Fleury, and proceeded to process the petition under number P 4692/02 of March 10, 2003. The IACHR transmitted to the Haitian State the pertinent parts of the petition and the subsequent communications from the petitioner, giving the government a period of two months from the date of transmittal to submit information. 8. On May 6, 2003, the Commission received a letter dated March 21, 2003, sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Haiti, which acknowledged receipt of the communication sent by the Commission on March 10, 2003, and, as mentioned in the communication of March 12, 2003, it was indicated that a meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between the petitioner and Mr. Gaspard, a Ministry official, to discuss implementation of the precautionary measures. The State also indicated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wanted to organize a working meeting among representatives of the National Police, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Interior, in order to ensure better monitoring of the matters pending between the Commission and the Government of Haiti. III. THE PARTIES’ POSITIONS ON ADMISSIBILITY A. The petitioner 9. According to the petition, Mr. Lysias Fleury, a Haitian human rights defender who works with the Commission Episcopale Nationale Justice et Paix (Justice and Peace Commission of the Bishops Conference, hereinafter, “Justice and Peace Commission”), was arrested without any judicial warrant on June 24, 2002, at approximately 7:00 p.m. while at home. The petitioner alleges that while he was arrested, he was pistol-whipped by the police. He alleges that he showed the police his identification card from the Justice and Peace Commission and the police said: “You’re from human rights? You’ll see!.” 10. The petitioner alleges that he was transferred to the Bon Repos police station, in Port-auPrince, where he was detained for 17 hours. He was subjected to “degrading treatment,” which caused “serious injuries.” More particularly, the petitioner indicates that he was forced to clean the excrement from his cell using his hands. He also explains that on the morning of June 25, 2002, he was beaten in the head and was also clubbed and kicked. He was also forced to sign a statement according to which he was not mistreated by the police, but by members of a CASEC (Conseil d’Administration des Sections Communales). The petitioner argued that he suffered this abusive treatment because of his work as a human rights defender. 11. The petitioner alleges in his petition and subsequent communications that on August 1, 2002, he presented a criminal complaint to the public prosecutor of Port-au-Prince reporting the events of June 24 and 25, 2002, requesting that the Public Ministry initiate a criminal action against the police officers of the Bon Repos police station. The petitioner alleges that there was no follow-up to his criminal complaint. In addition, on June 27, 2002, the director of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Bishops Conference presented a criminal complaint to the Inspector General of the National Police. 12. The petitioner alleges that on February 22, he was received at the Office of the Inspector General of the National Police, where he was invited by Inspector John Prévost into a room in which the police who had mistreated him were introduced one by one, i.e. Erick Edris, Timothé Dégand, and Tevnord Joseph. The petitioner had to identify his alleged assailants in their presence. Despite the identification, the three men walked away free from the Office of the Inspector General of the National Police. 13. The petitioner also indicated that he was received by an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 7, 2003, to discuss implementation of the precautionary measures issued by the IACHR. This official informed him that he would contact the Director of the National Police and that he would send a letter to the Ministry of Justice seeking updated information on his case. 2