspectsoftheurbanpoliticaleconomy.Thepostmodernistpenchantforencouragingtheformationofmarketniches—inbothconsumerhabitsandculturalforms—surroundsthecontemporaryurbanexperiencewithanauraoffreedomofchoice,providedyouhavethemoney.Shoppingmalls,multiplexesandboxstoresproliferate, asdo fast-foodandartisanalmarket-places.Wenowhave,asurbansociologistSharonZukinputsit,‘pacificationbycappuccino’(Harvey31).

TheRighttotheCityIntroduction


Introduction

The name “United Nations”, coined by

United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt

was first used in the Declaration by United

Nations of 1 January 1942, during the Second World

War, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their Governments to

continue fighting together against the Axis Powers.

History

“States firstestablished internationalorganizations tocooperateon specificmatters. The International TelecommunicationUnionwas founded in 1865as the International TelegraphUnion,andtheUniversalPostalUnionwasestablishedin1874.BotharenowUnitedNationsspecializedagencies.

In1899,theInternationalPeaceConferencewasheldinTheHaguetoelaborateinstrumentsforsettlingcrisespeacefully,preventingwarsandcodifyingrulesofwarfare.ItadoptedtheConventionforthePacific Settlementof InternationalDisputesandestablishedthePermanentCourtofArbitration,whichbeganworkin1902.

TheforerunneroftheUnitedNationswastheLeagueofNations,anorganizationconceivedinsimilarcircumstancesduringthefirstWorldWar,andestablishedin1919undertheTreatyofVersailles“to promote international cooperation and to achieve peaceand security.” The International Labour Organization was alsocreated under the Treaty of Versailles as an affiliated agencyof theLeague.TheLeagueofNationsceased itsactivitiesafterfailingtopreventtheSecondWorldWar.

In 1945, representativesof 50countriesmet in San FranciscoattheUnitedNationsConferenceon InternationalOrganizationtodrawuptheUnitedNationsCharter.Thosedelegatesdeliberatedon thebasis of proposalsworkedout by the representatives ofChina, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the UnitedStatesatDumbartonOaks,UnitedStatesinAugust-October1944.TheCharterwas signedon26June1945by the representativesof the 50 countries. Poland, whichwas not represented at theConference, signed it laterandbecameoneof theoriginal 51MemberStates.

TheUnitedNationsofficiallycameintoexistenceon24October1945,whentheCharterhadbeenratifiedbyChina,France,theSoviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by amajorityofothersignatories.UnitedNationsDayiscelebratedon24Octobereachyear.”

TheUnitedNations

Source: History of the United Nations (www.un.org)


For many centuries, there was no international human rights law regime in place. In fact, international law supported and colluded in many of the worst human rights atrocities, including the Atlantic Slave Trade and colonialism. It was only in the nineteenth century that the international community adopted a treaty abolishing slavery” (Viljoen 1).

Human Rights Bodies

TheOfficeof theHighCommissioner forHumanRights(OHCHR)works to offer the best expertise and support to the differenthumanrightsmonitoringmechanismsintheUnitedNationssystem:UNCharter-based bodies, including the Human RightsCouncil,andbodiescreatedundertheinternationalhumanrightstreatiesandmadeupofindependentexpertsmandatedtomonitorStateparties’ compliancewith their treaty obligations.Most of thesebodiesreceivesecretariatsupportfromtheHumanRightsCounciland TreatiesDivisionof theOfficeof theHighCommissioner forHumanRights(OHCHR).

Charter-based bodies•HumanRightsCouncil•UniversalPeriodicReview•CommissiononHumanRights (replacedbytheHumanRightsCouncil)•SpecialProceduresoftheHumanRightsCouncil•HumanRightsCouncilComplaintProcedure

Treaty-based bodiesTherearetenhumanrightstreatybodiesthatmonitor implementationofthecoreinternationalhumanrightstreaties:

1.HumanRightsCommittee(CCPR)2.CommitteeonEconomic,SocialandCulturalRights(CESCR)3.CommitteeontheEliminationofRacialDiscrimination(CERD)4.CommitteeontheEliminationofDiscriminationagainst Women(CEDAW)5.CommitteeagainstTorture(CAT)6.SubcommitteeonPreventionofTorture(SPT)7.CommitteeontheRightsoftheChild(CRC)8.CommitteeonMigrantWorkers(CMW)9.CommitteeontheRightsofPersonswithDisabilities(CRPD10. CommitteeonEnforcedDisappearances(CED)

IntroductionHumanRightsFramework

Source: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (www.ohchr.org)


Introduction

The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945, in

San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United

Nations Conference on International

Organization, and came into force on 24 October

1945. The Statute of the International Court of

Justice is an integral part of the Charter .

(www.un.org)

Charter-based Bodies

Charterbodies include the formerCommissiononHumanRights, theHuman Rights Council, and Special Procedures. The Human RightsCouncil,whichreplacedtheCommissiononHumanRights,helditsfirstmeetingon 19 June 2006. This intergovernmental body,whichmeetsinGeneva10weeksayear,iscomposedof47electedUnitedNationsMemberStateswhoserveforaninitialperiodof3years,andcannotbeelectedformorethantwoconsecutiveterms.TheHumanRightsCouncilisaforumempoweredtopreventabuses,inequityanddiscrimination,protectthemostvulnerable,andexposeperpetrators.

TheHumanRightsCouncilisaseparateentityfromOHCHR.ThisdistinctionoriginatesfromtheseparatemandatestheyweregivenbytheGeneralAssembly. Nevertheless, OHCHR provides substantive support for themeetingsoftheHumanRightsCouncil,andfollow-uptotheCouncil’sdeliberations.

Special Procedures is the general name given to the mechanismsestablishedbytheCommissiononHumanRightsandassumedbytheHuman Rights Council to address either specific country situations orthematic issues inallpartsof theworld.SpecialProceduresareeitheran individual–aspecial rapporteuror representative,or independentexpert—oraworkinggroup.Theyareprominent,independentexpertsworkingonavoluntarybasis,appointedbytheHumanRightsCouncil.

Special Procedures’ mandates usually call on mandate-holders toexamine,monitor,adviseandpubliclyreportonhumanrightssituationsin specific countries or territories, known as countrymandates, or onmajor phenomena of human rights violations worldwide, known asthematicmandates. Thereare 30 thematicmandatesand8countrymandates.AllreporttotheHumanRightsCouncilontheirfindingsandrecommendations. They are sometimes the onlymechanism thatwillalerttheinternationalcommunityoncertainhumanrightsissues.

OHCHRsupportstheworkofrapporteurs,representativesandworkinggroupsthrough itsSpecialProceduresDivision(SPD)whichservices27thematic mandates; and the Research and Right to DevelopmentDivision(RRDD)whichaimstoimprovetheintegrationofhumanrightsstandardsandprinciples,includingtherightstodevelopment;whiletheFieldOperationsandTechnicalCooperationDivision(FOTCD)supportstheworkofcountry-mandates.

HumanRightsFramework



The human rights treaty bodies are committees of independent experts that monitor implementation of the core international human rights treaties. Each State party to a treaty has an obligation to take steps to ensure that everyone in the State can enjoy the rights set out in the treaty.

Treaty bodies composed of independent experts of recognized competence in human rights are nominated and elected for fixed renewable terms of four years by State parties.

Treaty-based Bodies

Thereareninecoreinternationalhumanrightstreaties,themostrecentone--onenforceddisappearance--enteredintoforceon23December2010.SincetheadoptionoftheUniversalDeclarationofHumanRightsin1948,allUNMemberStateshaveratifiedatleastonecoreinternationalhumanrightstreaty,and80percenthaveratifiedfourormore.

There are currently ten human rights treaty bodies, which arecommitteesofindependentexperts.Nineofthesetreatybodiesmonitorimplementation of the core international human rights treaties whilethe tenth treaty body, the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture,established under the Optional Protocol to the Convention againstTorture,monitorsplacesofdetention in Statesparties to theOptionalProtocol.

Thetreatybodiesarecreatedinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthetreaty that they monitor. OHCHR supports the work of treaty bodiesandassists them in harmonizing theirworkingmethodsand reportingrequirementsthroughtheirsecretariats.

