Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1945 - 2001 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
No. of Boxes: 544
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
International Civilian Mission in Haiti, OAS/UN (MICIVIH)
The International Civilian Mission in Haiti, OAS/UN (MICIVIH) was established in February 1993 by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations at the request of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who had been deposed on 29 September 1991 in a coup led by Lieutenant General of the Haitian Armed Forces (FADH) Raoul Cédras. MICIVIH was the United Nations’ first joint mission with a regional organization. It was integrated operationally as well as administratively. MICIVIH was known in French as Mission Civile International en Haiti, OEA/ONU, and in Creole, as Misyon Sivil Entènasyonal an Ayti, OEA/ONU.
MICIVIH was mandated to: ensure respect for the human rights inscribed in the Haitian Constitution and in the international instruments which Haiti was party to, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the American Convention on Human Rights; and contribute to the strengthening of judicial, police, and prison institutions important for the promotion and protection of human rights. MICIVIH focused special attention on the right to life, the integrity and security of the person, and the freedoms of expression, association, and assembly.
To fulfil its mandate, MICIVIH was authorized to receive communications about alleged human rights violations; to enjoy complete freedom of movement within Haitian territory; to interview anyone freely and privately; to verify case follow-up in Haitian institutions and make recommendations to Haitian authorities; to undertake public information and human rights education campaigns.
In mid-October 1993, for security reasons, the MICIVIH staff evacuated to the Dominican Republic. A small contingent returned to Haiti in January 1994. In July 1994, Haiti’s de facto regime and military leadership expelled the mission from the country.
The de facto regime resigned from power on 14 October 1994 from pressure exerted by the Multinational Force (MNF), which had been authorized by Security Council Resolution 940 (1994) and had begun deployment in Haiti on 19 September 1994 in Operation Uphold Democracy. Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned from exile and resumed the office of the presidency on 15 October 1994.
MICIVIH was re-established in full force in Haiti on 26 October 1994 and expanded. Added responsibilities included democratic institution-building, civic education, assisting with the repatriation and resettlement of displaced persons, and providing medical assistance to victims of human rights abuses.
The Executive Director served as Head of Mission and reported to the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS) and to the United Nations Secretary-General. Colin Terrence Granderson was the Executive Director for the entire duration of the mission.
MICIVIH's headquarters were located in Port-au-Prince.
At the start of the mission in 1993, MICIVIH was comprised of a Human Rights Division, under which functioned: the Investigation and Research Unit, the Human Rights Education Unit, the Judicial Unit, the Medical Unit, and the Operations Unit. In late 1995, the Human Rights Division was dissolved and the mission was restructured into two sections, the Section des Affaires Juridiques et du Renforcement Institutionnel (SAJRI) and the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights Section (PPHR).
MICIVIH set up regional offices in the following nine departments:
Base 1 : Port-au-Prince, West Department
Base 1A : West Department (rural)
Base 1B : Petit Goave, West Department
Base 2 : Gonaives, Artibonite Department
Base 2A : Saint Marc, Artibonite Department
Base 3 : Les Cayes, South Department
Base 4 : Cap Haitien, North Department
Base 5 : Jeremie, Grand’Anse Department
Base 6 : Hinche, Center Department
Base 7 : Jacmel, South East Department
Base 8 : Port-de-Paix, North West Department
Base 9 : Fort Liberte, North East Department
Desk Officers managed the regional bases and staff included: Regional Coordinators; Observers who worked in the areas of human rights, judicial, prison, medical and electoral monitoring; and local support personnel.
MICIVIH’s mandate expired on 15 March 2000.
United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH)
The United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) was established by Security Council Resolution 867 (1993) of 23 September 1993 for a period of six months. Its purpose was to help implement certain provisions of the Governors Island Agreement signed by the Haitian parties on 3 July 1993, and its mandate was to assist in modernizing the armed forces of Haiti and establishing a new police force. However, due to non-cooperation of the Haitian military authorities in 1993 and 1994, UNMIH could not be fully deployed. UNMIH was known in French as Mission des Nations Unies en Haiti (MINUHA).
