42
run by MINUSTAH because, according to the report prepared by the Penitentiary doctor, his
state of health had deteriorated and he was in a critical condition. On April 21, 2005, he was
transferred from the MINUSTAH military hospital to the Annex of the National Penitentiary,
where he remained until July 27, 2006. According to his statement, the detention conditions
in the Annex were a little more tolerable than in the National Penitentiary, although he still
received open and constant threats from the prison guards.188
136. According to Mr. Neptune’s testimony, when the guards entered his cell on April 22,
2005, to take him to appear before the court in Saint-Marc, he tried to resist, because he
did not know whether they had come to abduct, kill or torture him.189 He indicated that he
was driven in the back of a van along a road full of potholes in the heat of the day, despite
his critical condition owing to the hunger strike he had started five days before without
medical assistance.190 His health remained critical, “because he had begun a new hunger
strike on April 17, 2005, and from April 29, 2005, to July 27, 2006, he had refused to eat
and only accepted water. On May 15, 2005, he began to receive vitamins, salt and sugar
orally, under medical supervision.”191 His physical condition gradually deteriorated; he did
not want or receive routine medical attention. Mr. Neptune was hospitalized upon his
release on humanitarian grounds.192
137. The Court also finds that it has been proved and not disputed that, during the time
Yvon Neptune was detained in the National Penitentiary and subsequently in the Annex,
there was a general context of serious shortcomings in prison conditions in Haiti, as well as
a lack of security in almost all the country’s detention centers; this was pointed out by
several international organizations and agencies.193 There was extreme overcrowding, lack
of beds, badly ventilated and unhygienic cells, few sanitary installations, poor food, a
scarcity of drinking water, lack of medical attention and serious problems of hygiene,
illnesses and bacterial diseases. The State did not dispute the Commission’s allegations,
according to which: “[t]he extreme overcrowding, unhygienic and unsanitary conditions and
poor inmate diet at the National Penitentiary did not even approximate the standards set in
the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners”; 194 and
“[d]espite repeated outbreaks of violence in the National Penitentiary, the State kept its
inadequate structure intact.”195
138. From the above, it is clear that Yvon Neptune’s detention conditions, in particular in
the National Penitentiary, constituted inhumane treatment because they did not comply with
the minimum material requirements of decent treatment pursuant to Article 5(2) of the
188
Cf. Statement made before notary public (affidavit) by Yvon Neptune, supra note 6, para. 22 (folio 453);
statement made before notary public (affidavit) by Ronald Saint-Jean, supra note 185, para. 15 (folio 431), and
application submitted by the Commission, supra note 3, para. 47 (folio 112).
189
Cf. Statement made before notary public (affidavit) by Yvon Neptune, supra note 6 para. 23 (folios 453-
454).
190
Cf. Statement made before notary public (affidavit) by Yvon Neptune, supra note 6 para. 6 (folio 449).
191
Application submitted by the Commission, supra note 3, para. 48 (folio 112).
192
Application submitted by the Commission, supra note 3, para. 49 (folio 112).
193
Cf. Application submitted by the Commission, supra nota 3, paras. 58-59 (folios 115-116).
194
Cf. Application submitted by the Commission, supra note 3, para. 62 (folio 117).
195
Cf. Application submitted by the Commission, supra note 3, para. 77 (folio 120).
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