SUMMARY
Haiti’s modern governance has been marked by authoritarianism, corruption, and repression. Beginning with the regime of François “Papa Doc” Duvalier and continuing under his son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier (1957–1986), Haitian administrations made extensive use of state security forces and paramilitary groups to maintain power. The most notorious of these was the Tonton Macoutes, a militia loyal to the Duvaliers, known for terrorizing opponents and civilians alike. Even after the fall of the Duvalier dynasty, successive governments continued to use paramilitary groups and informal militias to enforce political control and intimidate opposition forces.
The most prominent political figure to emerge in the immediate post-Duvalier era was Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former Catholic priest who mobilized the urban poor with promises of sweeping social and political reform. He was elected president in 1990 but was deposed in a 1991 coup led by General Raoul Cédras. The military regime that followed deepened repression, relying on paramilitary forces to silence Aristide’s base of support.
Aristide was reinstated in 1994 with the backing of a U.S.-led multinational intervention, but his subsequent administrations (1994–1996 and 2000–2004) were marked by rising autocracy and human rights abuses. Though he disbanded the national army and the infamous FRAPH paramilitary group in 1994, Aristide relied on loyalist gangs known as chimères to consolidate control.
After Aristide’s ouster in 2004, a transitional government led by Boniface Alexandre was installed but failed to restore stability. Despite the presence of a United Nations peacekeeping mission, the new authorities relied on violence to try to reassert order. In 2006, René Préval was elected president and introduced initiatives aimed at reforming the police, justice, and prison systems.
A major turning point in Haiti’s recent political crisis came on 7 July 2021, when then President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his private residence by a group of armed men, including foreign nationals. His death plunged the country into deeper political chaos, exacerbating widespread insecurity and undermining institutional governance. Ariel Henry was appointed prime minister shortly before Moïse's assassination and assumed de facto leadership afterward. Amid contested legitimacy and mounting gang violence, Henry led a transitional government tasked with steering the country toward new elections. However, efforts to form a stable governing coalition faltered, and a political agreement reached in late 2022 established a transitional council to oversee the country’s governance—a mechanism that struggled to regain public trust and institutional control.
The government of Haiti has been involved in the intra-state and one-sided categories of UCDP organized violence.
