UN rights chief calls on Haiti to strengthen fight against impunity
5 November 2008 – The top United Nations human rights official has called for strengthening Haiti’s police and judicial
systems, as well as for greater assistance for the victims of the series of hurricanes that ravaged the tiny Caribbean
nation in recent months.
Wrapping up a three-day visit to the country today, Navi Pillay noted that the Government and people of Haiti are facing
a “multitude” of human rights issues, including lack of access to food and water, prolonged detention without trial, and
poor prison conditions.
In her meeting with President René Préval, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights voiced concern about the
vulnerability of the population to natural disasters and discussed the development of policies to human rights to
adequate food, health, housing and water.
Haiti remains in desperate need of support after four hurricanes and tropical storms – Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike –
lashed the country between mid-August and mid-September, killing nearly 800 people and affecting an estimated 1 million
people.
While noting the significant progress made in the area of security, she reminded the President that security and
maintenance of public order could not be achieved at the expense of respect for human rights and the rule of law.
Ms. Pillay, who took up her post in September, also visited Cité Soleil, a poverty-stricken neighbourhood in the
capital, Port-au-Prince, where she visited Kay Jistis (“House of Justice”) – a community-focused project supported in
part by the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
The project aims at improving access to justice, and offers legal assistance to victims of detention-related violations.
It also addresses the issue of prolonged pre-trial detention, which continues to contribute enormously to the crisis of
overcrowding in the prisons.
During the trip, she also met with senior ministers, police and judicial authorities, the Ombudsman and members of civil
society, including human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs), all of whom highlighted the situation in the
prisons, where some 8,000 detainees live in unacceptable conditions and face long pre-trial detention.
The High Commissioner also met with Hédi Annabi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of MINUSTAH,
which is assisting Haitian authorities in building strong national institutions. She noted in particular the need to
strengthen the ability of the authorities to detain, prosecute and punish perpetrators of serious crimes, as well as to
restore the rights of victims.
ENDS