A/HRC/31/77 II. Five key aspects of the human rights situation in Haiti 10. Inequality continues to be a serious concern and remains the core cause of the critical situation of human rights in the country. The Independent Expert pointed this out in his first report, in March 2014, in which he encouraged the authorities, the State and the international community to firmly commit to reducing inequality. He urged them to give due consideration not just to the recommendations made by previous experts and rapporteurs of other United Nations bodies and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights but also to five aspects which for decades have caused great suffering to the people of Haiti. These five areas require intense and focused action to address: (i) the poverty and lack of education prevalent among the majority of Haitians, who are thus denied decent living conditions and have no prospects for the future, (ii) detention conditions that are in most cases inhumane, (iii) irregular operation of the rule of law, (iv) the difficulties faced in guaranteeing that justice is served, in particular with regard to violations perpetrated systematically over the past 50 years and the effects of which are still felt, and (v) other violations, such as forced displacement, the risk of statelessness and the cholera epidemic, which are attributable to other factors, including natural disasters. 11. The five aspects are not new. They are a common thread that runs through the reports of the current Independent Expert and those of his predecessors. Since the last report, there has been little improvement in the human rights situation in Haiti. The situation remains complex but it is not insuperable. 12. To address each of the five aspects, the Independent Expert reiterates his call that a “shock treatment” approach be adopted to: (i) eradicate illiteracy; (ii) resolve, as a matter of urgency, all cases of persons being held in pretrial detention; (iii) ensure transparency and credibility in the holding of the elections; (iv) guarantee redress for the large-scale and systematic violations of human rights perpetrated in the past; and (v) resettle in suitable, long-term housing all of the people displaced by the 2010 earthquake and subsequent disasters who are still living in camps. 13. The Independent Expert’s fourth visit to Haiti, in September 2015, provided an opportunity to observe developments in the five aspects mentioned above. A number of improvements had taken place, such as the partial holding of elections and the decrease in the number of people living in camps after the earthquake, but other aspects had not progressed. 14. Before this fourth visit, the Government had realized the seriousness of the problem of elections not being held, as it would lead to the National Assembly closing down in January 2015, and that is in fact what happened. A new Prime Minister had been appointed in December 2014 with the principal aim of ensuring that elections would be held. The dates for the elections were set as 9 August, 25 October and 27 December 2015. 15. In addition, when the June 2015 deadline set by the Government of the Dominican Republic for foreigners to regularize their situation expired, a wave of Haitians and persons of Haitian origin crossed the border: some were being deported by the Dominican authorities, others left out of fear of being deported. 16. The Independent Expert’s mission therefore focused on elections and on the situation of Haitians and people of Haitian origin living in camps in Anse-à-Pitres along the southern border of Haiti with the Dominican Republic. The Independent Expert also examined three other aspects requiring urgent attention, namely illiteracy, prolonged pretrial detention and violations committed in the past. 17. In 2012, the Government had established a human rights entity in the form of a Deputy Minister attached to the Office of the Prime Minister, but that function disappeared 4 GE.16-01946