A/HRC/34/73 international community should focus their efforts on five particularly alarming aspects of the country’s human rights situation: (a) illiteracy; (b) prolonged pretrial detention; (c) the lack of elections; (d) impunity for past violations; and (e) the situation of persons affected by other factors, such as those displaced by the 2010 earthquake, Haitians or persons of Haitian origin deported from the Dominican Republic and cholera victims. 12. The Independent Expert called for the adoption of urgent measures to bring an end to the perpetration of violations in these five areas. Such violations are so widespread that, for many people, they are perceived as being a normal part of everyday life. Far from being normal, however, they highlight the degree of deterioration of the human rights situation in Haiti. Therefore, the structural situation must first be remedied and these extreme circumstances addressed if a solid foundation is to be laid for developing a policy to protect and promote respect for human rights in the country. 13. The five key issues correspond to five broader areas, which serve as a gateway to devising and implementing, in the longer term, more sophisticated measures conducive to developing the policy to protect and promote respect for human rights, namely: (a) economic, social and cultural rights in their entirety; (b) detention conditions; (c) the rule of law and institutional integrity; (d) the functioning of the administration of justice; and (e) the environment, housing and Haitian migration. 14. The five key issues stem from the deep inequality that underlies human relations in Haiti and that must be addressed through specific and persistent action aimed at reducing it as much as possible, which is a prerequisite for significantly improving the human rights situation in the country. 15. The five key issues, the five areas mentioned above and the underlying inequality have been mentioned in the reports of special procedures mandate holders in Haiti since 1986, firstly by the Commission on Human Rights and then by the Human Rights Council. 1 Although they are not new issues, the Independent Expert deemed it appropriate to organize and prioritize them as indicated above. They are the common thread running through his reports and help him to monitor the situation, which he had already described as complex but not irremediable in his first report. 16. The year 2016 was marked by a situation of temporary or transitional governance, as the term of the former President of the Republic, Michel Martelly, expired on 7 February 2016 without a successor having been elected. An agreement had to be concluded between the outgoing President and the presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, after which Parliament elected the president of the Senate, Jocelerme Privert, interim President of the Republic with a specific mandate to oversee the electoral process in addition to governing the country. 17. This interim mandate is linked to the implementation of one of the urgent recommendations made by the Independent Expert, relating to the holding of elections, which, after having been blighted by various difficulties during the year, finally took place on 20 November 2016, in the form of the first round of presidential elections. 18. Limited progress has also been made towards giving effect to another recommendation made by the Independent Expert relating to the victims of cholera, for which the Secretary-General has admitted responsibility on behalf of the United Nations. On 1 December 2016, the Secretary-General issued an apology to the Haitian people and announced a new approach to resolving the cholera problem. 19. A presidential commission was set up within the Ministry of Justice to deal with the issue of prolonged pretrial detention. The Government informed the Independent Expert that “the work of the commission has brought about a reduction in … the rate of prolonged pretrial detention”.2 On his next visit to the country, the Independent Expert will be able to verify whether there has in fact been a reduction in such detention. 1 2 GE.17-03747 See Economic and Social Council resolution 1503 and document E/CN.4/1987/61. “Response of the Government of Haiti to the report of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti”, transmitted to the Independent Expert on 23 Jan. 2017, para. 6. 5