Haiti: Requirements and procedures for transferring land, including when the owner lives abroad; whether criminals or criminal gangs have been involved in the illegal acquisition of land, including by force or through fraudulent documents; whether the affected persons have legal means to recover their land (2017–July 2020) [HTI200285.FE]

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

1. Background

In a presentation prepared for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of a training session on the land tenure and property rights system in Haiti held in 2014 (US [2014b]), Véronique Dorner, member of the Laboratoire d’anthropologie juridique de l’Université de Paris 1 (US [2014a]), indicated that there are three types of land status in Haiti: State land within the Public Domain, State land within the Private Domain, and private property (Dorner 1 Oct. 2014, 3). Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Decree of 22 September 1964, relating to rent setting and the leasing of State land within the Private Domain, provide the following:

[translation]

Article 1. The National Domain is divided into State land within the Public Domain and State land within the Private Domain.

Article 2. The Public Domain is inalienable and imprescriptible. It consists of all things that, without belonging to anyone, are accessible to the general public for collective use.

It consists of paths, roads, streets, markets and public squares, rivers, lakes and ponds, shores, ports and harbours, islands or islets, gates, walls, ditches, ramparts of places of war and fortresses, entryways, canals, historical monuments and memorials and all portions of the territory that are not subject to private appropriation or prescription.

Access to the Private Domain is subject to special laws and special police regulations.

Changes of location that may transform parts of the Public Domain must be authorized by statute.

Article. 3. The Private Domain is imprescriptible. It includes:

  1. Buildings and other movable or immovable property accessible or reserved for the service of the government and the various public administration bodies;
  2. All vacant or unowned property;
  3. Movable or immovable property that reverts to the State in the absence of heirs within the degree of succession or designated legatees or subsequent [or surviving spouses (Haiti 1964a)];
  4. Silts;
  5. Parts of the Public Domain that, by change of location, enter into the State’s Private Domain;
  6. Lastly, Property that the State owns through acquisition, exchange or other means. (Haiti 1964b)

In Volume 2 of the Manual of Haitian Land Transactions, which aims to [Working Group English Version] “help land owners, state farmers, developers, renters, future owners and NGO’s anticipate and prevent complications resulting from the purchase of properties in order to avoid land conflicts,” the Haiti Property Law Working Group [1] notes that “State land within the Private Domain can be leased (rental, tenant farming) by the General Tax Directorate (DGI) under the conditions prescribed by the Decree of September 22, 1964” (Working Group 1 Dec. 2014, 8, 35). Similarly, Véronique Dorner states that it is possible for an individual to have access to State land within the Private Domain through leasing or if the State gives land to an individual (Dorner 1 Oct. 2014, 7). Dorner adds that private land may be transferred to the State’s Private Domain when it is considered [translation] “vacant and without an owner” or by public utility decree (Dorner 1 Oct. 2014, 5). Furthermore, Volume 1 of the Haiti Land Transaction Manual states that [Working Group English Version] “[p]roperty may be expropriated by the State for public utility purposes” (Working Group 26 June 2012, 17).

The national summary of the results of the 2008/2009 general agriculture census identifies the main legal statuses of land in Haiti as follows:

[translation]

Title/purchase: Land purchased with formal division for which the operator has individual title.

Title/inheritance: Inherited land with formal division for which the operator has individual title.

Minor/shared: Inherited land that is parcelled out without any formal agreement between the persons concerned.

Minor/collective: Inherited land that is not parcelled out (undivided land). Each heir concerned has the right to exploit the land in question.

Church land: Land bequeathed by a natural or legal person to a religious organization.

State: Land used for agriculture that is State property. This type of land is overseen by the services of the DGI or entrusted to other State organizations.

Rural family property: Plot of land made available by the State to individuals in communities solely for development purposes (agricultural colonies).

