Joseph Michel Francois, Haitian army Colonel, Chief of National Police

Many people played a hand in the 1991 coup that saw the elected president of the Republic of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, removed from office, few with as much importance as army colonel and the then Haitian police chief, Joseph-Michel François. He was born on May 8, 1957 and went to military school at Fort Bragg in the United States.

ADVERTISEMENT


The skills he acquired there would serve him well as part of the oppressive government, which ruled for over three years under Raoul Cédras. During this time, Michel Francois headed up the secret police and oversaw, or facilitated, many human rights violations, murders and other heinous, counter-judiciary acts.

It is said that over 4,000 Haitians were killed under their rule, and intimidation through violence, which included rape, was practiced as a method of suppressing the populace. The April 1994 massacre in Raboteau is only one of many atrocities directly linked to Michel Francois.

In September of 1994, when the United States army returned Aristide to power, many within the faux-government fled the country for fear of prosecution. François escaped to nearby Dominican Republic. He was convicted back in Haiti of the murder of an Aristide supporter, but an extradition request was not made.

The Dominican Republic tried purging him in 1996 after catching wind of plots for another coup, but François escaped capture yet again and fled, this time to Honduras. There, he was convicted and imprisoned for a murder and subsequently indicted by the U.S. as a drug smuggler. As his luck would have it, Honduras denied the United State's request for extradition and released François back into society in July of 1997.

Reply to this article  (1)

Read more: duvalier, Military, Michel Francois, Raboteau, Tonton Macoute, Secret Service, Raboteau Massacre, Raoul Cedras, Colonel, Army, People

« Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras, Most dangerous places for foreign multinational executives | Main | Fatal Assistance - Assistance Mortelle by Hatian filmmaker Raoul Peck »

Return to Articles List

All Comments (1)

James Murphy says...

Francoise an international disgrace to Haiti a plague blood on hiz hands he is unsafe and will be crossed off the earth citizan

Reply  ... More

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

E-mail (required, will not be published)

Subject: Joseph Michel Francois, Haitian army Colonel, Chief of National Police edit

» »

Our objective is to share with you news and information about Haiti and the people of Haiti. Traditions, habits and the way we were  or  grew are alive in this site. We highly recommend that you Subscribe to our Newsletter and also share with us some of the things that are memorable and made us unique people.