Gootnick,David (Author) and Ragland,Susan (Author)
Format:
Book, Whole
Publication Date:
May 2011
Published:
United States Government Accountability Office
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
70 p., Congress appropriated more than 1.14 billion dollars in supplemental funds for reconstruction assistance following the earthquake in Haiti, most of which was provided to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State (State). The Haitian government created the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), a joint Haitian-international entity, for an 18-month term to coordinate donors, conduct strategic planning, approve reconstruction projects, and provide accountability. GAO addressed (1) the planned uses for US reconstruction assistance and the amounts provided so far, (2) USAID's internal controls for overseeing US funds, and (3) IHRC's progress establishing governance and oversight structures.
Discusses the January 2010 earthquake that struck in Haiti, focusing on the name of Goudougoudou which Haitians have given the natural disaster. Topics include the onomatopoeic nature of the name which resembles the destruction of buildings, the psychological impact the earthquake has had on Haitian women, and Haiti's efforts to relieve the psychological trauma of the event for children.
Haiti's election debacle of November 28 can be directly linked to the 1991 and 2004 coups. The political upheaval in both cases allowed the de facto president to unilaterally select members of the electoral council, bypassing constitutional provisions requiring popular representation. The result this time: the arbitrary banning of 14 political parties, including Haiti's largest and most representative, the Fanmi Lavalas party of ousted, exiled former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
15 p., This report describes the results of an independent recount of vote tally sheets from Haiti's November 28 presidential election. These 11,181 election tally sheets from across Haiti were posted online by Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). It finds that for some 1,326 voting booths, or 11.9 percent of the total, tally sheets were either never received by the CEP or were quarantined for irregularities. This corresponds to about 12.7 percent of the vote, which was not counted and is not included in the final totals that were released by the CEP on December 7, 2010 and reported by the press. It also found many more tally sheets that had irregularities in the vote totals that were sufficient to disqualify them, and a large number of clerical errors that further undermines the credibility of the vote count. The report finds that based on the numbers of irregularities, it is impossible to determine who should advance to a second round. If there is a second round, it will be based on arbitrary assumptions and/or exclusions.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
20 p., Haiti has concluded its latest election cycle, although it is still finalizing the results of a few legislative seats. The US provided 16 million dollars in election support through the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Like many of the previous Haitian elections, the recent process has been riddled with political tensions, violence, allegations of irregularities, and low voter turnout. Other issues include the destabilizing presence of former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier and former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and the newly elected government's ability to handle the complex post-earthquake reconstruction process and its relationship with the donor community.
Klasing,Amanda M. (Author) and Brody,Reed (Author)
Format:
Pamphlet
Publication Date:
Apr 2011
Published:
Human Rights Watch
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
47 p., This report examines the legal and practical questions surrounding the case of Jean-Claude Duvalier and concludes that Haiti has an obligation under international law to investigate and prosecute the grave violations of human rights under Duvalier's rule. This report also addresses Haiti's capacity to carry out the trial, the question of the statute of limitations, and Duvalier's personal involvement in alleged criminal acts. Tables, Figures.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
160 p., Chronicles the history of slavery in Haiti through a recitation of the brutality of the colonisers and the often mundane and trivial ways in which they attempted to dehumanize Haitians. It seeks to illustrate how Haitians' 300-year journey to freedom was illuminated by the African philosophy of Ubuntu, a world view that embodies human solidarity, respect, dignity, justice, liberty, and love. In this philosophy, Africans found an unmatched strength to resist slavery.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
34 p., After 25 years in exile, former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier returned to Haiti in January 2011. Within days, survivors of serious human rights violations and families of victims of his regime filed complaints of such abuses between 1971 and 1986. This report makes public the testimonies and other evidence gathered by Amnesty International during that time, demonstrating that these violations were widespread and systematic.
This essay is framed around interpretations of Haiti's long history in order to demonstrate that there is neither curse nor punishment in Haiti's history; there is only intrigue, interest, and interference. The natural disasters whether earthquakes or hurricanes do not occur because of some rational targeting of the country but are the results of the arbitrariness of nature.
Considers the potential contribution of traditional construction techniques and materials to rebuilding in Port-au-Prince and other areas in Haiti that were devastated by the 2010 earthquake. Based on different examples of housing that collapsed or was damaged by the earthquake, it shows how traditional construction systems often demonstrated better resilience to earthquakes than buildings constructed with modern materials.
