Prosper Avril

Haiti (1995-2000): the Black Book on Insecurity Prosper Avril

Written by the former President of the Republic of Haiti. This book was the cause of a great event in Haiti. At the moment of its presentation on May 26, 2001, the Aristide government illegally ordered the arrest of its author, Prosper Avril, a former president of this country. Yves Colon wrote about this incident in the May 31, 2001 issue of The Miami Herald: "As a former president and army general, Prosper Avril once cut a powerful figure in Haiti. Now the 64 year old grandfather sits in an overcrowded National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince... Last week, he went to an upscale restaurant in a suburb of the capital to sign copies of his book, Haiti: 1995-2000 -The Black Book on Insecurity. The book attributes a recent wave of kidnappings, holdups, robberies and killings to the inefficiency of the Aristide police force. As he signed the books, heavily-armed soldiers wearing black ski masks entered the restaurant and snatched Avril." M. Yves Colon was referring to the signing ceremony of the French version of Prosper Avril's last book: Le Livre Noir de l'Insécurité. This book relates the conditions in which a total of 1431 such cases including assassinations by shooting, knifing, lynching, stoning, strangling, necklacing, etc. took place. It also points out the irresponsible and scandalous attitude of the then ruling government in regards to the situation, favoring a total impunity for the murderers.