There are other United Nations bodies and entities involved in thepromotionandprotectionofhumanrights

IntroductionHumanRightsFramework



Core Concept

This report seeks to achieve a nexus between the core principles of Henri LeFebvre’s “Right to the City” concept, the United Nation’s Human Rights Framework and the basic Natural (universal and inalienable) Rights defined over the years by theorists such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Thomas Paine.

Central to this discussion is the LeFebvre assertion that “capitalist cities convert what remains of the classical city-oeuvres into a commodified terrain for speculation... afterwards, the city ceases to be the central social form and becomes inserted into a far larger capitalist, global network” (Production de l’espace 1974). If we assume that the dominant economic paradigm follows capitalist trends, then the reality of urban life in important urban centers such as Sao Paolo (or Port-Au-Prince) is the misery of many, “which sustains the luxury and privileges of the few, and on whom its dynamic growth is based and from whom its prosperity is stolen” ( Sao Paolo 11). In this context, there is an observed pattern of “economic growth based on the destruction of the lives of workers obliged to labour excessive hours to compensate for the reduced purchasing power of their wages” (Sao Paolo 14). While historically, it made economic sense for companies to provide housing for their employees. “With the intensification of industrial growth, the number of workers increased rapidly” creating a surplus labor force and high volumes of rural-urban migration. This resulted in increased demand for housing and simultaneously increased value of real estate. “Consequently employers transferred the cost of housing and of transport to the workers themselves, and the cost of basic urban services, to the state” (Sao Paolo 31). This dynamic has resulted in the proliferation of slums in urban areas. In Haiti, the outcomes of historical issues have been compounded in the aftermath of the 2010 Earthquake and the resultant displacement which has seen millions of people forced to live in makeshift camps, informal developments and heavily damaged homes.

Slum dwellers are affected by an inability

to procure good food (malnutrition) and access to sanitary conditions. As

a result, general health becomes a major issue

for people with little or no access to proper

healthcare. Additionally, workplace injuries tend

to be frequent due to unsafe working conditions and high levels of worker

fatigue.

WhoseRight?Thesis

In Port-au-Prince slums such as Cite

Soleil originally were designated as laborer

housing but quickly ballooned with high

numbers of rural migrants seeking employment and

displaced persons who had lost their homes in

extreme weather events


Haiti

Historical Context

The complex dynamics affecting today’s Haiti cannot be understood without knowledge of its dense and often tragic history. Too often, when “Haiti appears in the media, it registers largely as a place of disaster, poverty, suffering, populated by desperate people trying to escape” (Dubois 3). We are repeatedly reminded of how Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. However, what is typically neglected is the fact that “the true causes of Haiti’s poverty and instability are not mysterious, and they have nothing to do with any inherent shortcomings on the part of the Haitians themselves. Rather, Haiti’s present is the product of its history; of the nation’s founding by enslaved people who overthrew their masters and freed themselves; of the hostility that this revolution generated among the colonial powers surrounding the country; and the intense struggle within Haiti itself to define that freedom and realize its promise” (Dubois 4).

Haiti is often described as a “failed state.” In fact, though, Haiti’s state has been quite successful at doing what it was set up to do: preserve power for a small group. The constitutional structures established in the 19th century made it very difficult to vote the country’s leaders out of office, leaving insurrection as the only means of effecting political change. Haiti’s twentieth-century laws have grown more liberal, but its government still changes hands primarily through extraconstitutional, and often violent, means. And despite powerful wave of popular participation in the past decades, the country’s political structures remain largely unaccountable and impermeable to the demands of the majority of Haitians (Dubois 7).

Even more significant is that “when the French finally granted recognition to Haiti, more than two decades after its founding, they took a kind of revenge, insisting that the new nation pay an indemnity of 150 million francs (roughly $3 billion in today’s currency) to compensate the slaveholders for their losses” (Dubois 7). In order to pay the indemnity, the Haitian government had to borrow large sums of money from French banks and the ensuing “cycle of debt” saw the Haitian government committing at least half and as much as 80 percent of their annual budget to paying France for over a century.

Synthesis

No one else in the world had ever “paid as dearly for the right to say, while stomping their foot on the ground: ‘This is mine, and I can do with it what I want!’” (Dubois 11).

In August of 1791, slaves in the north of the colony launched the largest slave revolt in history. They set the cane fields on fire, killed their masters, and smashed all the instruments used to process the sugarcane. They took over the northern plantations, and built an army and political movement. Within two years, they had secured freedom for all of the slaves in the colony.


Roots

International Human Rights Law is a phenomenon associated with “the rise of the liberal democratic State” (Viljoen 1). While human rights have a strong foundation in the moral philosophies and religions of the world, human rights law was created to help protect the rights of “numerical minorities, the vulnerable and the powerless” from majoritarianism often present in State governments and society (Viljoen 1). Modern human rights activism is described as the struggle to narrow the gap between human rights law and existing human rights. Human rights law can trace its roots to the Magna Carta (13th century England), the 1776 American Declaration of Independence and the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Traditional human rights struggles typically center on the rhetoric associated with the French Revolution:

1. Liberté (freedoms, “civil and political” or “first generation” rights), 2. Egalité (equality, “socio-economic” or “second generation” rights), and 3. Fraternité (solidarity, “collective” or “third generation” rights)

Early struggles for human rights typically focused on first-generation rights, and efforts aimed at obtaining freedom from oppressive authoritarian government regimes. As the role of the state changed over time, the need for second generation rights became more clearly articulated. Despite this, many western states resisted acknowledging citizens second generation rights and labeled the notion of equality as socialist. In modern times, third generation rights have become more important as the global community attempts to address issues relating to healthy environment, self-determination and economic development.

HistoryofInternationalHumanRightsLawBackground


HistoryofHumanRightsLaw

The first international legal standards were adopted by the ILO (International Labor Organization) in 1919 as part of the Peace Treaty of Versailles. ILO was meant to protect workers in the industrializing marketplace. In the wake of WWII and the atrocities therein, the “core system of human rights promotion and protection” was established through the UN Charter (adopted 1945) and a network of treaties (Viljoen 2). The UN Charter established a commission on Human Rights made up of 54 governmental representatives. “The main accomplishment of the Commission was the elaboration and near-universal acceptance of the three major international human rights instruments: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)” (Viljoen 2). The Commission devised two mechanisms to hear complaints, the “1235” and the “1503” (public vs private). In unique situations, special rapporteurs, independent experts or working groups were dispatched.

In 2006, the General Assembly decided to create a Human Rights Council to replace the Commission on Human Rights. The council enjoys an elevated status and members must be elected by an absolute majority of the assembly (97 countries). Additionally, members may be elected for only two consecutive terms. While maintaining the original mechanisms of the Commission, the Council added the Universal Peer Review process. Lastly, the Council has the power to transform declarations into legally binding agreements if sufficient consensus can be obtained. Unfortunately, the required level of agreement on two critical declarations has yet to be met, and the following have NOT been translated into binding instruments: the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The treaty-based system has been a tool used to address specific issues such as racial discrimination, sexism, rights of the child, torture and other cruel and inhumane practices, migrant worker rights, rights for the disabled, etc.

There are a number of regional level actors operating below the United Nations. Africa (AU), Europe (council of Europe), America (OAS), and the Middle East (OIC) all have groups with varying levels of activity and effectiveness. It is interesting to note that the Asia-Pacific region of the world has no human rights body and its formation seems unlikely.

Background

Citations: International Human Rights Law: A Short History


The Right to Adequate HousingThe right to Adequate Housing is recognized by international human rights law as part of everyone’s right to an adequate standard of living. Despite this, over a billion people across the globe do not have access to adequate housing. The UN Habitat is working to help rectify this situation. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights defines the right to Adequate Housing in terms of three key “freedoms” and four key “entitlements”.

The right to adequate housing contains freedoms. These freedoms include:•Protectionagainstforcedevictionsandthearbitrarydestructionanddemolitionof one’shome;•Therighttobefreefromarbitraryinterferencewithone’shome,privacyandfamily;and•Therighttochooseone’sresidence,todeterminewheretoliveandtofreedom ofmovement.

