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This Week in Haiti
Two years after the earthquake:
Where is Haiti’s reconstruction?
Two years after the quake, despite the disbursement of some $2.4 billion
in recovery aid, tens of thousands of Haitians still are homeless,
living in tent camps
By Thomas Péralte
Two years have passed since the 7.0
earthquake struck Haiti, killing tens
of thousands Haitians.
Despite the promises from many
countries, many thousands of people
remain homeless in makeshift camps
since that fateful afternoon of Jan. 12,
2010.
This disaster, unprecedented in
recent times, has admittedly stirred
considerable solidarity from many nations
to one of history’s worst natural
disasters. In our history as a people,
we have never seen so many nations,
both true and possibly false friends,
moved to come to our country, bringing
us their support and sympathy.
Jan. 12, 2010 could have been
an opportunity to truly relaunch our
national boat, which has been moored
too long in a muddy, smelly swamp.
It should have been a year of renewal
for Haiti, a new birth for our country
where everything would be redesigned.
Instead, on this second anniversary,
we are asking where is the money
raised by donor nations for Haiti’s
reconstruction? When are so many of
the quake’s victims going to be able
to move out of their tents? Why is
the reconstruction process moving so
slowly?
Shortly after the earthquake, the
government of President René Préval
and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive,
overwhelmed by the apocalyptic damage,
decreed an emergency period to
allow all kinds of distributions to the
people who had moved into makeshift
camps. Throughout this period, the
number of NGOs providing aid to victims
increased from 4000 to 10,000 in
2010, former Prime Minister Jean-Max
Bellerive said during a press briefing.
After the emergency period, the
government proceeded with the creation
of a commission to raise funds for
reconstruction. This was the mission of
the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission
(IHRC), co-chaired by Bellerive and
former President of the United States,
Bill Clinton.
The evidence is overwhelming
that this commission was a dismal
failure, having been concocted entirely
by foreigners who have absolutely no
clue about Haitian realities and who, in
the process, transformed Haiti into a
Republic of NGOs, which are sprouting
up everywhere in order to divert funds
from what be should be true reconstruction
projects for the quake victims.
Abetted by the laxity of the
Haitian authorities, international organizations
are given free rein to do
whatever they like, wasting funds for
which they bear no accountability,
because the Haitian government has
no power to control the wild expenses
that ultimately result in the building of
miserable shelters that only demean
the earthquake victims. It is an unprecedented
affront to the motherland and
to all the Haitian people, who have for
too long desired just to lead a decent
life. There is “no evidence of transparency
in what the NGOs do on the
ground,” said the National Network for
the Defense of Human Rights (RND-
DH) during a press conference on the
quake’s two years anniversary. “They
implement projects that have not been
developed with the participation of the
victims.”
In 2012, the quake victims’ cry
is still very piercing given the lack of
service provided by post-earthquake
assistance. The international community
has reportedly “disbursed” about
half of $4.5 billion in aid promised at
the March 2010 UN Donors Conference.
what has really been done with
this money?
In 2010, the Préval/ Bellerive
government ordered tents and plastic
sheeting to help people deal with the
rainy season. But there was never a
real policy to create and rebuild housing
for the thousands of homeless
people to return with dignity in their
neighborhoods of origin. Apart from
the debris collected from large public
buildings that fell in the earthquake,
$50 million had already disbursed by
the Treasury to begin reconstruction
work in the area of Fort National. But
it still remains in disrepair, and most
families displaced from there by the
earthquake are still crammed into
tents on the Champ de Mars in very
poor conditions.
Throughout Haiti, there is a
problem of employment. Sometimes
authorities have given 20 or 21 thousand
gourdes ($500 or $525) to a
homeless person with no job, but a
year later those people find themselves
in the same situation after having paid
a year’s rent. “There are never any
concrete results where NGOs intervene,”
says Rosemond Jean, the coordinator
of the citizens’ group CONA-
SOVIC. “For if they actually provided
solutions to the Haitian people’s problems,
there would come a time when
we would no longer needs these NGOs,
yet their goal is to stay permanently
and suck the breast” of development
and relief aid. He proposes a national
consciousness, a redefinition of the
mode of cooperation with international
groups to curb the waste of these
NGOs that have long displaced the role
of our own institutions, including the
state in particular. It is clear that the
lack of effort by NGOs with their missing
millions has left us with camps
lacking health facilities, electricity, or
drinking water supplies to prevent the
spread of the cholera epidemic imported
by UN soldiers ten months after the
earthquake.
Two years later, despite the call
by both Haitian and international partners
to “build back better” a new Haiti,
it is clear that nothing really concrete
has yet been done to get people
out of the dirty tents they still live in. It
seems that here in Haiti, every project
that is provisional becomes long-term,
if not final.
Haiti Liberté reporters conducted
interviews with earthquake
victims still living in camps and found
them hungry for social justice, for the
freedom that we find when we have
a chance to work. They needed basic
social services including education,
healthcare, food security, employment,
in short, well-being. “We’ve
lived in this camp since just after the
earthquake,” said Rose Carmelle, a
33-year-old woman living in Pétion-
Ville’s St. Thérèse camp. “We used to
find a little something when we first
came to this camp. But for some time
now, we’ve received nothing. The
authorities don’t even glance at us.
We just struggle so that our children
don’t die of hunger.”
