Violent prisoner escape causes kidnappings, murders and chaos in Haiti

The government of Haiti decreed on Sunday a state of emergency and a night curfew in Port-au-Prince, after the attack on a prison that left at least a dozen dead and allowed thousands of prisoners to escape.

The government decreed a state of emergency in the Ouest department, which includes Port-au-Prince, the capital, and a curfew between 6:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. starting this Sunday and until Wednesday, March 6, reported a official statement.

The state of emergency and the curfew may be extended. Economy Minister Patrick Michel Boisvert signed the declaration as the country’s acting prime minister.

The government indicated that the objective of the restrictions is “restore order and take appropriate measures to regain control of the situation.” The curfew was established “due to security degradation” in Port-au-Prince, where “increasingly violent criminal acts perpetrated by armed gangs,” the statement indicated.

“The escape of dangerous prisoners” puts on “danger to national security”stated the government. “Security forces have been ordered to use all legal means at their disposal to enforce the curfew and arrest all violators,” he added.

Massive leak

Haiti, a poor Caribbean country, is facing a serious political, humanitarian and security crisis since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

Security forces are overwhelmed by the violence of gangs that have taken control of entire areas of the country, including the capital.

At least a dozen people died during the escape of several thousand inmates from the National Penitentiary of Port-au-Prince, attacked by armed gangs who sought to free the prisoners, an NGO and an AFP journalist indicated on Sunday.

“Many bodies of detainees were counted”Pierre Espérance, executive director of the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH), told AFP on Sunday.

Before the attack, there were about 3,800 prisoners in the prison, afterward only a hundred remained, Espérance said. An AFP journalist who visited the prison on Sunday morning saw a dozen bodies around the prison.

Some of the bodies had bullet or projectile impacts, he said. The door was “open” and “there was almost no one”, said the journalist.

Since Thursday, armed gangs have attacked strategic locations in the capital, saying they wanted to overthrow controversial Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in power since 2021, and that he should leave office at the beginning of February.

On Saturday night, police officers “tried to repel an assault by criminal gangs on the National Penitentiary and the Croix des Bouquets prison,” the Haitian government reported.

“The assault on these prisons left several prisoners and members of the prison staff injured.”he added.

“Heavily armed criminals”

The Haitian government denounced the fury “of heavily armed criminals who wanted to release people detained at any price, particularly for kidnapping, murder and other serious crimes.”

The national police “will do everything in its power to locate the escaped prisoners and arrest those responsible for these criminal acts and their accomplices,” the government assured.

At the moment it is unknown how many prisoners managed to escape from the Croix des Bouquets prison, declared Pierre Espérance.

Before the attack, there were about 1,450 prisoners in Croix des Bouquets, he said.

Several common criminals, known gang leaders and people accused of the murder of President Jovenel Moïse were being held in the National Penitentiary, located a few hundred meters from the National Palace.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry remains absent

The Haitian Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, remains out of the country this Monday amid the escalation of tension, after attending the Caribbean Community (Caricom) summit a week ago in Guyana and then traveling to Kenya, where he discussed the multinational security support mission that the Caribbean country expects.

Nothing is known about Henry’s whereabouts, although some versions suggest that he left Kenya on Saturday.

His return to Haiti is unknown: while some rumors claim that his arrival may be imminent, the silence is total when EFE asks those around him about his return to the country.

At the moment, in Henry’s absence, Patrick Michel Boivert is acting as interim Prime Minister of Haiti and, in fact, on Sunday it was his signature that appeared when reporting the imposition in the Western department, where Port-au-Prince is located, of the state emergency and curfew for 72 hours, extendable.

This decision was made, according to the Haitian Government, due to the “security degradation” and the attacks on Saturday in two prisons at the hands of armed gangs, La Capitale and Croix des Bouquets, the largest in the country, from which some 3,600 inmates would have escaped.

In its text, the Executive referred to the attacks against those prisons, “causing deaths and injuries in the ranks of the Police and prison staff, the escape of dangerous prisoners and acts of vandalism in those places,” actions that “endanger national security.”

At the time, in Guyana, as reported by the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Phillip Davis, Ariel Henry would have committed to holding elections before August 31, 2025.

Precisely, after the announcement of the elections, last Thursday the attacks of the powerful armed gangs increased in the metropolitan area of ​​Port-au-Prince, which they assure will continue with their actions until Henry leaves power.

Also the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, indicated that Henry was willing to share power with the opposition to achieve a solution to the crisis.

Subsequently, in Nairobi, Kenya and Haiti signed an agreement requested by the African country’s courts to allow the deployment of a contingent of 1,000 Kenyan police officers to the Caribbean nation, within the multinational mission.

With information from EFE and AFP