Haiti - Justice : Nearly 7,000 people arbitrarily detained in Haiti... - HaitiLibre.com : Haiti news 7/7
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Haiti - Justice : Nearly 7,000 people arbitrarily detained in Haiti...
04/10/2013 12:04:55

Haiti - Justice : Nearly 7,000 people arbitrarily detained in Haiti...
Ms. Florence Élie the Protector of Citizens, recalls that today in Haiti, more than 10,000 people are deprived of their libertyin 17 civilian prisons and 4 police stations serving of prison, of which 70% are defendants presumed innocent, arbitrarily detained.

In a recent note, Ms. Élie explained and regretted that "Contrary to too often widespread belief, the majority of these men, women and children are not dangerous criminals, but victims of poverty, of a life course extremely precarious [...] heir detention is in violation of national laws, international treaties ratified by Haiti and especially in violation of the 1987 Constitution which states : Art. 24: Individual liberty is guaranteed and protected by the State. Art. 24.1 No one may be prosecuted, arrested or detained except in cases determined by law and according to the forms prescribed [...] Art. 27: Any violation of the provisions on individual liberty are arbitrary acts [...]

Therefore these people are victims of systematic non-compliance of the statutory period of instruction and arbitrarily detained:
Those whose imprisonment has exceeded the period provided by law, in the event they are found guilty of the offense, are arbitrarily detained;
Those who have finished making their sentences, but whose the ordinance of judgment was not sent to prison, are arbitrarily detained;
Those whose records are not found, are arbitrarily detained;
Those whose release order is not respected, are arbitrarily detained.

The prison effective also included more than 260 children, due to a clearly erroneous application of the rules governing juvenile delinquency (Act of 7 September 1961) and in violation of international standards in this area. These children are also arbitrarily detained.

If the prison wants to be the deprivation of liberty, it must still ensure the maintenance of all other human and fundamental rights, including respect for the inherent dignity of every person. However, that they are accused or convicted men, women or children, deprived of their liberty in Haiti are subjected to conditions of subhuman life.

These people saw their human dignity violated, their psyche annihilated, their bodies degraded by unspeakable evils. There are only to think to men deprived of their liberty in the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince, whose 92% are presumed innocent defendants, the latter are daily forced to live in barely enough space to stand, with more than limited access to air and light and sanitary conditions of the most abhorrent...

[...] As part of its activities, the Office of Citizen Protection (OPC), in his capacity of independent national institution for the promotion and protection of human rights, takes to raise awareness about the human drama that represents the deprivation of liberty in Haiti. Many seek to make us believe that the prison includes individuals who are different from us. However, in most cases, it is clear that the detainees have names, have a history, they are our brothers, our sisters, our parents, our friends, our neighbors, our colleagues... they are us !"


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