Key developments since May 2004: In June 2005, a Ministry of Foreign
Affairs official told the ICBL that ratification legislation passed by
parliament would be printed in the government gazette very soon, one of the last
steps required for Haiti to ratify. Also in June 2005, Haiti attended the
intersessional meetings in Geneva, its first participation in a Mine Ban
Treaty-related meeting.
Haiti signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, but has not ratified.
In January 2004, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told the ICBL that the
national parliament had passed ratification legislation and that it would soon
be published in the Official Gazette (Le Moniteur), one of the final
steps in the ratification process.[1]
In June 2005, the same official said the legislation would be printed in the
Gazette “very soon.”[2]
However, in the same month, another official told Mine Ban Treaty States Parties
that ratification would not occur until the first part of 2006, after elections
have been held.[3] Parliamentary and
presidential elections are scheduled for November
2005.[4]
An internal political crisis has hampered the government’s ability to
follow through on the ratification.[5]
In late February 2004, a transitional government was formed after an armed
insurgency forced the President to leave the country, and in June 2004 the UN
Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) was established.
Haiti did not participate in the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban
Treaty in November-December 2004, but Haitian officials did attend the
intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2005. This marked
the first time that Haiti participated in a Mine Ban Treaty-related meeting.
Haiti has voted in favor of every pro-ban United Nations General Assembly
resolution since 1996, including UNGA Resolution 59/84 on 3 December 2004,
calling for universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Haiti told the ICBL in 2000 that it has never produced, imported, stockpiled
or used antipersonnel mines, and is not
mine-affected.[6]
[1] Email to ICBL (Sylvie Brigot)
from Azad Belfort, Director of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, 14 January 2004. He said the legislation passed on 12 January 2004,
but later said it passed in December 2003. Email to ICBL (Sylvie Brigot) from
Azad Belfort, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27 June 2005.
[2] Email to ICBL (Sylvie Brigot)
from Azad Belfort, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27 June 2005.
[3] Statement by Haiti, Standing
Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 13 June
2005 (notes by Human Rights Watch); Standing Committee on the General Status and
Operation of the Convention, “Meeting Report, 13 and 17 June 2005.”
[4] A second round of presidential
balloting would occur in January 2006.
[5] Statement by Haiti, Standing
Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 13 June
2005 (notes by HRW); Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of
the Convention, “Meeting Report, 13 and 17 June 2005.”
[6] Letter from Minister Fritz
Longchamp, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to ICBL Coordinator, 31 January
2000.