OEA/Ser.L/V/II.74
doc. 9 rev. 1
7 September 1988
Original: English

REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
 IN HAITI

..continued

e.          Gonaïves

                33.          Gonaïves, the fourth largest city in Haiti is known as the "City of Independence" because it was there that Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaimed independence from France on January 1, 1804 signaling the end to the independence struggle and the beginning of Haiti's future as the second independent nation in the Americas after the U.S.  Gonaïves became the scene for two days of spontaneous student demonstrations which resulted in the deaths, on November 28, 1985, of three secondary school students.

          34.          As described by one foreign journalist:¹⁶

                   On that day 1,000 to 2,000 residents of the Raboteau shanty-town surged into the streets shouting anti-government slogans and wielding small, crude signs proclaiming "Down with Misery", "Down with Dictatorship", "Down with the Constitution" and "Long live the Army" - the latter an apparent call on the Haitian military to move against Duvalier.

The next day, November 28, students demonstrated outside a church-run Gonaïves high school.  Soldiers, apparently at an officer's command, opened fire on the youths.  Two died from bullet wounds and a third reportedly was killed from blows with rifle butts.  A fourth youth reportedly died elsewhere under unclear circumstances.  That death has not been confirmed.

                   News of the Gonaïves shootings, broadcast almost immediately by Radio Soleil, incensed other communities and within 24 to 48 hours solidarity demonstrations erupted in Petit-Goave, Jeremie, Jacmel and Les Cayes - all along Haiti's southern peninsula.

                   On December 4, police raided the home of prominent Haitian opposition leader Hubert de Ronceray, a native of Petit-Goave and a former Duvalier government social affairs minister.

                   De Ronceray was arrested on charges of having subversive documents, but foreign diplomats believe the real reason may have  been fear that he was planning a demonstration in Port-au-Prince.  His wife, Marie Michelle, said police officers were looking for arms.¹⁷

          35.          The Government in an official communiqué lamented the deaths in Gonaïves and placed the responsibility for the demonstrations on "professional agitators".¹⁸    Opposition and church leaders criticized what they termed the "overreaction" of the Government and the resultant deaths, and demonstrations, mostly organized by secondary school students, continued throughout the country during the following weeks.  On January 28, 1986, on the second day of rioting, the events of Gonaïves repeated themselves, as three persons, including two children were killed and more than 30 persons wounded as security forces opened fire during one of the largest demonstrations against President Duvalier.¹⁹

                36.          On February 7, 1986 Jean-Claude Duvalier's Government collapsed as he departed into exile.

B.          POLITICAL RIGHTS ACCORDING TO THE NEW

LEGAL SYSTEM (1986-1987)

          37.          Article 31 of Haiti's 1987 Constitution specifically authorizes the formation of political parties.  Political parties are expressly allowed to function provided that they respect "the principles of national and democratic sovereignty".²⁰  The law is "to determine the conditions for their recognition and operation, and the advantages and privileges reserved to them".²¹ 

a.          Background to the Law Regulating the Organization of Political Parties

          38.          Lt. General Henri Namphy, who assumed power on February 7, 1986, informed the Haitian people on that date that the Army had intervened because the country was "on the verge of an abyss", threatened both by an "attack on the integrity of the nation

and by the terrible specter of a civil war.²²   On February 10, 1986, Lt. Gen. Namphy promised constitutional elections which would permit first the election of a legislature resulting from free elections and then presidential elections by direct universal suffrage.²³

                39.          As early as February 1986 several Haitian politicians declared themselves candidates in any future presidential election, in spite of the fact that no law had yet been decreed regulating the formation of political parties.  By early March, more than 20 politicians, most of them with an extensive Duvalierist background, had announced their candidacies for the presidency of Haiti, although the CNG had not yet announced a date for the elections.²⁴   In addition there existed no legal infrastructure.

          40.          The legal system, such as it was, was a holdover from the Duvalier era, and there was no legislature to pass laws which could be considered to reflect the will of the people.  All power was in the hands of the CNG which unilaterally determined its mandate and enlarged it, from the original intent of simply leading the country to elections, to maintaining itself in power for two years and arrogating to itself the authority to determine how the constitution would be drafted as well as all other aspects of national and international affairs.

