By: Darren Ell - HaitiAnalysis.com

Inspired by the message of Christianity and by his mother’s determination to raise a family despite crushing poverty, Evel Fanfan became the first in his family to attend university. After completing a degree in Theology, he studied Law in order to better support the struggle of the poor of Haiti. Confronted with prisoners languishing in prison because of their inability to afford legal help, Attorney Fanfan founded AUMOHD – Association des Unversitaires Movités pour une Haiti des Droits.

Tell us about the mandate of AUMOHD.

We deal with all human rights: civil, political, social, and economic. We work especially among the voiceless, nameless and unsupported poor majority of Haiti. We investigate abuses, denounce injustice and protect human rights. We dedicate ourselves to making these problems known to a wider public, and to alerting the world to potential dangers for Haitians. A crucial part of our work consists of providing legal aid to the victims of injustice because the majority of Haitians cannot afford legal aid. Without it, they can spend years in prison without charge. We have 8 lawyers offering free legal aid to the poor. Our work has great effect. For example, we freed more than 50 young people in 2006 who were illegally arrested.

We also promote non-violence, forgiveness and charity in a society where a small number of people have everything and the masses have nothing. 90% of Haiti’s wealth is in the hands of 10% of the population. Conflict is the always the inevitable result of this situation. We also lobby various groups within the Government to promote the project of taxation for a greater social equality. In the end, all the victims we deal with are really victims of an antiquated model of society: a tiny elite and a poor majority.

What are you working on right now?

We’re working on specific cases with victims of the 2004 coup d’état period, people from Beladere, Cité Soleil and Grand Ravine. In particular we have done most of the work on the case of the Grand Ravine massacres. Unfortunatley, it’s a terrible situation. All those implicated in these massacres were freed by Justice Minister Dorléans at Latortue’s request. Remember, these were major crimes. The police killed about twenty people with guns and machetes at a soccer match in 2005. More than 50 people were injured, others were never found. We organized the cases, we mobilized the victims, but the Latortue Government sabotaged the case. Four people were eventually condemned but the principle actors in this crime were acquitted. There have been no reparations for the victims. There is a Canadian connection as well to this story. As you know, at the time, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had inserted hundreds of former members of the Haitian military into the police, and these people carried out the worst of this massacre.

Why do you think these men were allowed into the Haitian National Police?

So as to crush the popular movement, whose members in 2005 were asking why the Aristide Government had been sabotaged. We were not totally in agreement with everything Aristide did, but his errors in no way gave the green light to foreign powers to throw our country into chaos.

Do you think the RCMP knew these men were capable of such acts?

The ideal soldier doesn’t have a heart. He is trained to kill. Not so for a policeman. Is a bomb maker surprised when his bomb explodes?

Is there a frustration in the human rights community in Haiti right now, both on the victims’ side and on the side of those who struggle for their rights?

Definitely, there is a huge frustration. Look at the end result of the case of Grand Ravine. Why can’t we have just and fair public trials? The whole case was totally sabotaged. Virtually no one saw justice served. This was a devastating blow to people. I had prepared the entire case and put my life in danger many times. Each time I meet the victims, it’s so difficult. I want the current government to get this case going again.

What is the effect of human rights work in Haiti?

The impact is huge. Look at the case of a young girl recently arrested and beaten by the police. We took on the case. AUMOHD went to the police chief and demanded the immediate release of the girl and insisted that the police officer responsible be brought before a judge. Once she was freed, I took her home and she thought it was all over. I reminded her that there was another step: justice and reparations. She wasn’t conscious of that. For her, just being freed was more than enough. It was more that what she thought possible in Haiti. But we want people to know they can go further.

Are we seeing a change in human rights awareness in Haiti?

Before the Aristide period, victims of the state or the police were terrified of fighting back. That has changed. They are now assuming their identity as victims and demanding justice. It’s a big change. They are getting organized. They are protesting. It’s creating a reticence in the minds of the perpetrators. This is new. The victim organizations are a place where they can go and raise their voices. There is a case I’m dealing with now that illustrates this, a man who was arbitrarily arrested by an official in the government. I pleaded habeas corpus and won. He was freed. This is progress! In Haiti, we are now going to court against highly placed people. This would have been inconceivable in the past. Something else is new: the work that AUMOHD and the BAI (Bureau des avocats internationaux) are doing - providing legal aid to the poor and going directly into the courts to demand that the law be respected and correctly applied - that is making a difference.

Are we seeing in Haiti the beginning of what people in my country, Canada, take for granted: an infrastructure of justice that, although imperfect, generally works for victims?

We’re at the beginning. Children are not so afraid of the police now. Let me give you another example, the case of a man who was beaten by a police officer because he stood up for a woman who had herself been beaten by the police. This happens all the time! The officer was called before the judge and was punished. He now warns other police officers against abusing their authority. The authorities are more careful now. Obviously abuse continues, but there is a new consciousness in the citizenry.

You are optimistic, despite the terrible scale of violence of the 2004 coup period?

Absolutely. Our motto is “A better world in Haiti is possible,” a world where people have rights and where the authorities work within the limits of the law. The coup period was terrible but exceptional. Human rights organizations in Haiti have been resisting since, despite death threats. In the Grand Ravine case, we were often threatened. Cars without license plates would show up to intimidate us and we would confront them, saying: “We are not afraid to die.” People in Haiti are doing the same, resisting and talking back to police officers who abuse their authority. Take another example: a man came to me requesting my legal services in a civil case. His cousin was a police chief in his neighbourhood. He went to his cousin with his problem, but was told, “I can’t do that! You have to find a lawyer!” In the past, this police chief would have taken his guns and his men and they would have solved the problem much differently. Now he is more prudent.

