Armed Gangs in Haiti Free Prisoners
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Armed gangs in Haiti stormed the main prison in, Port-au-Prince, and freed many inmates.
A local journalist told the media that most of the approximately 4,000 men held there have now escaped.
Among those detained were gang members charged with the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
Violence in Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world, has increased in recent years. Gangs aiming to depose Prime Minister Ariel Henry control 80 per cent of Port-au-Prince.
On Thursday, the prime minister travelled to Nairobi to discuss with President William Ruto the plans to send a Kenyan-led multinational security force to Haiti, sparking the latest surge in violence.
Notorious gang leader Jimmy Chérizier (nicknamed “Barbecue”) declared a coordinated attack to remove him.
“All of us, the armed groups in the provincial towns and the armed groups in the capital, are united,” said the former police officer, who is thought to be behind several massacres in Port-au-Prince.
A wave of shootings claimed the lives of four police officers and injured five others. The French embassy in Haiti advised against travelling to and around the capital.
The Haitian police union requested that the military assist in reinforcing the prison, but the compound was stormed late Saturday.
On Sunday morning, Reuters reported that the prison’s doors remained open, and no officers were visible. The report stated that three inmates who attempted to flee were found dead in the courtyard.
As per a volunteer prison worker, 99 prisoners, including former Colombian soldiers imprisoned for President Moïse’s murder, chose to stay in their cells to avoid crossfire. Violence levels have reached anarchy levels since President Moïse’s assassination. He has not been replaced, and no elections have occurred since 2016.
Elections were scheduled, and Mr. Henry said he would step down by February 7, but this did not occur.
According to the UN, gang violence in Haiti resulted in over 8,400 deaths, injuries, and kidnappings in 2023, more than doubling from 2022.
