A prison break and more, what is happening in Haiti?

The country that fought off French control to gain independence has been struggling with gang violence since 2020 and in July 2021, President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.

Today, the Prime Minister, Ariel Henry may be in danger as thousands of gang men have threatened to overthrow his government and remove him from leadership.

Here’s a breakdown of what is happening in Haiti

Gun attacks in various parts of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince on February 29 led to the death of many including police officers and women as gang groups led by Jimmy Cherisie known as Barbecue, a former police officer.

The attacks were over what they say were efforts to remove Prime Minister Henry who had travelled to Nairobi, Kenya for discussions about deploying a Kenya-led multinational security force to Haiti to deal with domestic gangs.

Airports were shut and airlines suspended and business of the day was disrupted.

Over the weekend, close to 4,000 inmates from Haiti’s main prison, the Port-au-Prince prison escaped in a jailbreak.

Majority of these inmates are connected with the 2021 assassination of Moïse in 2021.

But international reports including BBC indicate that several other prisoners stayed for fear of being caught in crossroad fires.

Several persons including prison staff, officers, and civilians were massacred in the process and the country’s main container port was also attacked.

Many others, hundreds of people have been forced out of their homes and have been displaced.

“With the complicity of some people, the criminals did not hesitate to kill civilians, loot and burn public and private property. Unfortunately, the police did not manage to prevent the bandits from releasing many prisoners,” parts of a government communique said.

State of Emergency declared

The country’s Ministry of Communication announced a state of Emergency on March 3, citing the violent attacks and vandalization orchestrated by the gang groups and escapees. The State of Emergency was supposed to be for a period of seventy-two hours as part of efforts to restore order and control of the situation.

A curfew was also announced in the press release, to take place on March 4 and 6 between six in the evening and 5 in the morning.

Police officers and other state agencies were to be excluded considering their services were needed to control the situation.

“Taking into account the attacks perpetrated on the night of March 2, 2024, by armed gangs against the two largest penitentiary centres in the country, namely in the Capital and at Croix des Bouquets, causing deaths and injuries in the ranks of the Police and prison staff, the escape of dangerous prisoners and the vandalization of these places; Considering that these actions are contrary to the laws, constitute acts of disobedience to law enforcement and endanger national security,” parts of the statement said.

“The Government of the Republic, referring to the decree of March 3, 2024, declaring a state of emergency throughout the West department for a renewable period of seventy-two hours, and in order to restore order and to take appropriate measures in order to regain control of the situation, decrees a curfew throughout this territory between six in the evening and five in the morning on Monday 4, Tuesday 5, Wednesday 6 and this Sunday, March 3 2024 from eight in the evening to five in the morning. This measure does not apply to law enforcement officers on duty, firefighters, ambulance drivers, health personnel, and duly identified journalists,” it continued.

Prime Minister vows to step down

Before this, Prime Minister Henry had promised to step down as leader by February 7 this year but had argued that he would ensure gang violence is dealt with before free and fair elections could be held in that regard.

Gang Leader Cherisie says that the violence is a concerted effort by the gangs to force the Prime Minister to step down from office as promised. Henry has agreed to share power with the opposition while working towards a general election no later than August 31, 2025.

Current security situation

All national security forces in Haiti are collaborating to restore law and order amidst the chaos and destruction, according to the Communications Ministry. In a statement, they indicated that efforts are being made to rearrest the escaped prisoners and their accomplices. The general populace has however been cautioned to be alert and maintain calm.

“While the National Police is taking all measures to find the escaped prisoners and arrest those responsible for these criminal acts as well as all their accomplices so that public order can be restored, the Government of the Republic is thanking the population that remains cool despite the very difficult time, it takes the opportunity to ask the population to remain vigilant and be very careful,” they noted in a statement.