There have been many brutal regimes in history that have employed a secret police service to carry out everything from intelligence activities against its citizens, to terror and mass executions. Defying the widespread opposition and pressing need for other development projects, Haitian President Michel Martelly is pressing ahead with a plan to recreate Haiti's military, which has a dark legacy of repression in the Caribbean country. State Against Nation. V no. THE TONTON MACOUTES In order to intimidate the Garde, which still had some professional standards, Du-valier organized a "militia" which may num-ber some 8,000 men. "He inherited a repressive machine from his father," she says, "and continued to use it to stay in power. _ * (For sources on the massacre thesis, see Roc, 2004; NCHR, March 2004; and Fuller, 2005; for sources that deny the very existence of the event, see Haiti-Progrs, 2004). This regime qualified as a totalitarian one according to Trouilot (1990), who carried out a detailed study of the roots and forms of Duvalierism. Known to torture its victims with methods including electric shock, removal of teeth and finger nails, as well as boiling water treatment, SAVAK spent the majority of its resources weeding out and torturing either the Shia or communist opponents to the Shahs rule. *** (Chassagne, 1999: 235-262; Pierre-Charles, 2000: 94-102). [18][19], Some of the most important members of the Tontons Macoute were Vodou leaders. 1919 (January): 19 Caco prisoners were executed in Hinche on US Captain Lavoies orders. They were taken from Fort-Dimanche and executed, at night, in Ganthier, a village Northeast of Port-au-Prince, and then thrown into a mass grave. The government of Boisrond-Canal and General Nord Alexis fought Antnor Firmins rebel troops (Nord Alexis eventually prevailed and governed until 1908). [17], The Tontons Macoute were a ubiquitous presence at the polls in the 1961 presidential referendum, in which Duvalier's official vote count was an "outrageous" and fraudulent 1,320,748 to 0, electing him to another term. A fresh take on sports: the biggest news and most entertaining lists. This, coming just a few days before the fiftieth anniversary of April 26, 1963, seems to not only be an attempt at whitewashing the past, but at launching an offensive against those who, on this day, will pause to remember. The militia was created in 1959, modelled on the Italian fascist Blackshirts. Following Jean-Claude Duvaliers flight and exile, a crowd of half a million people took to the streets of Port-au-Prince, chased macoutes and destroyed the symbols of despotism. 1991 (January 17): In Gervais, Artibonite, 12 peasants were killed and 8 were disappeared (while 20 others were wounded and 494 houses were allegedly set on fire). The MVSN were responsible for systematic rape, torture, disappearances and executions in Haiti during Duvalier and his sons reign of power. The massacre began on July 23, but it lasted through the weekend and into the next week. Americas Watch, Human Rights Developments, Washington, D.C., 1994. Gaillard, Roger, Les Blancs dbarquent, VII, La Gurilla de Batraville, Le Natal, Port-au-Prince, 1983. 3, pp. Aristide returned to power in 1994 with a bigger U.S. force - only to flee again after threats that he would be hacked to death and eaten. 1991 (January 7): In Port-au-Prince, mobs of civilians supporting President-elect Aristide chased and killed macoutes, alleged macoutes and other supporters and alleged supporters of the Duvalier regime, after a failed coup attempt led by chief macoutes and former government minister Roger Lafontant. Others, who slowed down their pace of work, were killed with machetes (Gaillard, 1982). The massacre contributed to the emergence a week later of the September 1988 Haitian coup d'tat against the Henri Namphy regime, which brought to power Prosper Avril. The fact that most of the victims were killed with machetes indicates that this was an attempt to terrorize the population and impede the voting process on that day. The Duvaliers relied on a secret armed militia called Tonton macoutes(its official name was the Volontaires de la Scurit Nationale, or National Security Volunteers), which imposed a rule of terror on the Haitian population (Diederich and Burt, 2005). The assault lasted three hours, during which the attackers faced no opposition from the army, whose barracks were located opposite the church. Seligman (in Gaillard, 1983), a US journalist who investigated the occupation, asserted that US soldiers practiced bumping off Gooks, (shooting civilians) as if it were a sport or a shooting exercise. The Stasi was