          41.          In early June 1986, five consecutive days of riots throughout Haiti brought the country, in Lt. Gen. Namphy's words to the "verge of anarchy" and to "almost a civil war".²⁵   The demonstrators were demanding that the CNG remove one of its members, Col. Williams Regala, and also Finance Minister, Leslie Delatour, and Deputy Information Minister, Aubelin Jolicoeur.  In an attempt to quell the unrest, on June 8, 1986, Lt. Gen. Namphy announced that he would turn over power to a "freely elected" government on the second anniversary of Duvalier's departure - February 7, 1988.

          42.          The electoral timetable set by Lt. Gen. Namphy is the following:²⁶

TIMETABLE FOR THE ELECTIONS

          June 1986:                      Decree creating the Council for the Organization

                  of the rural areas.

                  Decree creating an independent body charged to

                  Receive views and opinions of all citizens.

         July 1986:         Decree concerning the organization of political

                  Parties and the press.

         September 1986:         Decree creating a Constituent Assembly for the

                  Writing of a new constitution.

         October 1986:         Members of this constituent body will be elected

                  By the people in every geographical department.

                  Members of the Constituent Assembly work on

                  The new constitution.

         January 1987:         The Constitution is voted and proclaimed.

         February 1987:         The Constitution is ratified by a referendum.

         March 1987:         Decree concerning the elections.

         May 1987:         Campaign for the election of Mayors as well as

                  Members of the Council for the administration

                  Of rural areas.

         July 1987:         Elected Mayors and Members of the Council for

                  The administration of rural areas are sworn in.

         September 1987:         Legislative and presidential elections begin.

         November 1987:         The President and Members of the Legislative

                  Chamber are elected.

         January 1988:         The power of the Legislative corps is validated.

         February 7, 1988:         The elected President is sworn in.

          43.          On July 30, 1986 the CNG issued a decree on the formation of political parties.

b.       The Decree Regulating the Organization of Political Parties²⁷

          44.          Pursuant to this decree, to be a founding member of a Haitian political party the following requirements, set forth in Article 5, had to be met:

1. To be a Haitian, by origin, and never to have renounced one's nationality;

          2. To be at least 18 years of age;

          3. To exercise civil and political rights;

          4. To reside and have one's domicile in Haiti.

Nationalized Haitians were not considered Haitians "by origin" and, therefore, were not permitted to establish political parties.

          45.          To establish a political party one had to register it within 30 days of formation with the Ministry of Justice.  A document establishing the formation of the party is to be presented, which contains the names of at least 20 founding members.  The party organizers are also required by this decree to provide information regarding the goals and ideology of the party, a detailed statute which is required to set out in some detail how the party will function and other information regarding the party's official representatives and headquarters.

          46.          The Ministry of Justice is required to respond to the request for registration within 30 days of the submission of these documents.  If the decision is favorable, the Minister will inform the Official Representative that the party is authorized to function "provisionally".  It then may disseminate its ideology and recruit members.  If the request is denied, reasons must be specified by the Justice Minister, but the decree does not specify what kinds of political parties may not be formed.

          47.          In order to achieve "legal recognition" the provisionally formed party must return to the Ministry of Justice, within 6 months, with evidence that the party has a membership of at least 5,000 persons.  The Ministry of Justice must then decide on the question of legal recognition within 30 days.  If the decision is in the negative the party organizers may appeal the decision to the courts.

          48.          A legally established party is obliged to publish its program and the names of its organizers and leaders in a daily paper and may present candidates for public office pursuant to the Electoral Law which was scheduled to be decreed in March 1987.  The candidates are entitled to a total of 2 hours of free television and radio time to be divided into 5-15 minute political commercials through the campaign.  The law also limits the amount of money the political parties are allowed to receive from any political or international source.

          49.          The first elections following Jean-Claude Duvalier's departure were held on October 19, 1986.The vote was to elect 41 members of a 61 member Constituent Assembly, one for each district, but very few people participated.  Twenty other members of the Constituent Assembly were appointed directly by the CNG.

