About 4,000 inmates have been released from the main prison in PortauPrince, Haiti, following a crackdown by local gangs. The prison was located near the National Palace, the seat of the local government.
Gangs seek power and control 80% of the Haitian capital
Among those arrested were gang members accused of the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Violence in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has increased in recent years. Gangs seeking to unseat Prime Minister Ariel Henry currently control 80% of PortauPrince.
Violence increases in the absence of the Prime Minister
The new wave of violence in the country began on Thursday when the prime minister traveled to Nairobi to discuss sending a Kenyanled multinational security force to Haiti. On Friday, Kenyan President William Ruto said he and Mr Henry had signed an agreement and were working to speed up the rollout.
Increasing violence is impacting residents and compromising local safety
In January, the United Nations said more than 8,400 people were victims of gang violence in Haiti last year, including murders, injuries and kidnappings more than double the number in 2022. Since the assassination of President Moïse in 2021 violence is widespread. He was not replaced and no elections have been held since 2016.
Under an agreement, elections were to be held and Mr Henry, who was not elected, was to resign by February 7, but this did not happen. Since leaving the country for Kenya, unrest in PortauPrince has continued to escalate, with gang leader Jimmy Chérizier (nicknamed “Barbecue”) announcing a coordinated attack to depose the prime minister.
Gang attack leads to death of police officers
“All of us, the armed groups in the provincial towns and the armed groups in the capital, are united,” said the former police officer believed to be behind several massacres in PortauPrince. Four police officers were killed and five were injured in a wave of shootings in the capital.
At the weekend, the French embassy in Haiti advised against traveling in and around the capital. Haiti's police union asked the military to help reinforce the prison.