The right to adequate housing contains entitlements. These entitlements include:•Securityoftenure;•Housing,landandpropertyrestitution;•Equalandnon-discriminatoryaccesstoadequatehousing;•Participationinhousing-relateddecision-makingatthenationalandcommunitylevels.

Within these guidelines, adequate housing is defined as “more than four walls and a roof… For housing to be adequate, it must, at a minimum, meet the following criteria”(3):1.SecurityofTenure2.Availabilityofservices,materials,facilitiesandinfrastructure3.Affordability4.Habitability5.Accessibility6.Location7.Culturaladequacy

With over “2 million people in the world… forcibly evicted every year” protecting people’s rights to tenure is an especially important issue (4). Additionally, the fact that “forced evictions tend to be violent and disproportionately affect the poor, who often suffer further human rights violations as a result” illustrating the link between housing and human rights becomes becomes vital (5). It is the stance of the UN that “human rights are interdependent, indivisible and interrelated” (9). As such, protecting the right to adequate housing is not just a housing issue but a much broader issue relating to global human rights. They are careful to point out however, that the right to adequate housing does NOT require the state to build housing for everyone, it does NOT prohibit development projects which displace people, and is NOT the same as right the right to land or property. Instead, the right to adequate housing is more centered on “ensuring access to adequate services” (8). Its aim is to reduce homelessness, prohibit forced evictions, address discrimination, ensure security of tenure, guarantee quality of housing and focus on the most vulnerable and marginalized groups.

TheRighttoAdequateHousingBackground


With regard to vulnerable and marginalized groups, the right to adequate housing takes into special consideration the plight of the following groups:1.Women2.Children3.Slum-dwellers4.Homelesspersons5.Personswithdisabilities6.Displacedpersonsandmigrants;and7.Indigenouspeoples

The UN outlines three obligations it places on States to uphold the principles of the right to adequate housing:1.Theobligationtorespect(citizen’srights)2.Theobligationtoprotect(citizen’sfromthirdpartiesie.landlords&developers)3.Theobligationtofulfill(legislationtosupportrightstoadequatehousingforall)

Lastly, this piece looks at monitoring of States and accountability. There are a number of ways in which the UN looks to support States in their mission to attain the right to adequate housing for all their citizens. Mechanisms include:1.Administrative,policyandpoliticalmechanisms2.Judicialmechanisms3.Legalaid4.Commissions5.SpecialRapporteurs6.UnitedNationstreatybodies

TheRighttoAdequateHousingBackground

Source: UNHABITAT. The Right to Adequate Housing


BackgroundHistory

On January 1st, 1804 “after 13 years of revolutionary activity,” the French were officially removed from the island of Hispaniola and Haitian independence was declared (Corbett 23). Haiti’s Independence Day marked the formation of the second republic in the America’s, and the only one controlled by peoples of African descent. Additionally, the successful overthrow of Haiti’s colonial powers marked the single successful slave revolution in the history of the modern world. “The events in Saint-Domingue/Haiti constitute an integral—though often overlooked—part of the history of that larger sphere. These multi-faceted revolutions combined to alter the way individuals and groups saw themselves and their place in the world” (Knight 1). Yet, this great feat did not come easily; Haiti’s brave revolutionaries had to fight a bitter struggle “as savage as any conflict one can read of in human history” (Corbett 22). Undoubtedly, the Haitian revolution is one the greatest moments of human achievement and exemplifies a true to life “David and Goliath” story.

A little more than two hundred years ago, the place that we now know as Haiti – then the French colony of Saint-Domingue – was perhaps the most profitable bit of land in the world. It was full of thriving sugar plantations, with slaves – who made up the nine-tenths of the colony’s population – planting and cutting cane and operating the mills and boiling houses that produced sugar crystals coveted by European consumers. The plantation system was immensely lucrative, creating enormous fortunes in France. It was also brutally destructive. The plantations consumed the landscape: observers at the time already noted that alarmingly large areas of the forests had been chopped down for construction and for export of precious woods to Europe. And they consumed the lives of the colony’s slaves at a murderous rate. Over the course of the colony’s history, as many as a million slaves were brought from Africa to Saint-Domingue, but the work was so harsh that even with a constant stream of imports, the slave population constantly declined. Few children were born, and those that were often died young. By the late 1700s, the colony had about half a million slaves altogether. It was out of this brutal world that Haiti was born (Dubois 4).

ThisHispaniolanTrogonisthe

NationalBirdofHaiti.Currently,itisthreatenedby

habitatloss.

InHaiti,thesoilisseverelydepleted;

generationsofintensive

agricultureanddeforestationhave

takentheirtoll(Dubois10).


In Saint-Domingue, there were constant slave rebellions. The slaves never willing submitted to their status and never quit fighting it. The slave owners, both white and people of color, feared the slaves and knew that the incredible concentration of slaves (the slaves outnumbered the free people 10-1) required exceptional control. This, in part, accounts for the special harshness and cruelty of slavery in Saint-Domingue. The owners tried to keep slaves of the same tribes apart; they forbade any meetings of slaves at all; they tied slaves rigorously to their own plantations, brutally punished the slightest manifestation of non-cooperation and employed huge teams of harsh overseers.

BackgroundHistory“The French colony of Saint-Domingue in 1789 represented the epitome of the successful exploitation slave society in the tropical American world” (Knight 202). Haiti was “the envy of every empire, it supplied about 66 percent of all French tropical produce and accounted for approximately 33 percent of all French foreign trade” (Knight 202). In addition, Haiti produced over two-fifths of the world’s sugar, and over half of the world’s coffee (Knight 4). Haiti’s demographics consisted of approximately 25,000 whites, and over 500,000 workers, all of African descent. “These demographic proportions would have been familiar to Jamaica, Barbados, or Cuba during the acme of their slave plantation regimes” (Knight 4). This favorable balance of population is one of the reasons why revolution was indeed feasible on the island.

In addition to great numbers, Haitian slaves shared a mutual deep rooted hatred of their “masters.” It has been documented that slaves would “receive the whip with more certainty and regularity than they received their food” (James 12). Additionally, the conditions on the plantations were so oppressive that for slaves “suicide was a common habit, and such was their disregard for life that they often killed themselves, not for personal reasons, but in order to spite their owner” (James 15). Also, due to the prevalent Voodoo culture and clerical skills of many individuals, slaves frequently poisoned their masters, their family and other living property of their masters. Slaves were also known to sing condemning songs about the white race:

Eh! Eh! Bomba! Heu! Heu! Canga, bafio te! Canga, Moune de le! Canga, do ki la! Canga, li!

This song, which was linked to the Voodoo cults, translates to: “We swear to destroy the whites and all that they possess; let us die rather than fail to keep this vow” (James 18). This hatred for the white race by the slaves along with the complex social system in place within the country led to increased tensions.


TheRevolutionHistory

Haitians still maintain a great deal of pride in their feat of

independence. Independence Day, which falls on New

Years, is a recognized holiday. Haitian families celebrate

by gathering, and preparing traditional dishes, most notably squash soup or

soup joumou. The soup is supposed to bring individuals

good luck in the upcoming year, also, it acts to purify

and cleanse the body. They also eat oranges at midnight. The numbers of seeds found inside the fruit indicate how

successful one will be in the New Year. In addition,

Haitian families will wear yellow to sleep on New Years

Eve; they will buy their kids new clothing, and make a

homemade liquor to eat with cake. The homemade pink

liqueur is made from boiled syrup and grenadine essence

and alcohol. The holiday is very important since the

revolution was so unique and hard fought. Additionally, Haiti has deteriorated to a

state of severe economic turmoil since the 19th

century, and most Haitian’s do not have much else to feel

nationalistic about. Despite this, the spirit of Toussaint is seen in all of the Haitian

people especially those thriving in the United States, and many Haitian’s arguably

still maintain special qualities due to the unique background

of their country’s culture.

Prelude to the Revolution: 1760 to 1789

The Maroons “Neg Mawon”There was a large group of run-away slaves who retreated deep into the mountains of Saint-Domingue. They lived in small villages where they did subsistence farming and kept alive African ways, developing African architecture, social relations, religion and customs. They were bitterly anti-slavery, but alone, were not willing to fight the fight for freedom. They did supplement their subsistence farming with occasional raids on local plantations, and maintained defense systems to resist planter forays to capture and re-enslave them.