“We no longer have the strength
to continue in this misery,” said her
friend, Mariela, with an air of desperation.
“We lack almost everything
here. Not enough food, no treated
water for young children, we are left
on our own, and there are no jobs
which would allow us to take care of
ourselves. We do pray every day for
a miracle.” Some speak with anger,
while others stand back, afraid to approach
the microphone.
On Jan. 12, 2012, many events
across the country commemorated the
quake’s second anniversary. Some
voices demanded that light be shed on
how funds have been disbursed for reconstruction.
This was the call in a Jan.
11 demonstration organized by more
than a dozen social organizations led
by the platform “Je nan Je” (Eye to
Eye), headed by the NGO ActionAid.
They clearly raised the issue of housing
with placards and consciousnessraising
slogans. Thousands of people
took part in this mobilization, which
ended its march at the Haitian Parliament
where a document with people’s
grievances was presented to representatives
of the National Assembly.
Meanwhile Haiti’s Muslim community
also observed the second anniversary
in its own way. In a warm
atmosphere, the Muslim Brotherhood
joined with representatives of the Haiti’s
Islamic community to pray for and
commemorate the quake’s victims.
It is rather sad, if not a national
disgrace, that Haiti has failed to erect
a monument to the memory of the
quake’s dead, while our neighbors, the
Dominicans, despite the troubles that
still exist along the border, have succeeded
in such a short time in building
the new and prestigious King Henri
Christophe University campus in the
north. The school’s keys were handed
over to the Haitian government officially
on Jan. 12, 2012 in an inaugural
ceremony.
Two years later, the earthquake’s
damage is still seen everywhere. Tens
of thousands in tents wade through
mud and filth, without food. Two years
under the stars. There remains no privacy.
Our girls must bathe in the street.
They fight to stay alive, and are often
sexually assaulted. Two years later, the
displaced population is still exposed to
wind, sun and rain.
The overriding question remains:
Where are the funds allocated for the
reconstruction process in Haiti two
years after the disaster?
Haiti has not yet brought
Jean-Claude Duvalier
to justice
Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier returned to Haiti one year
ago but has not yet been prosecuted for his government’s crimes against
humanity or embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from the
Haitian treasury
By Amnesty International
Former Haitian president Jean-Claude
“Baby Doc” Duvalier continues to
evade justice, one year after authorities
launched an investigation into crimes
against humanity committed under his
rule, Amnesty International said on Jan.
16.
Duvalier returned to Haiti on Jan.
16, 2011, after 25 years in exile in France.
Since then, he has been under investigation
for serious human rights violations
– including torture, disappearances
and extrajudicial executions – that took
place during his rule from 1971 to 1986.
“Crimes against humanity committed
while Jean-Claude Duvalier was
in power remain shrouded in total impunity,”
said Javier Zúñiga, Special Advisor
at Amnesty International.
“The authorities haven’t made a
serious effort to look into past events that
afflicted a generation of Haitians with
torture, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial
executions, arbitrary arrests and
other serious human rights violations.”
Regional and international human
rights bodies including the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights and the
UN Office of the High Commissioner on
Human Rights have re-affirmed Haiti’s
obligation to investigate these crimes and
bring those responsible to justice.
Haiti’s Justice Minister recently
committed to tackling impunity for crimes
committed since 2000, although this
would not cover crimes committed under
Duvalier’s rule.
The investigation has also been undermined
by repeated personnel changes
in the post of Public Prosecutor – who
makes critical decisions about how the
investigation into Duvalier progresses –
since current Haitian President Michel
Martelly took office in May 2011.
At the end of September 2011,
Public Prosecutor Félix Léger told Amnesty
International that the file on Duvalier’s
investigation for crimes against humanity
had already been submitted to his office in
July and that a task force would be created
to examine the investigation’s findings
and determine the next steps.
Félix Léger was replaced as Public
Prosecutor in October and since then his
position has been filled by three different
people. René Cénatus, the most recent appointee
to the post, took office on Jan. 4,
2012.
“The investigation seems to have
deliberately stalled by changing Public
Prosecutors multiple times,” said Javier
Zúñiga.
“It has become evident that in
Haiti, the independence of the judiciary
is just a mirage.”
Haitian authorities at the highest
level have until now shown great leniency
towards Jean-Claude Duvalier, while
showing contempt to the victims of human
rights violations who continue to
await justice and reparation.
Despite being assigned to his
residence during the investigation, Jean-
Claude Duvalier continues to take part in
public events accompanied by his lawyers
and supporters.
In October, President Martelly paid
a highly publicized visit to Duvalier’s
home, under the pretext of national reconciliation.
Duvalier took also part in an
official ceremony this month to commemorate
the second anniversary of Haiti’s
earthquake.
“The Haitian government must
end this pretense of justice and take a
clear, public stance on the case against
Jean-Claude Duvalier,” said Javier Zúñiga.
“Haitian judicial authorities must
be given all the resources and support -
including from the UN – they need to conclude
the investigation and bring those
responsible to justice in trials that meet
international standards.”
In September 2011, Amnesty International
published You cannot kill the
truth: The case against Jean-Claude Duvalier,
a report that revisits the organization’s
previous research on widespread
and systematic human rights abuses committed
in Haiti in the 1970s and 1980s.
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Vol. 5, No. 27 • Du 18 au 24 Janvier 2012 Haiti Liberté/Haitian Times 9