A/HRC/4/3 page 3 considered equivalent to abandonment of post, and negligence or professional laxity, which gives rise, inter alia, to the slow process of justice that perpetuates a violation that has occurred irrespective of the government in power: extended detention; − In the prison system, the independent expert continues to deplore the record overpopulation, which is aggravated by the dilapidated state of buildings, the lack of good quality drinking water and appropriate medical care. Major difficulties in combating the rise in organized crime that has been reflected, particularly in recent times, by the extent of drug trafficking and an unprecedented wave of murders and kidnappings for ransom that affect all classes, including the most underprivileged: various public figures (including a former minister, a judge and members of Parliament), passers-by, children leaving school, collective kidnappings of passengers in public transport …). Faced with this situation, the Government first tried to react by negotiating with gang leaders, an initiative that provoked strong reactions on the subject “reward for impunity”. While leaving open the possibility for gang members to take part in the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme, the Government decided to react through operations conducted jointly by the Haitian National Police and MINUSTAH (Operation “Major crimes”), following which a decline in this type of crime seems to have begun. Heedless of the past, certain milieux - not monitored by the Government and with which the independent expert is in total disagreement - are in favour of restoring capital punishment or re-establishing the army instead of giving priority to the sustainable creation of a professional and democratic police force. This difficult period should not jeopardize the reform movement undertaken to vet and professionalize the police force and give the judiciary credible guarantees of independence. This is why it is important that Parliament adopt the judiciary regulations, establish the Supreme Council of Justice, reform the Judicial Training College and undertake the constantly postponed reform of the Institute of Forensic Medicine. The independent expert stresses the importance of the reform and activation of the Office of the Ombudsman in order to enable it to take over the functions of the MINUSTAH Human Rights Section when that Mission’s mandate comes to an end. Major progress remains to be achieved in the following fields: − On the one hand, in efforts to prevent violence against women: obligatory issuance of medical certificates, criminalization of rape, elimination of extenuating circumstances in cases where a wife is murdered by her husband, partial decriminalization of abortion; − On the other hand, with regard to civil status: admissibility of paternity proceedings, regulation of the status of concubines (plaçage) and domestic work and preparation of a family planning programme.