Following the restoration on 15 October 1994 of the legitimate Haitian government with the help of the Multinational Force (MNF), UNMIH's mandate was revised by Security Council Resolutions 940 (1994) and 975 (1995) to enable the mission to assist the democratic Government of Haiti in fulfilling its responsibilities in connection with: sustaining a secure and stable environment established during the multinational phase and protecting international personnel and key installations; and professionalizing of the Haitian armed forces and the creation of a police force separate from the armed forces. UNMIH also was to assist government authorities to establish an environment conducive to the organization of free and fair elections.
UNMIH assumed its full functions on 31 March 1995, taking on the responsibilities of the MNF. Democratic legislative and municipal elections were held on 25 June 1995. The presidential elections took place on 17 December 1995. The new President assumed office on 7 February 1996.
UNMIH was headquartered in Port-au-Prince. Its leadership was carried out by the following individuals:
Special Envoy of the Secretary General, Dante Caputo of Argentina (September 1993 to September 1994)
Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG), Lakhdar Brahimi of Algeria (September 1994 to March 1996)
Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG), Enrique ter Horst of Venezuela (March to June 1996)
The mandate of UNMIH expired on 30 June 1996.
United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH)
The United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH) was established on 28 June 1996 by Security Council Resolution 1063 (1996). It was known in French as the Mission d'Appui des Nations Unies en Haiti (MANUH).
UNSMIH was mandated to assist the Government of Haiti in the professionalization of the Haitian National Police (HNP); to assist Haitian authorities in maintaining a secure and stable environment conducive to the establishment and training of an effective national police force; and to coordinate United Nations system activities to promote institution-building, national reconciliation and economic rehabilitation.
UNSMIH consisted of a Civilian Police component; and a military component comprised of a reconnaissance battalion, a helicopter unit, a military police unit, an engineer unit, transport and logistics elements, and medical support.
UNSMIH was headquartered in Port-au-Prince.
Enrique ter Horst of Venezuela served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) from March through July 1996.
Brigadier-General J. R. P. Daigle of Canada served as Force Commander from July 1996 to July 1997.
The mandate of UNSMIH expired on 31 July 1997.
United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti (UNTMIH)
The United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti (UNTMIH) was established by Security Council Resolution 1123 (1997) of 30 July 1997 to assist the Government of Haiti by supporting and contributing to the professionalization of the Haitian National Police (HNP). Tasks of UNTMIH's Civilian Police included training HNP specialized units in crowd control and National Palace security. Additionally, UNTMIH and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) continued preparation of an assistance programme to provide HNP with law enforcement expertise. Tasks of UNTMIH's military component included ensuring, under the authority of the Force Commander, the safety and freedom of movement of United Nations personnel implementing the mandate. UNTMIH also worked to achieve a level of political stability conducive to a nation-building partnership between Haiti, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations. UNTMIH was known in French as Mission de Transition Des Nations Unies en Haiti (MITNUH).
UNTMIH was headquartered in Port-au-Prince. Its Head of Mission and Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) was Enrique ter Horst of Venezuela.
UNTMIH’s mandate expired on 30 November 1997.
United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (MIPONUH)
The United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (MIPONUH) was established by Security Council Resolution 1141 (1997) of 28 November 1997 to continue to assist the Government of Haiti in the professionalization of the Haitian National Police. The mission placed special emphasis on assistance at the supervisory level and on training specialized police units. Other tasks included mentoring police, guiding police agents in day-to-day duties and maintaining close coordination with technical advisers to the Police funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and bilateral donors. MIPONUH's Special Police Unit (SPU) was tasked with providing assistance to MIPONUH personnel and protecting its property. MIPONUH was known in French as Mission de Police Civile des Nations Unies en Haiti.
