Spokesperson: Rupert Colville Haiti / Protection issues

A joint OHCHR-UNHCR protection team is scheduled to arrive in Port-au-Prince today from the Dominican Republic. The five-member team is led by OHCHR’s former director of field operations, and includes two other OHCHR staff and two UNHCR staff. It is the first time these two UN organizations have fielded a joint protection team of this type during a crisis.

MINUSTAH, like all major DPKO operations, already had a sizeable Human Rights Section, which remains in operation. Before the earthquake, there were 18 human rights staff in Port-au-Prince, including 12 international staff. Sadly, two of the internationals, Lisa Mbele-Mbong (USA) and Andrea Loi Valenzuela (Chile), were killed during the earthquake and we mourn their tragic loss along with other UN colleagues and many thousands of people in Haiti. A third human rights officer was injured but was evacuated and is out of danger in hospital in the Dominican Republic. A further four staff have been evacuated, leaving eleven in Port-au-Prince, of whom six are Haitian and five international, including the Chief of the Human Rights Section. The seven offices Human Rights Section offices outside the capital contain a further 16 national and 13 international staff.

The new team flying in today will join up with the remaining members of the MINUSTAH team, as well as with the other agencies taking part in the protection cluster. These include UNICEF and UNFPA with their respective expertise in child protection and sexual and gender-based violence, as well as national and international NGOs. The protection cluster will of course also be working in close cooperation with the Haitian Government and with the ICRC and other members of the Red Cross movement.

There have been, and continue to be, sizeable population movements into the countryside, and we are concerned that a range of protection issues could emerge among the displaced people living outside the main area where relief operations are taking place. So one important focus of the protection team, along with the offices of the Human Rights Section in the provinces, will be to keep an eye on developments in the rest of the country. UNHCR’s expertise will, of course, be particularly important when dealing with issues relating to displaced people.

Other specific problems which could easily arise involve groups with special protection needs. Both UNICEF and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have already flagged the main issues involving children, and in particular separated children. But other groups, such as single mothers, the elderly, and disabled people and the wounded may also need special attention. Sexual and gender-based violence was already a serious concern in Haiti prior to the earthquake, and will need careful monitoring. Enslavement of children and trafficking were also existing problems, and could easily emerge as serious issues over the coming weeks and months.

Another major problem, which is virtually inevitable, is the lack of vital documentation. This will include the loss of crucial identity and other documents allowing access to a range of state services as well those proving ownership of land and property, which could lead to major disputes and injustices when rebuilding gets under way.

With tens of thousands of people killed, and an urgent need to bury their corpses, many, indeed probably the majority, will not be issued with death certificates in the normal fashion. Unless systems are established to deal with this, there could be tremendous problems for people trying to claim their inheritance, and this too could lead to land and property disputes further down the line.

ENDS

OHCHR Country Page – Haiti: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/LACRegion/Pages/HTIndex.aspx

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Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights - Media Unit
Rupert Colville, Spokesperson: + 41 22 917 9767 / rcolville@ohchr.org
Xabier Celaya, Information Officer: + 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org