At the time they were disbanded, in February 1986, there were several thousand macoutes around the country. The Roots of Haitian Vodou". _ *** (ICHR, 1988: 81; United Nations, 2000: 9). Fuller, Anne, La tuerie de la Scierie, Le Nouvelliste, Port-au-Prince, April 2005. 1986 (February 7): Dchouquageof the Duvalier regime. _ 1987 (November 29): Event known in collective memory as the massacre de la ruelle Vaillant. Under the rule of General Namphy, at dawn on an election day, a group of 50 to 60 armed men, composed of soldiers in civilian clothes as well as macoutes, killed at least 16 civilians in a polling station of the Ecole Nationale Argentine Bellegarde, a school in Port-au-Prince. 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). Diederich is a journalist who once ran a newspaper in Haiti titled Haiti Sun. "While in prison," he recalls, "I witnessed the annihilation of a generation, a silent genocide known only to the few who survived. 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). Pierre-Charles, Grard, Radiographie dune dictature. [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. The Caco rebellion constituted the main armed challenge to the US occupation and had been organized and led by Charlemagne Pralte, who was killed on October 31, 1919 and later became a heroic national figure. [4], On New Year's Eve Romain, who had taken refuge in the embassy of the Dominican Republic after the September coup, was granted safe passage out of the country, having been granted political asylum by the Dominican Republic. Members of the Volontaires de la Scurit Nationale, commonly known as the Tonton Macoute, Haiti 1960 photo credit by reddit Over their 28-year run, the Makout killed an estimated 60,000 people, according to the Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Hundreds were rounded up or disappeared into the bowels of Fort Dimanche, the notorious dungeon prison where many of Papa Doc's victims lost their lives. 2022 The Progressive Inc. 931 E. Main Street, Suite 10 Madison, Wisconsin 53703 (608) 257-4626, Memories of a Duvalier Massacre, 50 Years Later. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (ICHR), Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Haiti, Organization of American States (OAS), Washington, D.C., 1988. Geographic (and cultural) isolation of the rural population in the center of the country impeded the flow of information and testimony on acts of violence committed in these areas. Many Haitians fled to exile in the United States and Canada, especially French-speaking Quebec. Founded in 1950, the Stasi took many of its cues from the Soviet Unions KGB, and truth be told during the entire Cold War the KGB and Stasis alliances were so close that they shared offices in both Germany and Russia, and had political privileges in each country. 8 no. Haiti contains relatively small amounts of gold, silver, antimony, tin, lignite Luckner Cambronne was a particularly fierce head of the Tonton Macoute throughout the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. 1993 (December 27): The FRAPH killed 37 people, while 26 others from the Cit Soleil shantytown were victims of forced disappearance. Over 1,000 houses were set on fire and destroyed by paramilitaries attempting to avenge the death of a FRAPH member in the area. In less than 11 years, the Khmer Rouge and its secret police murdered nearly two million people. According to witnesses, the FRAPH prevented inhabitants from fleeing their burning houses. These attacks may have been the first ever carried out by air on civilian populations. dr lorraine day coronavirus test. At the end of the day, 25 bodies were found but 80 had disappeared and were never found. _ * (Gaillard, 1983: 40-42, 152 and 282; Gaillard, 1981: 205-213). The SAVAK was the Shah of Irans secret police force from 1957 until the Iranian Revolution in 1979. [6] Massacres led by paramilitary groups spawned from the Macoutes continued during the following decade. The attempted kidnapping had been orchestrated by Clment Barbot, a macoute and former head of the secret services of Papa Doc, to whom he was close. [1] According to one witness, the police and army provided protection for the attackers, encircling the church. In the northeastern region alone, up to 15,000 individuals were killed, most of them with machetes, between the 2nd and the 8th of October. But it is no paradise for the country's nine million people. [13], Luckner Cambronne led the Tontons Macoute throughout the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. Benoit, G., Harnessing History to Development: the Story of Cazale, Trinity College, Haiti Papers no. On November 9, 2000, after a highly symbolic trial broadcasted live on the radio and led by the judicial authorities with assistance from international organizations, including the United Nations, 16 individuals out of the 29 tried were sentenced to prison terms. Tontons Macoutes murdered more than 60,000 Haitians. Furthermore, on December 5, US air forces bombed the port of the city of Les Cayes, in the South of the country, one day before the December 6 killing, in order to intimidate the population. His work exposes the evil of Duvalier's rule and the tale . Haitian police and military units also acted with impunity. A bogeyman of Haitian Creole folklore. [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]. "1.2. Others will choose to commemorate it privately, without uttering a word. 