MIPONUH was headquartered in Port-au-Prince. Its leadership was carried out by the following individuals:
Representative of the Secretary General (RSG), Julian Harston of the United Kingdom (December 1997 to September 1999)
Representative of the Secretary General (RSG), Alfredo Lopes Cabral of Guinea-Bissau (October 1999 to March 2000)
MIPONUH’s mandate expired on 15 March 2000.
International Civilian Support Mission in Haiti (MICAH)
The International Civilian Support Mission in Haiti (MICAH) was a peacebuilding mission created by a consensus vote of the General Assembly in resolution A/54/193 of 17 December 1999. MICAH was known in French as Mission Civile Internationale d'Appui en Haiti. It was supported by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Group of Friends of Haiti.
Launched on 16 March 2000, MICAH was mandated to consolidate the results achieved by MIPONUH and its predecessor missions. It was tasked with further promoting human rights and reinforcing the institutional effectiveness of the Haitian police and the judiciary, and with coordinating and facilitating the international community's dialogue with political and social actors in Haiti. MICAH formulated three pillars to carry out its mandate: the Justice Pillar, the Police Pillar, and the Human Rights Pillar.
Alfredo Lopes Cabral of Guinea-Bissau served as Representative of the Secretary-General (RSG) for the duration of the mission.
MICAH’s mandate expired on 6 February 2001.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
AG-068 contains the records of six political and peacekeeping missions active in Haiti during the 1990s:
International Civilian Mission in Haiti, OAS/UN (MICIVIH), 1993-2000
United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH), 1993-1996
United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH), 1996-1997
United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti (UNTMIH), 1997
United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (MIPONUH), 1997-2000
International Civilian Support Mission in Haiti (MICAH), 2000-2001
The concurrent deployment of the various missions resulted in administrative and operational integration in the field and during the transport of records at the box, folder, and item levels. Because of this, the records for the Haiti missions have been retained and arranged in one fonds, instead of in separate fonds.
A mission has been identified for all files in the collection. The name of the mission is indicated in the Office of Origin field at the folder level. This enables searches for specific missions. In addition, the acronym for the name of the mission is written in the upper left corner of the folder.
Some folders contain documents for several missions. For these folders, the name of the mission was determined by the majority of documents in the folder.
For a few folders, a specific Haiti mission could not be identified. In these cases, a best effort was made to identify a mission, and brackets were drawn around the acronym for the name of the mission written in the upper left corner of the folder.
The functional description of records in AG-068 is based on the “Peacekeeping and Political Operations Retention Schedule,” DPKO/DFS, v. 3, June 2011. The names of the series comprising AG-068 were drawn from the records series listed in the retention schedule. During archival processing, the files were assigned to series based on their function. Mission-specific Offices of Origin are indicated at the box level and are derived from the mission’s organizational structure. Accessions originating from the offices of the Heads of Mission were not broken up and were assigned to S-1872.
The Haiti missions in AG-068 produced records in the following languages: French (75%), English (15%), and Creole (10%). Folders containing records predominantly in English have been screened at the item level and the appropriate Security Level has been indicated in TRIM. When French or Creole language documents were observed in these folders, they were placed in subfolders for future item-level security screening. Folders containing records predominantly in French have not been screened. [No Security Level] is indicated for these folders in TRIM, and Not Yet Screened has been written on these folders.
The Winthrop Group, Inc., carried out archival processing on AG-068 from October 2012 to May 2013.
Fonds consists of the following Series:
S-1880 Human rights - Investigation and verification
S-1879 Prisons and Corrections Services
S-1878 Human resources – Health, welfare – Medical team regional visits
S-1877 Public Information and Communications
S-1876 Judicial and Legal Systems
S-1875 Legal
S-1874 Human Rights
S-1873 Military
S-1872 Head of Mission
S-1870 Elections
S-1867 Law Enforcement