Haiti: Human Rights

Publisher Marketing: Haiti is a constitutional republic with a multi-party political system. President Michel Martelly took office in May 2011 following a two-round electoral process that, despite some allegations of fraud and irregularities, international observers deemed generally free and fair. The government did not hold partial Senate and local elections, delayed since October 2011, because of a continuing impasse between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches over the proper procedures to establish and promulgate an elections law and to organize elections. Authorities maintained effective control over the security forces, but allegations persisted that at times law enforcement personnel committed human rights abuses. The most serious impediments to human rights involved weak democratic governance in the country; insufficient respect for the rule of law, exacerbated by a deficient judicial system; and chronic corruption in all branches of government. Basic human rights problems included: isolated allegations of arbitrary and unlawful killings by government officials; allegations of use of force against suspects and protesters; overcrowding and poor sanitation in prisons; prolonged pretrial detention; an inefficient, unreliable, and inconsistent judiciary; rape, other violence, and societal discrimination against women; child abuse; allegations of social marginalization of vulnerable populations, including persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons; and trafficking in persons. Allegations persisted of sexual exploitation and abuse by members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Violence, crime, and forced evictions within the remaining internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, which contained approximately 172,000 IDPs as of November, remained a problem. Although the government took some steps to prosecute or punish government and law enforcement officials accused of committing abuses, credible reports persisted of officials engaging in corrupt practices, and civil society groups' alleged that impunity was a problem.