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National Coalition for Human Rights

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The National Coalition for Human Rights (NCHR), founded in 1982, was a human rights organization that advocated for Haitians in the United Statesand in Haiti particularly around U.S. immigration policies. Originally founded under the name National Emergency Coalition for Haitian Refugees in response to the Reagan Administration's Haitian Interdiction Policy, NCHR advocated for Haitian migrants through legalization initiatives, educational campaigns, civil action, and raising awareness of violence in Haiti. In later years they expanded to address problems of the Haitian Diaspora including acts of police brutality and job opportunity. NCHR's headquarters were located on the Upper West Side of New York City. They later created a field office in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The NCHR concluded operations in 2006.

Organization and History[edit][edit]

Organization[edit][edit]

The NCHR was led by an executive committee that was comprised of an executive and assistant director, chairman, and partner organizations. The executive committee included around 30 individuals who organized the NCHR’s budget, distribution of funds, initiatives, and programs that would enable Haitians to migrate to the U.S. and create the change they wanted in Haiti.  Over 24 years of operation, more than 40 associations were at one-point part of the NCHR.

The National Emergency Coalition for Haitian Refugees[edit][edit]

After seeing an influx of Haitian refugees fleeing violence by Baby Doc Duvalier, U.S. President Ronald Reagan issued the Haitian Interdiction Policy in December of 1981 which immediately and indefinitely detained Haitian refugees coming to the U.S. In response, a group of Haitian advocates, under the Committee for the Defense of Haitian Refugees (CODEHR), organized a March on Washington in 1981. A few months later, the National Emergency Coalition of Haitian Refugees was founded. Founders of the NCHR included members representing the National Urban League, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the NAACP, the Catholic church, and others. Susan Buchanan served as the first executive director.

Official Renaming and Creation[edit][edit]

Six months after its inception, the NCHR recognized that challenges to Haitian migration were ongoing and removed the word "Emergency" from its name in order to transition into a more permanent organization. Michael S. Hooper was hired as the NCHR's next Executive Director.

Michael Hooper oversaw several important programs, such as the NCHR Adjustment/Legalization Outreach Campaign, and NCHR quickly became an integral advocate for Haitian refugees. In 1986, the NCHR pushed Congress to legislate the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, the Haitian adjustment provision that gave legal status to refugees before 1982. In 1988, Hooper unexpectedly passed away, causing Jocelyn McCalla to take over as executive director.

New Office in Port-au-Prince[edit][edit]

In 1991, the NCHR planned to open a second office in Port-au-Prince Haiti. NCHR hoped that this office would create a system of communication between the New York City and Haiti offices. In time, this would become its own independent office where Haitians would manage their own office and become versed in Haitian rights. However, due to resistance from the Haitian military, the NCHR had to delay the field office. In addition, the bloody September 1991 coup d'état, which forced President Aristide into exile, delayed the office opening until 1992.

National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR)[edit][edit]

In 1995, The NCHR officially changed its name from the National Coalition of Haitian Refugees to the National Coalition to Haitian Rights, reflecting it’s shift in focus from solely refugee rights to the support for the broader Haitian community.

In 2004, NCHR-Haiti, based in NCHR’s Port-au-Prince office, was renamed the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights.

In 2006, The National Coalition for Haitian Rights ends. After former Executive Director, Jocelyn McCalla, leaves the organization in 2002, his absence leads to disorganization within the NCHR. He returns in 2003, but the NCHR would end soon after. In addition, the NCHR lacked support from the Haitian community after comments against Aristide.

History[edit][edit]

At the time of the NCHR’s inception (1982), Jean Claude Duvalier “Baby Doc” was the president of Haiti. As a result of his rule and the previous rule of his father, Francois Duvalier “Papa Doc,” Haitians were fleeing the country to the United States. At this time the Tonton Macoutes, a military regime, was employed by the Duvaliers and conducted much of the violence in the country. In an effort to exert their authority, the Duvaliers strictly controlled the country’s money and imprisoned and killed many Haitian intellectuals and opposers to the government. Under the Reagan administration, the Haitian Interdiction Policy was enacted which mandated for immediate and indefinite detention of the approximately 40,000 Haitian refugees seeking asylum in America. Many civil rights organizations in the U.S. saw this as a threat to civil rights and thus coalesced to form the National Emergency Coalition of Haitian Refugees to rally support for the rights of detained Haitian refugees to be upheld.

