The United States tried to help bring about judicial reforms in Haiti several years ago, spending millions through the United States Agency for International Development.
Critics say most of that money was lost because of an incompetent contractor.
Back then, he notes, the prisons held 1,500 inmates. Now they hold more than double that number. But, said Jean-Paul Lupien, a French Canadian who consults for the United Nations Development Program, it's not enough for officials like Larose just to be aware of the conditions. Lupien explains the official indifference as a cultural bias. Dressed in a brown suit, Larose recently strolled with visitors along Penitentier National's crumbling yellow walls, which are crowned with a loop of razor wire.