Access to civil status documents in Haiti: OCNH denounces a fundamental right in peril

PORT-AU-PRINCE.— The Organization of Citizens for a New Haiti (OCNH) is sounding the alarm on the weakening of the right to identity in Haiti, due to the lack of implementation of the decree of December 4, 2024. This text grants a five-year period to citizens without birth certificates to regularize their civil status, but its application remains almost nonexistent on the ground. According to information gathered during its monitoring activities, the OCNH notes that many civil status officers, particularly in certain remote communes, simply ignore the existence of this decree. The organization denounces a serious failure on the part of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP), responsible for ensuring the dissemination and application of this legal framework. Due to a lack of official dissemination, officers have neither clear directives, nor registers, nor appropriate forms to issue valid birth certificates. A situation which, according to the OCNH, « deprives thousands of citizens of their right to a legal identity », yet guaranteed by articles 11 and 12 of the Haitian Constitution and article 13 of the Civil Code. A breach of international commitments Beyond the national framework, the organization recalls that this situation places Haiti in contradiction with its international commitments. Article 6 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 16 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recognize the right of every individual to legal recognition of their personality. « Not guaranteeing access to civil status documents is equivalent to denying the citizenship of a part of the population », emphasizes the OCNH in its note. An urgent need in the face of the humanitarian crisis The organization insists on the urgency of action in a context where the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), often without birth certificates, continues to increase. With the upcoming elections, the lack of regularization of their civil status could accentuate their political and social marginalization. Consequently, the OCNH urges the MJSP to: immediately disseminate the decree of December 4, 2024 throughout the national territory, provide civil status offices with the necessary registers and forms, and undertake a thorough reform to modernize and make the civil status system more reliable. « The right to identity is the gateway to all other rights », reminds the organization, demanding that the Haitian State fully assume its constitutional and international obligations. Jean Mapou