War scene, in the town of Port-de-Paix, in the north of Haiti. During the night from Friday to Saturday, 12 inmates of the local prison tried to escape; 2 succeeded and are still on the run, 4 were killed by the police and 6 fugitives were caught. Shots were fired during the hunt, while the population was asked not to go out. According to the UN, 4,600 prisoners have fled the country’s penitentiary establishments in 10 years of crisis.
Eight inmates escaped from a prison in Port-de-Paix, in the north of Haiti, on the night of Friday May 3 to Saturday May 4, 2024; four others were shot dead while trying to flee the prison grounds.
“Among the eight escapees, six have already been caught“, declared Leonel Joseph, spokesperson for the North-West departmental police, at a press conference, a relatively calm area compared to the capital Port-au-Prince, consumed by gang violence.
The official also indicated that it was from the same cell, occupied by 37 people, that the detainees escaped. All are convicted of violent crimes and are considered dangerous, said the deputy government commissioner, Jeir Pierre, on Magik 9 radio in Port-au-Prince. The magistrate put forward the theory of professional negligence to explain the escape.
A guard opened the door of a cell to help a prisoner who was apparently unwell and it was at this moment that his fellow prisoners took advantage of the situation to attack the person responsible and force the door of the prison to escape. escape.
Jeir Pierre, substitute government commissioner
Two prison officers are the subject of an investigation, he added.
He also indicated that guards were not present in the prison in sufficient numbers; some of them are on strike.
To pursue the detainees on the run, the judicial and police authorities asked the residents of Port-de-Paix to stay at home. Detonations were heard in the town, a local resident told Agence France Presse (AFP).
For decades, Haiti has suffered from chronic security and political instability. But, since the end of February, the gangs, whose violence was already ravaging entire sections of the territory, have launched coordinated attacks against strategic sites in the capital, saying they want to overthrow Ariel Henry, then Prime Minister.
Since the start of these attacks, places of detention have been emptied of many criminals.
More than 4,600 inmates escaped from Port-au-Prince’s two main prisons, at least 22 police stations and sub-stations and other police buildings were ransacked or burned and 19 police officers were killed or injured.
United Nations (UN) statement from mid-April 2024
Prime Minister Ariel Henry officially left office on April 24. It is now a transitional council that governs, with the task of trying to restore public order. Edgard Leblanc Fils was chosen as president of this body on April 30.
