New Solar Street Lights Installed in Raboteau
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Raboteau is well remembered in the political history of Haiti for its political activism. The residents, in support of President Jean Bertrand Aristide, held rallies following 1991 Haitian coup d'état against his de facto military dictatorship. The local residents witnessed “the Raboteau Massacre” on 22 April 1994 when military and paramilitary forces of FRAPH (Front for the Advancement of Progress in Haiti) attacked them for holding rallies in support of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The soldiers forced their way into dozens of homes, beating and arresting those they found inside; did not spare any child or elderly people and forcefully made many of them lie on open sewers. They opened fire indiscriminately on innocent citizens and those who attempted to run away were shot mercilessly. They did not allow family member to carry the bodies of the dead. As a result, the exact number of death was never known. However, different sources give different numbers. The Journalists in Raboteau estimated the number as thirty whereas a subsequent court proceedings suggested the number as six while Human Rights lawyers estimated that number between 8 to 15 people. The attack was part of a broad plan to crush opposition to a military coup.
In 2000, a Haitian court tried 59 people of whom Raoul Cédras, the coup leader and 36 others were tried in absence and 16 of them were convicted and given life imprisonment. However, all sentences from the tribunal were overturned by Haitian Supreme Court in May 2005.
