Émile Jonassaint

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Émile Jonassaint (born May 20, 1913 in Port-de-Paix , † October 24, 1995 in Port-au-Prince ) was a Haitian judge, politician and acting president of Haiti .

biography

Studies, political and professional career

Jonassaint completed a law degree . He began his political career in 1950 as a senator during the presidency of Paul Eugène Magloire . With the beginning of the almost thirty-year dictatorship of François Duvalier and Jean-Claude Duvalier , however, he withdrew completely from politics to take up a career as a lawyer. Like François Duvalier, he was a follower of voodoo and claimed in particular to be in contact with the voodoo deity Dambal Euzulie .

After Duvalier's overthrow, he was elected President of a Constituent Assembly in February 1986 and was eventually promoted to Supreme Court Justice ( Cour suprême ). In 1991 he was dismissed as a judge by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide because of his age . After the fall of Aristide, however, he was reappointed a judge in September 1991 by the military government under Lieutenant General Raoul Cédras .

Acting President of Haiti 1994

As a figurehead of the military government under Cédras, he was appointed acting president of Haiti after the renewed overthrow of President Aristide on May 11, 1994 . As such, he overlooked major human rights violations by the military government during his interim tenure, which lasted until October 12, 1994 .

During the months of his tenure, the US administration put pressure on the military regime to get his resignation, the return of President-elect Aristide, and the restoration of democracy . On 31 July 1994, the adopted United Nations Security Council , the UN Resolution 917, which the US, the invasion permitted in Haiti to the regime Cédras discontinued. In mid-August 1994 more than 100 UN observers went to the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti to stop the oil smuggling that was supplying the military regime.

In response, Jonassaint declared a state of emergency and charged the world with declaring war on poor Haiti, which was causing no harm. During the remainder of August, the Army and Paramilitary Forces for the Rise and Advancement of Haiti continued to assassinate Aristides. At the same time, parades were organized by volunteers to fight an invasion.

On September 18, 1994, a US peace mission led by former US President Jimmy Carter , former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell and US Senator Sam Nunn led to a successful negotiation of a compromise that led to an invasion being overturned of the regime under Cédras and Jonassaint prevented.

On October 12, 1994, Jonassaint handed the office of president back to the legally elected incumbent Aristide.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Prayers, Aircraft Carriers, and Voodoo Spells . In: Berliner Zeitung . September 19, 1994
  2. ↑ The Constituent Assembly and the 1987 Constitution ( Memento of August 8, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ^ President Carter Leads Delegation to Negotiate Peace gave way to Haiti . Carter Center press release September 5, 1994
  4. ^ Road to Haiti . In: Time . 3rd October 1994
  5. ^ Deliverance . In: Time . October 24, 1994

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Jean-Bertrand Aristide Acting President of Haiti
May 12, 1994 to October 12, 1994 		Jean-Bertrand Aristide
personal data
SURNAME Jonassaint, Émile
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Haitian judge, politician and Acting President of Haiti
DATE OF BIRTH May 20, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Port-de-Paix
DATE OF DEATH October 24, 1995
Place of death Port-au-Prince