Undeclared: This classification is used when the operator is unable to specify the legal status of the land they are using. This classification shall only be used as a last resort after clarification by the operator or other members of the household. (Haiti Oct. 2012, 201)

Véronique Dorner’s presentation shows that lands to which the owner initially held title [translation] “shift into ‘informal’ property [that no longer corresponds to any of the existing property titles]” when there are, for example, informal sales, unofficially shared inheritances or a contested sale of inherited land (Dorner 1 Oct. 2014, 9). Dorner notes that, consequently, [translation] “in urban and rural areas alike, quite a number of people who consider themselves to be owners are unable to prove their rights to the plot they occupy” (Dorner 1 Oct. 2014, 9). With regard to the State’s Private Domain, Dorner adds that it is possible that [translation] “several generations of farmers, who ceased paying [rights] long ago [remain] persuaded that they are the owners” (Dorner 1 Oct. 2014, 10). Similarly, in an article on Haiti’s property situation, Geert van Vliet, a researcher affiliated with the Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement, CIRAD) in France, and his coauthors highlight the [translation] “informal regulations” consisting in traditions and customs that regulate land access when property transactions do not take place before a notary, [translation] “which does not exclude ‘signed scraps of paper’” (van Vliet, et al. Jan. 2017, 10). In Volume 1 of the Haiti Land Transaction Manual, the Working Group also states that [Working Group English Version] “[i]t is not uncommon that the party ‘selling’ the land does not have legal title to the land either. In the case of an informal sale, this adds to the risk for conflicts about ownership down the line” (Working Group 26 June 2012, VI, VIII).

2. Process for the Legal Sale of Land Ownership

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a lawyer in Port-au-Prince who is also a member of the Faculty of Legal and Political Science (Faculté des sciences juridiques et politiques) at the Université Quisqueya in Port-au-Prince provided the following details:

[translation]

The following rules must be applied for the sale of land. First, the land must be measured by a surveyor. The seller signs a promise of sale to the buyer for the buyer to obtain financing from a bank. The seller submits their property titles to a notary public. Both parties sign the bill of sale. The bill of sale is then registered by the notary at the Property Conservation Officer (Bureau de la conservation foncière) at the buyer’s expense. (Lawyer 25 June 2020)

According to Volume 1 of the Haiti Land Transaction Manual, land can be legally sold by private seal or genuine deed (Working Group 26 June 2012, 2). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. The source defines these processes as follows:

[Working Group English Version]

  • Sale by act of private seal: the sale is completed without the involvement of a notary and is an agreement between two parties. It does not follow the formalities required by law but may include some steps of the sale by genuine deed, such as the promise of sale and the surveying of the property (arpentage). Sometimes the sale documents are signed before a lawyer or a justice of the peace. In order to be legally recognized, the private seal must be “recorded and transcribed in order to be effective against third parties”;
  • Sale by genuine deed: genuine deed of sale is prepared by the notary and obeys strict principles required by the law. It must be registered with the Office of Land Registry of the DGI where the property is located and “be transcribed at the Office of Land Registry and Mortgages attached to the Civil Tribunal for the municipality where the property is located and the notary is commissioned.” The genuine deed is valid upon signature before the notary. (Working Group 26 June 2012, 2)

The same source adds that a sale by genuine deed involves four main steps: the preliminary sale agreement (also called the promise of sale (la promesse de vente)), the survey of the property, the preparation of the bill of sale and the registration and transcription of the bill of sale after the taxes have been paid to the DGI (Working Group 26 June 2012, 4). The manual specifies that the surveying step consists in a surveyor surveying the property and writing a survey document, and the preparation of the bill of sale step involves [Working Group English Version] “[the] verification of title documents, [the] compilation of documentation for the sale, [the] writing of bill of sale [and the] collection of fees and taxes by the notary” (Working Group 26 June 2012, 4). For the final step, [Working Group English Version] “[the n]otary submits the deed of sale to the DGI for registration and transcription and pays the fees and taxes to the DGI” (Working Group 26 June 2012, 4). The same source notes that the surveying step (which takes between 3 and 12 months) and the preparation of the bill of sale (which takes between 10 days and 5 months) can be done simultaneously (Working Group 26 June 2012, 4). The source reports that the registration and transcription of the bill of sale can take between 3 and 18 months (Working Group 26 June 2012, 4).

According to the Miami Herald, a Florida newspaper, land records in Haiti are not computerized (Miami Herald 11 May 2020).

