Children's ward at General Hospital. Doctors were on strike when we were there. Parents or relatives stay with children day and night.

Several women reported other violations of constitutional rights including: being held at a commisseriat, police station, for more than forty-eight hours (Article 26), and being arrested during the night (Article 24-3, d. "Except where the perpetrator of the crime is caught in the act, no arrest by warrant and no search may take place between six p.m. and six a.m.") One fifteen-year-old prisoner claimed that she was held for several days in the fire station before being transferred to the prison, and that while in custody there she was beaten and raped.

Many of the women prisoners reported that their husbands had been arrested, also.  The children of these couples have been left to fend for themselves, usually in dangerous neighborhoods. One woman reported that her child was abandoned upon her arrest and begged members of the delegation to visit her home and check for the child's whereabouts and safety. Several women reported that they were arrested because their husbands were arrested.

In addition, the women at the prison do not have regular access to doctors or medical assistance. The delegation observed wounds on a number of prisoners that had occurred during arrest, including an festering wound on the breast of an eighteen-year-old prisoner. Moreover, the delegation interviewed a woman who was separated from her three-month-old baby. The prison would not allow her other children to bring the infant to nurse, and the family is without the means to purchase substitute milk. The delegation feared for her child's survival.

A school in Haiti for the poorest children.

From the interviews at the women's prison, the delegation unanimously concluded that justice is very much for sale in Haiti. Those who have the means to hire lawyers are able to see judges and have their cases dealt with swiftly and to their advantage. The poor suffer indefinite detention and are denied the right to see a judge because they cannot afford to hire a lawyer.

Haiti's young democracy inherited problems from decades of dictatorships and little has been done to reform the system.  It is not an overstatement to describe the system as a failure.

The current Minister of Justice, Bernard Gousse, should be immediately investigated for the corruption and violations that have taken place under his authority. In addition, meaningful Haitian-directed reform needs to happen at every level of the judicial system. Following the guidelines set out in the Haitian Constitution, justice should be decentralized, democratized and made available to all Haitians, regardless of class or education level.

Conclusion

The Women's Delegation with Dr. Jacklin Saint-Fleur (red striped shirt) of St. Catherine's Hospital who is running a clinic two hours each day for the poor of Citi` Soleil and is beginning a nutrition project for kids and pregnant women.

Under the reprehensibly indifferent eyes of the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), the regime of Prime Minister Gerard Latortue is reigning over a climate of dramatic insecurity and a campaign of terror. The situation is profoundly disturbing in its similarity to the 1991-94 reign of the brutal coup regime, when soldiers of the Forces Armes d'Haiti, Haitian Armed Forces (FADH) performed summary executions and disappearances of the poor at will. Soldiers and paramilitary gang members raped women in poor neighborhoods to terrorize them and dissuade them from continuing their work to end the impunity granted to their attackers.

In the wake of the interim Haitian government's highly controversial decision to compensate these former soldiers, international pressure must be brought to bear on interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. He must immediately begin prosecution of the violent and terrifying rapes being committed under his regime. MINUSTAH is obligated by its mandate to promote and protect human rights, and must take every opportunity to vigorously denounce the resurgence of rape as a political weapon.

In the face of the overwhelming injustices in Haiti today, solutions require the participation of several actors and entities. Everyone has a role to play in making right the wrongs of Haiti. It is with grace and strength that Haiti's women are facing their challenges, and it is our hope that the recommendations below serve their dignified struggle.

Recommendations

Violation of Women's Rights due to Violence and Insecurity:

Children in rural Haiti

1. In order to restore security in Port-au-Prince and in Haiti as a whole, a systematic and comprehensive disarmament campaign must be carried out. With the understanding that the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) is mandated to assist the Interim Haitian Government (IHG) in disarmament. The Let Haiti Live Women's Rights Delegation recommends that MINUSTAH and the IHG jointly disarm all former members of the Forces Armed d'Haiti (FADH), alongside irregular armed individuals and groups. Disarmament must be comprehensive.
2. While carrying out disarmament, the Haitian National Police, with the mandated support of the MINUSTAH, must provide security that will enable small merchant women to return to their work in safety, in each and every popular neighborhood in Port-au-Prince and throughout the country.
3. In the face of the alarming rise in the frequency of rapes, the Interim Haitian Government must respond with rape crisis facilities making available medical, psychiatric and legal assistance to victims, while also providing the legal and financial support necessary for these crimes to be prosecuted. In addition, the IHG must put in place meaningful deterrents to rape, and immediately begin prosecuting rape cases.
4. The international solidarity movement for Haiti has an important role to play. Individuals and organizations can help Haitian women by supporting the Fon Fanm, an emergency fund for women which will help them rebuild their economic activity, find housing, and find counseling. A rape crisis center and public defenders for women prisoners are priorities for fundraising and institutional support.
5. Finally, the women's delegation calls for the presence of human rights observers.

1. MINUSTAH(United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti) must provide security so that economic activity vital to women and their households can be resumed, particularly in the overcrowded markets of downtown Port-au-Prince, and in dangerous neighborhoods in all of Haiti's urban areas.
2. The women's delegation understands that building a culture of respect for fundamental human rights is a long-term process. However, the Interim Haitian Government, the MINUSTAH, and members of the international community who support the UN mission must condemn violations of human rights and take concrete actions to address these abuses.
3. Health care, access to safe drinking water and education are fundamental human rights. These rights are undermined by the chronic poverty of the majority of Haiti's population and a highly centralized government that does little to provide these basic services. In response, the international community must focus on grassroots-based Haitian solutions to resolve the problems currently facing Haiti. Large infusions of aid to internationally-based contractors and Haitian private sector interests undermines democracy building and increases the debt of generations of Haitians to come.

Violation of Women's Rights to Justice:

1. The MINUSTAH and the international community that supports the Mission must pressure the Haitian National Police to actively protect the basic human rights of the Haitian people.
2. Haiti's judicial system is seriously in need of fundamental reform, a crisis that has persisted for decades. Reform of the judicial system must be carried out by a democratically elected Haitian government. The international community should provide  meaningful support for the Haitian-directed reform, which must be transparent.
3. Human rights violations must be addressed by the MINUSTAH, the IHG, the OAS and the international community.

   The Let Haiti Live Women's Delegation was comprised of 8 women, including our own Marlys Weber. Leader was Melinda Miles from Let Haiti Live. The trip was sponsored by EPICA (Ecumenical Program on Central America and the Caribbean), a nonprofit, faith-based organization in solidarity with the poor of Central America, Mexico & the Caribbean.

4. In response to the rise in politically motivated rape, the IHG must begin immediate prosecution of rape cases. In addition, efforts to prevent rape including sensitizing of the Haitian National Police and public service announcements should be undertaken.