Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Haiti: National Security
avoided it by settling disputes on their own, sometimes by Vigilante
justice." The impunity of the most powerful sectors of
Haitian society fed the country's cycle of violence. Judicial procedures
and protections were systematically breached by detentions
and warrantless arrests that amounted simply to
abduction.
The restored civilian government has undertaken limited
measures to redress the abuses of the 1991-94 period, but as of
1999 the judicial system remained weak and corrupt. Sweeping
judicial reforms are planned. Congress passed a judicial reform
law in 1998, but it did not contain sufficiently precise measures
to produce material changes. Persons are still detained for long
periods without trial, and normal protections against arbitrary
arrest are routinely violated. A large proportion of crimes,
including grave political offenses, are never brought to trial
even when strong evidence could be presented against the presumed
perpetrators.
With the help of international donors, the Ministry ofJustice
and Public Security has opened a magistrates' school offering a
twenty-four-week course. The first two classes in 1998 and 1999
trained a corps of 100 new magistrates. In addition, 120 justices
of the peace attended training seminars. The ministry has
improved the functioning of the public prosecutor's office and
brought about better case presentation and judicial supervision.
In spite of some salary increases, there have been
repeated strikes of justices of the peace and prosecutors
demanding pay raises and better working conditions. Many
lower courts are barely functional, lacking proper quarters,
electricity, record-keeping, or stationery. Corrupt judges from
the coup period, many regarded as irredeemable, continue on
the bench. Failure to reform the code of criminal procedure
contributes to a large backlog of cases. The code stipulates that
the fifteen courts of first instance hold only two criminal court
sessions per year, each lasting for two weeks, to try all major
crimes, primarily murder, requiring a jury trial.
At the end of 1999, about 80 percent of prison inmates were
unsentenced and awaiting trial. No compensation is granted to
those ultimately found innocent. A new Office to Control Preventive
Detention was formed by the Ministry of ofJustice in
1998 to accelerate the review and processing of cases stagnating
in the prison system. By improving judges' access to detainees,
this office facilitated the review of 1,198 cases and the
487