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). tonton macoute massacre. The militia was created in 1959, modelled on the Italian fascist Blackshirts. On July 23, 1999, the Minister of Justice created a judicial commission to supervise the investigation which, to this day (May 2005), has still not been completed. Haiti Face the Future, EPICA, Washington, DC, 1994. In the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Carrefour Vincent, an undetermined number of army soldiers and paramilitary groups attacked a house with automatic weapons, tear gas and grenades. After the fall and exile of Nord Alexis, the various political and military leaders responsible for the March 14 killing were tried and pardoned. Baby Doc, his deranged son, took over and continued the terror. After an attempted coup d'tat against him in 1958, Duvalier disbanded the army and all law enforcement agencies in Haiti, and executed all high-ranking generals. 3, Port-au-Prince, CUDHAC, 2003. While SAVAMA was a new police force in name, many historians argue that SAVAMA was merely an extension of its predecessor, maintaining the same methods as before. The force was created in 1959, only two years after Franois Duvalier became president, due to the threat the dictator perceived from the regular armed forces. Turits, Richard Lee, A World Destroyed, a Nation Imposed: the 1937 Haitian Massacre in the Dominican Republic, Hispanic American Historical Review, vol. Hurbon, Laennec, Comprendre Hati, Karthala, , 1987. [12] This group answered to him only. Conjugao Documents Dicionrio Dicionrio Colaborativo Gramtica Expressio Reverso Corporate. Trouillot, Michel-Rolph, Les Racines historiques du rgime des Duvaliers, Deschamps, Port-au-Prince, 1986. 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. The most feared paramilitary group during the 1990s was the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Hati (FRAPH) which Toronto Star journalist Linda Diebel described as modern Tonton Macoutes and not as the political party they claimed to be.[1]. Thou. _ *** (ICHR, 1988: 22-23 and 103; ICHR, 1992). 1916 (June 4): Caco General Mizrael Codio and 10 of his men were executed after they were captured at Fonds-Verrettes (Northeast of Port-au-Prince, by the border with the Dominican Republic) by US Marines. 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. From the very well known and notorious, to others that may be new to the reader, here are ten of the most vicious, terrifying secret police forces in (mostly) modern history. Saez, Jos Luiz, Los Jesuitas en la Repblica Dominicana, Santo Domingo: Museo Nacional de Historia y Geografa: Archivos Histricos de las Antillas, 1988. About fifty Ougans and Mambos (priests and priestesses of the Voodoo religion) were killed for their links or alleged links with the Duvalier regime. Franois Duvalier, known as Papa Doc, was elected president with the armys support in 1957 and ruled Haiti until his death in 1971. 1991 (October 1 and 2): In the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Martissant, during the two days that followed the coup, army soldiers and paramilitary groups terrorized the local population and killed at least seven individuals, including one adolescent. Faced with considerable pressure from human rights groups, the Minister of Justice eventually issued an arrest warrant on September 13, 1995. According to Hurbon (1987), several macoutes were stoned and others were burned alive. Several notorious macoutes, such as William Rgala, one of those responsible for the Vpres Jrmiennes, were promoted to political posts. It's likely the most familiar name on the 1971 debut album by British jazz-rockers Tonton Macoute isn't that of any band member or even engineer Martin Rushent (who went on to produce the Buzzcocks, Stranglers and Dr Feelgood among many others). [from 20th c.] 2011, Kim Ives, The Guardian, 22 March: Every Macoute received a card that afforded him many privileges, like free merchandise from any store he entered, entitlement to coerced sex, and fear and respect from people in general. Students were crushed. LAgonie dun Etat-Nation, LHarmattan, , 1999. After Germanys defeat, the subsequent Nuremberg Trials declared the Gestapo a criminal organization and many of its members were executed for war crimes. Tonton Macoutes, a militia force put together in 1959 by President Franois Duvalier, translated, means Uncle Gunnysack, referring to a bogeyman that captures children in a gunnysack and eats them for breakfast. 