Multinational force dispatched to pave way for Aristide's return.

• Position: Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide

The "flower of democracy" would soon open in Haiti, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide--in exile since the September 1991 military coup--told the General Assembly on 4 October. That democracy had been "obtained through diplomacy", he stressed.

Thanks to the "heroic courage of the Haitian people" and the solidarity and support of the international community and the UN Secretary-General, he would finally return home, Mr. Aristide stated.

He was especially grateful to United States President William J. Clinton, who, he said, had opened a "channel of hope after the suffering", and to the Friends of the Secretary-General--Canada, France, Venezuela and Argentina--as well as the countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which had supported the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions and the 3 July 1993 Governors Island Agreement.

Even today, with the peace operation "Uphold Democracy"--the multinational force in Haiti since 19 September--a "smile had shed light upon the faces of those who loved peace", President Aristide said. In calling for "reconciliation and justice for all in Haiti", he hoped that the roots of democracy would grow again in his country.

Formation of a multinational force and the use of "all necessary means" to facilitate the departure from Haiti of the military leadership, consistent with the Governors Island Agreement, was authorized under Security Council resolution 940 (1994) of 31 July.

On 29 September, in adopting resolution 944 (1994), the Council decided to lift its sanctions against Haiti, at 0001 a.m. EST on the day after the return of President Aristide.

On 23 September, former Algerian Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi was named the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Haiti, succeeding Dante Caputo of Argentina. Unlike Mr. Caputo, who had been a Special Envoy of both the UN and the Organization of American States (OAS), Mr. Brahimi was to represent solely the UN.

In accepting Mr. Caputo's resignation on 19 September, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali thanked him for the "courage and devotion" which he had lent to the discharge of his duties and for his "tireless efforts for almost two years to restore democracy to Haiti".

Consistent non-compliance

Until mid-September, progress towards achieving the "goal of restoring democracy" in Haiti had suffered serious set-backs, the Secretary-General said in his annual report (A/49/1). The Haitian military authorities were in "consistent noncompliance" with the Governors Island Agreement and there had been a "grave deterioration of the human rights situation".

In fact, tensions had "drastically increased" after the illegal installation on 11 My of Emile Jonassaint as "provisional President", Mr. Boutros-Ghali stated.

On 11 July, the staff of the joint UN/OAS international Civilian Mission to Haiti (MICIVIH), established under General Assembly resolution 47/20 B on 20 April 1993, had been declared "undesirable" by the de facto authorities and given 48 hours to leave the country. That "illegal action" was condemned "most resolutely" on 11 July by the Secretaries-General of the UN and OAS.

The Security Council, in a 12 July statement, denounced the decision of the Haitian illegal authorities. The work of MICIVIH, it said, had the "highest approbation of the Council", and its mandate had been extended on 8 July for another year by the Assembly in resolution 48/27 B.

Considering the action a "serious escalation in the defiant stance" of Haiti's de facto regime and military authorities towards the international...