Democracy or the Army

More than anything else, what has happened in Haiti since 1990 should be understood as the progressive clarification of this basic dichotomy – democracy or the army. Unadulterated democracy might one day allow the interests of the numerical majority to prevail, and thereby challenge the privileges of the elite. In 2000, such a challenge became a genuine possibility: the overwhelming victory of Fanmi Lavalas, at all levels of government, raised the prospect of genuine political change in a context in which there was no obvious extra-political mechanism ― no army ― to prevent it.

In order to avoid this outcome, the main strategy of Haiti's little ruling class has been to redefine political questions in terms of 'stability' and 'security', and in particular the security of property and investments. Mere numbers may well win an election or sustain a popular movement but as everyone knows, only an army is equipped to deal with insecurity. The well-armed 'friend of Haiti' that is the United States knows this better than anyone else.

— Peter Hallward, "Securing Disaster in Haiti"

I want to be Peter Hallward when I grow up.

Haitian Prison: Just how overcrowded is overcrowded?

I was working on some write-ups over the last coupl'a days and went hunting for some stats. In my searches, I came upon this Amnesty International paper, and from it I scraped this data about the prison that I visited:

Pre-trial detention refers to the period of time between arrest and judgment of an individual accused of committing a crime. Preventive and long-term pre-trial detention remains the rule in Haiti. Detainees are arbitrarily arrested and held for long periods without being able to challenge the legality of their detention. The Code of Criminal Investigation allows for release on bail pending trial, but this measure is seldom applied (Chapter VIII, Articles 95-108). Detainees remain in prison during the investigation of the crime they are alleged to have committed, and often exceeds the three-month time limit provided by law.

According to reports from national human rights organizations and the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti, prisons are over-crowded and less than 20% of the 8,833 prisoners held as of the end of October 2009 had been brought to trial.

Prison overcrowding is of great concern and could amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. According to a Haitian NGO, National Human Rights Defence Network (Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains, RNDDH), at the end of October 2009, there were 5.5 times more prisoners in the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince than its maximum capacity, in blatant violation of international norms regarding the minimum conditions for the detention and treatment of prisoners (4,317 prisoners were occupying a prison built for 800 prisoners).

Although I'm generally pretty suspicious of RNDDH (formerly known as NCHR-Haiti -- the same organization that printed lies that got Ronald Dauphin arrested), these numbers seem consistent with the numbers I heard in Haiti.