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. The latter believe the massacre was manufactured to be used against President Aristide. Frre, Grard-Alphonse, Liste partielle des victimes de la dictature duvaliriste, 1957-1986, not dated. "But we -- the thirty listed in the complaint -- are not the only ones," Montas stresses. 06:29 EST 14 Jan 2010. , updated [17] The Tonton Macoute was heavily influenced by Vodou tradition with denim uniforms resembling clothing like Azaka Medeh, the patron of farmers, and the use of the machete in symbolic reference to Ogun, a great general in Vodou tradition. _ *** (Michel, 1998: 36-42; Gaillard, 1973: 87-99). LaGeurta and Doakes speak about the atrocities committed by Tonton Macoute. . They were killed in their cells by firing squads. Since then, despite the presence of an ineffective UN peacekeeping force, gangs have continued to wreak havoc and murder throughout a country where new graves are guarded to prevent bodies being stolen for voodoo rituals. The other four were killed by a firing squad as an example, following an order from Laborde Corvoisier. Ordered to maintain the peace and security within Cambodia, all the while administering the prison camps the Khmer Rouge became notorious for, Santebal was responsible for untold thousands of executions at the roughly 150 prison camps across the country. Haitians named this force after the Haitian Creole . It was one of the most brutal days of the twenty-nine-year rule of Papa Doc and his son, Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. Gaillard, Roger, Les Blancs dbarquent, VII, La Gurilla de Batraville, Le Natal, Port-au-Prince, 1983. In 1983, Pope John Paul II visited Haiti. He profited by extortion carried out by his henchmen and by supplying corpses and blood to universities and hospitals in the United States. In January and February 1999, Rmy Lucas, Lonard Lucas and Jean-Michel Richardson were detained for a short period. _ * (Hurbon, 1987: 10-11, 155 and 143; NCHR, 1986: 53-59; Interviews with witnesses). The St. Jean Bosco massacre took place in Haiti on 11 September 1988. Emmanuel was a Vodou Hougan (priest) in Port Au Prince, Haiti, where he lived with his wife and children. Nonetheless the regime pushed forward and even had a national party for the Tontons Macoute. 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. Jean-Bertrand Aristide had not been sworn in yet when this event took place, and the interim government was led by Mrs. Trouillot, a civilian. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. tonton macoute Add phonetic spelling Translations of tonton macoute Russian : - French : tontons macoutes Korean : Spanish : los tonton macoute Chinese : macoute Show more Translation Translate this word/phrase Add tonton macoute details Meanings for tonton macoute Add a meaning Synonyms for tonton macoute Add synonyms 'I, Too, Want to Be a Big Man': The Making of a Haitian 'Boat People', "The Tonton Macoutes: The Central Nervous System of Haiti's Reign of Terror", "1. The assault lasted three hours, during which the attackers faced no opposition from the army, whose barracks were located opposite the church. OpenSubtitles2018.v3. Second only to Stalins secret police force, Hitlers Gestapo terrorized Nazi Germany for 13 years, acting as the main tool of oppressing dissent against the Nazi regime, as the primary force that initially terrorized and rounded up the Jews and latera leading player in the Holocaust. Un Ex-prisonnier politique tmoigne, Port-au-Prince, CRESFED, 1995. My Blog. Macoutes) A member of the Tonton Macoutes in Haiti; by extension, a thug or criminal. The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES But the torment did not end with the Duvaliers. The total number of political prisoners who starved to death, were executed, or died under torture in public or private prisons remains unknown. This is a secret force of two or three thousand gun-carrying ruffians, wearing no uniforms, a . This subject is politically and emotionally charged. Others, who slowed down their pace of work, were killed with machetes (Gaillard, 1982). After the country's first free elections in 1991, the new president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, was forced to flee after a coup by corrupt military figures keen to control lucrative cocaine smuggling routes. The first independent black state, set up 200 years ago after a rebellion by African slaves against colonial France, the mountainous island is home to exotic birds and animals and mist-shrouded tropical forests. Between the