Fort Dimanche is a former prison in
Haiti located near La Saline in
Port-au-Prince that was notorious for torture and murder during the reign of
François Duvalier. It was declared a monument in 1987.
[
The original Fort Dimanche was built by the French when Haiti was a colony prior to 1804 and fell into disrepair. It became a military facility built by the ]US Marines
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
in the 1920s during the American occupation of Haiti
The United States occupation of Haiti began on July 28, 1915, when 330 U.S. Marines landed at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after the National City Bank of New York convinced the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, to take control of ...
.Duvalier Duvalier is a French and Haitian surname, and may refer to:
* François Duvalier (1907–1971), nicknamed "Papa Doc", President of Haiti 1957–71
* Jean-Claude Duvalier
Jean-Claude Duvalier (; 3 July 19514 October 2014), nicknamed "Baby Doc" ( h ...
he and his Tonton Macoutes
The Tonton Macoute ( ht, Tonton Makout) or simply the Macoute was a special operations unit within the Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier. In 1970 the militia was renamed the ' (VSN, Volunteer ...
used the facility as an interrogation center and prison to incarcerate, torture, and murder political opponents. Also people who tried to escape from the island and were caught were brought to Fort Dimanche. His son, Jean-Claude Duvalier
Jean-Claude Duvalier (; 3 July 19514 October 2014), nicknamed "Baby Doc" ( ht, Bebe Dòk), was a Haitian politician who was the President of Haiti from 1971 until he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February 1986. He succeeded his father ...
, continued to use it as an instrument of terror.
Crammed into tiny cells, three by three by four feet,[ inmates slept in shifts in their own filth. ]Gruel
Gruel is a food consisting of some type of cereal—such as ground oats, wheat, rye, or rice—heated or boiled in water or milk. It is a thinner version of porridge that may be more often drunk rather than eaten. Historically, gruel has been a ...
as food was placed on the floor, water was given out infrequently, in addition, inmates drank some of the water when they were hosed down once a week. Dead bodies were often not removed for days and then dumped into mass graves outside the prison.[ Prisoners died from torture, dehydration, malnutrition, and infections. Most did not survive.][
When Lieut. Gen. ]Raoul Cédras
Joseph Raoul Cédras (born July 9, 1949) is a Haitian former military officer who was the ''de facto'' ruler of Haiti from 1991 to 1994.
Background
A mulatto, Cédras was educated in the United States and was a member of the U.S.-trained ''Le ...
led a military coup
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
against Jean-Bertrand Aristide in September 1991, Fort Dimanche was turned temporarily into an armory.[
]
See also
* Madame Max Adolphe
Books
*Lemoine, Patrick, ''Fort-Dimanche, Dungeon of Death'' (October 1977)
References
{{Coord, 18.569, -72.345, display=title
Prisons in Haiti
Dimanche
''Dimanche'' (''Sunday''), also known as ''Dimanche - Le Journal d'un Seul Jour'' (''Sunday - The Newspaper for Only One Day'') is an artist's book by the French artist Yves Klein. Taking the form of a 4-page Sunday broadsheet, the piece was publ ...