Respect for human rights is key for sustainable development in Haiti. Over the past years the Coordination Europe-Haiti has frequently drawn attention to human rights issues in Haiti. We have asked the European Union to take a strong stance.
Respecting human rights should be a guiding principle for EU development cooperation with Haiti. The EU should also offer protection to human rights defenders, should they need it.
To receive up-to-date information about the human rights situation in Haiti, we keep in contact with platforms like POHDH and their individual members. These platforms make accurate, daily analyses of the human rights situation in many areas. Examples are violation of women’s and children’s rights, impunity and corruption.
We also closely followed the regular reporting by the United Nation’s Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti.
In 1995, the Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution which established the mandate of an Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti. At first, the Independent Expert was to provide assistance to the Government of Haiti in the area of human rights, to examine the development of the situation of human rights and to monitor the fulfilment by Haiti of its obligations in this field. The mandate has changed over the years and lastly it included a focus on technical assistance and capacity building. Unfortunately, March 2017, at the presentation of the latest report of current Independent Expert Gustavo Gallón, the mandate was discontinued. We regret the decision to discontinue the mandate, as do a large number of Haitian civil society organisations.
Please find here the statement of the president of the Human Rights Council on the latest report of the Independent Expert, presented during the 34th session of the Human Rights Council (March 2017).
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/SP/PRSTL53%28Eng%29.pdf
