[…] I’m back in Haiti for almost a week and the main observations I have made during the 11th Mission focus in part on the functioning of justice, police, prison system and access to economic and social rights.

[…] If the last time I expressed my satisfaction at seeing undertaken major reforms expected in the field of rule of law, my diagnosis today is contrasted, not to mention mixed Certainly, on the formal level of progress has been found, I think the appointment of members of the Court of Cassation and the CSPJ [Superior Council of the Judiciary], on which I had based much hope. but I am concerned to see that, in practice, particularly in the area of ​​judicial reform, the situation now seems blocked. And I can only reiterate my deep disappointment to see the movement initiated by the vote of three laws on the reform of the justice remain a dead letter, as if the independence of the judiciary did not represent a major challenge for the implementation of the rule of law.

[…] I founded great hopes in the establishment of the CSPJ to resolve once and for all the question of the appointment and career development of magistrates and, although the final decision rests with the Minister of justice, it is hoped that he will follow the recommendations of the CSPJ.

[…] I am concerned to see that tcontinue the practice of appointment or dismissal of judges for partisan or political, which were regularly denounced by observers or civil society.

[…] I am also concerned to see that continues of acts of arrests or illegal detentions or arbitrary. Several cases have been reported to me and these cases are known and denounced by civil society organizations or by the OPC [Office of Citizen Protection] […] It is not conceivable that in a rule of law, those responsible for law enforcement feel entitled not to respect the law. It is not normal that such behavior remain without reaction of the judiciary. It is an aditional signal sent of the disorder of the judiciary, since impunity prevails.

[…] In the penitentiary field, the situation has not really improved, there are currently 8860 people in 17 prisons in the country. And the place allocated to prisoners and suspects is of 0.6 m2 on average, and only 0.33 m2 to the prison of Anse à Vaux. This does not allow them to lie down to sleep, and, despite the efforts of the international community and the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] to which I wish to pay special tribute, the prison is still a place of cruel place, inhuman and degrading. I recall once again that the prison should not be a place of suffering, but a place of deprivation of liberty in which all other rights must be guaranteed, except of course the freedom to go and come.

This week I visited the prison of the Croix des Bouquets, which constitutes a obvious perspective of improvement, but this building alone can not provide a satisfactory answer compared to the immense needs experienced by the country. This establishment is well built, well designed, but, at the time when we have just proceed to its inauguration, it is clear that if special efforts are not made ​​to ensure its operation, all the hopes that had been placed in this establishment may be lost due to lack of adequate funding. I think among other to the staffing and budget that does not allow at present the establishment to operate under the standards that had been set.

[…] Everyone knows that if prisons are overcrowded, is primarily due to prolonged pretrial detention. The rates of preventive detention communicated to me in the different jurisdictions do not vary much, despite the work of the Commissions sitting and released defendants without records or who have served their sentence.

[…] I repeated it in my meetings, the treatment of prolonged detention first calls a stronger response in the fight against corruption in the judiciary. We need better time management for judges and prosecutors, a use much more active of all provisions of the criminal code including habeas corpus, an overhaul of the penal code that introduces new provisions as immediate appearance and sentencing alternatives to detention as a reminder to the law or works of general interest. In some cases emblematic, Haiti has demonstrated that the justice can act very quickly when it wants, as in the case Brandt. This celerity should apply to all cases, which would avoid prolonged pretrial detention.

In the field of police, although the institution is undergoing reform for years, there are still strong concerns […] The weekly reports of the section of human rights of the Minustah report each week of stories of illegal and arbitrary arrests by the police, prolonged detention in some police stations, of refusal to issue medical certificates in cases of rape, police harassment and maltreatment or police brutality. The compilation of all these reports shows that this is not anecdotal facts, but that in the whole country, there is still a poisonous atmosphere that the new Inspector General of the Haitian National Police should address.

[…] I also reiterated to my interlocutors, the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister, my satisfaction that the Inspector General of the police has been sustained, that the 6 inspectors general have been appointed. But at the same time I repeated my amazement and my incomprehension at the fact that the Inspector General of the police is still under the authority of the Director General of the Haitian National Police. We must put an end to this administrative chaos. How the Inspector General of Police can it be placed under the direct authority of the one who may be called to inspect ? The Inspector General of the police must always be attached and report directly to the Minister of Justice and Public Security ; it is question of the credibility of the police institution.

Since February 1993, over 20 years, Haiti’s population lives below the international protection of United Nations and this protection was gradually extended to many areas due to the series of disasters that the country has known. Everyone understands that this situation can not continue, but at the same time a number of conditions must be met to allow progressively the transfer of the international protection to the authorities of Haiti, which is described in the “transition plan” mentioned in resolution 2012/743 of the Security Council.

To ensure this protection, I suggested to the Prime Minister a mechanism consisting of 4 pillars :

• An interministerial committee on the rule of law, under the authority of a Interministerial Delegate attached directly to the Prime Minister to ensure that all ministries, including the social ministries, commit the action of their administration in the implementation of the rule of law. The judiciary, the police, but also the interior, the Status of Women, social affairs, trade, finance, all these ministries hold a piece of the puzzle of the rule of law. But without proper coordination the pieces remain scattered and the table will never be completed ;
• A strengthening of the action of the OPC to ensure throughout the country a protection against mismanagement and abuse of rights ;
• Protection against natural hazards, the coordination of contingency plans ;
• And finally, I think, in anticipation of the departure of the Minustah, the section of Human Rights should now open an office of theHigh Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations at the heart of Port-au-Prince, because Haiti will still need international protection.

In the field of economic and social rights, everyone understands what the country needs most is to create jobs, to enable everyone to live decently and have access to basic services. Economic development is closely linked to the respect of rights and the respect of Human Rights is one of factor of the stability that businesses need to secure their investments. And we know that the winning companies will be those who have been able to integrate other parameters, including that of human rights in their investment strategies or of development.