This report, prepared by the Human Rights Section of MINUSTAH / High Commissioner for Human Rights (HRS), presents and analyses key elements of the situation of human rights in Haiti between July and December 2013. It follows a report covering the period January to June 2013, published in September 2013.
Among the most important developments in the second half of 2013, we note the ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption as well as the signing of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.
Another important advance is the accreditation of the Office of the Citizen Protector (Ombudsman, OPC) with A status by the Sub-Committee on Accreditation of the International Coordinating Committee for National Human Rights Institutions. However, some recommendations were made, especially in regard to the principle of independence.
Most of the 122 recommendations accepted by Haiti after its first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) cycle in 2011 are underway.
Thirteen recommendations, including on the fight against trafficking in persons, have not seen any progress since the submission to parliament of the draft law on trafficking. Six recommendations that Haiti did not accept, concerning the national institution for the promotion and protection of human rights, have nonetheless been implemented. It should be noted that budgetary constraints and the challenges of reconstruction needs following the earthquake of 2010 constitute significant obstacles to the effective implementation of certain recommendations.
Although ill-treatment, arbitrary arrest and illegal use of force by agents of the Haitian National Police (PNH), including the Penitentiary Administration (DAP), remained a major concern throughout the country, the HRS is much more troubled about the weakness of the mechanisms put in place to respond to these allegations. The General Inspectorate of the Haitian National Police (IGPNH) reports that disciplinary investigations are conducted on a regular basis, among which 324 resulted in recommendations for sanctions during the period (out of a total of 1,022 files created). On 31 December 2013, the IGPNH was finalizing its annual activity report, demonstrating the institution’s commitment to transparency towards the public. No such report had been produced since 2008.
[Read the full report in French](https://reliefweb.int/node/671474)