Civilian human rights observers return; UN mission faces obstacles.

• Position: UN/Organization of American States International Civilian Mission in Haiti

Ten observers of the joint UN/Organization of American States (OAS) International Civilian Mission in Haiti (MICIVIH) returned to the capital city of Port-au-Prince on 26 January to "start their work anew to ensure respect for human rights", according to a Mission spokesman.

The observers at first would work only in Port-au-Prince. All competent authorities had been "informed of this movement of personnel", the Mission spokesman reported. By the end of March, the number of observers had increased to 28.

On 6 December 1993, the General Assembly, in its resolution 48/27, had asked the UN Secretary-General to do his utmost to bring MICIVIH back "as rapidly as possible".

On 20 February, the Secretary-General reported (S/1994/203 and A/48/879) that the situation in Haiti, including human rights, had "seriously deteriorated in the last few months". its people were "under severe strain, notwithstanding efforts to maintain the flow of humanitarian assistance".

On 23 March, a UN spokesman reported that a small group of MICIVIH observers had been the "target of demonstrations and harassment" by civilians in Hinche, who appeared to be members of the Front Revolutionnaire pour l'avancement et le progres haitien (FRAPH). Dante Caputo, Special Envoy of the Secretaries-General of the UN and the OAS, expressing his indignation, strongly condemned those serious incidents, particularly because they had "occurred in the presence of military personnel", who did nothing to prevent them. Also, numerous cases of rape had been reported to MICIVIH. The Mission denounced those violations of the rights of Haitian women--which appeared to be "part and parcel of political violence and terror"--as unacceptable. it called on the high command of the Haitian Armed Forces to investigate and bring the perpetrators before the courts.

Resolution 905: UNMIH extended

On 23 March, the Security Council stated it was "deeply disturbed by the continued obstruction" to the dispatch of the UN Mission in Haiti (UNMIH), set up in September 1993, and the "failure of the Armed Forces of Haiti to carry out their responsibilities to allow the Mission to begin its work". in unanimously adopting resolution 905 (1994), the Council extended UNMIH's mandate until 30 June and asked the Secretary-General to report to it "at such time as conditions may exist" in Haiti for UNMIH deployment "for purposes consistent with paragraph 5 of the Governors island Agreement". Paragraph 5 provided for...