In December of 1990, Jean Bertrand Aristide became the first democratically elected president of Haiti. Peace within the country was momentarily restored until a military coup d'état in September 1991 forced Aristide to flee. Haitian immigration and exodus once again became a concern following Aristide’s election. Many of these Haitians ended up in U.S. detention camps and put a stress on U.S. immigration policy. As a result, Raoul Cédras was installed which created a period of unrest. Military force and violence were used to suppress human rights group to go underground. As a result, Haitians sought to once again come to the United States by sea during this time, causing interdictions battles to recommence.In 1994, the U.S. began Operation Uphold Democracy, a United States military intervention in order to remove the Haitian military government installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état. Jean Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti in October 1994, reclaiming his presidency. Aristide is president until 1996 and again from 2001 to 2004.

Krome Detention Center[edit][edit]

Krome Service Processing Center was built in 1965 in Miami, Florida on the edge of the Everglades. This remote location was originally used as a missile base at the height of the Cold War. With the arrival of thousands of Cuban immigrants in the 1980 Mariel boatlift, Krome was repurposed as a detention and refugee processing facility. Krome became Krome South, where Cuban refugees were held, and Krome North, where Haitian Refugees were held. Krome later expanded to house immigrants from all of Latin America including Nicaragua and El Salvador.

Detainees housed in Krome Detention Center lived in extremely poor conditions. Detainees were humiliated by guards, sexually abused, tortured, denied access to bathrooms and food, as well as kept in the sun for extended periods of time. Scare tactics included sending detainees to prisons throughout the country, the most infamous being in Oakdale, Louisiana. As of December 28, 1988, the Krome Detention Center detained 228 Haitian refugees and by January 13, 1989, 298 Haitians were detained in Krome. Minors were unlawfully detained in Krome as well.

Haitian refugees and Cuban refugees housed in Krome faced inequalities. Haitians lived in worst conditions and were repatriated at a higher volume. The bonds posted for many of these Haitians ranged from $5,000-$7,500, while Cubans were bonded for $1,000. Cubans were granted parole within 24-48 hours after admittance and Haitian detainees faced indefinite detention. This policy applied to children as well.

The NCHR and other Haitian refugee support groups were aware of the poor conditions and human rights injustices occurring at Krome. Krome affidavits, taken by the Haitian Refugee Center (HRC, a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to Haitians seeking political asylum in the US), were used to file lawsuits against the detention center and state. Gérard Jean-Juste,the head of the HRC, and Cheryl Little, who worked for the HRC, actively wrote to judges at Krome to lobby for detainees throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Immigration and Naturalization Service, INS, conducted mass asylum case hearings resulting in mass deportation orders under the claim that all Haitian refugees were economic refugees and not asylum seekers. The INS, however, did not have a staff member that could speak Haitian Creole until 1989, provided malfunctioning phones, and poor assistance for asylum applications.

After the Krome Processing Center sustained damage in Hurricane Andrew, the INS planned on moving Haitain refugees to prisons throughout Central Florida influencing lobbyists to focus on keeping detainees at Krome and close to community and legal support networks. Conditions in Krome slowly improved; however, by May 20, 1998, there were still 179 Haitian refugees detained at Krome. After being fully renovated in 2007, Krome still functions as a detention and processing center.

Guantanamo Detention Center[edit][edit]

Starting in 1991, Haitian refugees were that were interdicted at sea were taken to a refugee camp at Guantanamo Bay. Starting in 1994, Guantanamo Bay was used as a camp for detained Cuban refugees as well. A lack of equal representation and community support from the refugee communities lobbying in the United States, revealing the difference in living conditions between the two groups.

Sa K'pase, a camp newspaper first published on January 18, 1992, was produced by the U.S. Army Military Information Support Team (MIST) led by Dr. Stephen Brown. The news paper was for Haitian detainees and was written in Creole, with some articles having English translated counterparts. The newspaper N'ap Boule began after publication of Sa K'pase ended. These newspapers attempted to create a community within Guantanamo and alleviate the stress of living at the camps. While Cuban refugees detained at Guantanamo Bay created their own newspapers, like Éxodo, Haitians did not have that freedom. This further revealed the difference in access to self expression and resources the two groups had.

The NCHR connected communities of the Haitian Diaspora in the states to protest and support Haitian refugees and those still in Haiti. The NCHR also helped in the the collection of affidavits from Haitians in Guantanamo and used their lobbying power to release official statements about the conditions at Guantanamo Bay. The NCHR continued to lobby for better practices during pre-asylum interviews and the detention of refugees.