2.1 Person Living Abroad

The lawyer explained that in order to make a sale from abroad, a person who owns land in Haiti must go to the Haitian consulate closest to where they live and [translation] “draft a power of attorney mandate by which they designate the person who will represent them in the transaction. The mandate must clearly identify the land for which the agent has authority” (Lawyer 25 June 2020). Similarly, Volume 1 of the Haiti Land Transaction Manual states that, in addition to the same documents that a person living in Haiti must produce, a person living abroad must also provide [Working Group English Version] “[a c]onsular mandate selecting a local representative for the sale” through a Haitian consulate or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Working Group 26 June 2012, 14).

The consulate of Haiti in Montréal reports that, to sell property in Haiti, the person giving the power of attorney must provide the following documents:

  • A valid passport;
  • The property titles;
  • The surveying document;
  • The survey plan (Haiti n.d.).

According to the same source, the power of attorney contains the following details: the first and last name of the person giving the power of attorney (the agent), their tax identification number, national identification number or passport number, as well as their home address (Haiti n.d.). The source adds that there is a fee of C$45 and that it takes two business days to obtain a power of attorney (Haiti n.d.).

3. Possible Fraud During a Land Ownership Transfer

The lawyer stated that

[translation]

there are criminal gangs involving notaries, judges and police officers working to strip honest citizens of the fruits of their labour. They obtain rulings in trials [to which] the real owners were not invited and that are executed in an extremely violent manner. (Lawyer 25 June 2020)

The Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI) 2020 for Haiti, which “assesses the transformation toward democracy and a market economy as well as the quality of governance in 137 countries,” reports that fraudulent sales of land titles and claims to traditional ownership are the source of violent property conflicts (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2020, 2, 22). The Miami Herald explains that, in Haiti, it is common for property owners to inadvertently learn that someone has laid claim to their land by presenting documents showing that they allegedly acquired the land before the property owner did (Miami Herald 11 May 2020). The same source adds that the situation often involves an individual “trying to fraudulently lay claim” by getting an out-of-jurisdiction judge to issue an appearance notice to the property owner (Miami Herald 11 May 2020). When the property owner, unaware of said notice, fails to appear, a justice of the peace shows up at the property accompanied by the police; the source, however, does not specify the reasons why the authorities go to the property (Miami Herald 11 May 2020). For further information on property conflicts and the security situation, see Response to Information Request HTI106116 of June 2018.

A text by Michèle Oriol, sociologist specialized in property issues and Director of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Regional Development (Comité interministériel d’aménagement du territoire, CIAT) in Haiti (Le Nouvel Observateur with AFP 3 Mar. 2017), published on the Haiti Info news website, states that illegal land appropriation (spoliation) is rarely reported in the media and that the cases that are made public by the media or human rights associations are only [translation] “the tip of the iceberg” (Oriol 20 May 2020). Oriol explains that illegal land appropriation involves

[translation]

  • the mobilization of unscrupulous lawyers, justices of the peace, government commissioners or deputy commissioners and trial judges,
  • the complicity of surveyors and notaries commissioned or not commissioned for the jurisdictions concerned,
  • the active complicity of police force members and henchmen from various backgrounds, but often linked to these political authorities. (Oriol 20 May 2020)

In an operation report from the Intervention Brigade Against Land Insecurity (Brigade d’intervention contre l’insécurité foncière, BRICIF) [see section 3.1 of this Response], the National Human Rights Defense Network (Réseau national de défense des droits humains, RNDDH), a Haitian NGO, and one of its satellites, the South-West Human Rights Defense Network (Réseau sud-est de défense des droits humains, RESEDH), note that [translation] “certain judges, government commissioners, surveyors, notaries, lawyers and national police [Police nationale d’Haïti, PNH] members coordinate to dispossess certain families of large swaths of land in the capital and in provincial cities” (RNDDH and RESEDH 9 May 2018, 6). In a similar vein, Le Nouvel Observateur, in collaboration with Agence France-Presse (AFP), notes that [translation] “on social media, media and in the streets, parliamentarians are regularly associated with this type of [land] theft” (Le Nouvel Observateur with AFP 3 Mar. 2017).

