The St. Jean Bosco massacre took place in

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 ...

on 11 September 1988. At least 13 people (it is impossible to say how many; some sources say 50) were killed and around 80 wounded in a three-hour assault on the Saint-Jean Bosco church in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, which saw the church burned down. The church was the parish of future President

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 ...

, then a

liberation theology Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". In ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest of the

Salesians of Don Bosco The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in the late 19th century by Italian priest Saint John Bosco to help poor children du ...

order, and had been packed with 1000 people for Sunday mass. IACHR
Report on the situation of human rights in Haiti
OEA/Ser.L/V/II.74 doc. 9 rev. 1, 7 September 1988 Aristide, who had survived at least six attempts on his life after a fiery 1985 Mass had helped spark the unrest which eventually led to the 1986 overthrow of the dictator

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 ...

,''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', 24 September 1988
Attack on Priest Called Haiti Catalyst
/ref> was evacuated from the church into a residence inside the church compound. According to the

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des Droits de l'Homme'', ...

, the following day, "five men and one woman appeared on the government controlled television station ( Télé Nationale) and admitted their participation in the attack on the church. They threatened a 'heap of corpses' at any future mass celebrated by Aristide. Many people were outraged that these individuals could appear on television, without any disguise, confess their participation in these events and threaten future criminal acts with no fear of being arrested by the authorities." The massacre contributed to the emergence a week later of the

September 1988 Haitian coup d'état The September 1988 Haitian coup d'état took place on 18 September 1988, when a group of non-commissioned officers in the Haitian Presidential Guard overthrew General Henri Namphy and brought General Prosper Avril to power. IACHRREPORT ON THE ...

against the

Henri Namphy Henri Namphy (2 October 1932 – 26 June 2018) was a Haitian general and political figure who served as President of Haiti's interim ruling body, the National Council of Government, from 7 February 1986 to 7 February 1988. He served again as Pre ...

regime, which brought to power

Prosper Avril Matthieu Prosper Avril (born December 12, 1937) is a Haitian political figure who was President of Haiti from 1988 to 1990. A trusted member of François Duvalier's Presidential Guard and adviser to Jean-Claude Duvalier, Lt. Gen. Avril led the Se ...

. In 1993

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 ...

was assassinated at a mass commemorating the massacre.

Responsibility

The massacre was carried out by unidentified armed men, probably former

Tonton Macoute 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 ...

, and took place without resistance by police or army, despite the church being opposite a barracks. According to one witness, the police and army provided protection for the attackers, encircling the church. In November 1988 armed men led by a uniformed soldier murdered Michelet Dubreus and Jean Félix - two members of the popular organization Verité who had signed a public letter identifying participants in the massacre.Americas Watch Committee (U.S.), National Coalition for Haitian Refugees, Caribbean Rights (Organization).
The More things change-- human rights in Haiti
',

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

, 1989. p96-8 The Mayor of Port-au-Prince at the time, Franck Romain, a former Tonton Macoute leader, was accused of being involved.Tom Block, October 1990
Portrait of a Folk-Hero: Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Romain, the former chief of police during the Duvalier regime, said Aristide had been "justly punished". One witness said he saw Romain himself at the massacre, alongside his men;Americas Watch Committee (U.S.), National Coalition for Haitian Refugees, Caribbean Rights (Organization). ''The More things change-- human rights in Haiti'',

, 1989. p44 a number of witnesses saw city hall employees among the attackers. On New Year's Eve Romain, who had taken refuge in the embassy of 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 ...

after the September coup, was granted safe passage out of the country, having been granted

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

by the Dominican Republic.

said that the Avril regime's decision was a political, not a legal one, as the regime had the legal option of not granting safe passage, and had made no effort to challenge the Republic's asylum decision. In 1991, after Aristide had been elected President in the Haitian general election, 1990–1991, his Minister of Justice accused Romain of responsibility, and sought his extradition from the Dominican Republic, where he was living in exile, without success.massviolence.or
Haiti 20th century
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Jean Bosco Massacre 1988 in Haiti Massacres in 1988 Massacres in Haiti 20th century in Port-au-Prince September 1988 events in North America Attacks on churches in North America 1988 crimes in Haiti

Responsibility

See also

References