It is hard to estimate their numbers, but most scholars believe there were tens of thousands of them prior to the Revolution of 1791. Maroons were often in contact with rebellious slaves and two of the leading generals of the early slave revolution were Maroon leaders.

The Revolution in France, 1789Prior to the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, France was ruled by a king. King Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette were only two in a long line of greedy monarchs who cared little about their people. Nonetheless, a movement for a general concept of human rights, universal citizenship and participation in government had developed among the intellectuals and was taking root among the common people. This movement finally broke into full revolution in 1789 and ordinary citizens, for the first time in France’s history, had the rights of citizenship.

People in France were divided into two camps, the red cockades, those in favor of the revolution and the white cockades, those loyal to the system of monarchy. (This had to do with the color of the hats they wore.) This whole social upheaval had a necessary impact on Saint-Domingue, and people had to begin to choose up sides (Corbett).


“The Haitian Revolution represents the most thorough case study of revolutionary change anywhere in the history of the modern world” (Knight 1). A slave nation of 500,000 people produced an army which defeated over 44,000 superiorly trained and armed French troops over the course of thirteen years. The French would like to have people believe that their loss was attributed to their problems in Europe, but the facts show that poor tactical decisions and intelligent leadership on the side of the Haitians proved to be France’s downfall. In the end, Haiti established itself as the first free black democratic republic in the Americas. As a result, Haiti’s model provided inspiration for enslaved minds everywhere, and inspired fear in the heart of powerful whites everywhere.

TheRevolutionHistory“The whites were subdivided into grande blancs and petite blancs; the free persons of color into mulattos and blacks; and the slaves into Creoles (or locally born) and bozales (or imported individuals)” (knight 203). The two classes of whites were legally divided by their wealth and property (plantation) ownership. The grande blancs often referred to as “planters” were the wealthy whites who owned slaves. The grand blancs were “revolutionary minded and defiant of the laws of France. Meanwhile, the petit blancs were poorer whites who remained more loyal to France. “The free people of color were often quite wealthy, certainly usually more wealthy than the petit blancs (thus accounting for the distinct hatred of the free persons of color on the part of the petit blancs), and often even more wealthy than the planters. The free persons of color could own plantations and owned a large portion of the slaves” (Corbett 2). Ironically, the free “persons of color” were favored by the grande blancs, and were spared the severe hatred directed towards their white counterparts by their slaves. Finally, “big whites and small whites did not exhaust the white population on San Domingo. Over them both was the bureaucracy, composed entirely of Frenchmen from France, who governed the island” (James 34). Tensions between these various factions based on their various opinions on colonial rule are a principal cause for the start of the Haitian revolution.

The tensions in Saint Domingue mounted at the outbreak of the French revolution. France, which “enforced a system called the exclusif… required that San Domingue sold 100 percent of her exports to France alone, and purchased 100 percent of her imports from France alone” (Corbett 4). Both free persons of color and the grande blancs “chafed under the oppression of France’s exclusif” (Corbett 4). As a result, there mounted an independence movement, in which whites and free persons of color were allied. Consequently, the people of Saint Domingue allied themselves either with the French bureaucracy or the revolutionaries bringing the local population to the brink of civil war. “Both white groups armed their slaves and prepared for war in the name of the metropolitan Revolution and presumably against the monarch” (Knight 206). Sensing the tension of the country the slaves chose this time as an opportune point in which to carry out a rebellion.

On the night of August 21st, 1791 led by generals named in a prophetic Voodoo ceremony, slaves rioted and burned “the whole northern plain surrounding Cape Francois” (Corbett 8).


In response to the slaves uprising, “the Colonial Assembly recognized the Paris decree of May,” which recognized all free people of color as citizens thus pitting all free individuals against the black slaves and maroons (Corbett 8). Realizing the possible devastating effects of such a policy, the General Assembly revoked the decree 3 days later and sent 6,000 troops to diffuse the tensions. Realizing again that it had made a bad policy choice, France reinstated the blacks’ citizenship and sent Felicite Leger Sonthonax to lead French troops to ensure successful implementation of this policy. Shortly thereafter, it seemed that Sonthonax had achieved his goals of containing “the slave rebellion, defeating the primary white resistance, and holding the colony for France” (Corbett 11). “Then came the devastating month of February, 1793” (Corbett 11). France declared war on Britain; as a result Sonthonax’s supply line was cut off by the vast English navy. In addition, “Louis XVI was guillotined and France became a republic without a king” (Corbett 11). With tensions rising and the threat of a British invasion Sonthonax was forced to make a hard decision, whether or not to free slaves to aid in a military effort. In what proved to be a catastrophic tactical decision, Sonthonax chose to free 15,000 slaves in order to put down a traitor general’s insurrection within his own army. As a result, Sonthonax aggravated whites and free blacks who were opposed to freeing slaves. In a final attempt to ensure French control of the colony, Sonthonax freed all the slaves on the island in an attempt to draw support away from the Spanish slave army led by Toussaint L’Ouverture, and the British army. The British army attacked on September 19th, 1793, and by June of the next year had captured Port-au-Prince (Corbett 13). But, it was May of that year that marked the turning point in the war, when Toussaint and his forces rejoined with the French. There are several arguments/factors attempting to explain why Toussaint switched back to the French side. Some believe that Sonthonax’s freeing of the slaves motivated him, but more likely is the fact that Toussaint was having trouble with the Spanish, in addition to that fact that the Spanish were loosing strength in Europe and Toussaint realized he was fighting for a losing side. Toussaint’s army, famous for their guerrilla tactics and often having to fight without food (James 148), “attacked both Jean-Francois and Biassou, his former associates and defeated them” (Corbett 14). Meanwhile, the Spanish were defeated by the French in Europe and signed a peace treaty on July 22, 1795. At this point, Toussaint was promoted to brigadier general in the French army. Toussaint further proved his military prowess by putting down two jealous deserting generals Rigaud and Vilatte and earning the rank of lieutenant governor. Then, “on August 27th, 1797 Sonthonax sailed for France, never to return” (Corbett 15). Toussaint was left as governor general and commander in chief of San Domingue. “In early 1798 Toussaint began a massive campaign against the British” (Corbett 16). At the same time, Toussaint outwitted French special agent Theodore Hedouville who was sent to undermine Toussaint’s rule. French powers were concerned that Toussaint had attained too much power, unfortunately for them; they were unable to remove him. Toussaint was able to repel the British, and on June 16th, 1799 he began the war which would lead to his complete conquest. In what is commonly known as The War of Knives, Toussaint defeated Rigaud’s revitalized forces in a nine month affair that proved to be the bloodiest period of the revolution. “By August, 1800 Toussaint was ruler of all San Domingue,” and no foreign powers remained in his country (Corbett 18). After achieving complete dominance, Toussaint turned towards Spanish controlled Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). “Spanish Captain-General Don Joaquin Garcia y Moreno was unwilling to turn over command to black Haitians” (Corbett 19). Toussaint met limited resistance as he took Santo Domingo City by force on January 26th, 1801. Thereafter, Toussaint “consolidated his power and emerged as the governor-general of Hispaniola” (Corbett 19). Despite the ensuing constitution and momentary peace, more struggle awaited Toussaint. In July of 1801, Toussaint published and promulgated a constitution for his country. In the constitution Toussaint declared himself governor-general for life, and that all men 14-55 were to enlist in the state militia (Corbett 19). Napoleon took offense to this since the constitution was instated without “prior approval from France and the First Consul” (Corbett 19). Meanwhile, France and Britain signed a peace treaty on October 1st, 1801 and Napoleon began to implement his plan to take back his jewel of the Caribbean.



