Gangs attacked two Haitian prisons, including the country’s largest penitentiary, and allowed prisoners to escape Saturday night, Haitian authorities said, the latest case of escalating violence and unrest in the country’s capital, which has been devastated by gang violence for more than two years.
While the details of the attack remained unclear, the Haitian government released a statement Sunday said police officers were unable to prevent gang members from releasing “large numbers of prisoners”, adding that several inmates and prison staff were injured.
At least two of the country’s police unions took to social media on Saturday demanding that all police officers report to the national prison in Port-au-Prince, the capital, to help control the situation and prevent inmates from escaping.
“If we let the gangs take over the penitentiary, we are finished,” says the national police union SNPH-17 She said in a post on X. “In the capital no one will be separated.”
Haiti’s national penitentiary, which has nearly 4,000 inmates built to contain only 800 – it counts several high-profile detainees, such as the Colombian commandos accused of being part of the group that killed Haiti’s president, Jovenel Moïse, in 2021.
A Haitian lawyer for several of the soldiers accused of the killing, Samuel Madistin, told the New York Times that he had spoken to his clients who said the national prison was nearly empty of inmates. Only those who were too old or disabled to escape and those accused of Moïse’s murder remained, Madistin said, for fear of being hunted down if they left prison.
Videos circulating on social media Sunday appeared to show journalists wandering through parts of the penitentiary mostly empty of prisoners.
“The attack was obvious,” said Lionel Lazarre, coordinator of the National Union of Haitian Police Officers, adding that the gang members did not try to hide their plans to besiege the penitentiary. “There is a lack of attention on the part of the police authorities who have not taken these messages seriously or have not taken sufficient measures to strengthen security.”
Commissioner Ernst Dorfeuille, a senior police official in charge of operations in Port-au-Prince, said the internet was no longer available, so it was difficult to get an assessment of the situation. However he said it appeared that most of the prisoners had escaped. “I don’t think there’s a single prisoner left over there,” he said, adding: “The gangs banded together so that the strike force was in their favor.”
The Haitian government has said it will track down the escaped prisoners and arrest those responsible for the attack.
Haiti was plunged into a state of extreme turmoil after Moïse’s assassination led to widespread gang violence and a near-complete collapse of security. According to police data, out of a force of around 15,000 officers, nearly 3,000 police officers have abandoned their posts in the last two years.
The country has no president or other elected national officials and the gangs – who have taken control of much of Port-au-Prince – terrorize millions of people every day. Last year, at least 5,000 people were killed in Haiti, according to the United Nations.
Violence in the country increased last week after Prime Minister Ariel Henry traveled to Kenya to finalize a deal under which the country would send 1,000 police officers to help restore order in Haiti.
The prison assault is part of a wave of attacks that armed gangs have carried out in recent days while the Haitian prime minister was abroad. The goal, according to Jimmy Chérizier, a gang leader known as Barbecue, is to overthrow what’s left of the government.
In a video message on Thursday, Mr. Chérizier said: “With our weapons and with the Haitian people, we will liberate the country.”
The U.S. Embassy in Haiti issued a security alert on Sunday warning American citizens to leave the country as soon as possible.
It is unclear whether an international police force led by Kenya, which has drawn criticism from human rights groups, could help control the violence. According to experts, the recent attacks constitute a clear show of strength in a nation ravaged by criminal gangs.
“It appears that the gangs are sending an intimidating message to troops who may soon be deployed in Haiti, saying, ‘Well, we are forming a united front and we can strike simultaneously,’” said Diego Da Rin, a Haiti expert with the Group of international crisis.
Romain Le Cour, security analyst at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, said: “It’s honestly a situation where there is absolute state absence and silence,” adding that some of the violence had likely been planned for weeks, while some were spontaneous.
Although Haitian authorities have been losing ground for years, Le Cour said, recent days have shown that armed gangs have achieved a “crucial shift” in the balance of power.
“It’s probably one of the first times these direct, targeted attacks have happened. It’s not like it used to be,” she added. “Now they’re trying.”
