The Centre d'Education, de Recherches et d'actions en Sciences Sociales et pénales (CERESS) notes with great regret that the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) has done nothing to facilitate the observation at the Tabulation Center of Results (CTR). They continued with some modifications, an opaque system where the access to useful information is locked.

Indeed, they banned all staff to speak to observers, whereas in the past (in 2006), in the interests of transparency, the Direction General of the CEP had asked to each section head or team leader at the CTR be available to observers and to answer their questions and provide them any useful information provided that the process is not annoyed or slowed down.

We deplore the fact that the CEP officials are forcing observers to have a passive presence, neutralizing at the base any possibility of guaranteeing that there has been no partisan decision, concerning the management of the minutes.

The observers are just watching people or come and go. They can not see the minutes that are quarantined and can not question the executives on the follow-up that will be made, on the nature of irregularities etc...

How the CEP sees the election observation can only be suitable that for the international observers...

While being prepared to delegate a person to attend any briefing for observers, held by the responsibles of CTR, and to ask to the persons in charge, the information which we consider useful, we refuse to mobilize resource persons permanently whose their presence at the CTR can validate a counting process and the management of the minutes whose we can not guarantee the impartiality.

The CERESS is ready to mobilize observers to sit permanently at the CTR, until the end of the minutes counting, as soon that the decision of openness and of transparency will be taken by the electoral authorities.

For the CERESS

Me Woldson BERTRAND

President

HL/ HaitiLibre