Following the official invitation, made on 25 July by the de facto President Jocelerme Privert to the Organization of American States (OAS), to come and observe the forthcoming elections in Haiti, an agreement was signed this week by Ambassador Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste, the new permanent representative of Haiti to the OAS, Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the hemispheric organization, on the privileges and immunity of the Electoral Observation Mission EOM/OAS.

"Privileges and immunities of the OAS observation mission are those granted to the OAS, its organs and its staff [...] The property and assets of the observation mission located anywhere on Haitian territory and in possession of any person, enjoy immunity against any kind of legal proceedings, except in specific cases where such immunity is expressly waived, written, by the Secretary General of the OAS," states inter alia the agreement.

OAS observers will be deployed to Haiti for the first round of elections on 9 October. The observation mission will be composed of officials from the OAS General Secretariat, of

people recruited at the headquarters of the organization and other international observers recruited by the General Secretariat exclusively for the purposes of the Observation Mission in Haiti.

PI/ HaitiLibre