International Civilian Mission in Haiti, OAS/UN (MICIVIH)
MICIVIH Observers stationed in bases throughout Haiti monitored the activities and human rights abuses of the Interim Public Security Force (IPSF), active from December 1994 to December 1995, and the new professional, non-military Haitian National Police (HNP), deployed in June 1995. Observers also conducted seminars on a variety of topics for the HNP. In addition to monitoring the deployment of the Haitian National Police (HNP), Observers monitored elements affecting the state of security in their areas of responsibility, including other police forces, criminal activity, public unrest, and threats to MICIVIH personnel at bases.
Records relating to the HNP include: decrees and laws pertaining to the establishment of the HNP; internal regulations; organizational charts; minutes of meetings with HNP leadership such as Departmental Directors; reports authored by Observers on the state of the HNP; statistics on deployment; and memoranda on perceptions of the HNP by the local population.
There are also reports, agenda, and invitations relating to MICIVIH-led training seminars for the HNP. Seminar topics include: police ethics, community policing techniques, conflict resolution, international treaties that protect human rights, relations with local government officials, maintaining public order, and human rights non-governmental organizations (NGO). In addition, memoranda between HNP officers and MICIVIH civic education staff discuss police involvement in seminars about their work directed to the civilian population.
Investigation reports by Observers detail alleged abuses of authority and violations of human rights perpetrated by police officers, including: bribery; shootings; brutality against detainees in custody or during interrogation; and undue use of force in arrests and public demonstrations. Memoranda authored by Observers discuss the HNP’s internal disciplinary mechanisms for police officers accused of abuses and the Inspection Générale de la Police Nationale d’Haiti (IGPNH)’s role in assuring compliance with police regulations and evaluating the force’s effectiveness. There are also copies of MICIVIH’s July 1996 investigation report "Haitian National Police (HNP) and Human Rights” in English and in French.
Reports prepared by Observers about visits to police commissariats in communes and towns describe: conditions in custody cells (garde-à-vue) at commissariats; detainees’ reasons for arrest and related judicial proceedings; summaries of interviews conducted by Observers with detainees about their treatment by police and judicial authorities; the maintenance of the registre de retention; meetings with police commissioners (commissaires); and irregularities in the functioning of the police station.
Other available records include memoranda prepared by Observers about such topics as: local criminal activity, including murder, assassination, and assault; public unrest such as political demonstrations and riots; acts of popular justice; and threats to the safety of Observers and base personnel by the military, the police, and civilians. Some of the memoranda detail the activities of armed groups that conducted policing activities but had no legal status as police forces, such as voluntary and communal police forces, as well as vigilance brigades established locally by civilians. There are minutes of meetings with vigilance brigade leaders, working papers on the history of vigilance brigades, and profiles of a few of the vigilance brigades based on interviews with their members. These profiles detail brigade history, frequency of arrests, arms caches, political affiliations, and alleged human rights abuses. In addition, there are base security plans and analyses of the department’s security situation.
United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (MIPONUH)
Included in S-1867 are records of the MIPONUH Civilian Police (CIVPOL), headquartered in Port-au-Prince. Among individuals serving as Police Commissioner during the mission were: Colonel Jean Claude Laparra (December 1997 - March 1998); Colonel Claude Grude (April 1998 - May 1999); and Colonel George Gabbardo (June 1999 - March 2000). The records consist of: outgoing correspondence from the CIVPOL Commissioner to the RSG or to Chiefs of CIVPOL detachments; summaries of weekly CIVPOL meetings, chaired by the Commissioner; and detachment evacuation plans. Weekly syntheses, sent from the Commissioner to the CIVPOL unit at the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in New York, describe: public demonstrations and major security incidents throughout the country, activities of the Haitian National Police (HNP), and activities of CIVPOL. The weekly syntheses are accompanied by tables noting the weekly training activities carried out by MIPONUH on subjects including: the conduct of searches and seizures, arrest and handcuffing procedures, the handling of firearms, investigation techniques, and traffic accidents. The records also contain directives describing the execution of the MIPONUH mandate and the Commissioner’s End of Mission report dating from March 2000. The MIPONUH programmes for police training are also present in the records, and they outline the duties of the Police Chief; diverse topics in law enforcement and the investigation of crime; traffic policing; and first aid.
International Civilian Support Mission in Haiti (MICAH)
Also included in S-1867 are records of the MICAH Police Section. Staff of the Police Section, led by Chief of the Police Section Yves Bouchard, served as Technical Advisors to the Haitian National Police (HNP). In cooperation with Haitian government institutions, they advised the HNP on issues of justice, human rights, and the reform of procedures for criminal investigations and the prosecution system. Police Section Technical Advisors served in the HNP’s Direction Générale, Direction Départementales (Department-level HNP offices), and other administrative divisions of the HNP. In support of the Haitian National Police (HNP), the Police Section collaborated with the United States Department of Justice’s International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) and with programs run by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Police Section records include: an information manual for technical advisors consisting of reference material about the history, structure, and regulations of the HNP, MICAH, and Police Section; HNP security plans; and memoranda exchanged between the Chief of Police, Technical Advisors, the Representative of the Secretary-General (RSG), the Directeur Général of the HNP, and other mission staff and HNP officials.
Records authored by Technical Advisors assigned to the HNP’s Direction Générale, Direction Départementales, and other administrative divisions of the HNP consist of: visit reports, action plans, periodic reports, technical reports, and end of mission reports. Other notable records of the Technical Advisors include: “Redéfiniton des Missions des Agents aux Postes Fixes et aux Postes Mobiles du Service Aeroportuaire” authored by the Technical Advisor to the Commissaire de Police de l’Aeroport International de Port-au-Prince; a report on traffic in Cap Haitien authored by the Technical Advisor to the Direction de la Circulation des Vehicules et de la Police Routier; “État des Lieux Affecte a la Direction du Personnel de la DGPNH,” which was authored by the Technical Advisor to the Direction du Personnel; and a table detailing human rights violations forwarded to the Technical Advisor to the Inspection Générale de la Police Nationale d’Haiti (IGPNH).