Marie Yolene Gilles, Haiti

From Independence in 2004 until now, a minority has controlled the national economy. They employ elite groups of social and political personnel, as well as the National Security forces.

The environment is therefore ideal for new human rights organisations to succeed here. As Fr. Joseph Wrezinsky, founder of the ATD Quartmonde Organisation stated, “Whenever people have stagnated in misery, an abuse of their human rights has occurred. To unite and stand up against this is a beautiful and noble occupation”.

This idea finds fresh resonance in Haiti. According to a United Nations report on the index of human development in 2005, Haiti listed as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The UN report ranked Haiti as 153rd out of 177 of the world’s poorest countries. In another poll conducted by Transparency International in 2004, Haiti ranked joint 1st out of 146 countries for corruption levels.

Corruption and poverty are rampant in Haiti. The number of citizens living below the poverty line rises daily. 42% of children below the age of five suffer stunted growth and easily avoided sicknesses, such as malnutrition or diarrhoea, kill between 28% and 20% of infants from 0 to5 years of age.

Successive governments have done nothing to improve the living conditions of their people. As a method of managing their power, they use the armed forces - which are intended to protect the constitution and laws of the republic - to surround institutions and to neutralise their political opponents and anyone else that passes criticism on their governance.

In short, we are dealing with a country which has been worn down by political violence; marked by unaccountability, injustice and intolerance; and characterised by disrespect of the collective, and individual rights of others.

Therefore, those who are aware of this sinister situation, have become involved in groups to defend human rights. Their goal is to protect the rights of each and every citizen and create an identity distinct enough so as not to be mistaken for a political party.

To this end, for the last ten years, I have involved myself in the struggle for human rights. I currently work for the National Network for the defence of Human Rights (RNDDH), as an Assistant Policy Coordinator. My responsibilities are to promote legal regulation and the principles of good governance, to combat and condemn violence, to assist victims and to inform the public of their rights.

The work is not without many obstacles. Inevitably it is difficult for human rights workers to investigate and denounce abuses, when they are being carried out by the very same people who are meant to be protecting, respecting, promoting and supporting these rights. I myself have been the target of several death threats. In 2003, a bounty was placed on my head by government supporters who saw me as personally responsible for a report published by the NCHR (currently RNDDH) detailing how illegal armed forces were employed by the state. My name featured on a list of individuals to be beheaded. Throughout my career, unmarked vehicles with tinted glass have trailed me. They are familiar with the location of my home and the nature of my schedule. I have, on repeated occasions, seen parked cars and heard gunfire within close proximity of my home.

These difficulties, coupled with a fledgling career in journalism and punctuated by periods of incarceration and exile, only serve to reaffirm my conviction that I am doing my fair share as a citizen to help establish a society that will respect laws and principles, and help Haiti reach an important turning point.