“Once committed, Napoleon sent a well-outfitted troop of 12,000 soldiers under the leadership of his brother-in-law, General Charles Laclerc. In Laclerc’s invasion force Toussaint was going to have to deal with many old enemies including Alexander Petion and Andre Rigaud” (Corbett 20). “On February 2nd, 1802 Laclerc’s forces arrived in the bay of Cap Francois, the city governed and defended by Henri Christophe, one of Toussaint’s most important generals, and later on Haiti’s second president and first and only king” (Corbett 20). Christophe threatened that if Laclerc’s forces left his ship he would burn the city to the ground. Christophe was forced to burn the city as Laclerc’s forces advanced off of the ships, and the black army retreated to the interior of the island. “Laclerc’s forces took most of the coastal towns, though Haitians burned many of them before they retreated” (Corbett 20). By May 1st, all of Toussaint’s forces had surrendered. Toussaint was then tricked into meeting with French officials, arrested and thrown into jail in France. Toussaint died on April 7th, 1803 in his jail cell. Despite this, Toussaint’s martyrdom proved to be the spark needed for the Haitian people to expel the French. “The dishonorable treatment of the aging Toussaint was not only a moral outrage, but a practical error of irreversible scope” (Corbett 21). The Haitians “realized the French must be defeated once and for all” (Corbett 21). A second error made by Laclerc was to begin a black disarmament campaign. The campaign was grossly unsuccessful and simply revealed to Haitian’s that the French were not their allies. As conditions further deteriorated, Christophe, who had been working for the French along with a few other generals, conspired with rebel leaders. On November 2nd, 1802 the rebel leaders elected general Dessalines as rebel commander-in-chief at the Arcahaye conference. On the same day Laclerc died of yellow fever. Laclerc’s successor was General Rochambeau. To aid Rochambeau Napoleon sent 10,000 more troops to reinforce the army. Meanwhile, most of the Maroons on the island who had stayed out of the conflict up until this point began joining the rebel ranks in order to drive the French from the island. The final conflict was mounting. The battles between Dessaline’s and Rochambeau’s forces resulted in countless “atrocities.” Rochambeau’s forces looked as if they were going to be able to quell the rebellion, but on May 18th, 1803 Britain declared war on France as Europe once again was thrust into war. “By the end of October the French were reduced to holding only Le Cap and were besieged and in danger of starvation. Finally, on November 19th, 1803 Rochambeau begged for a 10 day truce to allow the evacuation of Le Cap, thus giving Haiti to the Haitians” (Corbett 22). Jean-Jacques Dessalines was made the official governor general on January 1st 1804, the day of Haitian independence. The sound defeat was a great shock to the world. Not only did it have profound effects on the French, but throughout Europe and the Americas. “The revolution deeply affected the psychology of the whites throughout the Atlantic world” (Knight 8). “The French of course, regretted the loss of an enormously rich colony. The British feared the impact of the Haitian Revolution on Jamaica and her other slave colonies. The U.S. worried about the impact of the servile revolution on the south of its own nation. Spain had lost her colony of Santo Domingo, next door to San Domingue, and feared the spread of her influence to Puerto Rico and Cuba” (Corbett 24). “Haiti cast an inevitable shadow over all slave societies. Antislavery movements grew stronger and bolder, especially in Great Britain, and the colonial slaves themselves became increasingly more restless” (Knight 8). Yet, the most important impact was that whites lost confidence that they could maintain the slave system indefinitely, and “in 1808, the British abolished their transatlantic slave trade, and they dismantled the slave system…” later on (Knight 8). The history of Haiti has often been lost in modern textbooks. The main reason for this was “propaganda that later passed for history, according to which tropical climate and disease, not black heroism, destroyed their (French) armies (Genovese 87). Meanwhile, it is clear to see that it was a “brilliant play[ing] of one ruling class against the other” which led to the rebel’s success (Genovese 86). Unfortunately for Haiti, after the war “Haiti slipped into a system of peasant proprietorship and self sufficiency… and the dream of a modern black state drowned in the tragic hunger of an ex-slave population for a piece of land and a chance to live in old ways or ways perceived as old” (Genovese 89). Thus it was the “rise of the world market, manifested politically in the struggle for world power among the stronger European nations, decisively undermined the restorationist threat of peasant and slave movements” (Genovese 90-91). It was this disastrous fact which ultimately led to Haiti’s now brutal social conditions, and military rule.



HaitianPoliticalChronology1697-2007History

The aftershocks of the Haitian revolution reverberate throughout the country’s history. “The country emerged in a world still dominated by slavery, and the nations that surrounded it saw its existence as a serious threat... Haiti’s political isolation and the constant threats directed at it weighed heavily on its early leaders... [who] poured money into building fortifications and maintaining a large army... from the start, civilian concerns were often subordinated to the army’s needs (Dubois 5).

The first rulers of independent Haiti “saw the reconstruction of its plantations as the only viable economic course of action... But the former slaves... took over the land... creating small farms where they raised livestock and grew crops to feed themselves and sell in local markets” (Dubois 5). While the people practiced self-determination, the ruling elite took control of the ports and the export trade. Eventually, “they took control of the state, heavily taxing the goods produced by the small-scale farmers and thereby reinforcing the economic divisions between the haves and the havenots” (Dubois 6).

Over time - often convinced that the masses were simply not ready to participate in political life - the Haitian governing elites crafted state institutions that excluded most Haitians from formal political involvement... The majority of Haitians speak Kreyol, a language born of the encounter between French and various African languages in the eighteenth century. Until 1987, however, the only official language of the government was French... [So], for almost all of Haiti’s history, most of its population has literally been unable to read the laws under which they have been governed (Dubois 7).

“In 1915, the marines landed in Haiti, ostensibly to reestablish political order after a bloody coup. They stayed for twenty years” (Dubois 8). Numerous occupations by the United States during thet 20th Century disguised as programs to help “improve and democratize Haiti’s political institutions” helped to erode Haiti’s pride and independence.

As more and more U.S. agricultural companies entered Haiti, they deprived peasants of their land. The result was that, for the first time in its history, large numbers of Haitians left the country, looking for work in nearby Caribbean islands and beyond. Others moved to the capital of Port-au-Prince, which the United States had made into Haiti’s center of trade at the expense of the regional ports. In the decades that followed, the capital’s growth continued, uncontrolled and ultimately disastrous, while the countryside suffered increasing immiseration” (Dubois 9).

True political freedom is as limited in Haiti as it is anywhere

on the planet. It is limited by the fragility of an economy that remains profoundly vulnerable

to international pressure. It is limited by a rigid and highly

polarized social structure that isolates a very small and very

concentrated elite from the rest of the population. It is

also limited by a whole range of strategic and institutional

factors: the persistence of neo-imperial intervention, of elite and foreign control over

the military or paramilitary security forces, of elite and

foreign manipulation of the media, of the judiciary, of non-

governmental organizations, of the educational and religious

establishments, of the electoral and political systems, and so

on. Taken together these things make it extremely difficult to sustain any far-reaching

challenge to the status quo (Hallward xxiii).


FrancoisDuvalier‘PapaDoc’

WiththeparamilitaryforceknownastheTontonsMacoutes,Duvalierestablishedthemostviolentlyrepressiveregimeintheisland’shistory,thanksinparttothesupportoftheUnitedStates(Hallwardxxiii).

PeterHallwardHitory1697 TheTreatyofRyswickdividestheislandof HispaniolaintoSaint-Domingue(French) andSanto-Domingo(Spanish).

Aug.1791 AslaveuprisingbeginsinnorthernSaint-Domingue.

Feb.1794 AbolitionofFrenchcolonialslavery.

Jan.1, Saint-DomingueisrenamedHaiti,anddeclares1804 itselfindependentofFrance

Oct.1806 Dessalinesisassassinated;civilwarthendivides Haitibetweenamonarchyinthenorth(ruledby HenriChristophe)andarepublicinthesouth(led byAlexandrePetior).

1818-43 PierreBoyerre-unifiesHaiti.

1825 FrancerecognizesHaitianindependencein exchangeforthepaymentof150millionfrancs (laterreducedto90million)ascompensationfor lostproperty.

1915-34 TheUnitedStatesinvadesandoccupiesHaiti.

1946-50 DumarsaisEstimeispresident.

Sept.1957 FrancoisDuvalier(‘PapaDoc’)becomespresident.

June1964 ‘PapaDoc’declareshimselfpresidentforlife.

April1971 FrancoisDuvalierdiesandissuceededbyhisson Jean-Claude(‘BabyDoc’).

