Haiti in state of emergency over prison breaks
HAITI declared a state of emergency late Sunday after two massive prison breaks saw nearly 3,600 inmates escape and gangs run riot in the capital.
The violent clashes also disrupted the communications network and came as a major gang leader seeks to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
To restore order, the government has imposed with immediate effect a curfew throughout the West territory for a “renewable period of 72 hours,” a statement said.
“Between six in the evening and five in the morning on Monday 4, Tuesday 5, Wednesday 6 and this Sunday, March 3, 2024,” the curfew will apply.
Law enforcement, firefighters, ambulance drivers, health personnel and duly identified journalists would not have to comply with the curfew, the statement added.
The emergency decree follows a dramatic escalation in violence over the weekend that has paralyzed parts of the capital, damaged communications and led to two prison breaks, including one at the country’s largest prison.
About a dozen people died as gang members attacked the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince overnight Saturday into Sunday, an AFP reporter observed.
The attack came as part of a new spate of extreme violence in the Haitian capital, where wellarmed gangs who control much of the city have wreaked havoc since Thursday.
The gangs say they want to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has led the crisis-wracked Caribbean nation since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021.
Only around 100 of the National Penitentiary’s estimated 3,800 inmates were still inside the facility Sunday after the gang assault, Pierre Esperance of the National Network for Defense of Human Rights said.
“We counted many prisoners’ bodies,” he added.