fundamentally an intelligence agency, and it is estimated that there was one Stasi informant per 160 East German citizens. Duvalierism since Duvalier, NCHR/ Americas Watch Committee, October 1986. This massacre occurred a few days after Lieutenant-General Namphy, one of the leaders of the ruling junta at the time, visited the area and publicly supported the Lucas family and their rights to the land they claimed. Filan, Kenaz (2007). Most of the victims of this popular justice lived downtown and, therefore, were macoute chiefs of lesser importance or even miserable wretches (Trouillot, 1990: 155). Death squads though roamed freely. Concannon, Brian, Justice Dodged, Boston Haitian Reporter, June 2005. 1991 (October 2): Thirty civilians were killed by army soldiers in a single day in Cit Soleil, a shantytown of Port-au-Prince known for harboring many supporters of President Aristide, in retaliation for an attack against a local police station. Natural resources of Haiti include bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble and hydropower. Traduo Context Corretor Sinnimos Conjugao. 53 Tonton Macoutes Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Archival Browse 53 tonton macoutes stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. [1] Those who spoke out against Duvalier would disappear at night, or were sometimes attacked in broad daylight. [1] Haitians named this force after the Haitian Creole mythological Tonton Macoute (Uncle Gunnysack) bogeyman who kidnaps and punishes unruly children by snaring them in a gunnysack (macoute) and carrying them off to be consumed at breakfast.[2][3]. Featured peformers: Dave Knowles (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet, vocals), Chris Gavin (bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Paul French (organ, electric . Their executions were summary and swift, and most often evidence was sparring at best. For a detailed list of some of the victims of this regime, two victims and academic organizations web sites based in the United States can be consulted (Frre and Fordi9). Frre, Grard-Alphonse, Liste partielle des victimes de la dictature duvaliriste, 1957-1986, not dated. [1][4], The church was the parish of future President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, then a liberation theology Roman Catholic priest of the Salesians of Don Bosco order, and had been packed with 1000 people for Sunday mass. Later on the same day, peasants from Guyton and Coligny, assisted by army soldiers from Saint-Marc, Artibonite, travelled to Gervais and carried out further killings in retaliation. It was during this period that the army established the basis for a totalitarian order (Trouillot, 1990: 152). From 1957 to 1986, the Duvalier family reigned as dictators, turning the country into a hermit kingdom with a personality cult and corruption. Seligman estimated the number of innocent victims (men, women and children) at 3,000. The Progressive Inc. publishes The Progressive magazine plus Progressive.org and Public Schools Advocate. Other individuals were killed in the street or while driving their car. [6] Massacres led by paramilitary groups spawned from the Macoutes continued during the following decade. 1986 (January 31): Army soldiers led by Colonel Samuel Jrmie killed nearly one hundred people in Logane (Southwest of Port-au-Prince) during a demonstration of peasants who were (prematurely) celebrating the departure into exile of Jean-Claude Duvalier. Batistas brutal anti communist apparatus in pre-communist Cuba, the Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities, or BRAC was run by Mariano Faget, a man previously responsible for the discovery and repression of communists, fascists and even Nazi elements in Cuba. ", The hunt was indeed on for Duvalier's adversaries, army and civilian alike. As with the notorious Lasalin massacre on Nov. 13, 2018 - perpetrated by G9 leader Cherizier along with paramilitary affiliates and police officers of the regime - these more recent massacres are targeting unarmed civilians in popular neighborhoods that are bases of Lavalas opposition to the regime. Edwidge Danticat was born in Haiti and currently lives in Miami. United Nations, Report of the Independent Expert of the Commission on Human Rights on the Situation of Human Rights in Haiti (AA 55/335), United Nations, New York, 2000. Many times the corpses were put on display, often hung in trees for everyone to see. Romulus, Marc, Les Cachots des Duvalier. The exact number of victims still remains unknown. The Tontons Macoutes remained active even after the presidency of Papa Doc Duvalier's son Baby Doc Duvalier ended in 1986. