CHAPTER IV:  THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN HAITI

B.          Violence against women and sexual abuse

119.    As mentioned above, since the coup d'état against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the illegal de facto regime has committed a multitude of human rights abuses against the civilian population, particularly since mid-1993  after the failure of the Governors Island Agreement.  The destruction of democratic movements in Haiti has created a climate of terror, and women have been used as victims.  The primary instruments of the repression inflicted on women and children in Haiti have been rapes and other types of violence and abuse committed by members of the army and police forces, their armed civilian auxiliaries, the attachés, paramilitary groups, and members of FRAPH, acting with complete impunity.

120.    Women of varying ages and circumstances, from pregnant women to five year-old girls, are among the victims of rape.  Women who played an important role in the formation of democratic institutions in Haiti were identified because of their political activities.  Many Haitian women's organizations were attacked; others were destroyed.  Other women were identified because of their personal links and family relationships, and reprisals were taken against them for the political ideas and activities of a spouse, son, father, nephew, or other male family member.  Some women were identified because of their own status and role in helping the civil society.  The fact of belonging to a popular organization or being involved in an activity whose purpose was to improve the local community was considered as the expression of a political opinion in favor of President Aristide.  Numerous women were abused merely because they lived in a slum that supports President Aristide (Cité Soleil).  Remaining alone to care for their children because their husbands had to flee or were murdered, many of them were easy, defenseless prey.

121.    The OAS/UN Mission affirmed, in this respect:  "It always happens in the same way:  armed men, frequently soldiers or FRAPH members, violently enter the house of a political militant to arrest him.  When he is not there and the family cannot say where he is, the intruders turn against his wife, sister, daughter, or cousin."[1]

122.    Sexual abuse against Haitian women was carried out in various ways, but with a single aim:  to create a climate of terror among people supporting Aristide.  Women were generally raped by several men on the same occasion.  Pregnant women and those who had just given birth were not safe from these crimes.  Often, a violation occurred in the home of the victim, in front of the children and other family members, and thus not only the woman, but the entire family was terrorized.  In many cases, the woman was forced to witness the rape or murder of her daughter or other family member before being herself raped.  In one case of which the IACHR was informed, a 15 year-old was forced to rape his own mother.

123.    Other forms of sexual torture included blows to the breasts and stomach, often inflicted on pregnant women with the intention of causing them to abort or damage their ability to have children.  Many women were brutally murdered by soldiers or attachés, who shot them or pushed sharp objects in their vagina.  In addition to the sexual abuse, women were illegally detained and subjected to other forms of torture that resulted in mutilation.

124.    Haitian women have rarely presented complaints about violations to the police, partly because of fear of reprisals, since in many cases the perpetrators were soldiers who were part of the police.  Historically in Haiti, the police force has been a part of the army, and it is essentially soldiers who carried out policing functions.  In the few cases where women attempted to report violations committed by soldiers and their auxiliaries, the authorities threatened them with reprisals, or simply did not investigate their complaints.  On the other hand, there was the corruption and inefficiency in the judicial system and, in practical terms, in contradiction with the 1987 Constitution (Articles 42 and 43), the army, rather than the civilian authorities, investigated such cases.  On the other hand, neither does the shame imposed by society on a woman who has been raped encouraged her to make a report on the attack.  This underlines the importance of clearly recognizing sexual violence as a serious human rights violation.

125.    The wounds inflicted on women who were abused sexually are both physical and psychological.  Many of them feel shame and, what is more, cannot return to their hometowns for fear of rejection.  In numerous cases, their private lives and family relationships have deteriorated.  In other cases, the results of medical tests carried out on some women showed them to be HIV positive, while other women died because of sexual abuse.

126.    During its visit to Haiti in May 1994, the IACHR received news of 21 cases of rape.  Victims who gave their testimonies before the IACHR Delegation refused to give their names for fear of reprisals.  The Commission presents a summary report of two cases which have the same elements and characteristics as contained in the 21 cases of rape.

          "The victim is 42 years old and a member of the National Front for the Change and Democracy (FNCD).  Her husband was murdered, and she was persecuted by members of FRAPH and "macoutes."  In October 1993, about 7:00 or 8:00 p.m., members of these groups went to her daughter's house to find out where she was and kill her.  Three men entered the house; the others remained outside.  The men were dressed in olive green clothing and carried Uzis.  They threatened her:  "You support Aristide.  You are a "Lavalas."  We'll kill everyone we find in the house."  Two of them raped her and they took away everything she had, including money.  The victim stated that she had a medical certificate.  After the above-mentioned events, the victim hid a few days at the home of friends, who finally asked her to leave because they were afraid.  The victim and her five children now have nowhere to live.  In May 1994, she received further threats and was beaten by two civilians".

