The U.S. has been a strong supporter of the interim government, providing substantial political and financial assistance. In order to obtain more insight into the U.S. role, investigators spoke with officials at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, and with employees of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), which implemented a series of civil society projects as a subcontractor of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

IFES is a U.S.-based tax-exempt organization that claims to provide “targeted technical assistance to strengthen transitional democracies.” It has worked in Haiti since 1990.

The premise of IFES’ justice program was that President Aristide “controlled everything” and therefore controlled the judges in Haiti in contravention of the constitutional separation of powers. Because the judicial system was corrupt, so went the premise, Aristide must be the most corrupt. IFES’ initially undertook to form a network of organizations that could concentrate opposition to the perceived corruption of the judiciary by the Aristide government. IFES formed new associations and established relationships with existing ones, making them more cohesive with a formally planned program of “sensitization” – what the administrators called “opening their eyes” to IFES’ viewpoint that Aristide was corrupting the justice system. Through various programs -- that included catered meals, accommodations, entertainment, and payment of a cash “per diem” -- IFES “sensitized” attendees to the problems with the justice system under Aristide and insisted that they act as a united group for greatest effect....