Leadership[edit][edit]

The first executive director of the NCHR was Susan H. Buchanan who served in the position for six months following the organization’s inception. Michael S. Hooper served as executive director from 1982 to 1988, followed by Jocelyn “Johnny” McCalla who served from 1988 to the end of the organization. Anne Fuller served as associate director and initiated the NCHR’s newsletter,  Haiti Insight.  Father Anthony J. Bevilacqua represented the National Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration and was chairman. Vice chairman was first led by Bayard Rustin, and then Wade Henderson. Both Stanley Mailman and Ira Kurzban served as counsel to the NCHR. William O’Neill was a consultant to the NCHR who along with other NCHR members created and enacted the  UN/OAS Human Rights Observer Mission, the first UN Mission initiated in Haiti. Ahpaly J.G. Coradin served as policy advocate beginning in 1993.  Notable members of the Board of Directors include, but are not limited to, Eddy Bayardelle, Joseph Carraha, Muzzafar Chishti, Jonathan Demme, Josh Dewind, Mark Handelman, Cheryl Little, Father Guy Sansaricq, Edward Saxon, Edith Tiger, Robert Varenik, and Bishop Thomas Wenski.

Allies[edit][edit]

AFL-CIO

American Civil Liberties Union

American Bar Association’s Immigration Law Program

American Council for Nationalities Services

American Friends Service Committee

American Jewish Committee

Amnesty International

A Philip Randolph Educational Fund

Bayard Rustin Fund

Center for Immigrants Rights

Center for Migration Studies

Church World Service

Coalition for Haitian Concerns

Greater Miami United

Haitian-Americans United for Progress

Haitian Apostolate

Haitian Centers Council

Haitian Refugee Center

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society

Human Rights Watch

Immigration Refugee Services of America

International Ladies Garment Workers Union

International Rescue Committee

Interregional Task Force for Haitian Refugees

Jewish Labor Committee

Lawyers Committee for Human Rights

Leadership Conference of Civil Rights

League of United Latin American Citizens

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

National Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration

National Conference of Catholic Charities

National Council of La Raza

National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee

National Immigration Forum

National Urban League, Inc.

Pierre Toussaint Catholic Center

Physicians for Human Rights

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)

Synagogue Council of America

United States Catholic Conference

Washington Office on Haiti

Programs and Projects[edit][edit]

Community Action Program (CAP)[edit][edit]

This is a community advocacy portion of the NCHR that was established to protect the Haitian immigrant communities’ rights. CAP lobbied with Congress, organized rallies, and established links to larger communities such as universities, church organizations, and the Haitian-American community at large. This program sought to solidify NCHR’s Haitian American Community Action Network (see below).  Through this program, spokespeople for the NCHR appeared on multiple radio and television programs, distributed flyers, petitions, and reached out to newspapers in the New York area. Key refugee and immigration policies CAP fought against were around immigrants’ eligibility for healthcare and welfare benefits, healthcare, education, housing , and economic development. CAP was funded by the Ford Foundation, the Rentschler Foundation, the Lutheran World Federation, and other donors.

Haitian-American Community Action Network (HACAN)[edit][edit]

HACAN began in 1994, using the motto “Haiti Can!” HACAN raised awareness of the Haitian refugee crisis that was going on in the United States, pushed just treatment of Haitian refugees, and enabled members of the Haitian Diaspora to be involved in the American political process. This subcommittee of the NCHR initiated the “411 Campaign” which fought against growing nativism in the U.S by publicizing mistreatment of Haitian refugees by the INS and further ant- immigrant discrimination.  Key affiliates of HACAN are Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, CWS, NYC Human Rights Commission, the ILGWU, Haitian Centers Council, Metrotech Center, Community Service Society, and Haitian Women Program.

Haitian Entrants Legal and Civic Education Program (HELCEP)[edit][edit]

HELCEP, established in the early 2000s, was able to reach thousands of Haitians across the United States through various initiatives including the following: a Get-Out-the-Vote program called “Stepping Forward Together in 2004” which received about 600 pledges from Haitians to vote on election day in 2004, civil education programs following Sunday Catholic and Protestant services, public service announcements on the Haitian radio program Radio Soleil, and a pledge in The Haitian Times. This pledge asked Haitians to extend support to other Haitians in their communities and to work towards ending Haitian refugee discrimination. In March of 2005, HELCEP launched the “Justice for Joseph Dantica” campaign following Joseph Dantica’s untimely death urging U.S officials to reform refugee and immigration policies.

Legal Education and Assistance Program (LEAP)[edit][edit]

NCHR launched the Haitian Legal Education and Assistance Program (LEAP) in 1999 in the wake of incidents of police brutality, such as the abuse of Abner Louima and Patrick Dorismond. The LEAP Program conducted civic and legal education, cross cultural training, dialogue training, and helped Haitians understand better the legal issues that impacted them. NCHR accomplished these objectives through workshops, radio, and television PSAs that reached tens of thousands of people.

LEAP was intended to help resolve tensions between the NYPD and the Haitian community and help build better relations by teaching both sides how to respectively interact with each other in despite cultural differences. Often times, Haitians were afraid and suspicious of legal authorities, and police often viewed Haitians as unlawful troublemakers, misconceptions LEAP worked to clear up. In addition, LEAP worked as an intermediary for Haitians and attorneys who often had poor communication due to language barriers and cultural mannerism.

