The attack by armed gangs on the civil prison of Port-au-Prince on Saturday night allowed the escape of 3,597 prisoners, out of a total of 3,696, which represents just over 97% of the prisoners in which is the largest prison in the Haitian capital, the Collective of Lawyers for the Defense of Human Rights (CADDHO) reported this Sunday.
Although there are no official figures, at least fifteen of the escaped prisoners were murdered, as EFE was able to verify when counting the bodies scattered in various parts of the capital, such as Lalue or Christ Roi, although the largest number of bodies, 10, were found in the surroundings of the penitentiary.
Prison conditions in Port-au-Prince
Inmates who have not escaped spoke to the press about the poor living conditions in the Port-au-Prince civil prison, where at least three-quarters of the inmates are awaiting trial.
“We are poorly fed in prison. They give you white (mouldy) food,” said a prisoner in his 60s who has already spent 12 of them in prison, without having had the opportunity to attend his mother’s funeral, as he told EFE.
“We can’t buy water. The water we use to bathe is the water we drink. “Dirty water is the water we drink,” added this man, who said that he feels troubled because he is going through many difficulties in prison.
Survivors of the Port-au-Prince prison assault
Another of the inmates who identified himself as Jameson Raphael, 30, said that “many people died. Many prisoners died even in the surroundings of the prison” as a result of the assault.
Among the prisoners who decided not to leave the prison premises are the Colombian mercenaries accused of participating in the assassination of Haitian president, Jovenel Moise, in 2021, who already last night sent messages that circulated on social networks recounting the distressing situation experienced during the assault.
One of them explained to the media that accessed the interior of the facility, including EFE, why he did not flee: “I didn’t fly because I don’t owe anything. I am living a karma, only God knows what I am living and what I have had to live. “I didn’t fly because I don’t owe anything and here I am showing my face because I am innocent, I am innocent before the world, so I don’t owe anything.”
Cry for safety
“I am here in this prison, at this moment the press can give an account of what this place is like. I am innocent, I came to this place, Haiti, with a job proposal,” Francisco Eladio Uribe, a former Colombian soldier, told the media.
The Government of Colombia asked Haiti this Sunday for special protection for those 17 of its citizens and asked the Government to evaluate the possibility of transferring them to another prison that offers greater security.
BY: M Attzaz Khan