Feb.1986 Jean-ClaudeDuvalierispushedoutofHaitibya popularuprising;Gen.HenryNamphytakespower.

Dec.16 Jean-Bertrand Aristide is elected with 67% of 1990 the vote.



Jan.6 MacouteleaderRogerLafontantattemptsapre-1991 emptivecoupd’etatagainstAristide,butis overwhelmedmypopularresistance.

Feb.1991 InaugurationofAristide’sfirstadministration;his PrimeMinisterisRenePreval.

Sept.30 Gen.RaoulCedrasandpolicechiefMichel1991 FrancoisoverthrowAristide,whogoesintoexile firstinVenezuelaandthenintheUS;overthenext fewyearsseveralthosandsofAristide’s supportersarekilled.

July1993 TheGovernorsIslandAgreementbrokeredbyUN andOASofficialsbetweenCedrasandAristideis signed(andlaterignoredbyCedras).

Summer TheparamilitarydeathsquadFRAPHisformed,led1993 byTotoConstantandJodelChamblain.

Sept.1993 LavalasactivistAntoineIzmeryisassassinated.

April1994 FRAPHandHaitianarmytroopskilldozensofpeople intheGonaivesslumofRaboteau.

Sept.1994 USsoldieroccupyHaitiforthesecondtime.

Oct.1994 Aristidereturnsfromexile,withbusinessmanSmarck MichelashisPrimeMinister.

Early1995 AristidedisbandsHaiti’sarmedforces(FAdH).

June-Sept. Legislativeelectionsarewonbymembersofthe1995 PlatformePolitiqueLavalas;EvansPaulisheavily defeatedbyMannoCharlemagneinthePort- au-Princemayoralelection.

Oct.1995 PrimeMinisterSmarckMichelresigns.

Jean-BertrandAristide

Firstpresidentialcandidateofthe

anti-Duvalieristmovement

Lavalas-aKreyolwordmeaning“avalanche”or

“flood”aswellas“themassofthe

people”or“everyonetogether”(Hallward

xxiv).


Rene Preval

Haitian politician and agronomist who twice served as president of the Republic of Haiti.

PeterHallwardHitoryDec.1995 RenePrevaliselectedwith88%ofthevote.

Feb.1996 InaugurationofPreval’sfirstadministration,with theOPL’sRosnySmarthashisPrimeMiniester

Late FormationofFanmiLavalaspoliticalorganization,1996 ledbyAristide,inoppositiontotheex-Lavalas factiontheOrganisationduPeupleenLutte(OPL), ledbyGerardPierre-Charles.

April1997 FanmiLavalaswinsseveralseatsinsenate elections;theresultsarenotacceptedbytheOPL, andparliamentarydeadlockensues.

June1997 PrimeMinisterRosnySmarthresigns.

Jan.1999 Parliamentarytermsexpire.

Oct.1999 PoliceChiefJeanLamyisassassinated,andunder pressurefromDannyToussaint,Preval’ssecurity ministerBobManuelfleesintoexile.

April2000 JournalistJeanDominiqueisassassinated.

May2000 Legislativeandlocalelections:FanmiLavalaswins landslidevictoriesatalllevelsofgovernment; opponentsofFanmiLavalasformaUS-backed coalitioncalledtheConvergenceDemocratique.

June2000 TheOASdisputesthevalidityofthevote-counting methodusedinthesenateelections.

Oct.2000 PNHcommandersGuyPhillipe,JackieNauand GilbertDragonfleeintoexileafterbeing implicatedinplansforacoup.

Nov.2000 Aristideisre-electedpresidentwith92%ofthevote.



Feb.2001 InaugurationofAristide’ssecondadministration, withJean-MarieCherestalashisPrimeMinister; simultaneousinaugurationofaparallel governmentledbytheConvergence Democratique’sGerardGourgue.

July2001 Thefirstofmanycommandoraidsonpolice stationsandothergovernmentfacilitiesbyex- soldiersbasedintheDominicanRepublicandled byGuyPhilippeandRavixRemissainthe(later knownastheFLRN)

Dec.2001 Ex-soldiersattackthepresidentialpalace, provokingpopularreprisalsagainsttheofficesof partiesbelongingtotheConvergence Democratique.

Jan.2002 PrimeMinisterCherestalresigns.

Sept.2002 OASadoptsresolution822. “SupportforStrengtheningDemocracyinHaiti”

Dec.2002 Thegroup184(ledbyAndyApaid,supportedby theIRI)isformedatameetingofAristide’s opponentsintheDominicanRepublic.

April2003 AristideasksFrancetorepaythemoneyitextorted fromHaitiascompensationforlostcolonial propertyinthenineteenthcentury.

July2003 Inter-AmericanDevelopmentBankpromisesto disbursefrozenloansandaidtoHaiti

Sept.2003 Amiot‘Cubain’Metayerisassassinatedin Gonaives;ButeurMetayerandJeanTatoune takeoverCubain’sgangandturnitagainst Aristide.

Andy ApaidBusinessman of Lebanese origin,

was instrumental in the Coup which saw Aristide exiled in 2004

Ever since popular president Jean-Bertrand

Aristide was violently overthrown in 2004, Haiti has been policed largely by foreign troops under

U.N. command. Haiti’s proud independence has been eroded, too,

by thousands of foreign organizations that have

flocked to the country over the yeras with

project for improvement and reform... In the

cities, the last decades have seen an increase in violent crime, including

drug trafficking and kidnapping (Dubois 10).


PeterHallwardHitory

Dec.2003 Anti-governmentstudentsclashwithgovernment supportersattheStateUniversityinPort-au-Prince.

Jan.1 Haiticelebratesthebicentenaryofits2004 independencefromFrance.

Feb.2004 Full-scaleinsurgencybeginsinGonaives,ledby JeanTatoune,ButeurMetayerandWinterEtienne; theyaresoonjoinedbyGuyPhilippe,Jodel ChamblainandFLRNtroopsbasedintheD.R.

Feb.2004 ChamblainoverrunsCapHaitien

Feb.2004 AristideisforcedontoaUSjetandflowntothe CentralAfricanRepublic.

March2004UStroopsoccupyHaitiforthethirdtime,andan interimgovernmentisformed,withGerardLatortue asPrimeMinister;hundredsofAristidesupporters arekilled.

June2004 TheUS-ledoccupationforceisreplacedbyaUN stabilizationmission(MINUSTAH).

Sept.2004 AlongcampaignofviolenceagainstLavalas supportersinPort-au-Princebegins,notablyinBel AirandCiteSoleil.

July2005 AmajorUNassaultonCiteSoleilkillsatleasttwenty people,includingmilitantleaderDredWilme.

Feb.2006 Prevalwinsdelayedpresidentialelectionsinthefirst round,with51%ofthevote

Dec2006 UNincursionsintoCiteSoleilleavesarounda dozenresidentsdead.

2007 UNmilitaryincursionsintoCiteSoleilcontinue...

Cite Soleil

Largest slum in Haiti with200,000 to 300,000 people living within a three square mile area.

One of the nation’s poorest, roughest and most dangerous areas.

Most residents are children or young adults.

Few live past the age of fifty – dying from disease or violence.

Area is prone to frequent flooding that turns the unpaved streets to sludge of mud mixed with sewerage.

Shacks average nine residents in each, and some are so small that inhabitants must sleep in shifts.

Most residents live on less than a $1 per day, with more than half living on less than $.44 per day.

The illiteracy rate is reported to be as high as 87%.


January12th,2010The Earthquake

In the wake of the January 12, 2010, earthquake, Haiti’s history of unrelenting struggle for justice is its greatest resource. This history... is what makes Haiti mighty: mighty without material wealth, without natural resources, without arable land, without arms (Farmer xii).

Amidst the rubble of the houses, buildings, and

schools, and in front of the once grand National Palace,

stands Neg Mawon - the symbol of Haiti. Neg Mawon

at once embodies the marooned man, the runaway

slave, and the free man. He symbolizes the complex

history of the Haitian people: stolen from Africa, marooned

on an island and liberated through a brave and radical

revolution. Shackles broken, machete in hand, the free man does not hide; rather

he blows a conch to gather others to fight for the

freedom and dignity of all people. For the self-evident

truth - that all men are created equal. Neg Mawon

is the indefatigable spirit of Haiti’s people, a people

profoundly and proudly woven to their history

(Farmer xii).

