PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Haiti has announced a new government commission to review the country's dismal lockups and make recommendations to improve conditions for inmates.

President Jovenel Moise announced the creation of the nine-member commission on Friday.

Moise took office earlier this month. He says his government "will by no means ignore what seems to be a flagrant violation, even a contempt for the right to life."

The announcement came a few days after The Associated Press published an exclusive report on an upsurge of inmate deaths, including 21 last month at the country's biggest prison.

An AP team saw a corpse and emaciated men with sunken cheeks andprotruding ribs at Haiti's National Penitentiary.

Most of those incarcerated have not been convicted of a crime but are held in prolonged pretrial detention.