Louis-Jodel Chamblain (born January 18, 1953 or 1954) is a prominent

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

an military figure who has led both government troops and rebels. Chamblain first emerged as a notorious figure as a sergeant within the transitional military

junta Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by ...

running Haïti following the collapse of

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 F ...

's dictatorship in 1986. In 1987, Chamblain allegedly headed government

death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings or forced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in which they are ...

s that attacked voters at the 1987 presidential election, causing it to be cancelled; the election was to permit transition to civilian rule. Civilian elections did take place in 1990 ( Haitian general election, 1990–1991), in which

Jean-Bertrand Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in ...

was elected, but the

1991 Haitian coup d'état The 1991 Haitian coup d'état took place on 29 September 1991, when President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, elected eight months earlier in the 1990–91 Haitian general election, was deposed by the Armed Forces of Haiti. Haitian military officers, p ...

, in which Chamblain was involved, overthrew Aristide just eight months later. Immediately following the coup, Chamblain's reputation for brutality grew further as he is reported to have been responsible for thousands of murders of Aristide followers.''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'', 29 February 2004
The men behind Haiti's rebellion: Infamous leaders wield bravado to build insurgency
/ref> Chamblain was second-in-command of a paramilitary organization, the

Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haïti The Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH) (french: Front pour l'Avancement et le Progrès Haitien) was a far-right paramilitary group organized in mid-1993. Its goal was to undermine support for the popular Catholicism, Catholic p ...

(FRAPH), founded in August 1993 as tensions grew between supporters of Aristide's reinstatement and supporters of the military government. With the end of the military regime and restoration of Aristide (following the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Operation Uphold Democracy Operation Uphold Democracy was a military intervention designed to remove the military regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état that overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The operation was effectively authorized by ...

intervention) in 1994, Chamblain went into exile in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. He was convicted ''in absentia'' for his involvement in the murder of

Antoine Izméry Antoine Izméry (died 11 September 1993) was a Haitian businessman and pro-democracy activist. Career Izméry, who was of Palestinian descent, was among the wealthiest people in Haiti. He was one of the most prominent backers of former President J ...

, a well-known pro-democracy activist, and for his involvement in the Raboteau Massacre. In February 2004, Chamblain returned from exile to take part in a new rebellion against Aristide. Shortly after his return, he captured the central city of

Hinche Hinche (; ht, Ench; es, Hincha) is a commune in the Centre department Haiti. It has a population of about 50,000. It is the capital of the Centre department. Hinche is the hometown of Charlemagne Péralte, the Haitian nationalist leader who r ...

from the Haitian police with a force of 50 men. Following Chamblain's return and the collapse of Aristide's government in 2004,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

called for UN peacekeepers to arrest Chamblain for his alleged participation in various war crimes in 1987, 1991, and 1993-1994. In April 2004, he turned himself in to face a retrial in the case of Izméry's murder and was acquitted; he was eventually released from prison in August 2005. Chamberlain appeared together with

as his chief-of-security on Duvalier's return from exile on 16 January 2011.In defense of Aristide (By Ira Kurzban. Aristide's lawyer).
The Miami Herald, 14 February 2011.

References

External links

* Haiti Background
Louis Jodel Chamblain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chamblain, Louis-Jodel Haitian military leaders Living people Year of birth uncertain Year of birth missing (living people)