U.N. commission points finger at CIA

Haiti Info, Vol. 4 #18, 10 February 1996

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb. 18 - Breaking from United Nations bodies' usual deference to the U.S., albeit a bit late, this week a U.N. Human Rights Commission report openly accused and harshly criticized the actions of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Haiti in a report submitted in Geneva, Agence France Presse reported yesterday.

In addition to the efforts made by the international community to reestablish democracy in Haiti, we are stupefied to learn today that there is another anti-democratic effort which was directed by the CIA, to discredit President Aristide and prevent his return to Haiti, the report said.

The report, drawn up following a delegation visit this fall, called on the U.S. to bring to light the troubling role the CIA played during the military regime and noted according to different sources, the CIA appears to have played a double-game vis vis the international community and even the American administration while the military junta was in power... It had numerous contacts with the Haitian army and the head of FRAPH [the death squad Front pour l'Avancement et le Progres Haitien], Emmanuel Constant.

The Commission also demanded that the U.S. return the 150,000 pages of documents seized by U.S. soldiers from FRAPH and Haitian army headquarters so that the truth of where the responsibility lies in each case and the role of the CIA can be brought to light. [All citations translated from French.]

Pages, Constant Still in U.S. Hands

In the meantime, some of the 150,000 pages were reportedly delivered to the U.S. embassy several weeks ago, but the Haitian government said it will not accept them piecemeal, only as an ensemble. Press reports say that, in addition to papers, there are videos, cassettes and trophy photos.

The terms of the return are still not clear. The U.S. announced that the names of all U.S. citizens and residents will be blocked out, and tried to get the Haitian government to sign an eight- point memorandum of understanding where it would promise that information in the documents... will not be made public or otherwise disseminated in such as way as to risk unlawful repercussions or abuses, that access to them is restricted, and that records will be maintained of the individuals who have access. So far, it appears the government has refused to sign.

In the meantime, Constant is still in the U.S., having apparently decided to appeal his deportation. According to a Dec. 11 memo obtained by The Nation, if he ever is sent back, it will be in a U.S. plane complete with 'V.I.P.' security and 'no advance notice' for the Haitian government. He will then benefit from 'crowd control' and a 'public affairs strategy' designed to urge Haitians 'to remain calm despite the intensity of anti-FRAPH and anti- Constant sentiment,' wrote Allan Nairn in an article dated Feb. 26.

Nairn also wrote that the CIA is still active in Haiti, having placed agents inside the rebuilt Haitian National Police, reporting that Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, transition chief of President-elect Rene Preval, told him that in an interview. Although Jean-Baptiste later told Agence Haitienne de Presse that he had not said anything so formal, Nairn wrote that the statement has been confirmed by U.S. officials... who say that much of the CIA recruitment took place during... police training in the U.S.