A/HRC/25/71 29. The implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights should be made a priority in order to ensure that the Haitian people have the international protection they deserve in this area. In the light of international recommendations, the Government submitted its request to accede to the Covenant in October 2013. 30. In response to requests for assistance from the Government, the independent expert proposed that an expert in economic, social and cultural rights should be selected to identify, in cooperation with the independent expert, the main causes of the social inequalities in Haiti and to suggest ways of overcoming them. Depending on the resources available, the proposed expert would organize a workshop for two or three days with the Haitian authorities and civil society. During the rest of the week, he would prepare a document summarizing the results of the workshops and presenting his or her own recommendations. The Minister Delegate and the independent expert agreed to implement this proposal. B. Deprivation of liberty and detention conditions 31. Prisons in Haiti are overcrowded, the vast majority of inmates are being held in prolonged pretrial detention and their detention conditions are often inhuman and degrading. 32. The prison population nationwide exceeds 10,000 inmates, while the planned capacity of the facilities is 4,000 persons maximum. The independent expert visited the civilian prison in Port-au-Prince and Jacmel prison where he was struck by the level of overcrowding: in both prisons, cells of approximately 15 m2 hold more than 40 people, which is less than 40 cm2 per person – far from the recommendation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) establishing 3.4 m2 per prisoner as the very minimum (2005). 33. In September 2013, of the 4,039 inmates in the civilian prison of Port-au-Prince, 3,716 (92 per cent) were being held in pretrial detention: they were still waiting to appear before a judge, sometimes for more than two years. In Jacmel, the number of persons being held in pretrial detention was 362 (73 per cent) of 496 inmates. The authorities informed the independent expert that the national average for persons held in pretrial detention was approximately 80 per cent of inmates, 8,000 of the 10,000 persons held in prison. Some of these people have spent more time in pretrial detention than serving the sentence that might be handed down if they were convicted. 34. According to the authorities, this situation is nothing new and is partly due to the fact that there are fewer investigating judges available to hear the detainees. There are not very many judges, and, furthermore, they do not devote enough time to dealing with cases. According to the same sources, some of them spend too much time lecturing and looking after their own affairs. 35. The sanitation facilities in places of detention both in Port-au-Prince and Jacmel are inadequate. There is no privacy and conditions are insanitary, among other things, because of the absence of sewage facilities. 36. Port-au-Prince prison, which is in the town centre, will be demolished to allow for urban redevelopment. It is not yet known where the prison will be transferred. 37. The detention facility in Jacmel is not a prison in the true sense of the term. It is a former military dormitory that was transformed into a prison after 1985 and, according to its director, it does not meet the minimum standards for a prison. A long wall on the south side of the prison collapsed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, meaning that it has not 8 GE.14-10841