Peration "Punch"

Haiti - Justice : Operation «Punch»
(Haiti Libre) - 03/03/2015 09:29:08

Monday to the National Penitentiary of Port-au-Prince, Pierre Richard Casimir, the Minister of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) launched the operation «Punch» which aims to decongest prisons across the country, by accelerating the judicial monitoring of inmate records who have already served their sentences or who have not yet appeared before a judge.

Accompanied by Me. Jean Roudy Aly, Director General of MJSP, Me. Kherson Darius Charles, Government Commissioner at the Court of First Instance (TPI) of Port-au-Prince, the Minister Casimir, first held a working meeting with Mrs. Marjorie Jean, Director of the National Penitentiary Administration (APENA), of members of the Penitentiary staff and several representatives of the Minustah and the International Red Cross Committee (Geneva) during which he clearly asked all the players in the system to work in the emergency on too long backlogs.

The Minister Casimir then visited several areas of the largest prison center of the country and lamented that on over 4,452 inmates, only 485 of them have already been know their fate, or 89% of prisoners who remain in prolonged pretrial detention http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-13254-haiti-justice-89-of-the-inmates-of-the-national-penitentiary-in-prolonged-pretrial-detention.html

During his visit, he met with several inmates. Some explained that judicial decisions had already ordered for their release, but for lack of monitoring, they were still in prison. The Minister Casimir asked the Government Commissioner, to engage quickly the follow required each of these cases. The n,ames and various information relating to these inmates were noted to facilitate suites.

The Minister announced that as of Tuesday, March 3, the TPI of Port-au-Prince will make 14 hearings per day, or 7 in the morning and 7 in the afternoon, with the main objective the reduction of prolonged pretrial detention rates.

Furthermore, he showed particularly concerned about the shortcomings of all kinds vitiating the functioning of the infirmary of the national penitentiary and promised to do everything possible to strengthen this structure which hosts daily inmates with various pathologies.