Haiti Shadow Reports Delivered to UN Human Rights Council

You.Me.We. and its coalition partners in the US and Haiti submitted 13 shadow reports on Haiti’s human rights record to the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva as part of Haiti’s Universal Periodic Review.  The reports draw attention to a range of concerns, including inadequate housing conditions, gender-based violence and environmental degradation, and make 147 concrete recommendations for improving these conditions.  The government will formally respond to the reports at a hearing before the Human Rights Council in October, and indicate publicly which recommendations it agrees to implement.    

The UPR provides a unique opportunity for civil society engagement, and You.Me.We. has been working alongside

grassroots organizations in Haiti to ensure that their voices are heard in the process.  We have provided training on civil society advocacy related to the UPR, and will continue to advocate for a rights-based approach to earthquake reconstruction in the run-up to the review in October.   

For more on the UPR and links to the shadow reports, visit http://ijdh.org/archives/17982, or contact Kathleen Bergin, at kbergin@ymwglobal.org. 

Universal Periodic Review: Opportunity to Endorse Human Rights Reports

You.Me.We. is working with the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, and the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, to coordinate the preparation of reports on human rights violations in Haiti as part of the Universal Periodic Review of Haiti that will take place before the UN Human Rights Council in October 2011.  

We welcome your input on any of the 9 reports we will be submitting, and invite you and your organizations to sign on to any reports that you would like to endorse.

Our goal in undertaking this project is not to speak on behalf of the Haitian people, but to provide legal expertise and technical assistance to people in Haiti who wish to engage the international community for themselves through the UPR process.  We have provided several UPR trainings in Port au Prince to grass roots organizations and delegations of displaced people who live in the camps.  We agreed during those trainings to undertake the manual task of writing and coordinating reports for Haitians who are determining what particular issues should be addressed in the reports. 

Attached here are draft reports on elections, prison conditions, and environmental rights.  Drafts of reports on housing/forced evictions, the role of MINUSTAH, rights-based approach to food and water, gender-based violence, education, rights of the child, will be coming out in the next few days.  These reports are also being translated into French and Kreyol for circulation among our partners in Haiti. 

Please feel free to contact me if you would like more information, or would like to add your name to any of the reports. 

Mesi anpil!

-Kathy  Bergin

kbergin@ymwglobal.org



Information about the UPR process and guidelines for the report are available at the links below.
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/BasicFacts.aspx
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/TechnicalGuideEN.pdf

kbergin@ymwglobal.org

Precautionary Measures Granted

November 16, 2010

The Inter-American Commission granted precautionary measures against Haiti in response to a request submitted by You.Me.We., the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, the Bureau Des Avocats Internationaux, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University School of Law. The Commission directed the Government of Haiti to implement a moratorium on forced evictions in the camps, and take other measures to protect internally displaced people from grave and irreparable harm.

Read the Commission's response here.