Background and Context
1. Thousands of Haitians today are at risk of violence and discrimination as a result of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, their gender identity, or nonconformist social behavior. The mere perception that individual may be LGBT can place their life directly at risk because extreme hostility and discriminatory attitudes toward LGBT members are so pervasive. Read More
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The food crisis in Haiti, socio economic in origin and exacerbated by climate change, constitutes a violation of the right to food. In early 2016, it was estimated by the World Food Programme and the Government of Haiti that 3.6 million were food insecure and 1.5 million severely so. Read More
The Global Justice Clinic has submitted a report to the UN’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) concerning the environmental and human rights risks that metal mining poses in Haiti. The submission is the first report submitted to the UPR concerning mining in Haiti. Due to serious human rights and environmental concerns, the submission calls for a moratorium on metal mining. Read More
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The housing crisis and related displacement are two of the most pervasive human rights violations in Haiti. A majority of Haitians live in overpopulated urban centers, shanty towns or under-developed villages that fail to meet minimum standards of habitability and lack access to basic necessities such as clean water, sanitation, electricity, and physical security. Read More
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. This report, submitted on behalf of the Institute for the Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), AIDS-Free World, the Environmental Justice Initiative for Haiti (EJIH), the Haitian-American Leadership Council (HALEC) and the Haitian Diaspora for Democracy and Development (HD3), discusses violations of human rights in Haiti related to the ongoing cholera epidemic. Read More
INTRODUCTION
1. Under Article 2 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Haitian Constitution (Constitution), Haitian citizens have the right to effective judicial remedies, including competent legal systems that address rights violations. Widespread poverty, corrupt elites, and lack of political will for government accountability perpetuate a broken system in Haiti, despite repeated attempts to reform the country’s judicial system. Read More
Haiti stands at a crossroads: The prospect of gold mining glitters on the horizon, while the reality of an uncertain political future, weak institutions, and widespread impoverishment glares in the foreground. Celebrated as the only nation in the world born of a successful slave revolution, but known today as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is a fragile, if resilient, place. Read More
Last July, in a stirring and rare demonstration of bipartisanship, the U.S. House and the Senate passed a bill dedicated to increasing transparency and accountability around the billions of dollars of U.S. government funds allocated to assistance to Haiti since the January 2010 earthquake. On August 8, President Obama signed the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act and the clock began ticking down for the State Department to produce the first of several comprehensive reports detailing the government’s assistance efforts, as mandated by the new law. Read More
Officially open for business since October 2012, Caracol Industrial Park (PIC) is expected to become Haiti’s largest private employer and foreign investor. US$ 424 million in development aid from donors including the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the United States government have been committed to the Park and ten PIC support projects. Read More
On January 12, 2010, an earthquake struck Haiti west of its capital, Port-au-Prince, killing over 200,000 and causing an estimated US$ 8 billion in damages. Promising to “build back better”, bilateral and multilateral donors including International Financial Institutions (IFIs) have pledged over US$ 13 billion to the humanitarian and reconstruction efforts to date. Read More