Haiti: Gangs storm jail and free 1000’s of prisoners | EUROtoday

As of: 2:20 a.m | Reading time: 3 minutes

Bhen a jail in Haiti was stormed by felony gangs, 1000’s of prisoners escaped and not less than a dozen folks had been killed. A reporter from the AFP information company noticed a few dozen our bodies, some with gunshot wounds, across the nationwide jail within the capital Port-au-Prince on Sunday. The head of the nationwide community for the protection of human rights, Pierre Espérance, spoke to AFP of “numerous corpses of prisoners”.

Armed gangs stormed the nationwide jail on Saturday night to free prisoners. The authorities of the impoverished and violence-torn Caribbean nation mentioned safety forces tried to repel the assault.

On the net service X, previously Twitter, the Haitian police union referred to as on all police and army personnel with entry to automobiles, weapons and ammunition to strengthen the safety forces within the jail. The French embassy suggested “against all travel to the greater Port-au-Prince area” till the state of affairs was clarified.

According to human rights consultant Espérance, 1000’s of prisoners had been capable of escape. According to him, round 3,800 prisoners had been incarcerated within the nationwide jail earlier than the assault. On Sunday there have been solely round 100 left. The AFP reporter on website mentioned he was capable of enter the jail and that the gate was “open”. The jail was virtually empty.

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According to the net media “Gazette Haiti,” numerous the launched jail inmates are “important members of very powerful gangs.” As the newspaper “Le Nouvelliste” reported, the nationwide jail additionally held identified gang members accused of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. In addition to the nationwide jail, one other detention middle was additionally attacked.

The newest assaults look like a part of a coordinated effort by felony gangs who’ve banded collectively underneath the title “Vivre Ensemble” (“Living Together”). The violence started on Thursday. Powerful gang chief Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérisier mentioned in a video posted on on-line networks that the joint actions of rival armed teams had been aimed on the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

The Caribbean state of Haiti has been in a critical disaster for years, to which not solely gang violence but in addition political instability and financial hardship are contributing. According to the UN, the variety of folks within the nation in want of humanitarian assist has doubled within the final 5 years alone. The assassination of President Moïse in 2021 dramatically worsened the safety state of affairs: in keeping with the UN, greater than 1,100 folks had been killed, injured or kidnapped in Haiti within the month of January alone.

There have been no elections within the Caribbean nation since 2016. The publish of president stays vacant. Just two days in the past, Haiti's Prime Minister Henry signed an settlement with Kenya's President William Ruto on the deployment of Kenyan police forces in Haiti. Kenya had agreed to steer a multinational response drive permitted by the UN Security Council to stabilize the state of affairs in Haiti. Nairobi desires to ship a thousand safety forces for this objective.