Amnesty: but what does this really mean? Video

And for us in Haiti, what can we say about “Amnesty”? Is there at least one time in the country’s history that the State has given “Amnesty”? Let me tell you

“Amnesty” (amnesty) is a small word… No! S is a BIG word, which is very fashionable in Haiti these days. Some people are silent, so are others who do not hide their opinion about it. But don’t we think it’s really important to know what this word really means, and especially, what the law of Haiti says about this matter?

Pull up your seat, calm down, AyiboPost will help you understand this very quickly.

First of all, kisa «Amnesty» saw ?

Amnesty is rooted in a Greek word which is «amnesty» (ἀμνηστία) which means «forgetfulness» or «forgiveness» in French. In good Creole, we could say it means “forget” or “give wave”.

In many countries, the legislative authorities, i.e. those who have the mandate to make laws, such as in parliament or an assembly, therefore, they often use the amnesty method to “pardon” a person or a group of people for the offenses they have committed. in the past, and that disturbed the society. These authorities may choose to ignore some or all of the person’s actions.

In good Creole, we could say amnesty means “forget” or “give wave”.

But, we must specify, amnesty cannot be granted for all infractions. In general, it is mainly for a series of infractions of political order that they do this, in the case for example where a country was confronted with a turbulent situation that does not make it proud. In order to restore peace and unity in society, they usually choose to give amnesty to the perpetrators of the offenses concerned.

Soon, we will give you examples of at least 4 countries that have applied amnesty in their history.

The authorities in the country making the decision to grant the amnesty, they usually take a series of provisions to pass very completely on what these people have done. They can delete it on the criminal prosecution plan against these people, that is, the prosecution commits to not going back on the case again. But the only thing, the rights of the victims will always remain an unforgettable thing. This means that individuals or groups of victims must get reparations anyway.

“Amnesty” is also a concept that is more used in other justice mechanisms that are not institutional or ethical justice, what we call traditional justice, but for some years, there has been a lot of resistance that many countries in the international community have called into question. amnesty in cases where there are more serious violations such as massive human rights violations. These countries believe that in cases where there are violations of human rights such as genocide, war crimes, popular massacres, etc., there can be no amnesty.

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And for us in Haiti, what can we say about it? amnesty the? Is there at least one time in the country’s history that the State gave amnesty? Let me tell you.

First, let’s look at what the law in Haiti says.

In the amended Constitution of March 29, 1987, Article 147 deals with the issue of amnesty. It explains under what conditions a person can benefit dand this privilege. It makes sense, it’s the only one political subjects one can benefit from the amnesty. What does it mean in political subjects? According to AyiboPost’s experts, a person for example has committed a series of acts that disturb the democratic system, a person also for political reasons has committed extortion on a series of people; all of which can be considered as infractions to allow him to be granted amnesty.

Not all offenses can be granted amnesty. In general, it is mainly for a series of infractions of the political order that they do this.

Now, let’s look at when in the history of the country of Haiti the authority that is there for this gave “Amnesty”.

Well, according to what Mr. Samuel Madistin told AyiboPost, in 1994, the concept of amnesty was going to be debated in public opinion three years after the coup d’état on September 30, 1991 against president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, when the White House was making moves to allow president the exile returned to the land.

The putschists, meaning the Haitian military that organized the coup, and led by General Raoul Cédras, demanded that they find general amnesty within the framework of an agreement signed on September 10, 1994. General amnesty, that is, to erase violations of all kinds they have done since the derailment that gave birth to the coup. This is the key condition put by the putschists to hand over power to Aristide.

So, on October 7, 1994, after the Chamber of Deputies finished its part in the evening, the Haitian Senate finally adopted a bill authorizing President Aristide to decree amnesty for the putschists. But, we must say, there was a little blur on the same day regarding whether it is a political amnesty or a general amnesty.

General amnesty, that is to say, to erase infractions of all kinds they have done since the derailment that gave birth to the coup.

Master Samuel Madistin, who was a 31-year-old deputy at the time, told AyiboPost that he participated in the debates. He said that the Parliament voted the law with a political mention.

So the de facto Government of the time, which had in mind Émile Jonassaint, granted amnesty only to the main actors of the coup for political crimes. That is to say, there was no prosecution against general Raoul Cédras, the chief of police Michel Francois and general Phillipe Biamby, the right-hand man of general Cedras who was involved in the coup.

By and large, this is the story of the 1994 amnesty.

But closer to us, in the last 13 years, AyiboPost managed to note 4 great moments in the country, where the word amnesty stirred up public opinion.

First moment : in April 2011, in an interview on Skype he granted to Canadian newspapers The PressMichel Martelly, who has not even taken the oath, evoked the possibility of granting amnesty to 2 former exiled presidents who had just returned to the country: Jean-Claude Duvalier, who joined on January 19, 2011 after spending about 25 years in exile , and Jean-Bertrand Aristide who joined 18 but 2011who has been in exile since the 2004 coup.

