International Relations

CSC in partnership with MINUSTAH

• On April 20th, 2007, the UN DPKO, through Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) approached CSC for correctional expertise to contribute to MINUSTAH.
• In July 2007, CSC launched a program that led to the deployment of 4 CSC staff members to MINUSTAH, which was followed by an additional deployment of 4 CSC employees in April 2008.
• CSC staff are deployed to MINUSTAH for a period of one year, and they are under the authority and direction of the Chief Corrections Advisor from the Rule of Law section of the United Nations.
• Since 2007, there have been 43 staff assignments to MINUSTAH.
• Currently, there are seventeen (17) staff members in Haiti.

Main achievements

As part of the security component of MINUSTAH, CSC staff members are seconded to provide mentoring, advice and training to managers at the national level and to the Haitian prison staff to assist in the multinational effort of re-establishing a functional correctional system in Haiti, including the overall restoration and maintenance of the Rule  of Law and respect for international standards on human rights.

CSC staff members mentor Haitian correctional officers in various ways: demonstrate searching techniques; explain how to log all confiscated items; and, ensure adherence to human rights for the offenders.

They have developed a National Correctional Training Program for new recruits, and they have trained the trainers.

They have drafted and delivered various training programs, including a national Crisis Management training program, Anger Management, Violence Prevention and Problem Solving modules, and developed an audit tool which will be used to evaluate program officers.

hey have drafted a code of conduct training session, an orientation handbook and a medical checklist.

They are currently developing a strategy for the management of inmate files.

• The seven CSC deployed staff members in Haiti were not injured during the earthquake.
• Three CSC staff members were evacuated and arrived in Canada on January 17th, 2010, and another was evacuated on January 23rd, 2010.
• It was agreed that the remaining three (3) would continue their postings (one in Port-au-Prince, and two in Cap-Haitian), as long as their safety and security were not in jeopardy.
• Two (2) of those evacuated have since returned in-theatre.
• CSC offered moral support to the employees who returned from Haiti through government support programs, and DFAIT is offering this support in-theatre.
• A whole of government post disaster needs assessment (PDNA) is being developed which will provide guidance to determine next steps. (More information provided below.)
• The United Nations (UN) has officially requested further support from Canada to assist the Haitian correctional unit.
• CSC (NHQ) is currently coordinating the selection process for deploying additional staff members, but is waiting for more details from UN DPKO before they can move forward.

• Prior 2004, there were less than 4,000 inmates, and that number has doubled since then to 8,550.
• There are seventeen (17) prisons in Haiti located in: Port-au-Prince, Delmas, l’Arcahaie, Carrefour, Pétion-ville, Fort-Liberté, Grande Rivière du Nord, Cap-Haïtien, Port-de-Paix, l’Anse à Veau, Coteaux, Jacmel, Jérémie, Les Cayes, Hinche, Mirebalais and Saint Marc.
• There are four (4) commissariats (located in police stations): Aquin, Petit-Goâve, Croix des Bouquets and Miragoâne.
• As there were over four thousand inmates (4,000) housed at the Port-au-Prince prison, which was built for a capacity of 750 inmates, 0.58 square meters were provided per inmate (against the 2.5 m2 norm).
• The excessive overcrowding is mainly due to extended preventive detention. More than 80% out of the total prison population had not yet seen a judge.

• Of the 17 prisons in Haiti, eight were damaged as a consequence of the earthquake.
• The prison walls stay mostly intact, yet it is reported that 60% (5,300 inmates) of the total prison population (8,500) escaped after the earthquake, mostly from the National Penitentiary (approximately 4,200).
• Some escapees are said to have been recaptured and kept at the local police station closest to the interception point.
• As a result to the earthquake, some prisons had to face riots and attempts of escapes.
• A newly constructed facility, funded by Canada, Croix-des-Bouquets, is scheduled to open in 2012.

On February 18th, the Prime Minister of Haiti, Jean-Max Bellerive, initiated the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) project, focusing on the main challenges in the aftermath of the earthquake.

The team is composed of approximately 300 representatives of the Government of Haiti, European Union, Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations and World Bank.

The results of the PDNA will be the basis of the preparation of a national strategic for recovery and development, which will include measurable targets, indicators and costs for the immediate (6 months), short-term (18 months) and medium to long-term (3 and 10 years respectively) perspective.

The results of the PDNA were discussed on March 16-17, 2010 in Santo Domingo and will be presented at the International Donors’ Conference towards a New Future for Haiti in New York on the March 31st, 2010.