More than 400 prisoners have escaped and 25 people have been killed in a prison sentence in Haiti, according to authorities, making it the country’s largest and deadliest one in a decade. A director of the prison and a powerful gang leader were among those killed.
The outbreak in the Croix-des-Bouquets prison on the outskirts of the capital Port-au-Prince on Thursday is believed to be an attempt to free gang leader Arnel Joseph, who was Haiti’s most popular fugitive, until his 2019 arrest on charges of rape. , kidnapping and murder.
Joseph, who was allegedly still wearing prison chains on his ankles, was riding a motorcycle through the Artibonite area in the town of L’Estere on Friday a day after his escape when he was spotted at a checkpoint, Gary Desrosiers said. police spokesman, said Associated Press. He said Joseph pulled out a gun and died in a shootout with police.
Joseph rules Village de Dieu, or Village of God, a cottage in Port-au-Prince, and other communities, including some in Artibonite, which is Haiti’s largest department.
Authorities have not yet provided much detail about the outbreak, other than to say that 60 detainees have been recaptured and that the investigation is ongoing. Secretary of State Frantz Exantus said authorities had set up several commissions to investigate who organized the outbreak and why. Among those killed was the prison director, identified as Paul Joseph Hector.
Residents who did not want to be identified because they feared for their lives said they saw gunmen shoot at prison guards on Thursday before inmates escaped from the Croix-des-Bouquets prison.
The prison is known for an outbreak in 2014 in which more than 300 of the 899 prisoners escaped. Some believed the attack was designed to free Clifford Brandt, the son of a prominent businessman who had been in jail since 2012, for allegedly kidnapping the adult children of a rival businessman. Brandt was captured two days later near the border with the Dominican Republic.
After the 2014 outbreak, officials said they were taking steps to increase security in the jail, including installing security cameras and monitoring the most dangerous inmates. It was not immediately clear whether any of the measures had been taken. At the time of Thursday’s outbreak, the jail held 1,542 inmates, nearly twice its capacity.
Haiti’s largest prison outbreak in recent history took place after the devastating earthquake in 2010 in which more than 4,200 prisoners fled the infamous national prison in Port-au-Prince.
Haitian President Jovenel Moise tweeted on Friday that he had condemned the latest prison sentence and asked people to remain calm. He added that Haiti’s national police had been ‘instructed to take’ all measures’ to bring the situation under control.
Meanwhile, Helen La Lime, Haiti’s Special Representative to the Secretary – General of the United Nations, said in a statement that she was deeply concerned about the mutiny and the escape from prison.
“I urge the police to expedite the investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident, to double the efforts to apprehend the escapees and to strengthen security around prisons across the country,” she said.
“This prison interruption further underscores the problem of lengthy pre-trial detention and overcrowding, which remains a matter of concern and urgently needs to be addressed by Haitian authorities.”