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR), Massacre de la Scierie, trois prsums gnocidaires sous les verrous, Press Communiqu, Port-au-Prince, March 2, 2004. _ *** (Commission Nationale de Vrit et de Justice, 1997: Chapter V, section B). At the same period, locals had been embroiled in a tax dispute and had refused to pay taxes on the sale of agricultural products, which had alienated the Duvalier regime further. [23], The lack of funds coming to the Tonton Macoute was a result of those funds being intercepted by the Duvalier dynasty which was sometimes taking nearly 80 percent of international aid to Haiti, then turning around to pay only 45 percent of the debts the country owed. 1957 (June 15-16): The Haitian army killed between several hundred (Leconte, 1999) and three thousand (Pierre-Charles, 1973) supporters of President Fignol -- who was popular among the disenfranchised sectors of the capital city -- after having overthrown him and forced him into exile. The "Tonton Macoutes" often stoned and burned people alive, regularly following such rites by hanging bodies of their victims in the street as a warning to the population at large. According to Pierre-Charles (1973), the urban lumpenproletariat was the social background of most macoutes. Many times they put the corpses of their victims on display, often hung in trees for everyone to see and take as warnings against opposition. They were responsible for unknown numbers of murders and rapes in Haiti. The most infamous of these killers is the Cannibal Gang, a group of sadists once led by a former prisoner with political aspirations, who was himself shot in the eyes and had his heart cut out in 2004. The Tonton Macoute ( Haitian Creole: Tonton Makout) [1] [2] [3] or simply the Macoute [4] [5] was a special operations unit within the Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by dictator Franois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. A nine-year old child from one of them managed to escape but was later found and then brought to the Presidential Palace, where he was allegedly put to death by Franois Duvalier himself. [13], Luckner Cambronne led the Tontons Macoute throughout the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. _ During the entire duration of the dictatorship of Nord Alexis, opponents were subjected to summary executions, usually upon direct orders from Alexis himself. Dexter (television series) Season 1 Episode 9 (Father Knows Best) references Tonton Macoute, also referring to them as"The Boogymen". However, women and children were systematically excluded from repression (even the families of the leaders of the various rebellions against Alexiss regime). Having returned Aristide briefly to power in 1994, the US military acting in concert with Canadian and French military forces, and in close coordination with former Tonton Macoutes and army . In fact, the killing also had ideological and racial dimensions, as Duvalier relied on a political ideology known as noirisme (Blackism), through which he claimed to promote the black masses against mulatto elites. Hence, the Duvalier dictatorship targeted mulatto sectors of society, seen as prone to political opposition, but also as illegitimate members of the nation. _ * (Pierre-Charles, 1973: 38 and 44; Leconte, 1999: 38). One of the killings has remained in collective memory as the massacre of the peasants of Thiotte. Men, women, children, infants and elderly people suspected either of having helped the guerrilla movement, or of not having opposed it, were slaughtered by the macoutes. . _ *** (Commission Nationale de Vrit et de Justice, 1997 ; ICHR, 1993), 1991 (September 30 and the first few days of October): In the afternoon of September 30, a commando of army soldiers moved into the Lamentin 50 neighborhood, in the vicinity of Port-au-Prince, randomly opened fire on bystanders and private homes, and indiscriminately threw grenades into local houses. With Andrea Fantauzzi, Aimee Zannoni, Esteban Dager, Edem Atsu-Swanzy. Pierre-Charles, Grard, Hati Jamais Plus! Turits, Richard Lee, A World Destroyed, a Nation Imposed: the 1937 Haitian Massacre in the Dominican Republic, Hispanic American Historical Review, vol. Papa Doc's son Jean-Claude Duvalier, also known as Baby Doc, took over the presidency after the death of his father in 1971, maintaining Papa Doc's belief system, until he was ousted in a public revolt in 1986. His wife spent 10,000 a month on flowers and always wore expensive furs indoors - with officials facing death if they forgot to turn on the air-conditioning. Indeed, the devastating earthquake now bringing death and heartbreak is the latest in a long line of tragedies to befall a place dubbed the Island of the Damned. _ * (Hurbon, 1987: 10-11, 155 and 143; NCHR, 1986: 53-59; Interviews with witnesses). _ *** (Jolibois, 1988: 46-48 and 213-54; Gaillard, 1995: 267-272 ; Gaillard, 1998: 86). 