Chaos reigns in Haiti – which has been declared since yesterday 4/3 in a state of emergency – after gangs raided prisons and the escape of thousands of prisoners.
Schools and banks remained closed yesterday, the streets were barricaded by residents with stones, tree branches and other objects and the Police are visible everywhere in the city.
Since last Thursday, armed gangs, which control much of the territory, including the capital, have been attacking strategic locations in a bid to topple the government of embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henri. In power from 2021, the latter would theoretically leave office at the beginning of February. These days he is in Kenya.
The country has failed to hold parliamentary and general elections in recent years, and there are no elected officials. Henri was sworn in as prime minister with the support of the international community after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021.
UN concern
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “very concerned about the rapid deterioration of the security situation”, calling on the Henri government and its international partners to take steps to “advance the political process (…) through the holding of elections”.
The crisis took a new dimension at the weekend, as heavily armed thugs attacked two prisons in the capital while Prime Minister Henri was in Kenya.
Over ten people were killed in these raids, while thousands of prisoners in the Pénitencier National, the country’s largest prison, escaped. According to the estimate of the head of a Haitian human rights organization, it is estimated that around 3,700 prisoners escaped.
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