Welcome to the United Nations 
OHCHR 
Press releases
Default title
20 November 2000
Share
20 November 2000
RABOTEAU VERDICT IN HAITI “A LANDMARK IN FIGHT AGAINST IMPUNITY”, BUT CASE NOT YET FINISHED, SAYS UN INDEPENDENT EXPERT
The United Nations Independent Expert on Haiti, Adama Dieng, said today the Haitian justice system had taken "a huge step forward" with the completion of the trial in relation to the 1994 Raboteau Massacre.
According to Mr. Dieng, the case was the longest and most complex in Haiti's history and was the first to make extensive use of expert testimony and documents from the military's archives. The trial, which lasted six weeks, ended on 9 November. The jury found 16 of the 22 defendants in custody guilty of participating in the massacre, an attack by military and paramilitary units on pro-democracy activists under Haiti's 1991-1994 dictatorship. Most of those convicted were found guilty of murder or of being an accomplice to murder.
Thirty-seven defendants who failed to appear for trial, including Former Lieutenant General Raoul Cédras, were convicted in absentia by the trial judge on November 16, 2000 and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Court also issued a civil damages judgment against the defendants for
1 billion gourdes (about $43 million).
But the Raboteau case was not by any means finished, Mr. Dieng added. "The Haitian justice system must continue to pursue those convicted in absentia. In the event that they are arrested and returned to Haiti, they must be given a new trial as required by Haitian law. Countries where the fugitives may be found, especially Panama, the United States, Honduras and the Dominican Republic, should cooperate with Haitian authorities to arrest and extradite them", he said.
The Independent Expert also reiterated his call to the United States, which seized 160,000 pages of documents from Haitian military and paramilitary facilities in 1994, to hand over those documents "without exception or delay", as well as any other evidence it possessed that shed light on human rights violations under Haiti's dictatorship.
* *** *
RABOTEAU VERDICT IN HAITI “A LANDMARK IN FIGHT AGAINST IMPUNITY”, BUT CASE NOT YET FINISHED, SAYS UN INDEPENDENT EXPERT
The United Nations Independent Expert on Haiti, Adama Dieng, said today the Haitian justice system had taken "a huge step forward" with the completion of the trial in relation to the 1994 Raboteau Massacre.
According to Mr. Dieng, the case was the longest and most complex in Haiti's history and was the first to make extensive use of expert testimony and documents from the military's archives. The trial, which lasted six weeks, ended on 9 November. The jury found 16 of the 22 defendants in custody guilty of participating in the massacre, an attack by military and paramilitary units on pro-democracy activists under Haiti's 1991-1994 dictatorship. Most of those convicted were found guilty of murder or of being an accomplice to murder.
Thirty-seven defendants who failed to appear for trial, including Former Lieutenant General Raoul Cédras, were convicted in absentia by the trial judge on November 16, 2000 and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Court also issued a civil damages judgment against the defendants for
1 billion gourdes (about $43 million).
But the Raboteau case was not by any means finished, Mr. Dieng added. "The Haitian justice system must continue to pursue those convicted in absentia. In the event that they are arrested and returned to Haiti, they must be given a new trial as required by Haitian law. Countries where the fugitives may be found, especially Panama, the United States, Honduras and the Dominican Republic, should cooperate with Haitian authorities to arrest and extradite them", he said.
The Independent Expert also reiterated his call to the United States, which seized 160,000 pages of documents from Haitian military and paramilitary facilities in 1994, to hand over those documents "without exception or delay", as well as any other evidence it possessed that shed light on human rights violations under Haiti's dictatorship.
* *** *