Second moment The word amnesty exploded in the news in 2019. Eric Jean Baptistethe former secretary of the RDNP, triggered a scandal in the republic, where he denounced several senators in the opposition to Jovenel Moïse who were feeding the bottom-up project to take power and then to give amnesty to the embezzlers of PetroCaribe.

Third moment year is 2020. In the midst of the great fear of Covid-19 in Haiti, a scandal broke out over a new Penal Code President Jovenel Moïse put out in June 2020. While many people focused on gras presidential and the disturbing sexuality in this penal code, therefore, Senator Youri Latortue agitated in the news a novelty he noticed that is inconsistent with the 1987 Constitution. According to the reading of the parliamentary teacher, article 221 of the new penal code which specifies that only when there is “genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity” can there be amnesty, it was a bottom-up way for the penal code to leave an open door for criminal amnesty financial.

Here’s a video that may help you understand why the PetroCaribe Report bothers the big bosses so much in Haiti:

By the way, we must not confuse amnesty with gras presidential Article 146 of the 1987 amended constitution speaks of this. In another video, AyiboPost will detail the difference for you. But in general, we can tell you: only a prisoner can benefit from presidential grace; while for the amnesty, a person did not need to be previously convicted to get either.

Stay tuned, we will bring you details in another video. Let’s continue!

Fourth The moment when the word amnesty is rebalanced in public opinion in Haiti, is especially the end of February to March 2024. But this time, it is the amnesty for the gangs that is debating in society, in a special context where the acts of terror increase more .

Since February 29, they attacked, looted and closed several important State institutions in the capital. On the night of March 2, they attacked 2 large prisons of the country : National penitentiary and civil prison Kwadèbouke, resulting in more than 4000 prisoners escaped. They burned police stations, attacked the country’s largest airport, which would cause the airline companies to stop their flights to Haiti, and which even caused the de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry to enter the country, until he had to announce his resignation on the night of March 11 while he is out of the country. I can say yes: he announced his intention to resign; I’m not saying he handed in his resignation.

To this day, thugs with guns who gather under the name of “Live Together” continue to wreak havoc: people are dying, more than 33 000 people have already fled their homes in the metropolitan area, according to a report by the International Organization of Migration (IOM). Many others have added to the list of people living in the camps. Now, several public buildings have become shelters for these people. Is it a temporary shelter or not? We will follow.

Can we talk about Amnesty today in Haiti?

According to what a lawyer who does not want to be named explained to AyiboPost, the context we have is not suitable for amnesty, because it is a situation that is not linked to political issues. The lawyer made it clear that, so far, the actors on the ground involved in criminal acts, who are exacting on the society, have never officially belonged to a political party, nor have they taken actions that lead to political demands in order to gain power. .

Master Samuel Madistin goes in the same sense. It is understood that the gangs do not have a political project. The lawyer said that the activities of the gangs are criminal activities, which are not in the category of offenses that can benefit from “Amnesty” in any country in the world.

Another thing that is important to underline: there is no general law that is automatically applicable to all situations that require amnesty, each situation that presents itself requires its own specific law. And this law must specify the political event and for which period it will be covered.

Therefore, today in 2024, we cannot yet talk about “Amnesty” in the situation we are in, because to have amnesty, the three powers must be functioning. At that moment, our legislative power will not function. We only have an executive that is there, but it is not complete and only the prime minister and the judiciary itself will not work well.

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There are several countries around the world that grant «Amnesty» at particular moments in their history. It can be country like SPAIN in 1977 after the death of dictator Francisco Franco Bahamonde who spent 40 years in power; it is the case of South Africa, in 1995, where there was an amnesty process with the Commission de vérité et de réconciliation (CVR) that put an end to the Arpatheid system that lasted 46 years; it is the case of Chile, in 1978, after Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, where there was an “Amnesty” that came out to forgive political crimes that occurred from 1973 to 1978; and, we have one of the historic amnesties, which is very popular, that was implemented after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. This case deserves a separate video.

Today, Haiti is going through a serious political and social crisis, which is riddled with issues of insecurity. At this important moment in the country’s history, several specialists agree that there are exceptional measures that can be taken to allow society to reconcile with itself, to take the path of peace and development. Another thing that many people agree on is the importance of truth and justice, before any discussion about penalty reduction or “Amnesty”.

There are many Haitian collective traumas that have never been digested. The period 1957 – 1986 Diwali’s dictatorship is one of the greatest.

Is the reintegration of gang leaders who have spent years raping women and girls, looting stores, pushing many people to leave the country, kidnapping… without ever recognizing the crimes they committed, without the country knowing who was financing them, without any provisions taken so that it does not start again – will allow Haiti to take the right path of peace and development? Feel free to tell us what you think in the comments.

► Research, Interviews and Editing tion : Fenel Pélissier, Cherub Jerome & Widlore Mérancourt

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