In a letter dated January 8 addressed to the Director General of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) Michel Ange Gédéon, Paul Eronce Villard, the new Government Commissioner and Head of the Prosecution of Port-au-Prince, reminds him that more 80% of the country's prison population is in prolonged pre-trial detention and that this "is not only the result of inaction and non-treatment of files by some magistrates and prosecutors within the time limits, but sometimes depends on the incredible arrests orchestrated by the police, in particular, 'the stowage' where people are arrested without worrying about their real involvement in the alleged acts."

Explaining that in order to combat prolonged pretrial detention he intends to insist on the following measures :

"1 - Respect for the Rights and Dignity of the Human Person during Arrests;

2 - Strengthening the police intelligence system to arrest the real culprits;

3 - Mandatory registration of the police stations of all persons apprehended;

4 - Refusal to receive in custody persons already referred to the Public Prosecutor's Office or the Peace Courts, notwithstanding exceptional cases;

5 - The removal from the public prosecutor's office of persons held in custody from 11.30 am on a daily basis, to facilitate their hearing in accordance with the procedure of immediate appearance, drawn by the law of May 6, 1927;

6 - Respect for the period of custody in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution;

7 - The brief drafting of minutes facilitating the quick referral of files to the competent bodies;

8 - The regular drafting of reports on the order, the security situation and the prosecution of the prosecution of offenders related to serious crime in the jurisdiction."

To this end, he requests the Commander-in-Chief of the PNH to grant a special dispensation to all heads of police stations in his jurisdiction, to enable them to participate in an important meeting on the issue of prolonged pretrial detention, to be held on Friday, January 11 at the Public Prosecutor's Office.

HL/ HaitiLibre