The reception towards LEAP by the Haitian community was very positive. LEAP quickly became an integral part of the Haitian population in NYC, becoming the place to consult when anyone had legal questions or concerns. Initially, LEAP was solely focused on police brutality, but when Haitians started asking NCHR for legal help outside that scope, LEAP expanded in 2001 to include common legal issues faced by Haitian immigrants in areas like family or immigration.

Adjustment/Legalization Program[edit][edit]

In 1986, the NCHR successfully lobbied the government to include the Haitian Adjustment provision in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. This provision would give legal status to Haitian refugees who arrived in the US before 1982.

However, while almost 70,000 Haitians were eligible in New York for Legalization/Adjustment, very few applied with the deadline fast approaching. The NCHR described it as a “one-time opportunity to live in the United States without fear of apprehension and deportation by the Immigration Services.” To encourage Haitians to apply, the NCHR created a program through the New York State Department of Social Services.

This program’s primary focus was to educate and equip the community to gain legal status by distributing leaflets and audiotapes, conducting radio interviews, and writing newspaper articles. In addition, the NCHR served as “Legal backup and referral center for haitian community groups”, implementing community centers as well as conducting training sessions and community meetings.

Through the Haitian Adjustment/Legalization program, the NCHR, along with the Haitian Information Center, Charlemagne Peralte Center, and others, helped thousands of Haitians become legal residents in the US.

Restavek[edit][edit]

The NCHR campaigned extensively against Restavek, a practice they denounced as child slavery. In the early 2000s, the NCHR organized a number of galas that raised awareness and funds. The NCHR also published a report about the abuses and exploitation that children often suffered under Restavek.

Haiti Insight[edit][edit]

Haiti Insight was a newsletter led by Anne Fuller, that began in the 1980s. The monthly newsletter published news in Haiti and news of the Haitian diaspora in the States. Haiti Insight journalists followed stories of Haitian police brutality in New York, living conditions of Haitian in detention centers, brutalities of the Tonton Macoutes, presidential elections and more.

Appearances[edit][edit]

Over the course of its history, the NCHR was a vital authority on issues impacting Haitians. The NCHR frequently appeared on major national news bases such as the New York Times,  NPR, NBC, and was involved on multiple college campuses including Yale and Cornell University. Specifically, in 1992, NCHR members appeared on NPR speaking on U.S authorities’ inconsistent policies and the unlawful return of Haitian refugees to their native territory following President Bush’s repatriation executive order that allowed for no pre-asylum screening. The NCHR initiated a 3 month long election watch on America’s Watch in 1987 monitoring what was supposed to be  Haiti’s first democratic elections. Then, a month-long monitoring of the 1990 elections that were the first successful democratic elections followed.

The NCHR has been published by Americas Watch, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva, Physicians for Human Rights, and Caribbean Rights.

Immigrant Legislation[edit][edit]

Over the course of its history, NCHR consistently spoke out against legislation that would interfere with Haitian rights. These included the Haitian Interdiction Policy instituted by Reagan in 1981 that was the catalyst for the organization's beginning, and President Bush's 1992 Executive Order that stopped screening Haitians for asylum.

However, the NCHR equally fought for legislation that would help and support Haitians in the U.S. The NCHR was directly responsible for the Haitian Adjustment Provision in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. In addition, the NCHR advocated for the following:

1980 Executive Order Cuban-Haitian Entrant Program

Fascell-Stone Amendment of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980

Temporary Protection Status (1991-1992)

Haitian Refugees Fairness Act of 1993

References[edit][edit]

The National Coalition for Haitian Rights Records, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Caribbean Sea Migration Collection, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Further Reading[edit][edit]

  • Dubois, Laurent. Haiti: The Aftershocks of History. Picador, 2013.
  • Dubois, Laurent. “A Spoonful of Blood: Haitians, Racism and AIDS.” Science As Culture.
  • Dupuy, Alex. “Actualidades From Jean-Bertrand Aristide to Gerard Latortue: The Unending Crisis of Democratization in Haiti.” Journal of Latin American Anthropology.
  • Fischer, Sibylle. “Haiti Fantasies of Bare Life.” Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism, vol. 24, 2007, doi:10.2979/sax.2007.-.issue-24.
  • Portes, Alejandro, et al. “Three Years Later: the Adaptation Process of 1980 (Mariel) Cuban and Haitian Refugees in South Florida.” Population Research and Policy Review, vol. 5, no. 1, 1986, pp. 83–94.
  • Pressely-Sanon, Toni. “Lucid Cameras: Imaging Haiti After the Earthquake of 2010.” Journal of Haitian Studies, vol. 17, no. 2.

External Links[edit][edit]

https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/nchr/

https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/caribbeansea/


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