MICIVIH from the French

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for ''Mission Civile Internationale en Haïti.'' In 1993, the mission was created with the daunting task of promoting and protecting

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

in the country, under the

military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...

of 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 ...

. After its establishment, the international community learned that innocent people were killed,

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...

and arbitrarily arrested by the FAdH military and FRAPH

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

units.

Micivih achievements at the national level

Micivih assisted in persuading to stop the military junta commanded by Gen. Raoul Cedras, and therefore, put a halt in the violations of human rights inflicted by the military. The mission assisted in the dismantling of the old military system and in the creation of a new

police force The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

, trained and aware of the respect for human rights. It propitiated a more civilized environment, in the political and social aspects. A requirement to achieve future

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

desperately needed in this impoverished country.

Micivih achievements at the international level

The mission encouraged the expansion of human right presences and the creation of new offices of human rights, in countries similarly affected by the violation of human rights. It also contributed to the opening of the office for the

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...

,3 the bureau that oversees all activities of the UN system, related to human rights.

References

*Amnesty International Article on FRAPH https://web.archive.org/web/20101205233613/http://www.amnesty.ca/amnestynews/upload/AMR3601304.pdf *Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR, www.ohchr.org/ {{UN Special Political Missions Human rights in Haiti