You don’t like the term “political prisoner”? Why?

AUMOHD doesn’t accept the term “political prisoner” because it discriminates against the majority of Haitian prisoners who are unknown. For example, after 2004, the term “political prisoner” was used to refer to Jocelerme Prévert, Yvon Neptune, Anamnus Maette, people like that. However, those that were arrested in Cité Soleil, the numerous unknown supporters of Jean-Bertand Aristide, they were not considered political prisoners. We prefer the term “illegal prisoners” to designate all people arrested and detained outside the norms established by law. It is a more general but a more inclusive term. In Political Science, we are taught that a “political prisoner” is someone arrested for his ideology or his affiliations. More than 90% of the people arrested in Cité Soleil were arrested because they belonged to Lavalas. Technically then, these were political prisoners. But they aren’t seen this way. No one is talking about them.

In the last year in Haiti, we’ve seen important human rights defenders disappeared or forced into hiding: Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, Wilson Mesilien. Others have been threatened. Is this a trend?

No. This happens often is Haiti. We are however very disappointed in the case of Lovinsky. International mobilization was weak and the Government of Haiti has not taken this case seriously enough.

Talk about the socio-economic element of your human rights work.

This is a social, cultural and historical problem, taking us back into the colonial period. The unequal sharing of wealth had a terrible beginning. Toussaint Louverture himself said that freedom was impossible without property. He saw the cruelty and exclusion of slavery, how freedom was only in the hands of the propertied few. But this is also a political question. A key function of the state is to protect its citizens, to distribute wealth in a fair and just manner, through the mechanism of taxation. Unfortunately in Haiti, the rich manipulate the system to avoid taxation. The end result is a state that has nothing to offer its citizens.

At AUMOHD, we promote the notion of the cohabitation of social classes, the idea that taxing the wealthy is in the best interest of the entire population. The current situation has the poor majority viewing the rich as enemies. We’re trying to convince people that by channelling tax money into social projects, peace between the classes would be a dividend. The problem is that the divide is so great that we have social explosions each time change becomes a possibility. The living conditions of places like Cité Soleil are absolutely unacceptable. I don’t want to give the idea that AUMOHD is anti-rich, but we have to create a social conscience among them, so they understand that the fruit of sharing is peace among the classes.

You have spoken about the need for more development initiatives at the citizen level. Talk about this.

I don’t believe in the NGO system. The NGO’s are the only ones benefiting from this system. Most of the money ends up in their pockets. A form of international financial support for local community initiatives should replace it. For example, instead of giving the money to the state or to NGO’s, take a different approach. If a Canadian group wants to help build a health clinic in Cité Soleil, instead of giving the money to the state, they should collaborate with the citizen groups on the ground interested in the initiative. They know the ground intimately and can say what is needed. It creates concrete solidarity and positive visibility for a foreign organization. The NGO presence is eliminated. There should be support from the Haitian State to allow citizen groups to collaborate directly with foreign organizations to realize projects. Haiti is ready to move forward. We have the desire and the ability, but the system has to change. The NGO structure is holding us back. This cooperative system we propose would work much better.

In addressing the issue of international solidarity, you have spoken about the need for concrete gestures and real results. Talk about this.

We need real tangible progress in Haiti. There is danger in waiting too long. Take the case of Beladere. What does a victim do in Beladere, organize a demonstration? It will have no effect on the authorities. On the other hand, a demonstration or a sit-in by the victims of Beladere in Port-au-Prince in front of the National Palace, that can have an impact on public opinion. Haiti is in some ways the Republic of Port-au-Prince, a problem created by centralization in the country. The problem for the people of Beladere is then how to afford a trip to Port-au-Prince? This is a perfect place for the involvement of foreign solidarity, a real gesture that could make things change: help victims with their expenses to do this kind of work: transport, food, publicity expenses, etc.

Do you have other suggestions for people working outside of Haiti?

We would love to have Haitian lawyers living in Canada or the US to work in solidarity with us in all of these very difficult cases we are working on: Grand Ravine, Beladere and others. We would like them to follow and observe the cases as they unravel, to declare their presence to the authorities: “We have come to observe this case.” The justice system is very weak, very fragile, and this could be a real support. I also encourage all Haitians living overseas to get more involved. We have demonstrated so many times in the past our ability to defeat adversity. We have helped other nations in their time of need. Haiti has earned its place in history. We initiated the path to freedom in the Americas! Everyone can be proud of this country. We ask interested international individuals and groups to accompany us. We want foreign human rights organizations to accompany and support us in our work. We ask foreign governments like Canada to rethink their involvement in Haiti. We ask them to support local organizations, Haitian organizations, to invest in them so that these organizations can be a motor of change in Haiti.

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In February 2008, Evel Fanfan received assurances from the Prime Minister of Haiti, Jacques Edouard Alexis, that the Government of Haiti would work to help the victims of the violence connected to the 2004 coup d’état. Mr. Fanfan can be reached at fanfanmel@yahoo.fr

Darren Ell is a photographer, independent journalist and MFA student at Concordia University in Montreal. He has been working in Haiti since 2006. A public exhibition of his work will be held in Montreal in the last two weeks of September 2008.