Thousands of inmates escape Haiti's main prison during police-gang fight

Tires on fire near the main prison in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 3, 2024, after several thousand inmates broke out of the facility. [AFP]

Eighteen former Colombian soldiers, accused in connection with the Moise assassination, were among the 99 prisoners who chose to remain in their jail cells. VOA spoke to a prisoner who identified himself as Francisco Eladio Uribe.

Speaking in Spanish, the man told VOA: "I did not escape last night because I don't owe anyone anything. I am innocent. I came to this country to work toward a better future for my family. I ended up getting caught in the middle of a plot planned by an American company called CTV. It's because of their trap that I'm in this situation today."

In a video post that was widely shared on Haitian social media Saturday, the soldiers pleaded with the Colombian government, their families and the international community for help.

A 2022 Human Rights Watch report on Haiti's prisons cited overcrowding, lack of food and drinkable water, and unsanitary conditions that resulted in outbreaks of disease.

World Prison Brief, a nongovernmental organization that monitors prisons worldwide, found that in 2020, Haiti's prisons were 302% over capacity.

Jimmy Cherizier, known as "Barbecue," leader of Haiti's powerful G9 gang alliance, told journalists last week the rival gangs had "united" and launched a "revolution" to remove from power Prime Minister Henry. On Friday, he appealed to national police officers to join the gang effort.

Cherizier is a former policeman who has been targeted by sanctions issued by the United Nations and the U.S. Department of Treasury.

The U.S. accused him of complicity in the La Saline massacre that targeted a Port-au-Prince slum and resulted in at least 71 civilian deaths.

The U.S. State Department condemned the violence in Haiti in a statement emailed to VOA Friday.

"We are closely monitoring the situation and condemn destabilizing efforts in Haiti by those acting in their own self-interest," a spokesperson said.

On Sunday, the State Department did not respond to a request from VOA for comment regarding the jailbreak.