A/HRC/34/73 recommendations of the National Commission on Truth and Justice in respect of the serious violations committed between 1991 and 1994”.23 75. Closely following the Human Rights Committee’s recommendation, the Independent Expert proposed establishing a truth, justice and redress commission to shed light on past violations and to repair the damage caused to the victims and to the country as a whole, so as to strengthen society’s capacity to build a more egalitarian, justice-based society. This initiative is also inspired by the recommendations made by the National Commission on Truth and Justice in 1994. 2. The need to strengthen the capacity and credibility of the justice system as a whole 76. In 2014, the Human Rights Committee recommended that Haiti should strengthen the independence and effectiveness of the judicial system, 24 a recommendation that the Independent Expert endorsed and that he must reiterate, in order to enable the country’s institutions to protect human rights effectively. E. Humanitarian crises linked to other factors and individuals having an impact on human rights 77. In 2016, Haiti was confronted with a new situation affecting human rights in the form of Hurricane Matthew, which comes in addition to the plight of the victims of the previous natural disasters, of Haitians or persons of Haitian origin in the Dominican Republic and of the victims of cholera. 1. Victims of Hurricane Matthew and an increase in the number of displaced persons in need of emergency treatment 78. On 3 and 4 October 2016, another natural disaster struck Haiti: Hurricane Matthew. The Independent Expert wishes to reaffirm his solidarity with the victims of the hurricane and with the Haitian people as a whole.25 He also reaffirms his willingness to facilitate the country’s recovery, in his capacity as Independent Expert, and issues a special call to the Government and the international community to ensure that the protection and realization of human rights are placed at the centre of any assistance activities. 79. In order to become more closely acquainted with the situation in the areas most affected by the hurricane, the Independent Expert travelled to Jérémie in Grand’Anse Department, located in the north-west of the Tiburon Peninsula in the south of the country. He visited Nord Alexis secondary school, which was sheltering about 3,000 hurricane victims, or 525 families. He noted that they were living in terrible conditions, with no food, access to health services, drinking water, proper hygiene or sanitary services, and were homeless. They complained that they had been visited only by one Senate candidate and by the envoy of a presidential candidate but not by State representatives who could provide them with the services that they lacked, including materials to rebuild their homes. 80. These people were crammed into 20 school classrooms. The situation resembled that previously observed by the Independent Expert in the camps for persons displaced by the 2010 earthquake, that of persons who had emigrated from the Dominican Republic in the border area and that of persons deprived of their liberty in the country’s prisons. Except for the quality of the building housing them, their living conditions were no different. They were hungry. Two babies had been born on site with no medical assistance during childbirth. There were another 20 or so pregnant women, several of whom were minors. Moreover, all these people were traumatized because their lives had been turned upside down overnight. A 60-year-old mother had left the school a few days earlier obviously suffering from mental illness, which, according to her neighbours, had been brought on by the loss of her home. One young woman told the Independent Expert: “We are all mentally 23 24 25 14 Ibid. Ibid., paras. 16 and 17. See www.ohchr.org/FR/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20760&LangID=F. GE.17-03747