Already suffering from systemic problems and widespread poverty, the island nation of Haiti was rocked by a level 7.0 magnitude earthquake which destroyed countless buildings in Haiti including the National Palace, Port-au-Prince’s historic cathedral and the headquarters of the U.N.

According to Oxfam, the earthquake is Haiti killed 250,000 people and injured another 300,000. In terms of fatalities, only the Bangladesh cyclone of 1970 and the Tangshan earthquake of 1976 in China surpassed the Haitian tragedy (Gros 1).

Key Statistics (from Amnesty International)•2.3millionlefthomeless•105,000housesdestroyed;208,164housesbadlydamaged•357,785people(90,415families)livingin496camps(Oct.2012)•60,978individualshavebeenforciblyevictedfrom152camps sincetheearthquake•78,175individualsarecurrentlyunderthreatofeviction–21% ofthetotalnumberofIDPscurrentlylivingincamps.•72,038internally-displacedpeoplein264ofthe541camps didnothaveon-siteaccesstowaterandtoilets(inJune2012)•50%ofcampsremainingdidnothaveonsiteaccesstowater andtoilets,affectingmorethanoneinternallydisplacedperson outofsix,foratotalof66,546persons.(June2012)

Before the earthquake•67%oftheurbanpopulationlivedinslumswhichwerethe areasmostaffectedbytheearthquake.•56%ofhouseholdslivewithlessthanadollaradayand77% withlessthan2•The10%ofrichesthouseholdsinHaitiearned68%ofthetotal revenueofallhouseholds


AftershocksThe EarthquakeWhile “the world spent more than $5.2 billion on the emergency relief effort... Haiti is not better off... nearly a million people [are] still homeless; political riots fueled by frustration over the stalled reconstruction; and the worst cholera epidemic is recent history, caused by the very UN soldiers sent to Haiti to protect its people... Rubble still chokes much of the city... [and] the legacy of the response has been a sense of betrayal (Katz 2).

Where did the money go?Part of the problem is that the international community and non-government organizations (Haiti has sometimes been called the Republic of NGOs) has bypassed Haitian non-governmental agencies and the Haitian government itself. The Center for Global Development analysis of where they money went concluded that overall less than 10% went to the government of Haiti and less than 1% went to Haitian organizations and businesses. A full one-third of the humanitarian funding for Haiti was actually returned to donor countries to reimburse them for their own civil and military work in the country and the majority of the rest went to international NGOs and private contractors.

With hundreds of thousands of people still displaced, the international community has built less than 5000 new homes. Despite the fact that crime and murder are low in Haiti (Haiti had a murder rate of 6.9 of every hundred thousand, while New Orleans has a rate of 58), huge amounts of money are spent on a UN force which many Haitians do not want. The annual budget of the United Nations “peacekeeping” mission, MINUSTAH for 2012-2013 or $644 million would pay for the construction of more than 58,000 homes at $11,000 per home (Quigley & Ramanauskas).

For those that have left the camps, little is known about their current status. According to OCHA, over 250,000 have left the camps due to resettlement programs, yet there has been no systematic tracking of what has happened to them. The government’s flagship relocation program, “16/6”, began over a year ago, meaning the one-year rental subsidies offered to camp residents have already run out, or will in the next few months. One former resident of the Champ de Mars camp said that his subsidy will run out next month, and with no steady employment, he expects to be back on the street soon. If so, he, and others in similar situations, would likely fall outside of the “official” camp population (CEPR).

Living conditions in the makeshift camps are worsening – with severe lack of access to water, sanitation and waste disposal – all of which have contributed to the spread of infectious diseases such as cholera.Women and girls are extremely vulnerable to sexual assault and rape.

As if being exposed to insecurity, diseases and hurricanes were not enough, many people living in makeshifts camps are also living under the constant fear of being forcibly evicted (Amnesty International).

A survey by USAID found that housing options are so few that people have moved back into over 50,000 “red” buildings which engineers said should be demolished.


HaitibytheNumbers-January9,2013

Numberofpeoplekilledintheearthquakein2010:over 217,300Number of people killed by cholera epidemic caused by U.N. troops sinceOctober19,2010:over 7,912Numberofcholeracasesworldwidein2010and2011:906,632PercentofworldwidecholeracasesthatwereinHaitiinthoseyears:57TotalnumberofcholeracasesinHaitifrom2010-2012:635,980DaysSinceCholeraWasIntroducedinHaitiWithoutanApologyFromtheU.N.:813Percentofthepopulationthatlacksaccessto“improved”drinkingwater:42FundingneededforU.N./CDC/Haitiangovernment10-yearcholeraeradicationplan:$2.2 billionPercentof$2.2billionwhichtheU.N.pledgedtoprovide:1Percentof$2.2billionthattheU.N.hasspentonMINUSTAHsincetheearthquake:87AmountdisbursedbybilateralandmultilateraldonorstoHaitifrom2010-2012:$6.43 billionPercentthatwentthroughtheHaitiangovernment:9AmounttheHaitiangovernmenthasreceivedinbudgetsupportoverthistime:$302.69 millionAmounttheAmericanRedCrossraisedforHaiti:$486 millionAmountofbudgetsupporttotheHaitiangovernmentin2009,theyearbeforetheearthquake:$93.60 millionAmountofbudgetsupporttotheHaitiangovernmentin2011,theyearaftertheearthquake:$67.93 millionNumberofdollars,outofevery$100spentinhumanitarianrelief,thatwenttotheHaitiangovernment:1ValueofallcontractsawardedbyUSAIDsincetheearthquake:$485.5 millionPercentofcontractsthathasgonetolocalHaitianfirms:1.2Percentofcontractsthathasgonetofirmsinsidethebeltway(DC,Maryland,Virginia):67.6Numberofpeopledisplacedfromtheirhomesbytheearthquake:1.5 million

The Earthquake


CenterforEconomicandPolicyResearch

Numberofpeoplestillindisplacedpersonscampstoday:358,000Percent that have left camps due to relocation programs by the Haitiangovernmentandinternationalagencies:25Shareofcampresidentsfacingaconstantthreatofforcedeviction:1 in 5Number of transitional shelters built by aid agencies since the earthquake:110,964Percentoftransitionalsheltersthatwenttocampresidents:23Numberofnewhousesconstructedsincetheearthquake:5,911Numberofhousesmarked“red”,meaningtheywere inneedofdemolition:100,178Numberofhousesmarked“yellow”,meaningtheywereinneedofrepairstomakesafeenoughtolivein:146,004Estimatednumberofpeoplelivinginhousesmarkedeither“yellow”or“red”:1 millionNumberofhousesthathaveactuallybeenrepaired:18,725PercentgrowthoftheHaitianeconomy(GDP)in2012,predictedbytheIMFinApril2011:8.8ActualpercentgrowthoftheHaitianeconomy(GDP)in2012:2.5U.N.OfficeofCoordinationofHumanitarianAffairs(OCHA)fundingappealfor2013:$144 millionPercentoflastyear’sOCHAappealthatwasactuallyfunded:40Fundingcommittedby theU.S.Government for theCaracol industrial park:$124 millionShareofU.S.fundsearmarkedfor“reconstruction”thatthisrepresents:1/4thCostofbuilding750housesneartheCaracolparkforworkers:$20 millionCostofbuilding86-100housesforU.S.Embassystaff:$85 - 100 millionShareofgarmentfactoriesinHaitifoundtobeoutofcompliancewithminimumwagerequirements:21 of 22Numberofgarment factories thathave lostpreferential tariffbenefits to theU.S.becauseoflaborviolations:0

The Earthquake


AYearandADay

IntheHaitianvodoutradition,itisbelievedbysomethatthesoulsofthenewlydeadslipintoriversandstreamsandremainthere,underthewater,forayearandaday.Then, luredbyritualprayerandsong,thesoulsemergefromthewaterand the spiritsare reborn. These reincarnated spiritsgoon tooccupytrees,and,ifyoulistenclosely,youmayheartheirhushedwhispersinthewind.Thespiritscanalsohoverovermountainranges,oringrottoes,orcaves,wherefamiliar voices echoour ownwhenwecall out their names. The year-and-a-day commemoration is seen, in families that believe in it andpractice it,asatremendousobligation,anhonorableduty, inpartbecause itassuresatranscendentalcontinuityofthekindthathaskeptusHaitians,nomatterwherewelive,linkedtoourancestorsforgenerations.

