INDEPENDENT EXPERT ON SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN HAITI TO VISIT COUNTRY FROM 6 TO 17 NOVEMBER 2004

2 November 2004

The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti, Louis Joinet, will visit Haiti from 6 to 17 November 2004.

Mr. Joinet, who will be visiting Haiti for the fifth time, is scheduled to meet with senior officials from the transitional Government, as well as senior magistrates and judges. He will also meet with representatives of the United Nations system, including the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, as well as with representatives of the Organization of American States and civil society.

In 1995, the Commission on Human Rights requested the Secretary-General (resolution 1995/70) to appoint an independent expert whose mandate included providing assistance to the Haitian Government in the field of human rights, studying the situation of human rights in the country, and verifying that Haiti is carrying out its obligations.

Mr. Joinet, a French magistrate, was appointed as independent expert by the United Nations Secretary-General on 25 March 2002 (see press release HR/02/31 of 26 March 2002).