A/HRC/28/82 The Independent Expert appeals to the international community to deploy all necessary efforts to ensure that the Dominican Republic continues to honour its obligations under the American Convention on Human Rights.25 III. Conclusions and recommendations 87. The Independent Expert reaffirms the conclusions contained in his first report, in particular his perception and belief that the human rights situation in Haiti is extremely grave but can be surmounted if five basic conditions are met: strong political will on the part of the Government and the international community, active involvement by civil society, consensus on the priority problems to be addressed, focused coordination of work and perseverance in efforts to attain the stated goals. 88. The Independent Expert reiterates the numerous recommendations made concerning Haiti over the past three decades by human rights experts and bodies of the United Nations and the inter-American system. He has selected from among their analyses and recommendations five key areas that should be given priority and be the focus of future efforts. 89. The five areas are closely interlinked among themselves and with the deep inequalities present in Haitian society. They relate to the fragile situation of the economic, social and cultural rights of the vast majority of the population; inhumane conditions in prisons, especially for persons being held in prolonged pretrial detention; the absence of legal guarantees in many spheres of life owing to the very weak rule of law; the blatant impunity of those who committed human rights violations in the past; and the harsh conditions endured by the many victims of natural catastrophes and other humanitarian crises, such as the earthquake of January 2010, the cholera epidemic that broke out in October 2010 and the prospect of statelessness. 90. The critical situation of human rights in Haiti can obviously not be solved overnight, but the five areas mentioned above must be addressed promptly inasmuch as they are a source of ongoing and serious violations. This can be achieved through the follow actions: (a) The State should set a reasonably short time frame for eradicating illiteracy, which afflicts roughly one half of the adult population. Although reducing inequality takes time, in particular when structural programmes that go beyond mere social assistance are involved, literacy is a crucial necessity for living with dignity and for exercising most rights, in particular the right to education, which in turn gives access to such other rights as the right to work, to food, to housing and to health; (b) Reducing prison overcrowding, ensuring proper sanitation in prisons, providing food to inmates and, especially, processing the cases of and defining the legal status of persons being held in prolonged pretrial detention should all be seen to promptly, on the basis of studies already conducted by the Prisons Administration; (c) Strengthening the rule of law by consolidating institutions is a complex undertaking and requires time, but it is of the utmost urgency to clearly establish and guarantee the right of Haitians to vote and to be elected. In this regard, it is encouraging to see that in December 2014 the President welcomed the 25 GE.15-02042 In this regard, see the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights press release, “IACHR Condemns Judgment of the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic”, 6 November 2014. Available at www.oas.org/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2014/130.asp. 17