          "The victim is 46 years old.  Around midnight on November 29, 1993 as she slept, three men entered her home. They were wearing olive green uniforms and carrying Uzis and pistols. Some wore hoods. A number of them raped her; they beat her and destroyed her property. They also threatened her, saying that if there was talk of the incident the next day on the radio, they would return and kill her. They told her what occurred took place because she was an Aristide supporter. Although the neighbors heard noises, no one came out of their house to help her for fear of being killed".

127.    This campaign of violations increased in intensity in early 1994.  The OAS/UN International Civilian Mission pointed out that between February and July 1994, 77 cases of sexual violation were reported, including 55 against women who were militant or had close relations with male militants.  Some human rights groups working specifically on the issue of women indicate that they have counted up to 18 violations in a single day, many of which were clearly reprisals for political activities.  This use of sexual violence was documented in reports made by the IACHR, the OAS/UN International Civilian Mission, nongovernmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the National Coalition for Haitian Refugees, and a number of Haitian women who fled Haiti and obtained refuge in the United States.

128.    The exhaustive and detailed information presented to the IACHR by representatives of nongovernmental organizations, such as Haitian Women's Advocacy Network, International Women's Human Rights of CUNY Law School, Human Rights Program, Immigration and Refugee Program of Harvard Law School, Women Refugees Project, Center for Human Rights Legal Action, Center for Constitutional Rights, MADRE, and the Law Office of Morrison and Foerster, clearly shows sexual violations and other types of violence against Haitian women as a form of reprisal, intimidation, terror, and degradation of women.

129.    In the great majority of cases, it was demonstrated that the acts of sexual abuse were committed by representatives of the army and the police and their armed civilian auxiliaries, with the authorization or tolerance of the illegal regime.  This therefore constitutes a violation of Article 5 of the American Convention on Human Rights, which deals with the right to humane treatment, and Article 11 concerning the protection of honor and dignity.

130.    These abuses against Haitian women also constitute violations of other provisions of the Convention and of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, as well as of other international treaties that Haiti has ratified and is obliged to respect:  the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.  The relevance is also noteworthy of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women, recently approved at the meeting of the OAS General Assembly in June 1994 in Belem do Pará, Brazil.

131.    In the past, the Commission considered a number of cases of sexual and other abuses against women, as a result condemning violations of the rights contained in the Convention and the American Declaration.

132.    In the case of Haiti, sexual violations were the result of a repression for political purposes.  The intention of those in power has been to destroy any democratic movement whatever, through the terror created by this series of sexual crimes.

133.    The Commission considers that rape represents not only inhumane treatment that infringes upon physical and moral integrity under Article 5 of the Convention, but also a form of torture in the sense of Article 5(2) of that instrument.

134.          Consistent with the definitions elaborated in the Inter-American Convention to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Torture,[2] which Haiti has signed, and the United Nations's Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,[3] the Commission considers that the rape and other sexual abuse of Haitian women inflicted physical and mental pain and suffering in order to punish women for their militancy and/or their association with militant family members and to intimidate or destroy their capacity to resist the regime and sustain the civil society particularly in the poor communities.  Rape and the threat of rape against women also qualifies as torture in that it represents a brutal expression of discrimination against them as women.  From the testimonies and expert opinions provided in the documentation to the Commission, it is clear that in the experience of torture victims, rape and sexual abuse are forms of torture which produce some of the most severe and long-lasting traumatic effects.

135.    The facts submitted to the Commission reflect that rape was neither random nor occasional but widespread, open and routine.  Whether this occurred by direction of or with the encouragement or acquiescence of the illegal regime, the Commission considers that such use of rape as a weapon of terror also constitutes a crime against humanity under customary international law.

136.    The Commission notes recognition in recent years of the gravity of rape in international human rights law, including the emphasis by World Conference on Human Rights on the gravity of violence against women in general and in particular, of "systematic rape..." brought to the fore by the atrocities in the former Yugoslavia,[4] the approval by the General Assembly of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women[5] and most specifically, the reports of the Special Rapporteur on Torture to the Human Rights Commission who described rape in detention as a form of torture.[6]  We also note that in the international humanitarian law, torture has been treated as a "grave breach" of the Geneva Conventions by the UN Human Rights Commission and by the International Committee for the Red Cross.[7]  The Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia incorporates rape as a "grave breach" of the Geneva Conventions (article 2) and a violation of the laws and customs of war (article 3), and, explicitly names rape as a crime against humanity (article 5(g)).[8]