Bythis interpretationofdeath,oneofmanyinHaiti,morethantwohundredthousand soulswentanbadlo—under thewater—after theearthquake lastJanuary 12th. Their bodies, however, were elsewhere. Many were neverremovedfromtherubbleoftheirhomes,schools,offices,churches,orbeautyparlors.Manywerepickedupbyearthmoversonroadsidesanddumpedintomassgraves.

Manywereburned,likekindling,inbonfires,forfearthattheymightinfecttheliving.“InHaiti,peopleneverreallydie,”mygrandmotherssaidwhenIwasachild,whichseemedstrange,becauseinHaitipeoplewerealwaysdying.Theydiedindisastersbothnaturalandman-made.Theydiedfrompoliticalviolence.Theydiedof infectionsthatwouldhavebeeneasilytreatedelsewhere.Theyevendiedofchagrin,ofbrokenhearts.

ButwhatIdidn’tfullyunderstandwasthatinHaitipeople’sspiritsneverreallydie.Thishasbeenprovedtrueinthestorieswehaveseenandreadduringthepastyear,ofboundlesssufferingenduredwithgraceanddignity:mothershavespentnights standingknee-deep inmud,cradling theirbabies in theirarms,whilerainpoundedthetarpaulinabovetheirheads;amputeeshavelearnedtowalk,andevendance,ontheirnewprostheseswithinhoursofgettingthem;rapevictimshavecreatedorganizationstoprotectotherrapevictims;peoplehavetried,inanywaytheycould,toreclaimashadowoftheirpastlives.

Commentary


EdwidgeDanticat

Mygrandmotherswerealsotalkingaboutsouls,whichneverreallydie,evenwhenthevisualandverbalmanifestationsoftheirtransition—thetombstonesandmausoleums, the elaboratewakes and church services, the desounenprayersthatencouragethebodytosurrenderthespirit,themourningritualsofallreligions—becomealuxury,likesomuchelseinHaiti,likeahome,likebread,likecleanwater.

Intheyearsincetheearthquake,Haitihaslostsomethirty-fivehundredpeopletocholera,anepidemicthatisbornoutofwater.Theepidemiccouldpotentiallytakemorelivesthantheearthquakeitself.Andwiththecontagionofcholeracomesastigmathatfollowsoneevenindeath.

Peoplecannottouchalovedonewhohasdiedofcholera.Noritualbathispossible,nolastdressingofthebody.Thereareonlymoremassgraves.

In the emerging lore and reality of cholera,water, this fragile veil betweenlifeanddeath for somanyHaitians, hasbecomea fearedpoison. Evenastheelectionstalematelingers,thericefarmersinHaiti’sArtiboniteValley—thecountry’sbreadbasket—arerefusingtostepintothebacteriainfectedwatersoftheirpaddies,settingthestageforpotentialfoodshortagesandmorepossibledeathahead, this time fromhunger. In theprecariousdance for survival, inwhichwelongtohonorthedeadwhilestillharboringthefearofjoiningthem,willourriversandstreamsevenbetrustedtoshelterandthenreturnsouls?

Ayearago,watchingthecrumbledbuildingsandcrushedbodiesthatwereshownaroundtheclockonAmericantelevision,IthoughtthatIwaswitnessingthedarkestmomentinthehistoryofthecountrywhereIwasbornandwheremostofmyfamilymembersstilllive.ThenIheardoneofthesurvivorssay,eitheronradioorontelevision,thatduringtheearthquakeitwasasiftheearthhadbecome liquid, like water. That’s when I began to imagine them, all thesethousandsandthousandsofsouls,slippingintothecountry’sriversandstreams,thenwaitingouttheiryearandadaybeforere-emergingandreclaimingtheirplacesamongus.And,briefly,Iwashopeful.

Myhopecamenotonlyfromthepossibilityoftheirandourcommunalrebirthbutfromtheextradaythatwouldfollowthecloseofwhathascertainlybeenaterribleyear.Thatextradayguaranteesnothing,exceptthatitwillleadusintothefollowingyear,andtheoneafterthat,andtheoneafterthat.

Commentary


LiteratureWorks Cited

Books1.Hallward,Peter.“DammingtheFlood:HaitiandthePoliticsofContainment”.2007.2.Harvey,David.“RebelCities”2012.3.LeFebvre,Henri.“WritingsonCities”.1996.4.Katz,JonathanM.“TheBigTruckThatWentBy:HowtheWorldCametoSaveHaitiand LeftBehindaDisaster”.2013.5.Farmer,Paul.“HaitiAftertheEarthquake”.2011.6.Dubois,Laurent.“Haiti:TheAftershocksofHistory”.2012.7.Knight,FranklinW.TheCaribbean.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1990.8.James,C.L.R.TheBlackJacobins.NewYork:RandomHouse,1963.9.Genovese,EugeneD.FromRebelliontoRevolution.BatonRouge:LouisianaStateUniversityPress,1979.

Articles10. Poschet,Lena.“AcrosstheRiver”11. Sheller,Mimi.“Theislandingeffect:post-disastermobilitysystemsandhumanitarian logisticsinHaiti”12. Pence,Josh.“HopeforHaiti”13. Bellegarde-Smith,Patrick.“AMan-MadeDisaster:TheEarthquakeofJanuary12, 2010—AHaitianPerspective”14. Gros,Jean-Germain.“AnatomyofaHaitianTragedy:WhentheFuryofNatureMeets theDebilityoftheState”15. Audefroy,JoelF.“Haiti:post-earthquakelessonslearnedfromtraditional construction”16. Danticat,Edwidge.TheHaitiearthquake,ayearlater:TheNewYorker17. ClassReadings18. Knight,FranklinW.“TheHaitianRevolution.”TheAmericanHistoricalReviewVol.105,Issue1.<http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/105.1/ah000103.html>19. Corbett,Bob.“TheHaitianRevolution.”StretchMagazine1991.


1.UnitedNations i.http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/minustah/ ii.http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/ iii.http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/Pages/HumanRightsBodies.aspx iv.http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2009/ wemustdisarm/internationalhumanrightslawashorthistory v.RighttoAdequateHousing 1.http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FS21_rev_1_Housing_en.pdf

2.CenterforEconomicandPolicyResearch i.http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/relief-and-reconstruction-watch/haiti-by-the- numbers-three-years-later ii.http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/relief-and-reconstruction-watch/haitis- increasingly-hidden-displacement-disaster

3.JournalofEnvironmentandUrbanization4.TheWorldBank

i.WorldDevelopmentIndicators20125.AmnestyInternational

i.Haiti:Threeyearsonfromearthquakehousingsituationcatastrophic http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/haiti-three-years-earthquake-housing-situation- catastrophic-2013-01-116.InternationalAllianceofInhabitants7.DevelopmentEducation.ie8.Aljazeera9.DemocracyNow!10. TheNation11. HaitiClinic-http://haiticlinic.org/about-haiti/12. Corbett,Bob.TheHaitianRevolutionof1791-1803

i.http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/revolution/revolution1.htm#four

NetworkedResourcesWorks Cited


KeyStatisticsDevelopment IndicatorsSize of the Economy

Population Dynamics

Labor Force

Disease prevention


KeyStatisticsDevelopment IndicatorsNutrition and Growth

Nutrition Intake & Supplements

Employment by sector

Mortality


KeyStatisticsDevelopment IndicatorsRural population and land use

Agricultural Inputs

Deforestation and Biodiversity

Freshwater


KeyStatisticsDevelopment IndicatorsEnergy production and use

Urbanization

Urban housing conditions

Traffic and congestion


KeyStatisticsDevelopment Indicators

Fragile Situations


KeyStatisticsDevelopment IndicatorsExternal debt

Aid dependancy

Migration

Travel and tourism