Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
and contributed to his ouster in a military-led coup nine
months after he took office. During the subsequent three years
of military rule (1991-94), the armed forces deteriorated
sharply as a result of the poor economic state of the country, an
international arms and fuel embargo, and growing corruption
and competition for spoils among members of the officer
corps. When Aristide returned, supported by a United Nations
(UN) force, he ordered a rapid demobilization. Some soldiers
were transferred to an interim police force, but most found
themselves suddenly deprived of their careers and incomes.
Embittered and in many cases still armed, they formed a potentially
dangerous dissident element.
With international assistance, the government swiftly introduced
a training program for the new national police, the first
units of which took up their posts in mid-1995. As of late 1999,
the police were close to their targeted strength of 6,732, a modest
number for a country with Haiti's population and severe
security and crime problems. All PNH recruits are obliged to
go through a nine-month course at the police academy after
meeting mandated educational standards and rigorous testing.
Some officers and enlisted members of the FAd'H were
accepted into the PNH after screening but have been required
to undergo the same testing and training as civilian candidates.
Former army officers remain a minority in the ranks of supervisory
police.
The remaining small UN military contingents were withdrawn
between August and November 1997, leaving a mission
of some 290 civilian police officers to train and provide mentoring
to the young PNH recruits. A separate United States
contingent of mainly engineering troops provides assistance in
the construction of roads, schools, bridges, and other public
works.
The PNH is organized into two main elements: the Administrative
Police, which, operating through nine departmental
directors, staffs city police stations, subprecincts, and rural
posts; and the Judicial Police, which investigates cases on
behalf of examining magistrates. Separate specialized units
deal with crowd control and narcotics violations, and act as protective
forces to guard the president and high officials. The
small Haitian Coast Guard is being trained in intercepting narcotics
shipments and already cooperates with the United States
Coast Guard in this regard. The staff of the inspector general
investigates allegations of human rights abuses and crimes by
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