Report of the Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Haiti (A/HRC/34/73) (Advance Version)

Submitted under Human Rights Council Presidential statement A/HRC/PRST/31/1, this report by Independent Expert Gustavo Gallón covers 24 March 2016 to 25 January 2017 and draws on his October 2016 mission, including visits to the Croix-des-Bouquets and Cabaret prisons, a camp for returnees from the Dominican Republic and hurricane-affected Grand'Anse. It is organized around five priority areas identified since 2014: illiteracy, prolonged pretrial detention, absence of elections, impunity for past violations, and the situation of victims of other factors such as displacement, deportations and cholera. The expert notes progress on elections held on 20 November 2016 and on the United Nations' recognition of responsibility toward cholera victims, but stresses that 71 percent of detainees had not been heard by a judge, with 11,012 people imprisoned, of whom only 3,182 were convicted. He documents Haiti's acceptance of 175, later 188, Universal Periodic Review recommendations, calls for a national literacy campaign and a human rights ministry or equivalent mechanism, and urges continued human rights capacity after any MINUSTAH withdrawal.