A massive escape from prison in Haiti has resulted in the escape of hundreds of prisoners and the deaths of at least 25 people, including the prison director and a notorious Haitian gang leader named Arnel Joseph.
The escape from the prison took place Thursday at the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison in the capital of Port-au-Prince. As of Friday, authorities had recaptured some 60 prisoners and were still actively searching for more than 200 others, according to Haiti’s secretary of state for communications, Frantz Exantus.
Gang violence in Haiti has increased in recent years and Joseph, the gang leader, was among the country’s most wanted fugitives before his arrest in 2019. He was awaiting trial on charges of murder, rape and kidnapping.
Joseph was killed in a shootout with the police after escaping, Exantus told a news conference. Joseph was riding a motorcycle around town when the police tried to signal him, according to Exantus. He was killed by the police after opening fire.
Several of the 25 people killed were passersby, officials said, attacked by prisoners as they escaped.
In a statement sent to NPR, UN Special Representative for Haiti Helen La Lime wrote that she was “deeply concerned” about escaping from prison.
“I encourage the police to speed up investigations into the circumstances surrounding this incident, redouble their efforts to re-apprehend fugitives and strengthen security around prisons across the country,” said La Lime.
President Jovenel Moise tweeted Friday condemning the flight and urging Haitians to remain calm. The Haitian National Police, he wrote, “is instructed to take all measures to bring the situation under control”.
Haiti is in the midst of political turmoil, while Moise faces growing pressure to resign. He was elected to a five-year term in late 2015, but allegations of fraud so damaged the election that a provisional administration ruled for just over a year before he took office in February 2017. Moise says that means his five-year term not until 2022, and he has ruled by decree since the end of 2019. Widespread protests broke out this month because of his refusal to step down and after more than 20 political opponents that Moise accused of planning a coup violent were arrested.
For ordinary Haitians, especially those in Port-au-Prince, escaping from prison is just the latest chapter in what has been a year of escalating violence.
A dramatic increase in kidnappings to obtain ransom last year has led to the closure of schools and a warning from the U.S. Embassy urging American citizens to exercise caution when traveling in Port-au-Prince. In recent months, kidnapping victims include a nun, a surgeon, the 5-year-old daughter of a peanut seller and two members of a film crew.
Meanwhile, the gang violence epidemic last year left hundreds dead and even more homeless. In December, the United States Treasury Department imposed sanctions on several Haitian officials for participating in a scheme to arm and finance gangs to “create instability and silence the demands of the population of Port-au-Prince for better living conditions”.
And just this month, a United Nations report urged Haitian officials to “end impunity” for members of violent gangs, adding that “without an adequate accountability process, the cycle of violence is likely to result in more victims.”
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