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Haiti government declares state of emergency, curfew

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, speaks to students during a public lecture on bilateral engangement between Kenya and Haiti, at the United States International University (USIU) Africa, in Nairobi on March 1, 2024. (Photo: SIMON MAINA/AFP)

By AFP | Monday, March 4, 2024

The government said in a statement the state of emergency and the 6.00 pm to 5.00 am curfew would be effective from Sunday to Wednesday, March 6.

Haiti's government declared on Sunday a state of emergency and a nighttime curfew in a bid to quell a wave of violence sparked by a gang assault on the capital city's main prison that allowed thousands of inmates to escape.

At least a dozen people died as gang members attacked the main prison in Haiti's capital, triggering a breakout by several thousand inmates.

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"We counted many prisoners' bodies," said Pierre Esperance of the National Network for Defense of Human Rights, adding that only around 100 of the National Penitentiary's estimated 3,800 inmates were still inside the facility after the gang assault overnight Saturday.

The government said in a statement the state of emergency and the 6.00 pm to 5.00 am curfew would be effective from Sunday to Wednesday, March 6.

Both measures would apply to the Ouest region which includes the capital Port-au-Prince, and would be subject to renewal.

The government said the objective of the measures would be to allow it to "re-establish order and take the appropriate measures to take back control of the situation".

People ride motorbikes past burning tires during a demonstration calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on February 6, 2024. (Photo: (Photo: Richard PIERRIN/AFP)

Economy Minister Patrick Michel Boisvert signed the statement as the country's acting prime minister.

Kenyan police deployment

Prime Minister Ariel Henry was in Kenya last week to sign an agreement to deploy police from the East African country to lead a UN-backed law and order mission to the gang-plagued Caribbean nation.

Kenya on Friday formalised the planned deployment of 1,000 police officers to Haiti after signing a reciprocal agreement with the Caribbean country.

The agreement was signed in Nairobi by security ministers from the two countries in the presence of President William Ruto and PM Henry.

President Ruto said the move is in line with the court's determination that there be a reciprocal instrument between the two countries for Kenya to deploy its national police to Haiti.

He further said the meeting also discussed the next steps to follow to enable fast-tracking of the deployment.

With the signing, Kenya now embarks on the final preparations of deployment having received parliament’s approval to deploy trained 1,000 officers for the mission, prepared its concept of operations, authorization procedures and documents in its role as the lead coordinator of the mission.