          50.          On October 30, 1986 former followers of Duvalier announced the establishment of a political party to be known as the Party for National Reconciliation (PREN).  Riots erupted as a reaction to the announcement of the formation of this party which continued for several days, in early November, throughout Haiti, and once again culminated in demands for the ouster of the CNG.  Lt. Gen. Namphy, in light of the size of these demonstrations, which were estimated at about 50,000 people, addressed the nation on radio and television from the National Palace and for the first time repudiated Duvalierism.  He announced that the CNG sought to put an end to the "arbitrary and repressive practices of the past," and to eliminate "once and for all the terrible specter of Macoutism".²⁸   Regarding a possible political return of the Duvalierists, Lt. Gen. Namphy stated that the CNG and the Army would not permit the "return to the country of the totalitarian and bloody plage".²⁹  Consequently, the neo-Duvalierist party, in view of the heated climate, decided to dissolve shortly after it had been established, on November 12, 1986.³⁰ 

          51.          During the Commission's on-site visit in January 1987, it received complaints from political leaders that the CNG had not consulted the political parties or the public regarding the terms of this decree.  The leaders of the opposition movement to Duvalier charged that the CNG's attempt to govern by decree, even prior to the adoption of the Constitution, rendered it (the CNG) an authoritarian government with dictatorial tendencies.  Due to the unwillingness of many political leaders to subject the formation and membership of their parties to governmental scrutiny, few parties have complied with the requisites of this law.

          52.          In light of the work on the preparation of the 1987 Constitution the political parties law was soon overshadowed and, eventually ignored.  Political parties continued to be established, and according to the U.S. based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, which played a role in sponsoring seminars for Haitian politicians on "institution-building" and "party-building in a traditional democracy," in the 21 months following Jean-Claude Duvalier's departure, until the November 29, 1987 elections, "more than 70" political parties had emerged.³¹   

c.          Background to the Creation of the Provisional Electoral Council

          53.          Ironically, Jean-Claude Duvalier wanted to see himself as the founder of political democracy in Haiti.  On September 22, 1979, he proclaimed:

                   I would like to present myself before the tribunal of history as he who founded, in an irreversible manner, democracy in Haiti. 

Indeed, the Haitian people considered his departure the beginning of the democratization process.

          54.          Jean-Claude Duvalier claimed that political liberalization and democratization had become established patterns of his policies.  It is evident that Jean-Claude Duvalier considered "democratization" to be something other than what is commonly understood by this term.  In a rare interview given in 1983, he stated: 

                   In the coming four months (February 1984), honest and open parliamentary elections will be held throughout the nine geographical departments of the country.  But we cannot have democracy like France or the United States.  If we did have such a system, we would have a very catastrophic situation, because illiteracy touches around 80% of our people.  The people can easily be influenced in one way or the other.  We need a democracy that accords with our personality as a people and with our history and economic reality.³² 

                55.          On September 22, 1983, then President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier, in an address on the 26^th Anniversary of "Duvalierism" announced that "totally free, honest and impartial" legislative elections would be held in Haiti.  The legislative elections were held on February 12, 1984.  Of the 309 candidates who ran to fill the 59 seats of the Chambre Législative, no opposition (i.e., non-Duvalierist) candidates were allowed to participate.

          56.          For example, Rev. Sylvio Claude was detained on October 9, 1983 with members of his party and held incommunicado for the sixth time in five years.  Rev. Claude's detention followed the announcement that his 5-year old party intended to participate in the 1984 elections.  The price for political participation under President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier's "democratization" period is best described in Rev. Sylvio Claude's own words: 

                   On January 27, 1984, it will have been five years since the day I declared my candidacy for the elections of February 11, 1979.  It will have been five years since I began to openly participate in the difficult and dangerous struggle to win freedom for all Haitians, regardless of their social condition, their political views, or their ideology.  I have dedicated myself completely to this struggle, risking my own life and my family's, so that Haitians might be freed from oppression and so that true democracy may be established once and for all.

                   Since that time, I have believed that the best course of action to make that dream a reality would be to create a political organization in opposition to the ruling regime.  Its ranks were to be composed of all nationalists, Haitian democrats both within and outside the country.  I founded such an organization on October 5, 1978 so as to create a monolithic block for a determined and effective fight against the powerful Duvalier regime.  Despite the strong efforts of the regime to squelch it, the party has held firm.  Nevertheless, we have encountered so much apathy and lack of understanding among members of the traditional Haitian opposition that I could easily have become discouraged, had I not always been convinced that the Almighty had chosen me to carry out this difficult and sensitive task.

