Bands in Haiti freed 4,000 prisoners in mass jailbreak

(Patria) - Armed gangs stormed the main prison in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, freeing many inmates. The vast majority of the approximately 4,000 men held there have escaped, a local journalist told BBC News. Among them are gang members accused of assassinating President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

Violence in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has worsened in recent years. Gangs aiming to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry control 80% of Port-au-Prince. The latest surge in violence began on Thursday, when the prime minister travelled to Nairobi to discuss sending a Kenyan-led multinational security force to Haiti.

Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, known as “Barbecue”, announced that this was a coordinated attack to remove him.

“All of us, armed groups in the provinces and armed groups in the capital, are united,” said the former police officer, who is believed to be behind several massacres in Port-au-Prence.

In a wave of gunfire, four police officers were killed and five were injured. The French embassy in Haiti advised against travel to and around the capital. The Haitian police union asked the army to help reinforce the prison, but the complex fell late on Saturday. On Sunday, the prison gates were still open and there were no signs of police officers, Reuters reported. Three inmates who tried to escape lay dead in the courtyard, the report said.

A volunteer prison worker told Reuters journalists that 99 inmates, including former Colombian soldiers jailed for the assassination of President Moïse, had chosen to remain in their cells for fear of being killed in the crossfire.

Violence has been widespread since the assassination of President Moïse. He has not been replaced, and elections have not been held since 2016. According to a political agreement, elections were supposed to be held, and the unelected Henry was supposed to step down by February 7, but this did not happen.

The UN said in January that more than 8,400 people had fallen victim to gang violence in Haiti last year, including killings, injuries and kidnappings, more than double the figure for 2022.