This report examines the background to the current human rights crisis in Haiti. It highlights the plight of a people who face brutal repression at home, danger and rejection when they flee abroad and the prospect of an armed invasion by foreign forces with all the potential for abuse which that could bring. It describes abuses which have been reported recently from Haiti, including political killings, “disappearances”, torture, unlawful arrests, intimidation and harassment, extortion, corruption, destruction of property and abuses against women and children. Also described are abuses which occurred after the expulsion of the UN / OAS Observer Mission and the situation of Haitian asylum seekers. The report ends with a review of AI recommendations for the protection of human rights in Haiti.