                   Despite the problems, from the beginning of this struggle my family and I, in addition to some members of the Party, have devoted ourselves to the cause completely, so as to win the trust of each and every individual and to prove the seriousness and the sincerity of our commitment.  I think that everyone is aware of the dangers to which we are exposed.  Personally, my life has been threatened - first because I have dared to oppose this totalitarian regime which does not tolerate any opposition, be it legal or illegal, and to reject all the attempts to corrupt me, to recruit me as they have so many others, even those in the ranks of the opposition itself; and second, and more important, because I have refused to leave the country.  I need not mention how many times members of the PDCH, members of my family, and I have been arrested during these five years, or the torture and abuse that accompanied these arrests.  Nevertheless, I must tell you about the arrest of October 9, 1983, which I consider to be the most brutal of all my arrests.

                   On September 9, when a convoy of about ten vehicles arrived, driven by agents of the political police, their intention was not to arrest me but to end my life under the cover of night.  They intended to put an end, once and for all, to the Sylvio Claude phenomenon," to cite the exact words of Colonel Albert Pierre who, as he said, came personally for this purpose.  There was a prize on my head, and a small fortune had been set aside for whoever would report my whereabouts.  Fortunately, my Protector was looking after me.  A militiaman had reported to the sergeant at Bon Repos - a small community some twenty kilometers from the capital - that  could be found on my small farm, where I have been raising goats for the past six years.  But the Almighty intervened, and did not allow the sergeant to alert his commanding officer.

                   Accompanied by four VSN (Volontaires de la Securité Nationale), commonly known as Tontons Macoutes of Bon Repos, the sergeant placed me under arrest on Sunday, October 9, 1983, at about 9:00 a.m.  With my two wrists bound behind my back, I suffered bitterly from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.  The all-powerful Duvalier henchman, Colonel Albert Pierre, who had been notified by phone of my arrest, came quickly to the Bon Repos police station to take me into his custody.  He reprimanded the sergeant for not having informed him of my presence in this out of the way place, where, he said, he would have had an ideal opportunity to put an end to what he called the "Silvio Claude phenomenon".

                   Then, to conceal the arrest from the public, he gagged me with an orange and a piece of cloth and hid my face by putting a sack over it, carefully tying the sack to my pelvis.  He threw me into the trunk of a car, just as if I were a bundle, and closed the trunk securely.  After an intentional detour, I was taken to Croix-des-Bouquets (about twelve kilometers from Port-au-Prince).  After passing about four hours in a small prison, kept bound as I was when I left the Bon Repos station, I shrewdly devised a strategy to prevent the beating that the torturers were planning for me.  I led them to believe that they thought they could accomplish a dream they had had for five years:  banishing me from Haiti.   Easily persuaded them to take me to the Casernes Dessalines.  There, at about 9:00 p.m., I was informed of the Government's definitive decision:  "If you want to live, you must leave the country.  This is your last chance; otherwise, you will not get out alive".  There is no need to describe the panic that seized me, after having suffered terribly for twelve hours.  Instead of better conditions, I was faced with a choice to which I had to answer at all costs.

                   I pretended to agree to the proposal of these men, who said that they were in a great hurry.   Informed them that I had intended to go to the United States and that, therefore, a visa request had been sent to the American Embassy on my behalf.  It was then that the conditions of my imprisonment improved.

                   Fourteen days later, on Thursday, October 13, I was face-to-face with the political attaché and Consul of the American Embassy, who were there to convince me to leave Haiti.  I had to be an absolute strategist to thwart their plans even temporarily.  The political attaché, having understood me very well and being a good diplomat, quickly invoked American law.  He told Colonel Albert Pierre and Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Orcel that he would contact the State Department to find out if I qualified for a visa.  Fifteen days later the Colonel, more determined than every, summoned me to inform me that he had received no answer from the State Department, and that the Government could wait no longer.  He told me also that the Ambassadors of France and of West Germany had expressed their desire to see me.

                   I was told that I had to choose one of these two countries to go to.  After a few moments of indecision and reflection, I demanded to see the West German Ambassador with my wife and my daughter Jocelyne.  I would not yield when he tried to convince me that it was not necessary for my family to see the Ambassador with me.