Sources report the case of a landowner whose plot of land in the Vivy Mitchell suburb of Port-au-Prince that has been at the centre of a property dispute since 2014, when members of a [neighbouring (Miami Herald 11 May 2020)] family claimed rights to his property (Miami Herald 11 May 2020; Le Nouvelliste 6 May 2020). On 5 May 2020, a group of men, which included police officers, came to the property with a justice of the peace and beat the landowner and tied his feet and hands together (Miami Herald 11 May 2020; Le Nouvelliste 6 May 2020). According to sources, the court order the justice of the peace’s intervention relied on did not concern the property, but a rather a wall built between two families’ properties (Constant Haïti 6 May 2020; Miami Herald 11 May 2020). Sources add that the justice of the peace was out of his jurisdiction (Constant Haïti 6 May 2020; Miami Herald 11 May 2020). According to the Miami Herald, he has since been suspended (Miami Herald 11 May 2020).

3.1 Transfers of Private Land to the State’s Private Domain

According to Michèle Oriol, land insecurity also results from [translation] “poorly designed and managed public utility decrees, and significant sources of corruption in State institutions” (Oriol 20 May 2020). The Miami Herald states that “[t]he Haitian state has also been accused of illegally taking people’s property and not compensating them” (Miami Herald 11 May 2020). Sources report the case of the El-Saieh family whose property was declared public utility by the Haitian government in order to build a school (Miami Herald 11 May 2020; Le Nouvelliste 14 Feb. 2020). According to Le Nouvelliste, the current owner states that he has never received a public utility decree from the DGI (Le Nouvelliste 14 Feb. 2020).

3.2 Legal Means to Recover Illegally Transferred Land

Michèle Oriol notes that a decree on illegal land appropriation provides an [translation] “ambiguous” definition for the act (Oriol 20 May 2020). The 1983 decree criminalizing illegal land appropriation (le décret érigeant les actes de spoliation en délit) provides the following:

[translation]

Article 1.- Anyone who, by force or violence, takes possession of a building, dwelling house, parcel or piece of land from which he or she has been evicted pursuant to a final judgment shall be found guilty of the offence of illegal land appropriation and shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of one to three years and a fine of 1,000 [C$12] to 6,000 gourdes.

The maximum penalty shall apply if the illegal land appropriation was committed by a group or if the culprits were armed.

Article 2.- The irregularity of the acts enforcing a judgment is no excuse for this offense. (Haiti 1983)

Information on the application of this decree could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Volume 2 of the Manual of Haitian Land Transactions describes how, when fraudulent titles are sold, [Working Group English Version] “it is often impossible to find the seller and there may be little chance that he will be brought to justice” (Working Group 1 Dec. 2014, 54). Le Nouvel Observateur, in collaboration with AFP, notes the impunity in cases of [translation] “property theft” and that “omertà prevails” (Le Nouvel Observateur with AFP 2 Mar. 2017).

Sources note that the government has implemented a property protection unit in the Department of Justice and Public Safety (ministère de la Justice et de la Sécurité publique) (Lawyer 25 June 2020; VBI 13 July 2017). The decree establishing this brigade lists the following details:

[translation]

Article 1.- An Intervention Brigade against Land Insecurity, hereinafter referred to as “BRICIF” is hereby created.

Article 2.- BRICIF is under the direct authority of the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

Article 3.- BRICIF’s head office is at the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety.

Article 4.- BRICIF’s mandate is to:

  1. Receive complaints from victims of dispossession or illegal land appropriation;
  2. Intervene at the scene of property crimes;
  3. Apprehend all offenders and refer them, as needed, within the legal timeframe, to the competent jurisdiction;
  4. Facilitate the enforcement of judgments of a court of competent jurisdiction.

Article 5.- BRICIF comprises the following:

  1. The Secretary of State for Public Safety, representing the Minister;
  2. The Government Commissioner to the Port-au-Prince Court of First Instance or a substitute;
  3. The Government Commissioner to the Croix-des-Bouquets Court of First Instance or a substitute;
  4. The Head of the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire, DCPJ) or their representative;
  5. Officers from various special units of the Haitian National Police.