1902 (September 17): 10 disarmed peasants from the government forces were killed on orders of the pro-Firmin general Laborde Corvoisier after a battle in Limb (in the North of the country). Emmanuel was a Vodou Hougan (priest) in Port Au Prince, Haiti, where he lived with his wife and children. Tonton Macoutes murdered over 60,000 Haitians. The Stasi was communist East Germanys Cold War secret police force. The name is Haitian French, apparently with reference to an ogre of folk tales. The number of victims was 15 according to collective memory and 8 according to the Human Rights Watch report (1996). 589-636. The Trujillo regimes policy of State-sponsored terror, as well as the racist, anti-Haitian ideology put forward by the regime and Dominican intellectuals, provided the context for these events, although Turits (2003), in a seminal work on these killings identified the defense of territorial integrity (against a perceived Haitianization of frontier areas), as a decisive factor. Tonton Macoute, an Album by Tonton Macoute. Cambronne did this through his company "Hemocaribian" and shipped five tons of plasma per month to US Labs. He collected blood from prisoners who had been tortured and killed and sold it for $22 a pint to U.S. health groups. _ *** (MICIVIH, 1999: 5-6; United Nations, 2000: 15). His house was set on fire, with a seven-month-old baby inside. "The Tonton Macoutes" by Bernard Diederich. Family members who tried to remove the bodies for proper burial often disappeared themselves, never to be seen again. Trouillot, Michel-Rolph, Les Racines historiques du rgime des Duvaliers, Deschamps, Port-au-Prince, 1986. Chassagne, Albert, Hati, bain de sang, in Frantz-Antoine Leconte (ed. Following considerable pressure from the United Nations, the OAS and human rights groups, an internal investigation was carried out. The regime of terror and assassinations imposed by the macoutesand the military continued but no large-scale killings occurred during this period. Created as a paramilitary force that answered only to Duvalier, the MVSN was implemented to remove any perceived threats to the President's power, of which there were many. _ *** (Turits, 2002; Turits, 2003: 161-180; Roorda, 1998: 127-139; Saez, 1988, vol I: 60-70; Castor, 1988; Garcia, 1983; Cuello, 1985). Printed and made by the E.J. Showing Editorial results for tonton macoutes. Cette vido prsente des tmoignages recueillis par Amnesty International en 1985 sur les arrestations arbitraires et les actes de. A confidential memorandum of the Secretary of the Navy (in Gaillard, 1981: 238-241) criticized these indiscriminate killings against natives during several weeks. In July 1920, H.J. For the people of Haiti, though, hope has always been a rare commodity. 1964 (August): Event known as the massacre des Vpres jrmiennes. In the locality of Jrmie (in the Southwest of the country), army soldiers led by Lt. Abel Jerome, Lt. Sony Borge, Col. Regala and by macoutesSanette Balmir and St. Ange Bomtemps killed 27 individuals (men, women and children); almost all of them belonged to educated mulatto families. The victims of Tontons Macoutes could range from a woman in the poorest of neighborhoods who had previously supported an opposing politician to a businessman who refused to donate money for public works (which were the source of profit for corrupt officials and even the dictator himself). 1986 (April 26): Event known in collective memory as the massacre of Fort-Dimanche. Army soldiers and attachs opened fire on a peaceful demonstration attempting to honor the victims of the Duvalier regime in the Fort-Dimanche prison (the date of April 26th was also in reference to the 1963 killing). Execution in Haiti is generally by shooting. On April 21, 2005, the Cour de Cassation (the highest court in the country) invalidated this judgment; the court based its ruling on a 1928 law that prohibited trial by jury for multiple crimes, although this very law had already been nullified by the 1987 Constitution. Haiti Face the Future, EPICA, Washington, DC, 1994. They were believed to have been abducted and killed by the MVSN, who were called the "Tontons Macoutes" as a result. In exuberance of celebration the Tonton Macoute went out into the streets and shot 27 people for the national party. Executions, most of which probably occurred during periods of open