Our Work

International actor Accountability

Reparations for Haiti

Since 2002, BAI and IJDH have been advocating to promote justice and accountability for the history of enslavement and colonialism in Haiti, including restitution for the illegal “Independence Debt” coerced by France. Their approach centers on advancing a global movement in support of a sovereign and democratic Haiti capable of asserting its strong legal claim for restitution.

Enslaved Haitians suffered many of the same horrors as other people of African descendant around the world, cruelly uprooted from their communities and subject to dehumanizing and degrading conditions; atrocious violations of their human rights; deprivation of their identity; and physical, psychological, and spiritual brutality.

But Haiti’s self-liberation in 1804, and the threat that a stable and prosperous Haiti posed to the white supremacist ideology, drove the powers-that-were – especially the United States and France – to reserve some harms exclusively for the world’s first Black Republic. One of those harms was the so-called “Independence Debt” – compensation illegally extorted from Haiti in 1825 by France in exchange for Haiti’s independence. The Independence Debt took over a century to pay off, forced Haiti into a cycle of aid dependence and entrenched debt, and ultimately cost the country over $21 billion in development. It is the principal historical cause of the instability and grinding poverty that Haiti faces today.

Mario Joseph at the Second Session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

This unique harm provides a uniquely strong legal claim for restitution – one that could very well be the “key to reparations for all people injured by slavery.” In 2003, Haiti’s first democratically-elected president sought to assert that claim with BAI’s support. Fearing that the example of a successful restitution claim by Haiti could generate a deluge of justice for all those harmed by slavery, the United States and France overthrew Haiti’s democratic government. The coup ushered in two decades of corrupt, foreign-backed regimes that could be counted on not to act against the interests of their foreign backers.

“We cannot talk about sustainable development without reparations, and we cannot talk about reparations without talking about Haiti.”

Gaynel Curry, Member of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

Haiti’s restitution claim has the potential to make a crack in the wall that has thus far protected former slave-holding powers from accountability. But asserting that claim will not be possible until Haitians are able to reclaim their democracy and elect a government accountable to the Haitian people. Supporters of reparations around the world can help by insisting that their governments support Haitians’ right to self-determination and adopt policies that center Haitian sovereignty. This is the first step to unlocking the possibility of reparations for all those impacted by slavery and colonial violence.

Sign on to the Eight Point Framework for Restitution for Haiti

Join over 200 Hatian, diaspora, and allied organizations and individuals who have pledged their support for the Eight Point Framework! The document lays out a framework for restitution for the Independence Debt illegally coerced from Haiti by France, including a long-term repayment plan focusing on areas of socio-economic development most impacted by the debt.

DRAFTED BY: Bureau Des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) | Mouvement de Liberté, d’Égalité des Haïtiens pour la Fraternité (MOLEGHAF) | Étude et action pour les droits de l’homme (FADH) | Sant Karl Levêque (SKL) |
Ensemble des Citoyens Compétents à la Recherche de l’Égalité des Droits de l’Homme en Haïti (ECCREDHH)

BAI & IJDH Advocacy at the Third Session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

From April 16-19, 2024, BAI and IJDH joined Haitian and diaspora civil society in bringing Haiti’s fight for restitution and democracy free from foreign interference to the international stage.

Our Advocacy

Overview of BAI and IJDH Advocacy at the Third Session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (April 30, 2024)
Blog Post by IJDH Staff Attorney Kristina Fried, “Fighting for Freedom from Montgomery to Port-au-Prince” (February 12, 2024)
OpEd by IJDH Staff Attorney Kristina Fried in the Haitian Times, “Haiti is Owed Reparations for the Independence Debt, Not Another Intervention” (January 3, 2024)
Article by IJDH Executive Director Brian Concannon, Staff Attorney Kristina Fried, and Senior Staff Attorney Sasha Filippova in the University of Miami Inter-American Law Review, “Restitution for Haiti, Reparations for All: Haiti’s Place in the Global Reparations Movement” (December 13, 2023)
Overview of BAI and IJDH Advocacy at the Second Session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (June 2023)
OpEd by IJDH Executive Director Brian Concannon, IJDH Board Member Irwin Stotzky and BAI Managing Attorney Mario Joseph in the Miami Herald, “France Demanded Crippling Payments. Now Haiti Has a Legitimate Claim for Slavery Reparations” (March 27, 2023)
IJDH Executive Director Brian Concannon, IJDH Founding Board Member Ira Kurzban, IJDH Board Member Irwin Stotzky, and IJDH Advisory Council Member Charlot Lucien speak at the University of Miami Inter-American Law Review Symposium, “Haiti: Reparations and Restitution” (March 24, 2023)
Article by former IJDH attorney Beatrice Lindstrom and BAI Managing Attorney Mario Joseph in Just Security, “What the World Owes Haiti Now” (June 29, 2022) (See also in Keyòl)
OpEd by ESCR-Net Members, including IJDH, “Unsustainable Debt Has Always Impeded Development: It’s Time to Write it Off” (April 23, 2022)