A/HRC/25/71 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to the statement of the President of the Human Rights Council (PRST/22/2) of 22 March 2013, when the Council invited the independent expert to undertake a mission to Haiti and to submit his report to the Council at its twenty-fifth session. 2. Following the resignation, for personal reasons, of Michel Forst in March 2013, the Council appointed Mr. Gustavo Gallón as independent expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti, in June 2013. Mr. Gallón took office on 1 August 2013. This report covers the period from 1 August 2013 to 20 January 2014, and contains recommendations addressed to the Government of Haiti and the international community. 3. The independent expert carried out a mission to Haiti from 23 September to 1 October 2013. He stayed in Port-au-Prince and visited Jacmel. In addition to his mission, he held interviews in New York. He wishes to express his gratitude to all the people he met during his visit. 4. In particular, the independent expert wishes to thank the Haitian authorities, who ensured that the mission went smoothly. He is particularly grateful to the President of the Chamber of Deputies and the Minister Delegate for human rights and the fight against extreme poverty, as well as to other members of the Government for the frankness and quality of their comments. 5. The independent expert also met with the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and with the MINUSTAH heads of section, in particular the head of the Human Rights Section. He wishes to thank all the members of their teams who provided effective support, both in Port-au-Prince and while he was travelling, and who shared with him their assessment of the situation. He also thanks the representatives of the United Nations funds and programmes in Haiti and their teams for their support and the information they provided. 6. The independent expert thanks the representatives of the Organization of American States and members of the diplomatic corps with whom he was able to exchange views on the human rights situation in Haiti. He also thanks the Ambassador representing the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the ambassadors of the Group of Friends of Haiti he met in Port-au-Prince and New York. 7. The independent expert extends his sincere thanks to the many representatives of civil society organizations he met in Haiti and New York. II. Five key aspects of the human rights situation in Haiti 8. The human rights situation in Haiti is very complex but not insurmountable. It has been assessed many times by different analysts and qualified observers. Their assessments coincide and identify the main problems as the great economic insecurity of the majority of the population, which is closely related to the entrenched weakness of the institutions, aggravated by inhumane prison conditions and continued impunity for serious human rights violations that remain unresolved, and by successive natural disasters and fatalities that make it even more difficult to guarantee rights at present and in future. 9. Following his first official visit to Haiti, the independent expert’s viewpoint is no different from that of his predecessors. He endorses the wise recommendations made in the last three decades by highly qualified observers, including his predecessors, by the GE.14-10841 3