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Haiti - Justice : Michel Forst between satisfaction and concerns
04/09/2011 14:04:13

Haiti - Justice : Michel Forst between satisfaction and concerns
Friday on the eve of the end of his ninth mission and before traveling to New York and Washington for consultations on Haiti, Michel Forst, United Nations Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti has met the press to take stock of the situation, expressing his concerns and expectations, among other things, on the situation of the rule of law in Haiti.

"...I do hide you the fact that I was curious, when I arrived in Port-au-Prince, to discover the political context linked to the election of President Michel Martelly, and after reading in the press and heard on the radio a number of promises or announcements in areas that interest me in the first placeI am thinking particularly to everything I had heard in the area of ​​rule of law.

[...] I do not hide that I was quite impressed, at meetings with the presidents of both houses, the advisors to the President and the President Michel Martelly himself in the interview that we had Thursday.

I think first to the announcement this week of the choice made by the Senat of the 18 candidates for the Court of Cassation and the imminent appointment by the President, of six members of the Court and especially its President, which represents the element so much expected that allows to make effective the Supreme Council of the Judiciary and the Executive Board of the School of Magistrates.

It's not my role to comment on the names that were chosen by the Senate, [...] but it is clear to me that they will have to meet to the requirements of ethics and conduct expected by the supreme judges in the country. [...] With other people, I will be attentive to this point, once they have to decide on the appointment and career of judges in the country. The announcement of a back court on October 3 with the expected nomination seems to be the beginning of the realization of the judicial reform wanted by the three laws voted in 2007.

[...] I see in this announcement the premises of the long-awaited realization of the necessary separation of the executive and the judiciary which should, ultimately, help restore confidence to the Haitians in the effectiveness of their justice so maligned [...] I do not want to be accused of naivety, the way is paved with pitfalls and traps, and I think it is now necessary to wait until these decisions announced are followed by effect [...] But at the same time I also want to share with you the belief that I felt the determination and political will of President Martelly to achieve these announcements soon in the field of rule of law, one of the priorities announced for his mandate.

But the rule of law [...] is also a plan of reform for the National Police of Haiti (PNH). The plan is accompanied by a vetting process conducted jointly by the UNPol [United Nations police] and the Minustah, as result, the elements of the police who do not meet the requirements of a democratic police will be removed from the ranks of the police institution.

I not hide my concern to see that thousands of files that have been examined and which would be subject to a decision of the President of the Supreme Council of the National Police, are currently pending, while police officers, sometimes of high rank, should without delay be excluded from the ranks of the PNH. This is a safety measure and I am concerned that some ex-police, with a questionable past, can at the same time reintegrate the PNH. This failure in the implementation of the recommendations of the vetting and the confirmation of this reintegrations, would signal that the two pillars of the rule of law, justice and police, did not reform at the same rate. I have confidence in the future government so that these fears are rapidly and completely dissipated.

The rule of law is also the decent treatment of detainees because they are serving their sentences or are waiting to go before the judge. And you know that in each of my visits I never fail to visit a prison or a police station. Unfortunately, only to find that, despite the efforts made and the important assistance of the international community, the prison in Haiti is often a place where people locked are subjected to cruel or degrading treatment. I am very worried about the situation of prisons, particularly for health issues, while the cholera outbreak is not over yet and for purely bureaucratic reasons, latrines in some prisons are no longer emptied. Similarly, I am deeply troubled by the fact that the supply of food for prisoners is hardly more assured, food stocks are depleted and, again, for obscure reasons, the decisions are not taken to supply the prison kitchens of a stock of food. There is something deeply shocking, not to mention the risk of explosion of violence that the inaction of the state does not help, if the accused and inmates are no longer fed.

Establishing the rule of law is finally also guarantee a functioning of institutions and public services, beyond the safety of persons and goods, must ensure that all citizens can exercise their civil and political rights, such as economic, social and cultural rights as stated by the two Covenants. This holistic approach should guide the choice of government in the reforms to drive, so that gradually the access to education for all, the access to health care, access to safe water and sanitation, safe and decent housing, access to income work and to the training be guaranteed for all."


See also :
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3723-haiti-justice-impressive-declarations-on-rule-of-law-will-need-to-keep-an-eye-on-results.htmletre-attentifs-aux-resultats.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2418-haiti-society-we-must-finish-with-the-impunity.html

HL/ HaitiLibre

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