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Members
A brief presentation
of POHDH’s member
institutions
At present,
Platform is composed of
the following eight (8)
Haitian
institutions:
National
Human Rights Defense
Network (RNDDH)
The National
Human Rights Defense
Network (RNDDH), formerly
known as the National
Coalition for Haitian
Rights (NCHR-Haiti), is a
non-governmental,
non-profit organization.
Created in New York in
1982 under the original
name of “National
Coalition for
Refugees” (NCHR),
the organization was
initially engaged in
training activities as
well as advocacy for the
rights of Haitian in the
United States.
Over the
years, NCHR expanded its
mandate to include
involvement in
community-level issues
concerning the flow of
refugees and displaced
persons in Haiti’s
provinces, with a
particular focus on the
tyranny and the violent
acts of the dictatorship.
As a result,
NCHR became involved in
the emerging democratic
movement in Haiti. During
the 1991 coup
d’état, NCHR helped
in the recovery of the
political situation by
responding to
the human
rights violations that
took place under the
military regime.
In April
1992, the National
Coalition for Haitian
Refugees (NCHR) decided
to open a field office
based in Haiti and from
1995 onward the
organization operated
under the name of
“National Coalition
for Haitian Rights.”
Since 1996, the NCHR
office in Haiti has
independently developed
and carried out its own
programs and
activities.
During the
coup d’état from
1991 until 1994, NCHR had
the following
missions:
• To investigate
cases of human rights
violations reported
throughout the
country;
• To monitor and
document observed human
rights violations;
• To assist members
of grassroots
organizations subject to
persecution or death
threats;
• To assist
repatriated
persons;
• To provide the
international community
with information on the
human rights situation in
Haiti; and
• To pressure the
international community
to revise its policy
towards Haiti
Since the return of
constitutional government
in Haiti in 1994,
NCHR-Haiti focused on a
collection of tasks with
the aim of
encouraging:
• The
institutionalization of
democracy and respect for
the fundamental rights of
the Haitian people;
• The consolidation
of democracy;
• Training and
proper functioning of
Haiti’s National
Police force; and
• Prison and
judicial system reform.
Ten (10) years later, in
April 2005, due to its
growth at the national
and international levels,
and in order to simplify
its decision-making
structures while
remaining faithful to its
commitment to the
promotion and defense of
human rights, NCHR-Haiti
transformed itself into
an autonomous
organization under the
new name of National
Network for the Defense
of Human Rights (RNDDH).
This new name better
reflects the widespread
influence of the
organization’s
actions throughout the
country.
The
Center of Social Research
and of Economic Training
for Development (CRESFED)
In the area
of human rights, CRESFED
intervenes through the
provision of training,
particularly in reference
to the academic world
with which it has the
most contact. CRESFED is
also linked to a certain
number of popular
organizations.
Episcopalian
National Justice and
Peace Commission (JILAP)
Created by
the Episcopalian
conference this
organization nevertheless
enjoys relative autonomy.
Commissions also exist in
several dioceses. Justice
and Peace works at the
specific level of
training in parishes (or
with committees created
by JILAP), as well as,
gathering information
regarding the violation
of human rights.
The
Reflection and Legal
Assistance Commission of
the Haitian Conference of
Nuns (CORAL-CHR)
The CORAL
Commission works towards
expanding the awareness
of the religious
communities with regards
to the problems of the
justice system.
Considering the number of
communities present in
the different regions of
the country, it also
constitutes an important
source of information on
the situation of human
rights in the different
zones.
Judicial
Assistance Group (GAJ)
This
organization, composed of
lawyers, authorized
representatives and legal
students, is based in the
north (Cap-Haitian) and
specializes in judical
assistance. Since the
1991 coup d'état, a
number of its members
were forced to seek
refuge in Port-au-Prince
where they work directly
with Platform. Before the
1991 coup, GAJ also led
training to authorize
representatives, as well
as for community based
groups.
The
Karl Lévêque Cultural
Institute (ICKL)
ICKL is
foremost a center of
reflection, social
analysis and popular
education. It is also a
space for exchanges
between groups,
particularly those
community based
organizations. This is
how, after the 1991 coup
d'état, the organization
became involved as an
integral part of the
fight for Human Right and
democracy.
Program
for an Alternative
Justice System (PAJ)
This
organization was founded
with the purpose of
participating in profound
justice reforms in Haiti.
Therefore, the
organization performs
research activities,
notably aiming to
increase the
comprehension of the
justice system among the
Haitian people, but also
carries out information
and training activities
to permit the population
to gain a better
knowledge of their rights
and increase the
potential real
participation of the
population in the reforms
to come. Finally, PAJ
assures the accompaniment
of community based groups
in their daily problems
regarding justice. PAJ
works with approximately
fifty (50) partners,
intermediate and base
organizations addressing
different sectors of
society (peasants,
workers, young persons,
women) in the different
regions of the country.
Karl
Lévêque Center
This
organization works
especially close to
issues which concern
refuges and repatriates,
including the defense of
their economic and social
rights (the right to
work, the right to access
housing, the elimination
of
illiteracy…)
The center
first appeared in August
1986 and it started
functioning, thanks to
the determination of five
or six (5-6) founding
members or collaborators,
of whom several passed
long years in exile, in
the service of Haitian
diasporas.
The Private
center, which began
without the modest
funding it now has at its
disposal, directs its
action in three principal
focuses: the elimination
of illiteracy, the
promotion of education,
human rights (emphasizing
the right to an existence
and a more suitable
environment for the
masses of destitute
peasants and workers) and
refugees.
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