                   On November 4, the West German Ambassador came to see me.  He was accompanied by the Interior Secretary, Mr. Roger Lafontant, but not by my wife and my daughter.  I made it clear to the Ambassador that the decision I was about to make was of utmost importance, and would affect the life of all members of my family.  Because of that, the decision would have to be made with my wife and my daughter Jocelyne.  The Ambassador acquiesced.  Finally, the day of decision arrived, the day when I came within a hair's breadth of death.  It was on Monday, the 14^th November.  I met with Colonel Albert Pierre, Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Orcel, the Ambassador of Germany, and my wife and daughter.  The Ambassador asked me, "Mr. Claude, what can I do for you? "  I responded:

                   "Mr. Ambassador, before explaining to you my tragic decision,  must bring to your attention the fact that I did not personally, on my own initiative, ask to see you.  Since having been brought to the Casernes Dessalines, I learned that both you and the French Ambassador wanted to see me.  So I am only responding to your invitation.  I had planned to travel to the United States to learn English when I was supposedly a free man.  When I arrived here after my arrest on October 9, I was presented with a choice, a 'take it or leave it' situation.  The choice was the following:  'Either you leave, or you will not get out of here alive.  This is your last chance.'

                   "Since all men want to live, as life is sweet - unless it happens to be the day God has decided you are to leave this earth, in which case such a decision must be accepted, whether we like it or not…  Faced with such a choice, Mr. Ambassador, you will understand why I chose to leave, under the one condition that I would be released first so as to arrange my affairs before leaving.  That was my decision and t still stands.

                   When I originally made the decision to travel, I was not forced to do so.  No, I am forced to leave, with the threat of losing my life if I stay here.  If the latter is God's will, so be it.  If it is impossible for me to regain the freedom I lost more than three years ago - although I have been pardoned by the Head of State - may God's will be done, because when a man's soul is called he cannot escape divine will, no matter where he may go.

                   Mr. Ambassador, I thank you for your efforts to help me regain my freedom.  I beg you also to thank your Government for the effort6s it has made to free me.  Unfortunately, this freedom has so far been denied to me.  Moreover, the worst is yet to come."

                   Immediately after my declaration and after the departure of the Ambassador, I was taken to the torture room while my wife and daughter, under heavy pressure, were detained.  They were held for five hours.  Under orders from Colonel Albert Pierre, who was present, two torturers hoisted me up (in Creole:  "djake" a common form of torture in Haitian prisons, where the prisoner is hauled up to be beaten to a pulp) and began a beating that ended only when I lost consciousness.  During the night, I fainted again, and the guard on duty had difficulty finding a doctor.  He thought that I was dying.  On December 24, still in pain, I was taken to my home under heavy guard.  The house was guarded by three soldiers posted in front, so that I could not leave the premises.  I learned that the Haitian Government had assured the American Government that  would be freed so that I could participate in the legislative elections to be held on February 12, 1984.³³

          57.          In spite of the Haitian Government's reported assurances to the U.S. Embassy, Rev. Sylvio Claude was not permitted to participate in the February 1984 "elections".

          58.          Following his release, Rev. Sylvio Claude was kept under surveillance.  His house was watched by three policemen:  one in uniform and two in plainclothes.  When he went anywhere, such as to Church, he was accompanied by an officer.

          59.          Mr. Grégoire Eugene, head of the (at that time) only other opposition political party, had been expelled from Haiti on December 2, 1980.  He was not permitted to return to Haiti until February 22, 1984, under an amnesty declared by President Duvalier, subsequent to the elections.

          60.          The only candidate of the 309 who participated in the legislative "elections" who did not belong to Jean/Claude Duvalier's party was Mr. Serge Beaulieu.  The Government arrested the poll-watchers of Mr. Serge Beaulieu,³⁴ and he was defeated.  After the "elections" Mr. Beaulieu" was arrested.³⁵

          61.          In summation, "elections" under the Duvalierists, and even under the so-called democratization and liberalization period of Jean-Claude Duvalier, signified elections under circumstances in which no opposition political party was allowed to participate.  The few mavericks who attempted to form political parties and attempted to declare themselves candidates in these "open and free" elections were harassed, detained, subject to torture or, in some cases, summarily deported.

62.     During the Commission's 1987 on-site visit, one political leader informed the Commission that Haiti's numerous political leaders and candidates for the presidency reflected a phenomenon which was common to countries emerging from a long period of dictatorship.  Multiple political parties were formed in the Dominican Republic after the departure of Trujillo, and similarly in Portugal after Salazar's departure and, of course, in Spain after Franco.