Article 6.- The presence of a justice of the peace from the conflict zone is required in any intervention. (Haiti 2017)

However, the lawyer noted that BRICIF [translation] “does not seem to deter armed gangs that operate unmasked and in broad daylight more or less everywhere in the country and even in the capital zone” (Lawyer 25 June 2020). Michèle Oriol states that, after a 2018 incident in which an adolescent was shot during a BRICIF operation and BRICIF police officers were disarmed by an [translation] “unarmed population”, “we stopped hearing about BRICIF” (Oriol 20 May 2020). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. The police inspector in charge of coordination at BRICIF was arrested two days after the incident (Oriol 20 May 2020; VBI 1 May 2018).

Regarding the legal recourse in the event of an illegal land transfer, the lawyer noted that

[translation]

[t]he rightful owner [may] sue the usurper(s) for the right of ownership in order to enforce their right to the land. Considering the remedies available, this process can easily take more than five years. It should thus be noted that, because of the relative effect of judgments, the judgment has value only between the parties to the lawsuit, which means that a bona fide owner is not protected from threats to their property rights from others attempting to take the land. (Lawyer 25 June 2020)

According to a report on the social impact of the Rural Land Security Project implemented by the CIAT in 2012 and prepared by Global Land Alliance (GLA) [2] for the Inter-American Development Bank following research conducted in Haiti by two consultants in March 2017, the peace courts are competent in [translation] “'possession issue' or 'possessory' matters (the de facto exercise of a right to real property)” (GLA June 2017, 13). The same source indicates that justices of the peace encouraged out-of-court settlements; consequently, few judgments appear in the registers (GLA June 2017, 13). The source adds that the civil court has jurisdiction over [translation] “ownership” land disputes, that is, “the action to have their right recognized via the property act or title” and that these cases are referred to the Court of Les Cayes (GLA June 2017, 13). The report highlights that, according to justices of the peace’s testimonies, a great deal of civil lawsuits are dropped due to high costs and the fact that a judgment is only made after two to five years [translation] “at a minimum” (GLA June 2017, 13).

However, in a document about property conflict in Haiti, the Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides (OFPRA) reports that land dispute reviews, [translation] “in their ownership and possessory dimensions” fall under the jurisdiction of the peace courts in the first instance (France 6 Feb. 2017, 6). The source adds that it is possible to appeal judgments rendered by peace courts in ordinary civil courts (France 6 Feb. 2017, 6). The same source reports that, under a 1986 decree, the civil courts of Gonaïves and Saint-Marc exceptionally have a [translation] “land department (section terrienne)” that has jurisdiction over land conflicts for properties located in the Artibonite Plain (France 6 Feb. 2017, 6). The source notes that [translation] “land department judgements are rendered at first or second instance, and only be appealed in cassation” and adds that they may proceed in the absence of the land occupants (France 6 Feb. 2017, 6).

Further information on the steps a landowner must take to initiate legal proceedings in the event of a fraudulent land transfer could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Notes

[1] Le Haiti Property Law Working Group involves [Working Group English Version] “more than a hundred actors from various sectors (public, private) as well as various Haitian non-governmental organizations” (Working Group 1 Dec. 2014, 6). The Group’s steering committee is composed of a consortium among University of Quisqueya’s Law School and Habitat for Humanity International (Working Group 1 Dec. 2014, 6).

[2] The Global Land Alliance (GLA) is an NGO whose mission is to advance learning and practices in order to “achieve land tenure security and the efficient, inclusive and sustainable use of land and natural resources” (GLA n.d.).

