paramilitarism_book_smaller

New book dissects violent base of Martelly regime

The following article is published in this week’s Haiti Liberté weekly, Sept 5, 2012. It is written by Jeb Sprague and based on the introduction to his newly-published ‘Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti.

President Michel Martelly now stands poised to institutionalize as a standing army the very paramilitary forces which helped overthrow Haiti’s elected government in 1991 and 2004. Sprague’s new book is just out and not a moment too soon. Paramilitaries are being trained and housed on close to 20 former Haitian Army bases around Haiti, with a wink and a nod (if not more) from Martelly’s government.

“Former soldiers and death-squad members were set up on 23 bases around Haiti,” explained Sen. Moïse Jean-Charles in a July 2012 interview with Haïti Liberté. “In the face of international criticism, the government made a big production of closing down four of those bases earlier this year. But what about the other 19 de facto bases? They are still functioning, and Martelly knows it. Martelly is behind it.”

Professor and author Robert Fatton has called Sprague’s book a “must-read not only for Haitianists, but also for anyone interested in the processes of political destabilization and popular disempowerment.” Beginning this month, Sprague will make a speaking tour throughout Canada and the U.S. for Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti. Below is the schedule for that tour (or read it online here). To order the book from the publisher, go to: http://monthlyreview.org/press/.

By Jeb Sprague

His right eye blinked furiously, swollen and red; he continued to rub it. In Kreyòl, he demanded to know how I had found him: “Kote w ou jwenn nimewo telefòn mwen?” (Where did you get my phone number?); “Pou kiyès wap travay?” (Who are you working for?), he said as he stared at me with suspicion.

Louis-Jodel Chamblain, the man sitting across from me, had been a commander of the paramilitary force (paramilitaries are irregular armed organizations backed by sectors of the upper class) known as the Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Haiti (also known as the Front for the National Liberation and Reconstruction of Haiti, or FLRN). He explained to me that he had taken up his position during an “uprising” in early 2004 against Haiti’s government. He was also a cofounder in the mid–1990s of the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH) death squads. According to Human Rights Watch, the FRAPH took part in the killing of at least 4,000 people as well as in thousands of rapes and other acts of torture. Before cofounding the FRAPH, Chamblain had served with the Tonton Macoutes, the infamous paramilitary arm of the Duvalier dictatorship, which according to human rights organizations was responsible for killing tens of thousands of people and victimizing many more. In early 2011, Chamblain would head up security for Jean-Claude Duvalier when the former dictator made a surprise return to Haiti.

Read the rest of this article here

 

Roger Annis

Roger Annis

Roger Annis is a coordinator of the Canada Haiti Action Network (CHAN) and its Vancouver affiliate, Haiti Solidarity BC. He has visited Haiti in August 2007 and June 2011. He is a frequent writer and...