resistance to occupation, from July to November 1915 and again in 1919, seem very much alive in Haitian collective memory. In November 1988 armed men led by a uniformed soldier murdered Michelet Dubreus and Jean Flix - two members of the popular organization Verit who had signed a public letter identifying participants in the massacre. The dreaded Oprichniki, Tsar Ivan the Terribles secret police force tasked to govern the Oprichnina territory of Russia and enforce the Tsars policy of brutal suppression of enemies of the state, were active for a mere seven years, between 1565 and 1572, but their actions remain infamous. In January and February 1999, Rmy Lucas, Lonard Lucas and Jean-Michel Richardson were detained for a short period. Genres: Jazz-Rock, Progressive Rock. 1902 (August 8): In Petit-Gove, 450 civilians died in a fire which destroyed the town; it had allegedly been lit by the government forces of General Carri to force out the pro-Firmin forces. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Ukrainian soldier takes out five tanks with Javelin missiles, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Moment teenager crashes into back of lorry after 100mph police race. According to MICIVIH forensic examinations conducted within days after the event, all of these 11 extra-judiciary executions were carried out in cold blood: the 11 individuals had been killed while lying down on the floor with both hands tied. Mission Civile Internationale en Hati (MICIVIH), February 9, 1994, Communiqu de Presse, Port-au-Prince. On April 5, 500 soldiers and macoutes arrived in the area and started the killing. Political satire was added to the stewpot of artistic influences when the dictator "Papa Doc" Duvalier came to power in 1957, terrorising the people of Haiti by means of his brutal Tonton. Those dead, too, will be remembered on this now-layered anniversary. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (ICHR), Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 1990-1991, Organization of American States (OAS), General Secretariat, Washington, D.C., 1991. 44 ratings5 reviews. More than 250,000 words that aren't in our free dictionary There should be no statute of limitations on the disappeared.". The Roots of Haitian Vodou". Aided in part by the CIA, the BRAC was most notably utilized during the 26 of July Movement which brought Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries to Cuba. The background of the event, the persons responsible for it and the perpetrators seem to remain subject to discussion. The Tonton Macountes were a staple in the country putting Papa Doc's opponents in their place. Gaillard, Roger, Les Blancs dbarquent, V. Hinche mise en croix, Le Natal, Port-au-Prince, 1982. Anyone who challenged the VSN risked assassination. Cambronne left Haiti in 1971 for Miami, Florida, where he died on 20 September 2006 at 77.[4]. The intimidation became so extreme that the MVSN, who were rightly known as the Tonton Macoutes, began burning people alive, or stoning them to death. _ The racism of the US Marines, most of whom were from the South of the United States (particularly Louisiana and Alabama), has been presented as a factor in the indiscriminate killings of niggers who pretend to speak French (in the words of a US general). Wearing their trademark mirrored sunglasses and designer T-shirts, these murderers and cannibals were named after a terrifying bogeyman from Haitian mythology, who carried off naughty children into slavery. They were killed in an infirmary where they were being treated for wounds received during the battle. Although this killing was not politically motivated, it provoked great concern since it was the first large-scale execution since the return to democracy and suggested that the armys violent tactics against the poor had not ended, even though Aristide had officially abolished it. 1987 (July 29): Army soldiers fired on a crowd protesting against the armys celebration of the anniversary of the foundation of the macoutes. List of battleships of the United States Navy, homonymous Italian Fascist paramilitary organization, Front for the Advancement and Progress of Hati, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2014, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, Defunct law enforcement agencies of Haiti, The Central Nervous System of Haitis Reign of Terror, http://books.google.com/books?id=LOhHGx4v23oC&pg=PA33, http://books.google.com/books?id=F84K3p923iIC&pg=PA66, http://books.google.com/books?id=bNLG1G2SnpkC&pg=PA202, http://books.google.com/books?id=4IIB0Yu_sL4C&pg=PA21, The Serpent and the Rainbow film which mentions them.