At the Daily Beast, Gerry Shargel posts about Haitian criminal justice system, a euphemistic description at best. Following the quake, the doors to Penitentier National were found wide open, and the joint was empty. About 4,000 prisoners were held there, and they are now free, or as free as one can be in Haiti.
American lawyers, particularly those who with a Messiah complex, want to believe that this finally offers an opportunity for us to contribute to the cause, a role to play. Back in the good old days, when Haiti had no devastation from an earthquake to address, the scene was ugly.
As reported by the Miami Herald in March 2001, the vast majority of the detainees, often held for years under subhuman conditions, have never been tried or convicted (there is no bail in the Haitian legal system). Inmates waiting disposition of their cases are held in abject filth and squalor. Jean-Paul Lupien, a former French-Canadian prison warden who consulted for the United Nations Development Program, described Haiti’s prisons as severely overcrowded “death traps,” the worst he’d ever seen. Prisoners who sweltered in poorly ventilated cells, were physically and sexually abused by fellow inmates, mercilessly beaten by sadistic officers, constantly exposed to infection and disease (including tuberculosis and AIDS) while deprived of medical care. The antiquated prison was built in 1918 during the American occupation of Haiti.
Whether this was by design or simple neglect is unclear. What is clear is that reformation of its criminal justice system was never high on the list of Haitian priorities. In an island nation of abject poverty, this comes as no surprise. Hungry people aren’t overly worried about the condition of its prisons, the fairness of its courts. When the good people are starving, the prisoners don’t get better.
The deplorable conditions of Penitentier National and Haiti’s other prisons were just one symptom of a long-ailing criminal-justice system. Prisoners’ grievances could not be addressed and cases could not be tried or resolved because there was no organizational infrastructure. Inadequate court facilities, an insufficient number of judges and lawyers, the incompetence of court personnel (case files were frequently lost), along with an undercurrent of pervasive corruption all combined to dash any hope of a fair and efficient system of justice. The Haitians were simply too poor to improve the system.
Shargel’s description of the horrors of prison life, the lack of any meaningful system, before the quake presages the situation that Haiti will eventually confront. Not now, of course, At the moment, there are more important things to deal with. But eventually, the government will reconstitute in some fashion, and the “criminals”, whether real or imaginary, will be rounded up. Will there finally be a role for American lawyers, to help Haiti create a criminal justice system?
The lawyer cheerleaders are gleeful at the prospect of exporting our wonderful system. Certainly, it’s far better than what the Haitians had before, and this clearly offers an opportunity to build a better system from the ground up. There was nothing to save from the old system. The arrogance of American imperialism. Haiti is starving and the American Lawyer reaction is “let them eat cake.”
The lawyer cheerleaders are gleeful at the prospect of exporting our wonderful system. Certainly, it’s far better than what the Haitians had before, and this clearly offers an opportunity to build a better system from the ground up. There was nothing to save from the old system. The arrogance of American imperialism. Haiti is starving and the American Lawyer reaction is “let them eat cake.”
The criminal-justice system, like the country itself, cannot be simply “put back together.” Haitians deserve something far better than restoration of life as they once knew it. Out of this catastrophic event, world governments should be brought to the realization that Haiti must be adequately funded and rebuilt from the ground up. The rebuilding, though, must be far more than structural.
Unless the world, or more like the United States, decides to adopt Haiti like a wayward child and finance not merely her rebuilding from this disaster, but her existence going forward, the new Haiti will look much like the old, It’s people will not find sudden riches in its blossoming industries and precious natural resources. They have none. Maybe they will finally have a building code to prevent shacks from collapsing on children, but then they won’t have structures to house the children since no one will have the money to building such castles.
And arrogant American lawyers think they will spend their few scarce resources emulating our wonderful legal system?
Or maybe the people of Haiti won’t grow more concerned about their criminal justice system and prisons than they were before the earthquake. Maybe they won’t adore the American legal system, and American lawyers, nearly as much as we adore ourselves.
Maybe they will have more pressing concerns.And arrogant American lawyers think they will spend their few scarce resources emulating our wonderful legal system?
Haiti needs, more than anything, a rebuilt economy and an improved standard of living. Only then can the criminal-justice system and every other part of the Haitian government be brought into the 21st century.It would be wonderful if, in the course of aiding Haiti, the island nation would develop a stable economy and significantly improved standard of living. How this would be achieved is hard to say, given that there is no foundation from which to build. Once the people of Haiti are fed and housed, the children educated and healthy, the streets clean and safe, attention may turn to the institutions of criminal justice and the care of prisoners. I wouldn’t make flight reservations just yet. This could take a while.
Or maybe the people of Haiti won’t grow more concerned about their criminal justice system and prisons than they were before the earthquake. Maybe they won’t adore the American legal system, and American lawyers, nearly as much as we adore ourselves.
Addendum: Within minutes of posting this, news arrived of another earthquake at 6:03 am, 6.1 on the Richter scale, centered 35 miles outside of Port-au-Prince. I suspect that today will not be the day that Haiti turns its attention to the criminal justice system and the welfare of prisoners.
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What? No Haiti blawg yet?
Hard to imagine that someone hasn’t scarfed up that turf yet. “If you’ve been injured in Haiti, call me…” Yup, there’s a role for American lawyers in there somewhere.
Rural Haitians rely on do-it-yourself justice to deal with their problems, and rightfully so. During my time there a Belgian volunteer engineer was shot and killed, and the local constable did nothing because he was afraid – he didn’t have the resources to confront the perpetrator, even though many people knew who was behind it.
Just don’t get caught stealing livestock, as the traditional punishment is necklacing: put a car tire around the thief’s neck, fill it with gasoline, and ignite.
You’re absolutely right that this won’t change without major intervention; I’d suggest that it would take at least 20-30 years, time enough to allow a new generation to grow up with different ideas about how the society should function.
The other question is why implement American law in Haiti? If I said “let’s reform the Haitian justice system based on the mixed (has principles of both common law and civil law systems) legal system of Scotland” it would be just as suitable for Haiti. It seems to come down to “well, it works for me, you should have it.”