A/HRC/38/30 V. Rule of law A. Human rights violations in the criminal justice system Prolonged pretrial detention 23. The 2014 draft national human rights action plan acknowledged that pretrial detention was one of the most serious human rights concerns in Haiti, noting six recommendations that United Nations human rights mechanisms had issued on this issue and listing potential ways to address it. 24. In 2014, 74 per cent of the detainees in the national penitentiary system were awaiting trial, including 37 per cent for more than two years. 5 By 2016, 63 per cent of inmates were estimated to be in pretrial detention, and the average duration a detainee would spend in such detention had almost doubled since 2014 — from 624 to 1,100 days. 6 This increase partly resulted from the failure of judicial authorities to process cases and the backlog of cases on prolonged pretrial detention has continued to increase as more individuals have been arrested. 25. Prolonged pretrial detention violates the right to a fair trial under article 8 of the American Convention on Human Rights7 and article 9 (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which stipulates that anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge should be brought promptly before a judge or another officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power and entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release. 26. The scourge of prolonged pretrial detention in Haiti is the result of various factors, including extremely slow judicial proceedings, due to a shortage of investigative judges and the consequent failure to observe criminal procedure deadlines. Another issue is the absence of a follow-up system for cases assigned to judges who are replaced, which often leads to judiciary cases and defendants being forgotten by the system. In addition, some of the judges lack the necessary qualifications to adequately fulfil their duties and do not dedicate sufficient time to handle the cases assigned to them, reportedly due also to absenteeism. 27. Oversight mechanisms for the justice sector remain weak. In practice, the nearabsence of administrative supervision of judges allows for underperformance without repercussions. In March 2018, in one of the few instances in which the Superior Council of the Judiciary revoked a judge pending an investigation into allegations of corruption in Les Cayes (South Department), the judge was not replaced, which directly impacted the case files of detainees on pretrial detention. 28. On 5 September 2016, then President Privert established a commission on pretrial detention with a view to ending this practice. This body was mandated to prepare a list of all inmates on pretrial detention in the country’s 18 jurisdictions and to make recommendations on the cases identified as prolonged pretrial detention. The commission was composed of nine members, including representatives of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, the Bar Association and human rights organizations. However, it was short-lived and did not have enough time to produce the expected results. Indeed, with the change of Government in February 2017, it was disbanded and replaced with a presidential 5 6 7 See United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti and OHCHR, “Rapport semestriel sur les droits de l’homme en Haïti: janvier–juin 2014” (December 2014), para. 41. Available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/HT/ExecutiveSummaryMINUSTAHOHCHRJanuary_june2014_fr.pdf. See United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti and OHCHR, “Rapport sur la situation des droits de l’homme en Haïti: 1er juillet 2015–31 décembre 2016” (July 2017), para. 54. Available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/HT/HaitiAnnualReport2015-2016_FR.pdf. The jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights stipulates that any pretrial detention that exceeds two years constitutes a violation of the right to a fair trial. For more details, see United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti and OHCHR, “Rapport semestriel sur les droits de l’homme en Haïti: janvier–juin 2014”, para. 41. 7