References

Bertelsmann Stiftung. 2020. “Haiti Country Report.” Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI) 2020. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Constant Haïti. 6 May 2020. Evens Carrière. “Me Hyppolite Darlens fait le point sur l’exécution de la décision de justice à laquelle Patrick Benoit a été brutalisé.” [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Dorner, Véronique. 1 October 2014. “Les droits fonciers et l’accès à la terre en Haïti dans une perspective sociale et historique.” Presentation given as part of the training entitled Land Tenure and Property Rights (LTPR) Issues and Best Practices Training offered by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) at Pétionville, Haiti, 30 September-2 October 2014. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

France. 6 February 2017. Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides (OFPRA). Haïti : les conflits fonciers. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Global Land Alliance (GLA). June 2017. Programme de sécurisation foncière en milieu rural (PSFMR2) : étude d’impacts sociaux. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Global Land Alliance (GLA). N.d. “About.” [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Haiti. 2017. Arrêté créant une Brigade d’intervention contre l’insécurité foncière, ci-après dénommée : “BRICIF.” [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Haiti. October 2012. Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Ressources naturelles et du Développement rural. Synthèse nationale des résultats du recensement général de l’agriculture (RGA) 2008/2009. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Haiti. 1983. “Décret érigeant les actes de spoliation en délit.” [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Haiti. 1964a. Décret du 22 septembre 1964, (fixation des loyers et fermage des biens du domaine privé de l’État). As reproduced in Textes traitant du domaine foncier de l’État, by the Comité interministériel d’aménagement du territoire (CIAT), n.d. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Haiti. 1964b. Décret adoptant une base plus équitable et plus rationnelle pour la fixation des loyer et fermage des Biens du Domaine Privé de l’État. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Haiti. N.d. Consulat général de la République d’Haïti à Montréal, Section des affaires consulaires. “Actes administratif. Procuration ou mandat.” [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Haiti Property Law Working Group. 1 December 2014. Manuel des transactions foncières haïtiennes, vol. 2. La sécurisation des droits fonciers en Haïti : un guide pratique. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Haiti Property Law Working Group. 26 June 2012. Manuel des transactions foncières haïtiennes, vol. 1. Vente légale de bien foncier en Haïti : un guide pratique. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Lawyer, Port-au-Prince. 25 June 2020. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Miami Herald. 11 May 2020. Jacqueline Charles. “It’s Not the First Time They Tried to Take His Haiti Land. This Time He Was Left for Dead.” [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Le Nouvel Observateur with Agence France-Presse (AFP). 3 March 2017. “Faute de cadastre en Haïti, les spoliations se multiplient.” [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Le Nouvelliste. 6 May 2020. Valéry Daudier and Caleb Lefèvre. “Conflit terrien : Patrick Benoît brutalisé par des policiers accompagnant un juge de paix.” [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Le Nouvelliste. 14 February 2020. Robenson Geffard. “Litige autour de l’héritage du Maestro Issa El-Saeih.” [Accessed 20 July 2020]

Oriol, Michèle. 20 May 2020. “Pour en finir avec l’insécurité foncière.” Haïti Info. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Réseau national de défense des droits humains (RNDDH) and Réseau sud-est de défense des droits humains (RESEDH). 9 May 2018. Rapport sur l’intervention de la BRICIF à Thiotte le 27 avril 2018. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

United States (US). [2014a]. US Agency for International Development (USAID). “Land Tenure and Property Rights Issues and Best Practices, September 30 – October 2, 2014. About the Instructors.” Training at Pétionville, Haiti, 30 September-2 October 2014. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

United States (US). [2014b]. US Agency for International Development (USAID). “Land Tenure and Property Rights (LTPR) Issues and Best Practices Training. Agenda.” Training at Pétionville, Haiti, 30 September-2 October 2014. [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Van Vliet, Geert, et al. January 2017. “La problématique foncière en Haïti : comment le recensement général agricole de 2010 questionne les politiques publiques.” Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD). (Convention CO0075-15 BID/IDB) [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Vant Bèf Info (VBI). 1 May 2018. “Justice : Opération échouée de la BRICIF à Thiotte, le responsable de coordination arrêté.” [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Vant Bèf Info (VBI). 13 July 2017. “La Brigade d’intervention contre l’insécurité foncière : un remède contre un mal national.” [Accessed 16 July 2020]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Haiti – Office de la protection du citoyen; Interuniversity Institute for Research and Development; two land and property law firms.

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; ecoi.net; Factiva; Fédération internationale pour les droits humains; Haiti – Comité interministériel d’aménagement du territoire, ministère de la Justice et de la Sécurité publique; Human Rights Watch; Le National; Radio Métropole Haïti; UN – Refworld; US – Department of State.

Associated documents