Tuesday, Gustavo Gallón the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti has ended its 3rd mission in Haiti https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-13230-haiti-justice-follow-up-mission-of-gustavo-gallon.html

At a press conference at the military base of the MINUSTAH, Gustavo Gallón declared "During this visit [10 days] which concludes today I have paid particular attention to the political situation and in particular the absence of elections and the negative impact of this on the rule of law as well as the institutions [...] a few months after my previous visit, I can see that social discontent is palpable in streets," inviting the authorities to ensure the effective implementation of elections.

Concerning literacy the independent expert called for a significant increase in human and economic resources committed to achieve this goal in a reasonably short time stressing that "Without illiteracy, one would be better placed to ensure the right to quality education for all people."

About prolonged pretrial detention, Gustavo Gallón encouraged the Ministry of Justice to implement urgent action to abolish this practice that affects about 80% of detainees in Haiti. During his mission, he visited the women's prison in Petion-ville and the Rehabilitation Center for Minors in Conflict with the Law (CERMICOL) "CERMICOL overcrowded conditions and even more the Prison for Women are undoubtedly inhuman and degrading."

On human rights violations committed in the past, the independent expert has asked to continue the trial against Jean Claude Duvalier and others as well as provide protection and material and human resources necessary for the judge to conduct the investigation effectively.

He also recalled that there were still nearly 80,000 people living in camps since 2010 and asked the authorities to increase the intensity of efforts to find them as soon as possible, decent housing.

Moreover, it expressed its concern about the disappearance, in the new Government, of the Office for Human Rights and the sleep of the Interministerial Committee on Human Rights and of draft Action Plan for the promotion and protection of human rights in Haiti. He encouraged the new Government to put in place a structure to continue this important work allowing the definition and the implementation of a policy of human rights.

Finally, Gustavo Gallón did not fail to express solidarity with the people of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic, victims of discrimination and to highlight the risk of statelessness.

The Independent Expert will present its report to the UN Human Rights on 24 March in Geneva.

HL/ HaitiLibre