‘As bad as the situation in Haiti has become, with gangs controlling almost the entire capital Port-au-Prince, there is the potential for things to get even much worse.’
And how fast it got there! Haiti is now under a state of emergency and a nighttime curfew has been imposed.
In the midst of a surge of violence, armed gangs attacked the Caribbean country’s two largest prisons and freed thousands of inmates.
The 72-hour state of emergency and the curfew from 6pm to 5am are an effort ‘to restore the order and to take appropriate measures in order to regain control of the situation’.
“The government cited ‘the deterioration in security, particularly in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, characterized by increasingly violent criminal acts perpetrated by armed gangs, causing massive population displacements and consisting in particular of kidnappings and assassinations of peaceful citizens, violence against women and children, ransacking and theft of public and private property’.
Hundreds — if not thousands — of inmates broke out of the National Penitentiary, Haiti’s biggest prison, in downtown Port-au-Prince on Saturday night following a massive, coordinated attack by gunmen from gangs, two senior Haitian government officials told ABC News. Of the nearly 4,000 inmates estimated to have been behind bars at the facility prior to Saturday’s assault, fewer than 100 were still inside as of Sunday according to the officials, who cautioned that the actual number of escapees remains unknown.
The Haitian government said in a statement on Sunday that those responsible for the attack were ‘heavily armed criminals wanting at all costs to free people in custody, particularly for kidnapping, murder and other serious offenses’, and that several inmates and prison staff were injured in the fighting.”
Dead bodies lay on the ground in and around the National Penitentiary, and a second prison containing an estimated 1,400 inmates was also overrun by armed gangs.
The mass prison break is the culmination of incredibly violent days in Haiti, even by the country’s standards, where kidnapping and murder rates have exploded.
“An internal police summary shared with ABC News by a Haitian law enforcement source stated that gangs have launched a series of coordinated attacks since Feb. 29, with the objective ‘to immobilize the Haitian National Police and throw out the Prime Minister’. Haitian police see the coordinated effort as a way to ’cause chaos, panic and spread thin [police] resources’, according to the summary.
Jimmy Chérizier, a former Haitian police officer who is now one of the most powerful gang leaders in the country, has claimed responsibility for the attacks alongside other gang leaders. Chérizier, known as Barbecue, vowed in a statement on Friday to continue fighting the state as long as necessary and urged families to keep their children at home to avoid ‘collateral damage’.”
Gunfire was heard all over Port-au-Prince’s neighborhood that houses the National Penitentiary.
Dozens of gang members were involved, battling in the streets and inside the prison itself with police assigned to guard the facility, quickly overwhelming the officers.
When the battle was over, there were hardly any prisoners left inside the sprawling National Penitentiary.
BBC reported:
“The latest upsurge in violence began on Thursday, when the prime minister travelled to Nairobi to discuss sending a Kenya-led multinational security force to Haiti.
[…] One volunteer prison worker told the Reuters news agency that 99 prisoners – including former Colombian soldiers jailed over President Moïse’s murder – had chosen to remain in their cells for fear of being killed in crossfire. […] The US embassy in Port-au-Prince on Sunday urged its citizens to leave Haiti “as soon as possible”. The French embassy said it was closing visa services as a “precaution”. […] While Haiti has been plagued by gangs for years, the violence has further escalated since President Moïse’s assassination at his home in 2021. He has not been replaced and elections have not been held since 2016.
Under a political deal, Mr Henry was due to stand down by 7 February. But planned elections were not held and he remains in post.”
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