A/HRC/11/5 demarcation line between the State University of Haiti’s hospital mortuary and the Institute’s mortuary; consideration of the possible extension of the services to the provincial jurisdictions through the setting up of at least two Institute annexes in the towns of Le Cap and Les Cayes to carry out autopsies and scientific inspections; and systematization of at-the-scene forensic examinations by making available to medical officers a standardized document containing the information to be forwarded to the prosecution department. 5. Law centres 56. The independent expert has learnt with interest of the establishment, in 2008, of law centres designed to facilitate public access to justice, which comprise several sections, including one supplying information on the judicial system, and at which training for NGO members and civil society in general is offered, legal advice is given by lawyers, legal consultations are undertaken by district court judges and victim support training is provided. He recommends that resources be released to enable the network to be expanded and a mechanism to be implemented for regular training and exchanges between persons in charge of the law centres. II. THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION A. Penitentiary situation and prison overcrowding 57. At Port-au-Prince and during his travels, the independent expert visited places of detention, prisons and police stations and held discussions with prison and police station management and staff and also with remand and other prisoners, with assistance from the Human Rights Section. 58. Although the independent expert does not regard prison conditions in the capital as comparable with what is happening in the departments, he wishes to point out that they are very poor, having been rightly criticized by international organizations, commissions of enquiry and specialist NGOs as constituting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, owing primarily to overcrowding but also to health standards. 59. For example, despite the recommendation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that, in very grave crisis situations, the floor space available to each detainee should be at least two square metres, 7 remand and convicted prisoners at the civilian prison in Port-au-Prince have cell space of only 0.42 m 2 each, which requires them to sleep by turns or in makeshift hammocks formed of sheets and causes sometimes serious illnesses. 60. Elsewhere in the country, the prison situation has been exacerbated by the repeated destruction of places of detention as a result of the events which led to the departure of President Aristide in March 2004 or owing to the cyclones which devastated the country in 2008, thus increasing the number of detainees at police stations. __________________ 7 “This figure of 2m² per person must in no way be considered as a norm but as a pragmatic indication which reflects the experience gained by the ICRC in very grave crises”, Water, sanitation, hygiene and habitat in prisons, ICRC, 2004, p. 21. 15