PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan. 26 (IPS) – President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti says his decision to abolish the Haitian army is irreversible although the move, taken more than a year ago, has yet to be formally approved by Parliament.

‘’I am convinced that the process (of abolition) is irreversible,’’ Aristide told IPS. ‘’There isn’t any means to do otherwise.’’

The 7,000-strong Armed Forces of Haiti (FADH), and its rural network of oppressive ‘’section chiefs,’’ was effectively demobolised in 1995 by President Aristide.

The move was hugely popular with the Haitian people, and represented the single most important achievement of Aristide since he returned from exile in October 1994. Parliament, however, still must amend the Haitian constitution for the demise of the army to become legal.

‘’The president wants the abolition, many parliamentarians want the abolition, but they’re constrained to wait for the proper time,’’ explained Sen. Samuel Madistin, a senior legislator from the ruling Lavalas Platform.

Madistin said that for the Constitution to be amended, parliament must vote on the change at the end of their legislative session. That method for constitutional amendments was designed to prevent the president or the legislator from taking advantage of changes during their time in office.

Haiti’s new parliament, elected last year, began sitting this month, but the question of a constitutional amendment could take years to pass through the house, according to Madistin.

At the time of the US-led military intervention – in Sept. 1994, when President Aristide was restorerd to power after three years in exile – the Haitian government and Washington agreed that the army should only be reformed and not abolished altogether.

Between 1991-1994, under the dictatorship of Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, the Haitian army and their paramilitary allies were involved in the deaths of some 5,000 people and the torture or imprisonment of thousands of others.

Washington planned to re-train some 1,500 men, arguing that the country needed a military force to defend its borders. The restored government of ‘’national reconciliation’’ began the process of reform, appointing commissions and despatching the defense minister to international conferences.

Aristide and others in his Lavalas movement, however, remained fearful that any army could again be used as a’’trump card’’ against government policies and they moved to slowly eradicate the armed forces.

After troops rebelled in Dec. 1994 over a pay issue, Aristide used the opportunity to unilaterally gut the army of its officer corps. Today, only a small military band remains of what used to be a ferocious force. The old army headquarters is now the site of the new Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

Many of the former soldiers took up a six month US-sponsored job training program with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), while others simply disappeared into civilian life.

A new 5,000-strong U.S.-trained police force has now replaced the army. Only 130 former members of the Haitian army are in the new Haitian National Police.

Still, the army has yet to be constitutionally abolished, a fact that leaves some observers concerned about a possible re- emergence of a national military force.

‘’This worries many different people – the population and elsewhere,’’ noted Sen. Madistin. ‘’People say go ahead and violate this article of the constitution and abolish the army.’’

Aristide, and many parliamentarians, remain confident that the momentum still exists to finish the job. Indeed, Nobel laureate Oscar Arias, former president of Costa Rica who has been actively campaigning for the army’s abolition, will return here early next month to address both houses of the Haitian parliament.

The army has no operating budget this year and its demise could well come sooner than expected.

‘’We’re ready to finish with the army,’’ said Sen. Elie Plancher of the ruling Lavalas Platform, which has an overwhelming majority in both the Senate and the lower house of parliament.

‘’It was a campaign promise for the June and September (legislative) elections last year, and the people voted for that because the people know that we, the new legislature, will abolish the army,’’ he said. (END/IPS/dc/mk/96)

Origin: Rome/HAITI-POLITCS/ ----

[c] 1995, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS) All rights reserved

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