UN human rights expert set to visit Haiti for talks with government, civil society

A United Nations human rights expert is slated to visit Haiti later this week for talks with senior government officials and representatives of civil society in an effort to gauge the state of civil liberties in that country.

During his visit, from 21 to 29 September, Louis Joinet is expected to meet with Haitian authorities, particularly senior government officials and magistrates. The Independent Expert is also scheduled to meet with representatives from the Office for the Protection of Citizens, the School of Magistracy, as well as with members of the UN system and the Organization of American States.

In March, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Mr. Joinet to the post of Independent Expert, which was created in 1995 by the Commission on Human Rights with the mandate to help the Haitian Government develop human rights as well as to study of the evolution of the human rights situation in the country. The Expert is also tasked with verifying that the Government meets its human rights obligations.

Mr. Joinet is expected to present a report to the Geneva-based Commission on Human Rights next year based on this first-hand assessment of the development of human rights in Haiti.