Following the 1994 intervention, the United States and other donor 

countries sought to enhance democracy, development, and human rights by 

supporting the Haitian Ministry of Justice, the police, the judicial sector, 

prisons, and nongovernmental groups. From fiscal years 1995 through 

2000, the United States extended its assistance to the Haitian police and 

judicial sector primarily in the form of training, technical advice, 

equipment, and related support. Similar to assistance efforts provided in 

other countries, the United States provided assistance to the Haitian justice 

system without specific conditions for implementing the assistance, such 

as requiring the Haitian government to adopt and fund improvements made 

possible by the assistance. The U.S. Agency for International Development 

(USAID) and two organizations within the Department of Justice's Criminal 

Division the International Criminal Investigative and Training Assistance 

Program and the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, 

Assistance and Training implemented the majority of this assistance. The 

Department of State has overall responsibility for coordinating the U.S. 

assistance to the Haitian police and judicial sector. It also funds training 

programs implemented by U.S. law enforcement agencies and, immediately 

after Haiti's return to democracy in 1994, carried out some training 

programs, mainly in support of the Presidential Palace Guard, which 

provides protection for the Haitian President.

Several other U.S. agencies have also been involved in supporting the 

Haitian police. For example, the U.S. Coast Guard helped to build the 

Haitian Coast Guard a main component of the Haitian police. Also, the 

Drug Enforcement Administration helped to support the police's 

antinarcotics unit. In addition, the U.S. Customs Service helped to train 

Haitian customs and police officers on countersmuggling techniques.

In fiscal years 1995 through 2000, the United States and Canada provided 

most of the international assistance to the Haitian police, while the United 

States provided the bulk of the assistance to the judicial sector. Also, the 

United Nations Development Program provided most of the international 

support for improving the prisons. Other donors including the United 

Nations, France, and the European Union provided smaller amounts of 

assistance to justice institutions. Since July 2000, the United Nations has 

emerged as the largest donor supporting these institutions through the 

police and judicial assistance activities of the U.N. International Civilian 

Support Mission in Haiti. The mandate of this $20 million mission runs from 

March 2000 through February 2001 but, as of June 2000, the mission did not 

have most of its staff in country yet, according to mission officials.

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GAO 01 24  Foreign Assistance