fall of the Duvalier regime in 1986 and the December 1990 election, a series of short-lived military governments and coups dEtat punctuated the 5-year inter-regnum. Some will commemorate it on social media, on Twitter and Facebook. Danner, Mark, Beyond the Mountains, in The New Yorker, December 11, 1989. These sentences were seen as a historical victory over the impunity enjoyed by instigators and perpetrators of political crimes in Haiti. Mass Violence and Resistance - Research Network, Asia-Pacific under Japanese occupation during World War II. . _ *** (United Nations, 2001: 17-18; Commission Nationale de Vrit et de Justice, 1997: chapter V, section C4; Concannon, 2001; Concannon, 2005). For tourists on cruise ships plying the Caribbean, Haiti appears a beguiling, mysterious place. The Central Office of Banditry Repression, or OCRB was a secret police force formed in the Central African Republic that was formed in the early to 1990s. H.J. Benoit's parents were killed. 1969 (April 14): About 30 young members of the Haitian Communist party, imprisoned in Fort-Dimanche, were executed outside the prison. "Soldiers and Tonton Macoutes seemed infected with a blood lust and shot anyone who moved or came near the Benoit place," retired Marine Corps officer Charles T. Williamson, in Haiti to help train Duvalier's army, wrote in his 1999 memoir, United States Naval Mission to Haiti, 1959-1963. There should be no statute of limitations on the disappeared.". 1991 (September 30, October 1): Coup. _ *** (NCHR, 1986: 18-19; Human Rights Watch, 1996). Following Stalins death in 1953, the NKVDs atrocities were halted by Nikita Khrushchev, with many living victims absolved of their crimes. The massacre began on July 23, but it lasted through the weekend and into the next week. ), En Grandissant sous Duvalier. Bernard Diederich lived in Haiti for 14 years and had personal experience of the early Duvalier days and the period of Maloire's rule. Though there have been more than ten brutal secret police forces throughout history, the ten on this list are a cross section that highlight different types of political climates, eras and methods, and though the majority are modern, all ultimately carry out a brutal agenda of terror and violence against its citizens. ( from 20th c.) 2011, Kim Ives, The Guardian, 22 March: Every Macoute received a card that afforded him many privileges, like free merchandise from any store he entered, entitlement to coerced sex, and fear and respect from people in general. Duvalier authorized the Tontons Macoutes to commit systematic violence and human rights abuses to suppress political opposition. 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. In power from 1957, Papa Doc made voodoo the country's official religion and claimed to be Baron Samedi, the religion's spirit of death. The name is Haitian French, apparently with reference to an ogre of folk tales. Cette vido prsente des tmoignages recueillis par Amnesty International en 1985 sur les arrestations arbitraires et les actes de. Genres: Jazz-Rock, Progressive Rock. . _ *** (Jolibois, 1988: 46-48 and 213-54; Gaillard, 1995: 267-272 ; Gaillard, 1998: 86). The court of assize immediately sentenced Desyr to death. 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. 1987 (July 1-3): Army soldiers killed 22 workers on strike in the harbor of Port-au-Prince. Repression of these movements followed, then an armed rebellion erupted in January and February 2004. They were killed in an infirmary where they were being treated for wounds received during the battle. In the TV series "Two and a Half Men", Season 3 Episode 17: "The Unfortunate Little Schnauzer", Archie Baldwin makes a reference to Tonton Macoute in his UN jingle for orphaned children. President Prval, who was democratically elected in November 1995, was in power during the interval from 1996 to 2001. The Vieux family lost four of its members. At least 1,000 people were killed during the following few weeks, according to the Platform of Human Rights Organizations, the main human rights group at that time in the country. The NKVD was responsible for the detention of nearly two million people between 1937 and 1938 alone; of those detained almost 700,000 were executed, a rate of roughly 1,000 per day. Printed and made by the E.J. The few -- like Montas, who was arrested on Jean Claude Duvalier's orders, on November 28, 1980 -- who have been able to file complaints or testify, represent a small percentage of those who were arrested, jailed, tortured, or killed under the younger's Duvalier regime. It was during this period that the army established the basis for a totalitarian order (Trouillot, 1990: 152). Tonton Macoute was a Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by dictator Franois 'Papa Doc' Duvalier. 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