          63.          The people are content, this politician insisted, they want to assert themselves, take initiatives but there are many crazies as well, who don't understand anything, at the beginning.  In the second stage, the formation of political parties and ideologies begins to occur.  An in the third stage, three or four major currents emerge and it is at this time that democracy takes root.  This political leader hoped that the same thing would happen in Haiti.  He stated that the political parties in January 1987 were in the second stage, that is, that they were being formed and attempting to each agreements among themselves.  Ten political parties had reached agreement and signed a text calling on the CNG to form an independent electoral council.

          64.          The political parties called for the creation of an independent body to run the elections because they wanted the elections to be removed from the control of the Duvalierists who, for almost thirty years, had determined their outcome.

d.       The Creation of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP)

          65.          The 1987 Constitution provides for the creation of a Permanent Electoral Council to organize and control, "with complete independence," all electoral procedures throughout Haiti.³⁶   The nine members of the Permanent Electoral Council are to be designated as follows:  (1)  3 by the Executive Branch; (2)  3 by the Supreme Court, and (3)  3 by the National Assembly.³⁷   In light of the fact that these institutions did not yet exist, the 1987 Constitution provided for a "Provisional Electoral Council" (CEP) of nine members who were to be designated by nine entities representing nine sectors of Haitian society (see p. 55 supra).³⁸

          66.          The draft Constitution contained a provision for the creation of a Provisional Electoral Commission, but the March 29, 1987 referendum on the Constitution was organized, as were the October 19, 1986 elections, by the Ministry of the Interior, which, it was charged, remained under the control of persons closely associated with Jean-Claude Duvalier.  The Provisional Electoral Council was created following the referendum which approved the Constitution.

          67.          On May 21, 1987 the members of the Provisional electoral Council (CEP), were sworn in and officially assumed their functions.³⁹  The following nine persons were designated members of the CEP:  Me. Napoléon Eugène; M. Ernst Verdieu; M. Carlo Dupiton; Me. Pierre Labissière; M. Emmanuel Ambroise; Dr. Charles Poisset Romain; Dr. Ernst Mirville; Rev. Sem Marseille and M. Philippe Jules.

          68.          On May 13, 1987 the CNG purported to issue a decree creating the CEP, an attempt which was repudiated by the CEP as soon as its members were installed and assumed their functions.  By letter dated May 21, 1987, the members of the CEP criticized the CNG's decree of May 13^th and reaffirmed the CEP's autonomy and independence.  It surprised some observers that the member of the CEP designated by the CNG, and the member designated by the University^40, who was also considered a government loyalist, also signed the letter affirming the CEP's autonomy, and therefore the CEP was able to take decisions by consensus.  As had been the case with the Constituent Assembly, the Provisional Electoral Council assumed, from its very beginning, an esprit de corps as a result of its empowerment by the Constitution and the popular support of the population.

          69.          In its May 21, 1987 letter to the CNG, the CEP affirmed that it has been created by the 1987 Constitution, and not by the decree of the CNG.  Since the decree violated the spirit and the letter of the Constitution, the CEP considered it unconstitutional and recommended that it be repealed.  The CEP reaffirmed that it was mandated by the Constitution to prepare the Electoral Law and not merely the draft of an Electoral Law.  In its view, the document to be submitted to the CNG was to be the law which was not to be modified by the CNG, and which was to be submitted to the CNG solely for the formal act of promulgation.

32.          "Democracy could be 'Very Catastrophic' for Haiti," U.S. News and World report, October 31, 1983 at p. 44.

33.          From the files of the OAS Inter-American commission on Human Rights.

34.          See "Prepared Statement of Elliot Abrams, Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs" before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations, U.S. House of Representatives, April 17, 1985.

35.          UPI Press Release dated March 3, 1985.

36.          Article 191 of the 1987 Constitution.

37.          Article 192 of the 1987 Constitution.

38.          Article 289 of the 1987 Constitution.

39.          Le Nouvelliste, May 21, 1987.

40.          On May 14, 1987, the prominent Haitian Intellectual Roger Gaillard was removed by the governmental authorities from his post as Rector of the University of Haiti in supposed reaction to his efforts towards establishing the autonomy of the University pursuant to terms of the 1987 Constitution.